Shrouded by Time

One Saturday years ago, two young men from the historical society showed up and asked if they could dig in the backyard for old bottles they believed were buried there. I said sure and they went to work.

First, they used a thin metal probe to search for glass around the perimeter of the lot. They explained that in the late nineteenth century water had come to the neighborhood and the residents closed off their outdoor privies in favor of brand new indoor toilets.

They usually threw their old bottles away on top of the contents of the privy and covered the whole mixture with ash from the fireplace. Around that same time, new industrially produced bottles had become available to replace the old hand-blown variety, which no one wanted any longer.

Thus, preserved for over a century the old fashioned bottles had laid there undisturbed by the passage of time. The ground sank about six feet over the decades so now the bottles were buried beneath layers of  earth. Eventually, the men located the site of the old privy from the tell-tale sound of glass struck by the probe.

They then dug a square hole big enough for one of them to fit into it and kept shoveling until they reached the old bottles. Then, one by one they lifted them out of the old soil and showed them to us. There were a couple dozen, many with words on them describing the contents and/or the address of the proprietor.

To us they were exotic specimens. To the men, almost all of the bottles were familiar versions of those they already had in the historical society's collection on display for the public. One bottle, however, was unique so they took that one and left the rest for us.

The photo above shows our bounty, which included a teapot, a milk bottle and a rusted pistol. Many of the bottles had held what were the medical potions popular back in the day. 

Some of what was unearthed remained mysterious. Much of whatever history the cache represented remained shrouded in a past long forgotten.

***

From the murky past to the equally murky present, here are the overnight news summaries:

* Amid escalating tensions with both North Korea and Iran, President Donald Trump's advisers say they hesitated to give him military options fearing he might accidentally take the U.S. to war. They informed their counterparts in both countries of the danger, multiple former administration officials say. (CNN)

* Revised hurricane forecasts predict another 10 to 15 named storms -- NOAA’s new hurricane outlook shows so many storms that we may have to turn to the Greek alphabet to name them. (Washington Post)

* 75 years ago, the Enola Gay set out for Hiroshima. No one was sure how the first atomic attack would go. The silver airplane, named for the pilot’s mother, barely got off the ground with the first atomic bomb used in war. (Washington Post)

* New York Attorney General seeks to dissolve NRA, accuses gun rights group of fraud --In a civil lawsuit, Letitia James alleges that CEO Wayne LaPierre and other top leaders drained $64 million from the National Rifle Association over three years. (Washington Post)

* California lawmakers are scrambling to prevent an eviction catastrophe. They don’t have much time before some protections are set to end. (San Francisco Chronicle)

* Masks must now be worn in all child care centers and camps in Michigan (CNN)

* The Brazilian government banned fires in the Amazon in mid-July -- yet there were far more fires last month than the year before, further degrading one of the world's most precious natural resources.The Amazon is considered vital in slowing global warming, and it is home to uncountable species of fauna and flora. Roughly half the size of the United States, it is the largest rainforest on the planet. (CNN)

***

Step right up, come on in
If you'd like to take the grand tour
Of a lonely house that once was home sweet home
I have nothing here to sell you
Just some things that I will tell you
Some things I know will chill you to the bone
Over there sits the chair
Where she brang the paper to me
And sit down on my knee and whisper oh I love you
But now she's gone forever
And this old house will never be the same
Without the love that we once knew

Straight ahead that's the bed
Where we lay and love together
And lord knows we had a good thing going here
See her picture on the table
Don't it look like she'd be able
Just to touch me and say good morning dear

There's her rings all her things
And her clothes are in the closet
Just like she left them when she tore my world apart
As you leave you'll see the nursery
Oh she left me without mercy
Taking nothing but our baby and my heart
Step right up, come on in

