Girl on Daddy’s Back

Girl on daddy’s back

Traveling day after day

Until it is no longer fun.

1000 miles on foot

Away from daddy’s fears

In a house

Where we used to laugh.

Going to a land

Guarded by an orange troll

Where some people are good

And others are mean.

On this road

My dad is tired

But he is not afraid

Cause he has me on his back.

Roe

November 2018

#trumpstory

I'm obese, 5' 9", 220 pounds. I eat oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Flour tortilla with cheese and egg for lunch. Fish and salad typical for supper. From 0 to 2 glasses of red wine. If I do start losing weight I tend to start snacking ... granola bar and small glass of milk.

I play tennis, still pretty good, one to two times a week, walk a couple a times a week, typically a mile, sometimes as much as three. Swim some weeks. Cut weeds, work in yard.

I have been this weight, plus or minus 10, usually plus or minus 5, for two plus decades. Should I mention, I am 71. Not diabetic. 150 total cholesterol, all blood work great.

Doctors used to talk to me about my weight, but they never say anything anymore. They say I look better than most of their patients who are 50 years old. They used to send me have my blood work redone, but they have accepted that it is real. BP is controlled by meds.

I used to try to diet all the time and I can lose weight easily, almost as easily as I return to my old habits and put weight back on. Although I eat healthier than 90% of the people I know. Avoid all sugars and carbs. Stomach is the main fat area, legs are still reasonably muscular and firm.

So, I have just resigned myself to being this weight until I get sick someday and lose weight. So, I am wondering how usual it is to be my age, obese and apparently still in good health. I know, it's going to catch up with me.

If you want to understand how are brains work try the book "Righteous Minds". We all react emotionally first then use our intellect (rational side of our brain) to rationalize our response. With time we can alter our emotional response, or manage it first, but it takes understanding how we function to do it well. We also build stories to explain our world, and like all stories/myths, our stories are often inaccurate and always incomplete. I realize this is an attempt to condense an entire book, actually several books, into a paragraph so it is not a very good story I am presenting to you.

Actually I go to a lot of social action groups, political action groups, meetings, UuFN fellowships, etc. And 99% of the time I only meet people that are in my tribe, I.e., liberals. I will look into precinct meetings, that should be very challenging in the trump county I live in. Contrary to your statement, I have built some good friends on Facebook some of which have become friends in my real world...but do your point, they are almost all liberals.

I am actually looking for mixed groups, in a perfect world, 1/3 each of independents, democrats, and Republicans, hopefully different sexes and races. However, such groups seem more like a unicorn more than reality.

Enjoying your poem(s). But, I want to understand all its nuances, but I need some help on several lines. I will start with one: "Much more sweet than a barrel". What does "barrel" refer to, please.

I love the lines between "the warm smell of cement" to "though my soul does weary" ... the transition from the common things in life to your feelings ... the idea of repentance going on in meetings ...

Lots of stuff to ponder in this poem, but I feel compelled to move on ... my email is tugging at my leg.

I'm in the half waking state, the two minutes after opening my eyes and trying to focus on my phone. I read, "I'm in love, thank you".

Well it seems appropriate in my addled brain to say welcome.

I almost understand this poem. I enjoyed it.

Stories seem to play a huge role in uniting people into a common cause. For example, biblical myths unite people in religion, patriot stories unite countries, partisan stories unite political parties, etc. In an argument, we emotionally attach ourselves to our side of the story. And since all stories are inaccurate and incomplete, we essentially hold on emotionally to a story that supports our interests as we see them.

Elin, I applaud your courage in standing up for what you think is right. Thank you for the bottom of my heart. People like you are necessary for our society to grow its compassion.