We hire the president and not his spouse, but we do seem to have certain expectations of them since we provide them with room and board and protection. And most spouses in recent history have had professions of their own which they set aside during their FLOTUS tenure. Mrs Reagan was in movies. Mrs. Bush was librarian. Mrs. Obama is a lawyer. Mrs Trump was a model.

Back in the 20th century, Eleanor Roosevelt was the first one to bravely enter the public eye as an activist in her own right. She championed many worthy causes. She is a true heroine of mine. She knew she was frumpy but did not let that hold her back.

Bess and Mamie were frumpy too. Bess stayed home in Missouri as much as she could.

Then we got Mrs. Kennedy. After that, FLOTUS pretty much had to be photogenic and had to have a “cause” of her own. We didn’t hire her but we certainly do have expectations of service regardless of what her previous profession might have been.

Be Best.

I was on a cancelling tear this morning.

I will never again subscribe to the NY Times on line because of the nightmare it is to unsubscribe. They really make it hard for you to cut them off. Finally offered me one year for $1.oo a week. By that time I had been transferred to four different “advocates.” If they’d said “free” I would have refused.

Presently reading the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor. I think that’ll do me for now.

Also cancelled BritBox and Acorn TV. They hadn’t offered anything I wanted to watch in weeks.

I think that’s it for today. Let’s hope I’ll be in a better mood tomorrow.

Fire.

Apparently Big Basin State Park is gone. I remember taking the girls to camp in Memorial Park just north of there. I know my affinity for coast redwoods is abnormal. I can’t help myself. I grew up in southern Oklahoma where scrubby trees were stunted by drought and worthless soil. I didn’t know about beautiful forests until I moved to California when I was 23 years old.

For a while in CA, I had a house in a redwood grove. When I was forced to move from there, I went out and spoke to each one of my trees. When I moved to Oregon, I planted a grove of my own. If you rub the foliage in your hands, it smells like limes.

Kate has a house now in a forest on the Russian River. Fires everywhere. Her entire neighborhood has been evacuated. Luckily, during the work week the lives in her house in Sausalito. She won’t be going to the river this weekend. Elizabeth says today, doing her work in Yellowstone, she cannot see the mountains because of the smoke from CA.

I remember during the last CA fires, POTUS said, “Those people should just keep things raked up out there? This is what redwood duff looks like:

The forest floors are dense with it. Sure. Just rake up the thousands of acres of that and put it where? I live in terror of the solutions that man poses.

I need to get this off my chest before heading our for the gym.

The last night of the Democratic convention.

And here’s the truth:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the Curry family were embarrassing.

Loved the boy with the stutter.

Dear, sweet, Joe Biden spoke like he was running for Grandpa and not for president.

I like him so much. I admire his family so much. I admire his working-class background. I admire his wife. I admire the work he has done for my country all of his career.

I think he is decent. He practices his faith. He tells the truth.

I am dreading the debates. I hope he pauses every time after Trump speaks and says, “Wow. I am not here to be rude or insulting. I am here to answer the question I have been asked.”

I am really looking forward to the VEEP debates. Will “Mother” allow Mikey to be alone on the stage with a woman? Does anyone know what “Mother’s” first name is?

To be continued.

Things are so rarely black and white. Senator Harris is not black, although she has referred to herself that way, just as my skin is not white. We seem to have a great need for things to be one way or the other. They rarely are.

Certainly, she is a woman of color and ticks a lot of boxes and has already been called a number of names by people who are often named Bubba. The “C” word. The “N” word. The “B” word. She’s got Bubba running scared.

But here’s the truth: Starting from now, no one is going to change his mind about how he will vote. The one truth we know for sure that POTUS uttered was when he said he could go out on Fifth Avenue and shoot someone it wouldn’t make any difference.

Most of us learned in kindergarten — if not at our mothers’ feet — not to call people names. Not only is it not nice, it makes us, not them, look bad. And weak. And scared.

We are all terrified about the upcoming Biden-Trump debates. Biden is a gentleman with a quiet, sometimes hesitant pattern of speech. He tends to think and then speak. I hope whoever is coaching him will teach him to use that to his advantage. After being irrationally lambasted, I hope he will pause and say, “I am not here to be insulting or rude. I am here to answer the question that was put to me which I believe we may have lost sight of.” I know. I’m a dreamer.

If all else fails, de-fund the United States Post Office and scare people that their votes won’t count. I continue to wonder why POTUS thinks making voting easier and safer would work to his disadvantage and not to his advantage.

Things are not black and white. Things are mostly gray.