      -- George Jones

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Stones Not For Throwing

Another one of my collections from beach walks were stones polished by the sea and deposited at the tideline. I've long been fascinated by tidelines. If you have access to a relatively calm, large body of seawater, you can see the jagged line of detritis floating in and out with the tides. There are leaves, branches, dead fish, coconuts, and unfortunately waste products like paper cups in that line. There are birds above and fish below feeding on the edibles. It's part of the visual poetry composed by the sea. Deeper down, the stones, sand dollars, crab shells and heavier wood turn and churn on the sand, migrating through seaweed including kelp fields on their eventual journey to the shore. The romance of the beach has not always been limited to my times there alone. Sometimes my partner would join me, sometimes the family for a picnic, and some of them helped me collect gems like those pictured above. *** I can hear joyful shrieks by my grandson playing video games remotely with a friend in his room. Given the social isolation he and everyone is enduring, video games are more important than ever. Kids learn to master the software that is built into the games, helping them comprehend coding without explicitly teaching them to be engineers. This is why I always encouraged my kids to play those technological games. Of course, such habits can be overdone and are no alternative to real in-person friendship and play or outside time like going to a beach. But there's a place in a child's life for such pleasures, which include visiting magical worlds and occasionally being able to be the hero. *** * This year, as the University of California faces rising calls on a number of fronts to operate more equitably, it achieved a milestone: For the first time in the university’s history, Chicano or Latino students made up the greatest share of Californians admitted to the freshman class, 36 percent. (New York Times) * Biden Is Polling Better Than Clinton At Her Peak -- Election Day is now just three months away, and the overall trajectory of the race hasn’t changed much recently: Joe Biden continues to hold a sizable lead over President Trump. Biden is now up by 8 percentage points in FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average, and he has an advantage of 5 points or more in several key battleground states like Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. (FiveThirtyEight) * Biden to skip convention because of virus; will accept nomination from Delaware -- The former vice president will deliver his speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in his home state of Delaware, convention organizers said Wednesday. (Washington Post) * Twitter temporarily restricted Trump campaign's ability to tweet over false Covid-19 claims (CNN) * Facebook removes Trump post falsely claiming children are 'almost immune' to Covid-19 (CNN) * Dr. Anthony Fauci tells CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta that he has had to get security protection after his family received threats and harassment. (CNN) * He Predicted Trump’s Win in 2016. Now He’s Ready to Call 2020.Most historians just study the past. But Allan Lichtman has successfully predicted the future. Watch video. (New York Times) *** Sittin' in the mornin' sun I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes Watchin' the ships roll in Then I watch 'em roll away again I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay Watchin' the tide, roll away I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay Wastin' time      -- Otis Redding  -30-

Slivers of Time

I spent many years walking beaches seeking little slivers of polished seaggass. White, green, blue, bluegreen, brown, amber, even red, they are the remainders of bottles and other glass objects left by the tides after salt, sun, sand, waves and time have transformed castaways into art objects.

My collection, which ultimately contained thousands of pieces, filled several large jars and bottles. Eventually, I started giving them away to my grandchildren and a few friends. Like everything else you collect in life, you can't take it with you.

Walking next to the surf for hours at a time was also for me a time to think, mostly about problems that have no solutions. But walk I did all over beaches in the U.S., Mexico, South America, Asia, the South Pacific, the Caribbean, Australia, on islands and the edges of continents of almost every ocean on the planet.

I collected more than seaglass at beaches -- driftwood, shells, stones, bobbers -- anything that drifted in from the sea. I once found a note in a bottle. Another time, bags of marijuana. On a few occasions,  coins, some quite old.

All of the collections are mostly gone now, like all of my possessions. Only the memories of finding such treasures remain.


***

But the news must go on.

* U.N. Says Virus Causing ‘Largest Disruption of Education Ever’ -- The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the “Save the Future” campaign to address the educational inequities caused by the pandemic. (New York Times)

* With Census Count Finishing Early, Fears of a Skewed Tally Rise -- With 60 million households still uncounted, the bureau said it would wrap up the survey a month early. Critics called it a bald move to politicize the count in favor of Republicans. (New York Times)

* Mississippi governor orders statewide mask mandate (CNN)

* From Outsider to Insider: Karen Bass’s Unexpected Journey to Power -- At every step in her political career, the California congresswoman had to be coaxed to run for a higher office. Now she’s a top contender to be Joe Biden’s running mate. (New York Times)

* Virgin Atlantic files for bankruptcy in the U..S. (CNN)

