Peace Corps Honduras"The blog continues": Time and time again

Alison, a DC neighbor whom I've known since she was a child, visited us here in Berkeley Springs. She then went over to son Jon's workplace, at a desk adjacent to the CoolFont pool, only a temporary location for cabin rentals while the main lodge, burned down in a fire, is being rebuilt nearby. Alison has been studying Spanish on line and without ever having visited a Spanish-speaking country, she correctly speaks barely accented Spanish. It's very hard to avoid an accent when learning a new language, especially after age 20, as she has done. Even though Nixon's advisor Henry Kissinger came to the US at age 15, he was never able to ditch his pronounced German accent.

Thanks to all my good neighbors on Capitol Hill back in DC for keeping me in touch with events occurring there. I really miss you. I do hope someone buys my DC house soon and becomes part of your neighborhood community, so please send any prospects to realtor Betsy at Long & Foster. Betsy.Rutkowski@longandfoster.com

On a recent balmy evening, standing alone out on our elevated screened porch here in W Va., I saw the wide empty field below illuminated under bright moonlight. Suddenly, a rabbit's head popped up from underground, then another and another until some 6 wild rabbits had emerged and all started darting around, as if excited to see each other. Several then began munching on grass and leaves. Others just ran around or sniffed each other. If I'd dared to let the dog out, she would have gone crazy.

Then the next day, I saw wild geese out for a stroll, lots of wildlife around here.

AP, Former U.S. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, age 71, arrived at a federal prison last Tuesday to begin serving an 11-year sentence for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt.

His wife's sentence is still pending.

I've already said I don't disagree with Georgia authorities for keeping a woman technically "alive" until her unborn son could be delivered to give him a chance to survive. I am not a supporter of "abortion rights" as I believe the rights of 2 persons are involved, including one not yet born.

Meanwhile, back at the Vatican, Pope Leo has been making his mark.
The Pope even donned a Chicago White Sox cap to show his loyalty to the home team.

History often repeats itself, as human beings fail to learn from past mistakes, so each generation must keep on learning the same lessons over and over again. One such lesson involves the election and re-election of President Trump.

Donald Trump was not a president whom the electorate had initially supported, yet he won that first time by a fluke with only a minority of votes. Then the next time, a small majority actually voted for him--with some already regretting it. So yes folks, buckle up your seatbelts as we still have 3 1/2 years to go in this current Trump presidency. It promises to be a wild ride.

Trump's offspring Ivanka and Barron were conspicuously absent when the President celebrated his 79th birthday. He also celebrated himself with a very showy, very costly, fully tax-payer funded military parade held in his honor in Washington DC. Nor did Don Jr., Tiffany, or Kai show up there either. All apparently had prior obligations.

Big crowds were actually out in force on that particular day, though definitely not in support of the President. Massive No Kings protests had been organized nationwide targeting Mr. Trump precisely on his 79th birthday, overshadowing the meager attendance at his own rather flashy and costly military parade. Nationally, far and away more protesters came out against Trump than those relatively few supporters actually celebrating his birthday with him back in Washington, DC.

Wash. Post, ‘No Kings’ rallies draw big crowds to protest Trump and his policies

USA Today, ‘No Kings’ draws big crowds to protest President Trump

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets across the country in coordinated "No Kings" marches to protest President Trump.

No Kings Day in Chicago, below, was a huge event.

Protesters also filled our narrow streets right here in Berkeley Springs, W Va., up until now a reliable Trump bastion. Our total population here is only about 750, but with everyone out protesting, it looked like more than that. We did not see anyone carrying a pro-Trump sign. Has a complete switch occurred here as well as in the national psyche? My son, a faithful Trump voter, seemed surprised and may even be having second thoughts himself. We don't discuss politics between us.

Here below were protesters in nearby Martinsburg, W Va.

Deadline, Protesters Fill Streets In Los Angeles And Other Cities As Part Of “No Kings” Demonstrations To Oppose Donald Trump

Wash. Post, ‘No Kings’ rallies draw big crowds to protest Trump and his policies

Trump ‘Reamed Out’ Hegseth for Flop Birthday Parade

While crowds of protesters came out for "No Kings" rallies against Trump nationwide, almost no one showed up to support his own military parade designed to celebrate himself and his 79th birthday. Hegseth took the rap for that failure.

Opposition to Mr. Trump and his policies continues to grow.

