Author Archives: Linda Lenzke

Feb 14 2021
Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Love In a Pandemic

“I am grateful to have been loved and to be loved now and to be able to love, because that liberates. Love liberates.” — Maya Angelou

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.”  — Lucille Ball.

Valentine’s Day is here. As it approached, I drafted this musing about the holiday and romantic love, a look at relationships, dating, and my single status while ‘Home Alone.’ Yes, love in a pandemic. As a single person, it’s a look back at the past, skin hunger in the present, and desire for companionship in the future.

Continue reading →

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Jan 18 2021
1 Comment
Posts

Mouse Turd Cake & Other Birthday Memories

“Auntie Linda, it’s okay that you’re old. It means you’re not dead!” — Four-year-old niece, Gemma

The Backstory: When Gemma was four years old, I was bending over her car seat buckling her in, she saw my face up close, let’s be precise, the wrinkles of my face up close. In that observational, yet nonjudgmental matter-of-fact manner that children possess, she commented, “Auntie Linda, you’re old!!!” My old, wrinkled face couldn’t hide my hurt feelings. My niece Gemma loves me wholeheartedly and clearly didn’t want me to feel bad, so she replied in a cheery voice with a smile on her face, “Auntie Linda, it’s okay that you’re old, it means you’re not dead!”  And you know, she’s right, I’m not dead, and I’m grateful for that. Gemma is now 16-years-old and I remain older and above ground. Continue reading →

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Dec 31 2020
Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: The End Is Here!

“There are certain life lessons that you can only learn in the struggle.” ― Idowu Koyenikan

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ― C.S. Lewis

It’s the eve of New Year’s Eve as I write and take a look back at 2020 and look ahead to 2021, wondering what the new year will bring.

There’s a blanket of fresh snow outside. Yesterday, I went grocery shopping to ensure I was prepared to be snowed in as I shelter-in-place between the holidays and before I return to work next week at my part-time-job. I only venture out for work and essential services, including a New Year’s Eve dentist appointment and a haircut next week. I have a mammogram scheduled the day before my January birthday. During 2020, we had to assess the risk vs. benefit in every venture outside our homes. Continue reading →

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Dec 26 2020
Posts

Random Topics VI

Doomscrolling, Flight Diapers, & Zoom Face

Dateline – Christmas Day, 2020

As I write, I’m celebrating a ‘Home Alone’ holiday this year due to the pandemic. This morning after 6 a.m., just as I made coffee and logged onto my laptop, I turned on CNN, which is part of my routine during my safer-at-home, semi-lockdown, life.

A bomb exploded in an historic district in downtown Nashville. As the day unfolded, so did the investigation and developing story. An RV arrived overnight, parked, and in the morning, in what was described as a female voice, broadcast an announcement of an impending blast including a countdown. Earlier, witnesses heard shots being fired and called 911 which is why first responders arrived at the scene and heard the bomb warning. The area was evacuated and at 6:30 a.m., the RV exploded, injuring three people. It’s suspected the explosion was intentional, yet suspects or motive for the blast are unknown at this time. Continue reading →

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Dec 12 2020
1 Comment
Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Riding the Coronacoaster

Coronacoaster (noun): the ups and downs of a person’s mood, or life generally, during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Some people experience motion sickness and avoid amusement park thrill rides. I’m one of those people. I’m also a person who has a reoccurring dream when I wrestle control of vehicles headed in a dangerous trajectory to avoid catastrophe or death. Those began as a child, when from the backseat of the car, I leaped to the front seat to grab the steering wheel from my parents. Oh, My!

Yes, I’m on the coronacoaster and I want to get off — or seize control! Continue reading →

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Nov 25 2020
4 Comments
Posts

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again!)

“The only constant is change.” — Heraclitus

“Things do not change; we change.” — Henry David Thoreau

As I write, it’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I’ve been rereading Thanksgiving Holiday journal entries from the past 12 years, plus my Thanksgiving blog reminiscences. A theme emerged which I’ve addressed before, yet continues to weave through my life — and the lives of loved ones — things change.

Thanksgiving is traditionally a family holiday, whether you celebrate it with your bio or chosen family. I’ve done both. Another theme became apparent as I reread what I’ve written in the past, grief and gratitude go hand-in-hand. Continue reading →

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Nov 01 2020
Posts

Words Matter II: Trump’s Demagoguery

“Donald Trump is a demagogue – he’s a heroic demagogue to his followers, and he’s a dangerous demagogue to everyone else.” — Jennifer Mercieca

Demagogue definition: “A demagogue or rabble-rouser is a leader who gains popularity in a democracy by exploiting emotions, prejudice, and ignorance to arouse the common people against elites, whipping up the passions of the crowd and shutting down reasoned deliberation.”— Wikipedia

Words matter.

As I write, it’s the final leg of the 2020 Presidential Election. In two days, polls close and votes are tabulated. We won’t know who the next President is before we go to bed on Tuesday, November 3. It may take days, perhaps weeks before the final vote is known and certified.

We can bet the farm however, that Trump will go off the rails, spouting conspiracy theories, claims of rigged elections, and voter fraud. Lawyers will prepare legal briefs and suits and the President of the United States will be begin suing states, their election boards, and secretaries of state. Continue reading →

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Oct 19 2020
Posts

Random Topics V

Sealioning, Chukars, Pandemic Fatigue  

As I write, it’s Sunday morning. The temperature is 40 degrees (feels like 34) — raining with the possibility of snow today — the first of the season — as we prepare for the l-o-n-g, dark, and cold Midwestern fall and winter ahead. COVID-19 cases in my home state of Wisconsin are surging; we are hot spot, logging an infection rate just under 25%. Trump campaigned here Saturday in Janesville, risking the lives of the citizens he was elected to protect. It’s an increasingly dystopian time, 15 days away from the election. Will our lives be mentally, physically, and spiritually restored, or how many more of us die? Continue reading →

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Oct 03 2020
Posts

Shouting from the Soapbox: Russian Roulette

“Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?” — Arthur Fleck, Joker

“Putin will be a Trump campaign surrogate while he quarantines.” — Senator Chris Murphy, (D) Foreign Relations Committee

Early Friday morning, around 12:30 a.m. I woke up to use the bathroom. Since the start of the pandemic, I sometimes have difficulty returning to sleep. My new habit and antidote to intermittent insomnia is to watch television news until the talking heads put me back to sleep. I turned on MSNBC, announcing late-breaking news, first, that Trump adviser, Hope Hicks tested positive for COVID-19 and shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that Trump and the First Lady, Melania, also contracted COVID-19. Oh, My! Continue reading →

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Sep 07 2020
1 Comment
Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Staycation Edition

Staycation – “A vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s home environs have to offer.”— Urban Dictionary

Things change, and some things remain the same.

From an earlier Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! essay about Staycations from September 6, 2015, The Pleasures (and Lessons) of a Staycation: 

It’s that time of year again when September arrives and I extend the Labor Day holiday by taking my annual Staycation. While students return to school after their families unpack from vacation and pack those back-to-school backpacks full of brand-new school supplies, I take a break from my day-to-day work routines and make my “to-do only if I want to lists.”  For me the essence of a staycation is to practice spontaneity (yes, I admit that I need to practice), sleep in if I want to, brunch at home or out with friends, attend movie matinees on weekdays, plan lots of coffee dates, stay in pajamas if I want to and take a vacation from showering for a day, and most importantly write, and edit, and write some more. I read too, essays and blogs, opinion pieces online, poetry and movie reviews and reread my journals. Continue reading →

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