Water

I hated this 'water feature' when we first moved here but with a few tweaks (removing the white rocks on a grill covering the water, placing a few other rocks strategically here and there and putting in a couple of water plants) I have grown to like it. The filter clogs easily and the water turns to a trickle until John cleans it, but I still think it looks interesting. I particularly liked the bubbles and ripples at the bottom of the basalt pillar.

Our power walk was short today, but I think we should get extra credit for the hills. I had enough time to put double sided sticky tape around the top of the big pot on the porch where That Damn Bird perches before leaving for Pilates class. It hasn't deflected her from flying into the door trying to look at herself or whatever she is doing, but so far she hasn't perched on the pot. 

At the Pilates studio we were introduced the the new Pilates Chairs. They're not really chairs but backless stools with two foot pedals with springs that can be pushed up and down. Definitely something different. I think Sheresse was worried about somebody toppling off the back of it but we all listened to her careful instructions, nobody fell off and she congratulated us for being such good students and listening to her instructions. I couldn't resist saying, 'Thats why we're here.'

I think the Boeing bribe/'trade deal'/gift has finally awakened some Republicans in Congress from their stupor. At least some of them have made statements to the effect that 'this is not ok'. The Constitution specifically states that the President cannot accept gifts worth more than $430. I don't suppose the framers (or anybody else) ever considered the gift of a jumbo jet. Blatant corruption hardly describes the situation. 
Agent Orange says merely, 'Why can't we accept a gift.? We give gifts to everybody else, why shouldn't we get one?' 

Except he hasn't given anyone a gift. He has trashed the agencies that support people with nothing, and taken the money to line his own pocket and those of his corporate cronies. Why do these people who have more money than they could spend in several  lifetimes feel the need to take away the money some people, many who voted for him, need to survive?   
And now he and Musk who raided all the government agencies, not to 'root out waste and corruption' but to gather the data of ordinary Americans to 'train' his A-I venture, are in the middle East, not trying to stop the ongoing massacre in Gaza, but making business deals  to further benefit themselves.

As of now, I feel like nothing much in my little corner of the world has changed. I don't mean to sound overly dramatic, but more and more, I feel it getting smaller, squeezed by unthinkable evil forces beyond our control.