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The visit was pretty good. I think all of us there, being older and retired now, had a bit of a grumpy edge. My mother likes to try and boss me around to impress her friends or for personal reasons, maybe both. That never works. A please, a thank you, and a good deal of thought in what I am being asked to do (is it reasonable for me to do a task with no tools, for example) and then allowing me to do the task without trying to manage the work. She is a bit of a feminist pig that way. Still, after a few adjustments and some very simple statements mixed with a few words from the other guest and putting my foot down, things shaped up.

Food was fantastic. Steaks one day then enchiladas (real ones, homemade and well made) with green chile and tortillas the next, life was good. My 'aunt' sent home some of the fine enchilada dried pepper mix and showed me how to make the sauce, the rest is pretty easy. As well, we all went and visited my aunt, one with breast cancer. She was a bit nervous about our visit, my mom had not told my aunt that my other 'aunt' and myself would be visiting. My mother only suggested she would be arriving. I just stayed quiet and let them talk, I think my aunt dislikes me for the most part. She is doing very well for the condition she is in, having taken care to find what she could tolerate eating and then even gaining a bit of weight on chemo (she worried about that as much as her hair loss, I think, as she has always been quite slight of stature). We were all so pleased to see her and to see her so upbeat and (as I said, for the condition she is in and what she is going through) healthy.

During the time at my mother's, we had some bad times (though rather muted with company, I think), we also had some good times. All of us took turns on the grumpy wagon, then passing it on. Some of it was due to discomfort and lack of rest being in a new environment, sleeping (or trying to sleep) on beds other than our own, and such. We might have had some great times, though too. I have not seen my 'aunt' in decades. She was a family friend from the time I was adopted. She even shared a duplex for a bit with my mother when they were both married to their first husbands. Her children were close to us as well, from that time on. Oddly, through discussions, I think I understand now and more fully what my problem is with my mother, or more the point the reverse. My mother and my aunt have very different political views, and that had at one time been part of the problem between them. My 'aunt' is conservative, for the most part, and has been a successful part of society. My mother has been addicted to social services and preferred to drink and do whatever she wanted.

Yes, politics, and the lack of good reasoning to back my mother's (and aunt's I believe) political views, added to passive aggression, on top of my mother's already unreasonable feminine dictatorship qualities, lead to great troubles between us. She had suggested she would like to visit for a month or so this winter, when I get moved in. All I can say is that such an occurrence will never happen. Her smoking, her want of heat, her attitude, all combined with the fact that the area I am moving to gets a lot of snow and she could well get snowed in for months would have me cutting off a leg before inviting her to stay that long or in the winter. A week, in the summer, if she agrees (and holds her bargain) to not smoke in my house. That is the best I can do.

I see that, politically, socially, legally, ethically, morally, and in who knows how many other ways the US is falling apart. The news was something they both watched while I visited, so I was forced to see it. I honestly do not think much of this can be fixed even if a decent conservative candidate can be found and presented and then win. Even with a conservative house, senate, and president, with enough power to make changes will not help. When elected, they seem to set on their hands and become more liberal every day they hold office. I have to wonder if there is some poison in the water in D.C. that kills good (conservative) brain cells and at progressive rate.

Nothing seems to be around the corner for a fix, except maybe the end of the world. God did say there would be days like these. In any case, try to enjoy your day, walk well in your personal walk, and remember those you love while not forgetting to prey for those who have lost their way and your enemies.