On empty calories and instant gratification.
Seth Meyers told Jimmy Fallon about his son and his introduction to, and affinity for, ice cream. There was never any doubt that he would love it; that's not the reason that parents withhold ice cream from their children. More likely, it is to introduce them to other, perhaps less obviously tasty, foods that might offer more nutritional value and acquire a taste for those, before the easy instant gratification "food."
And so it is for me with blogging and gardening - they are my ice cream, so easy, so sweet. Not so much return for the time spent.
But I succumbed.
And in soaking in the Jardin, I came across this guy - a black soldier fly. I think there were larvae in the compost pile - we first saw them when the bucket was emptied into an empty planter for temporary holding. When the compost went back, there were wriggly dark and large maggot-like creatures at the bottom. Ugly, scary, trying to crawl out of the planter. But then, all grown up, and in the sun, how gorgeous - the purples and blues. Under the "Fauna" page, I selected the title, rank, really, of "Staff Sergeant" - in honor of one I know, who fit the bill - a bit scary and unruly in youth, who grew into himself beautifully. And hurt my heart. But did so in an honorable way, did what had to be done when I suppose he saw "we" didn't have legs. It's why we're still friends.
As for the instant gratification blogging, well, the end result of the most recent tweaks:
Needs more work to realize its full potential. But it's a start.
The problem with instant gratification is, as Americans, most of us are so primed for it that we are being spoon fed critical COVID-19 information as if we are toddlers. This ridiculous Presidential Administration can't handle the truth, and its agencies assume we Americans cannot either, have no discipline or depth of understanding to adopt the measures that will really stem this pandemic. And the numbers bear out that that assessment is accurate for a huge swath - people won't even accept the simple request to don a mask. So we are led to believe a vaccine might be just around the corner and when it comes, all will go back to normal. When apparently the State Department in other parts of the world tells our international partners to plan for years - 2024, perhaps; a marathon, not a sprint.
Needs more work to realize its full potential. But it's a start.
The problem with instant gratification is, as Americans, most of us are so primed for it that we are being spoon fed critical COVID-19 information as if we are toddlers. This ridiculous Presidential Administration can't handle the truth, and its agencies assume we Americans cannot either, have no discipline or depth of understanding to adopt the measures that will really stem this pandemic. And the numbers bear out that that assessment is accurate for a huge swath - people won't even accept the simple request to don a mask. So we are led to believe a vaccine might be just around the corner and when it comes, all will go back to normal. When apparently the State Department in other parts of the world tells our international partners to plan for years - 2024, perhaps; a marathon, not a sprint.
Preparations - psychological and otherwise - for the one versus the other are quite different. It would be nice to just know the truth, so those of us who can handle it can prepare properly.
Staff Sergeant Black Soldier Fly has gone off to a land where they are planning for the marathon, on the advice of the American embassy there. A land far away. Among the main reasons "we" could never have grown legs.
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