After our morning walks in the neighborhood and on the causeway, we headed to Whole Foods in Clearwater to check out their coffee and prepared food. We stumbled upon Sumo oranges on sale with an added Amazon Prime discount for those with accounts. We grabbed a half dozen.
As we surveyed the hot food, a woman stopped us to say she sees us walking all the time in her mother’s neighborhood (Fairway Estates) and on the causeway. It never fails, wherever we go people recognize us, or I should say they recognize John’s hair. I could rob a bank and no one would be able to pick me out of a lineup. Ha!
We got some Indian food to go for lunch, and some freshly ground coffee. The food was really good. We may try this option a few times a week. It’s an easy way to get plant-based Mediterranean food for my low cholesterol diet, or at least learn what we like before we hunt down recipes to add to those we already have.
The weather this morning on the causeway was perfect: 70 degrees and sunny. This afternoon the humidity was 27% and the temperature was 79, not bad at all.
Clear skies and water.
Spoiler alert ‼️
I finished reading The Kite Runner. I never came to like the narrator, though he is not without good qualities. Early on, he presented himself as an insomniac (for 26 years) because of his past failures as a human being. Yet, when given the opportunity for redemption, his first reaction was to balk and protest how unfairly he’d been treated.
In the end, I could not see his redemption in his adopting his half-nephew. Did the narrator think about the effect it would have on the kid telling him he would have to go back to an orphanage after promising him he would never do that? The narrator knew the child had been raped while in custody there. Did the narrator check on the kid after he absorbed this news? No, he fell asleep. Then the child slit his wrists.
Did the narrator seek professional help for the child once in the U.S., knowing that the child attempted suicide and hadn’t spoken a word in almost a year? Nope. Just going to wait him out.
The callousness and cruelty (both small and large) the narrator showed to his friend, the boy’s father in their childhood was unforgivably cruel. The neglect and carelessness shown to his friend’s son as he attempts to make amends show a flawed character. How long did it take the narrator to embrace the idea of adopting his nephew? His plan was to drop him off at the nearest orphanage and go back to the U.S., and this is after he learns the kid is related to him and that the narrator was partly responsible for the death of the kid’s mother and father. Even as the narrator gets his beat-down from the father’s tormentor, it’s the son (his nephew) who saves him from certain death.
I know the author wishes for the reader to embrace and forgive the narrator. The author does show the narrator exhibiting some courage (deciding to go to Kabul and later standing up to his father-in-law) and remorse (to his wife, though not when she shared her failings with him 15 years earlier); nevertheless, the narrator always strikes me as an egotistical coward who follows every bad option before being forced by circumstances to do the right thing only because it’s the only option left.
Political News
On the positive side, Fox News was forced today to admit it aired stories about Dominion’s voting machines causing the former president to lose the 2020 election, even though the company knew the information was not true. Those lies will cause it to pay Dominion $787.5 million.
In the discovery phase, Fox revealed that its own people (Tucker Carlson, Sean Hanity, etc.) didn’t believe the election was fraudulent. Moreover, some believed the former president was loathsome and couldn’t wait to be done with him. But because they didn’t want to lose viewers, they continued to peddle falsehoods and tell them what they wanted to hear, eroding people’s faith in their democracy for the sake of money and influence.
Next up to sue Fox: Smartmatic, another technology company that makes voting systems. It is suing Fox for $2.7 billion. Dominion, meanwhile, pursues it lawsuits against Newsmax, OAN, my pillow guy, Giuliani, Powell, et. al. for their lies.
Finally, some small justice for Fox News. You think the company will make this news a story to share with its viewers? I doubt it.
The fruit looked beautiful. Thanks for sharing. We went for our dental check up today. I got a pass. Dad needs to return for 2 treatment re the gum. Re the news. You have been telling us this for a while. Your flowers are beautiful. My yard is very slow in coming out. Love to all.
ReplyDeleteLove the pics of your flowers.
ReplyDeleteI am floating over the Fox News. It is about damn time. And to think how much harm they have done by knowingly spreading lies to people who put their trust in them. Adominable.
It has been years since I read the kite runner. You reminded me of how cruel the war in Afghanistan was
And how many many suffered.
Wish I could find sumo oranges for a decent price. They were $1.89 a piece at Trader Joe’s.