As you may have noted, I\u2019ve been AWOL for longer than usual. Potlatch was humming with guests and family for this past week starting with the 4th of July holiday. Most of all, I\u2019ve simply gotten fed up with the state of being in America right now. It\u2019s depressing.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve tried to stay away from the news other than glancing at the evening news and the newspaper headlines. Dropping out for even a few days is almost impossible given the constant flood of information. I\u2019m inundated with news from the Wall Street Journal<\/em>, the New York Times<\/em>, the Economist<\/em>, USA Today<\/em>, Reuters, the BBC, REASON <\/em>magazine and local papers. I also get blogs, including Letters from An American and DISH. Daily I\u2019m bombarded with partisan stuff from both the Democrats and Republicans along with solicitations for money. Somehow I still receive misinformation from the former president about the "stolen" election.<\/p>\n Yesterday, I took the truck and went for a long drive up in the mountains along the Georgia-North Carolina border. I was on a mission to pick up some things, but mostly I just wanted a change of scenery. It is especially beautiful up there with the mountains as a backdrop for the rivers and several lakes. I had hoped to locate some locust logs for fencing which is absolutely the best wood as it lasts for about twenty years. I learned this early on when the oak posts I used rotted in about two years. Now I have locust posts that have been in the ground at least 15 years. I also wanted to pick up some hog wire to repair the fence around Potlatch. Recently Rucker, the big Lab, found his way out through one of the holes.<\/p>\n It was therapeutic to get away, however briefly. In the meanwhile, the bad news continues\u2014infighting about important issues including infrastructure, climate, race, gun violence, crime and immigration. Democrats and Republicans can\u2019t agree on anything. Nothing gets done. Now there is turmoil in Haiti and Cuba; tomorrow it will be back to fighting about the Middle East and China.<\/p>\n America and the world are the losers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As you may have noted, I\u2019ve been AWOL for longer than usual. Potlatch was humming with guests and family for this past week starting with the 4th of July holiday. Most of all, I\u2019ve simply gotten fed up with the state of being in America right now. It\u2019s depressing. I\u2019ve tried to stay away from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\n