* Three US Defense Department officials told CNN that as of Tuesday night there was no indication that the massive explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday were an "attack," contradicting an earlier claim from President Donald Trump. (CNN)

* White House, Democrats agree to try to reach deal on unemployment, evictions by end of week (Washington Post)

* The Federal Clampdown On Portland Shows Just How Fragile Our Democracy Is (FiveThirtyEight)

* MANHATTAN DA PROBING 'EXTENSIVE' CRIMINAL CONDUCT AT TRUMP ORG The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating President Donald Trump and his business for bank and insurance fraud, according to court documents filed to support the demand for Trump's tax returns. The documents mention “public reports of possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.”  [HuffPost]

***

Okay, let's take this straight on. There are worries among Democrats, some Republicans and neutral observers that Trump is trying to rig the election. If so, it wouldn't be the first time in American history that this has happened.

From everything I've read, the ballots, mail-in or otherwise, cannot really be affected by a nefarious scheme to lodge fake votes, falsified ballots, or foreign interference.

The danger is more profound. It is possible that a combination of real or perceived grievances by a large minority of citizens could lead to a replication of the 2016 result, i.e., Trump losing the popular vote again but winning the Electoral College.

This is not, of course, the scenario that worries the President. This is what he hopes will happen. If it does, you can't really call that a rigged election because that is how our system works.

In summary, there is virtually no chance the election will be rigged in favor of Biden; it is far more likely that the candidate with fewer votes prevails. I don't care which party wins in that way; it's an insult to democracy.

It's one of the ways this is an "imperfect union" that needs all of us who truly care about America to marshall the will to change. A minority should never rule.

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News Cycle Without End

There's no sense asking "What's new?" Bad news is the answer. More bad news.

I've always been the guy who picks up other's spirits. Normally, I see the humor in things.

These days, it is a struggle to see anything funny about this.

But maybe it's a phase -- I've had  couple setbacks lately so hopefully one day soon I'll return to a more optimistic mood.  For now, it's pretty much gloom and doom.


* WATCHDOG CALLS FOR PROBE OF POSTAL SERVICE 'VOTER SUPPRESSION TACTICS' A watchdog organization is calling for an investigation and hearings amid concerns about mail-in ballot “voter suppression tactics” by the Trump administration through the United States Postal Service. “Recent actions” taken by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by Donald Trump in May, “will delay prioritizing mail delivery,” which threatens voting by mail, warned a letter from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. [HuffPost]

* TRUMP WRITES A NEW CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL REPRESSION In his quest for reelection, Trump has gone hunting for demons. Federal law enforcement officers entered cities including Portland, Oregon; Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; and Albuquerque at Trump’s direction, clearly meant to gin up clashes and disorder between federal officers and the groups disfavored by his core supporters in pursuit of “viral online content.” These conflicts are the reason Trump’s most fervent supporters elected him. These voters, most of them white, wanted him to erase the legacy of the first Black president and wage war against the unfavored groups haunting their minds. [HuffPost]

* San Francisco flattened the curve early. Now, coronavirus cases are surging. The Bay Area’s progressive residents generally have been inclined to follow the rules. But more than four months after the region put some of the nation’s first shelter-in-place orders in effect, it has become a cautionary tale for government and health officials (Washington Post)

* Meanwhile, in Downtown San Francisco, towers are closed,cafes are struggling and streets are eerily quiet. Will the district ever boom again? [The San Francisco Chronicle]

* More and more schools are abandoning plans for in-person classes. [The New York Times]

* Trump campaign fighting to make it harder for Democrats to vote by mail. (CNN)

* Trump’s attacks on mail voting prompt alarm over GOP turnout

State and local Republicans across the country fear they are falling dramatically behind in a practice that is expected to be key to voter turnout this year. (Washington Post)

* Manhattan prosecutors on Monday asked a federal judge to dismiss President Donald Trump's lawsuit challenging a subpoena for his financial records, emphasizing that their investigation extends beyond hush-money payments and pointing to public reports of "extensive and protracted criminal conduct" at the Trump Organization. (CNN)

* Trump criticizes Birx for the first time after she issues coronavirus warnings (CNN) 

* When Covid Subsided, Israel Reopened Its Schools. It Didn’t Go Well. (New York Times)

* With Jobless Aid Expired, Trump Sidelines Himself in Stimulus Talks.(New York Times)

***

So much for the news.