Urgent from Amnesty International: Tell Your Two Senators Vote NO on President Trump’s

“One Big Beautiful Bill” That Would Fund Mass Deportations & Cruel Border Policies

Wash. Post, Poll: GOP budget bill faces nearly 2-to-1 opposition, with many Americans unaware of details

LA Times, Christopher Hanson, a former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was fired without cause by President Trump. The firing comes as Trump seeks to take authority away from the independent safety agency. The White House says the president has the right to remove employees within his own executive branch.

When my son and I go out for a drive these days, we always see a lone red car parked by the side of the road with a For Sale sign in the window with a number to call. It's been out there for several days now. Can you imagine doing that elsewhere, just leaving a car outside to sell itself?

Because of frequent rain alternating with bright sunshine, flowers have keep popping up here and there and almost everywhere in Berkeley Springs.

Alaska issued a heat advisory for Fairbanks when the high temperature there approached 85 F, not so different from temperatures right around here.

Yahoo, West Virginia Flash Floods: 6 Confirmed Dead, At Least 2 Missing

Yes, it's been quite rainy for the last few days. No global warming here so far this year.

Below is a recent message from a longtime friend in Bhutan.

to me

hi aunty,

greeting from Bhutan. I am doing well, currently. I have taken Extra ordinary leave for two years. i am taking care of my parents who are about the same age as you. My dad is 89 years old and mum is 88 years. We are in a village.

i will keep in touch.

bye take care

I certainly have faced an extraordinary set of sorrows and personal challenges during my 87 years--including rejection by my family for my marriage, the untimely deaths of my son and foster son, an unwanted divorce, having my bank account emptied by my late estranged husband, and then after that, barely escaping numerous dangers in far off lands. Yet, I'm also grateful for my very adventuresome life and for all my wonderful friends, including those right now in W Va., as well as many others all around this multi-faceted and fascinating world. After having been in so many tight spots and after surviving so many dangers, almost nothing actually scares me any more.

Very few folks I've met recently or even good friends back in DC share anything like the wide range of my own personal experiences, some chronicled in my books. I still enjoy reminiscing and thumbing through those books, reliving many memorable moments. I may look like your typical "little old lady," but have survived many atypical dangers and am here still standing.

As mentioned before, I also have a recurrent novel called Cyber Song whirling around in my head, but real life has actually proven more interesting, so I've never put anything down on paper.

Wash. Post, Violeta Chamorro, Nicaraguan leader who helped end civil war, dies at 95

I once knew Violeta Chamorro quite well and was with her at her home in 1990 when we were organizing against Daniel Ortega, the former dictatorial president of Nicaragua. Yet, I was there with Violeta only after having been denied a visa by the Ortega government. So I'd entered Nicaragua clandestinely via a jungle outpost from neighboring Costa Rica, then proceeded directly to Violeta's home to help plan our next steps.

Here are some pages from my Confessions book regarding my own involvement in events at that time. From the upper left, I am seen congratulating Costa Rican President Oscar Arias after he's inaugurated a new swimming pool in the town of Grecia by swimming the entire length underwater. Below that, former President Jimmy Carter and I meet at Violeta Chamorro's home on the evening of her successful presidential election. Then Violeta is seen being congratulated by her supporters after her resounding victory. Finally, in neighboring Haiti, a supporter carrying a symbolic chicken on his head celebrates Aristide's election there. I was privileged to have been so close to the action during these and many other watershed moments.

Violeta Chamorro had bravely agreed to take up the mantel to run for president herself after her husband's assassination by the cowardly Ortega regime. She then went on to roundly defeat Daniel Ortega. So Violeta, a mother of 4 and a newcomer to politics, then became Nicaragua's new president.

I am proud to have played a role in her victory.

Many Americans back then were Ortega supporters, but being fluent in Spanish and having traveled all around the country myself, I knew that most Nicaraguans were eager to jettison Ortega but afraid to admit it because of the regime's very harsh repression. So it had been difficult for opponents to organize against Ortega, especially because of his control of the media and the press. Yet some of us were convinced that Violeta could win, so we quietly encouraged her voters. And then she actually did win.

On that long-ago evening at her home only hours after her victory, we, her staunch supporters, advised Violeta to delay her announcement until the following morning to allow Ortega and his followers to adjust to the news. Former President Jimmy Carter was right there along with us, talking to Violeta in his twangy Spanish. She then went on to serve as a very popular president for the next 7 years.

But perhaps the final joke is actually on the rest of us, because in 2007 Daniel Ortega again ran for president of Nicaragua and won, though with a minority of votes cast. He had presented himself as a completely changed man. At first, he'd even allowed the US Peace Corps to continue operating in the country. But then slowly and methodically, he began tightening his grip, until finally, he once again became a full-blown dictator, just as before. This time, having learned his lesson, he is still holding tight with no plans to ever let go.