Only a few days into the baseball season, some teams are having too many Covid cause to continue games. Two teams in particular, the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals, have cancelled games for a while. It's not clear whether the season will continue. The two best teams appear to be the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

If it can't continue, that will be a ,major disappointment to sports fans, hungry for some action. The NBA plans to complete the basketball playoffs and has all the players living in a bubble in Florida for the duration.

Even though the team I root for, the San Francisco Giants, is struggling, watching their games has been a welcome respite from the news. My own experience with sports as an athlete is limited. A sickly childhood cut short my little league play.

I competed in pickup games in college and later played 29 years for the Michigan Mafia, a coed softball team in the Bay Area Media Softball League. That was by far the highlight of my athletic career.

But I was a sportswriter in college and for a while after. And from time to time I wrote about sports, especially the Giants for California Magazine, 7x7 and KQED.

These days, watching games played before empty stadiums, with the TV announcers not in attendance for road games but watching monitors back home, is surreal.

Then again all of life now is surreal. Is any of this actually happening?

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby, I
Oh, somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
Clouds high over the rainbow, makes all your dreams come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me 
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney top
That's where you'll find me, oh

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Oh why, oh why can't I? 
I see trees of green and red roses too 
I'll watch then bloom just for me and you 
And I think to myself
Oh, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, clouds of white
The brightness of day, the dark, say goodnight
And I think to myself
Oh, what a wonderful world

-- Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg

-30-

Broken

There's no getting around it; all the news is depressing. Even a news junkie can feel overwhelmed by the onslaught. I keep looking fo a silver lining but there is none.

* Birx: U.S. in ‘new phase’ of pandemic as deaths rise --The physician overseeing the White House coronavirus response urged people to take extreme health precautions. (Post)

* New CDC forecast projects 19,000 Covid-19 deaths in 21 days (CNN)

* Scientists Worry About Political Influence Over Coronavirus Vaccine Project -- Operation Warp Speed has moved along at a rapid clip. But some people involved in the process fear pressure to deliver an October surprise for President Trump. (The Times)

* How the Trump campaign came to court QAnon, the conspiracy movement the FBI sees as a violent threat -- His press secretary interviewed a believer. His official ads include QAnon references. His top aides post QAnon memes. (Post)

* Absentee ballots start getting mailed to North Carolina voters in just 33 days, and a new CBS News/YouGov poll reveals ominous news for President Donald Trump in the Tar Heel state. Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a narrow 48% to 44% advantage among likely voters. It's the latest CNN approved poll to find Biden ahead in North Carolina. Last week, a NBC News/Marist College poll gave Biden a 7-point lead. (CNN)

* Many Bay Area banks temporarily closed, impacting customers due to COVID-19 (KGO)

* House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) fears that President Donald Trump will not allow a fair 2020 presidential election. (CNN)

* White House steps back from Trump suggestion about delaying election -- The election will take place Nov. 3 as planned, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said.(Post)

* Pelosi, White House remain far apart on deal for relief bill -- After struggling to reach agreement among themselves on an overall bill, Republicans and administration officials have been pushing for a short-term fix to address the expiration of $600 weekly enhanced unemployment benefits. (Post)

***

We really couldn't have had a worse President than Trump for dealing with this pandemic. Hr denied it was real for so long that many of his supporters refused to wear masks. So they got sick and they infected others.

Meanwhile, the virus has drastically weakened his chances at re-election as the polls in North Carolina show; that's a state he must win.

We've collectively slipped into a deep depression, not just economically but psychologically. The signs are all around. Isolation breeds depression, yet we can't see each other. And it just goes on and on.

Overall, it is hard to avoid having a broken spirit.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

No more empty conversation
Next time I will be totally sure
Don't want the pain of falling
In and out of love
It's more than my poor heart should endure
So I listen to all the advice
And remember each time I cry
      -- Brandy

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