President Trump is an incredible force for good, in my opinion. I’ve watched him troll the Left while he does amazing things for our country. He’s been shot at too many times to count, and yet still gets up there without being in a bullet-proof bubble (probably to the upset of his security team). He’s not afraid to tell it how it is, in plain language that anyone can understand. He’s blunt as a brick (which is good and bad in turns, but the end result is, imo, good).

Mister Trump is something different. Mister Trump puts himself and his brand ahead of the well-being of the country. He thinks of himself first, and the United States second. He gets bored or frustrated or angry at having to follow rules he doesn’t like, and attempts to skip the line using his prestige, name, and influence. He’s always been like this, and it was not my problem when he was a private citizen. But right now, he’s doing it while in office, and he’s muddying the waters. NOW it’s my problem. And yours.

I have stated, and will continue to state, that I support President Trump. I have largely liked his policies, supported the platform he ran on, and find him to be an effective President. But there are moments when he seems to stop being Pres. Trump, and goes back to being Mr. Trump… except he can’t do that while he’s in office. It doesn’t work. It’s not a regular job, where he can go home at night and take off the mask and just be Don the dad and husband. Being President is a 24/7 job, and you NEVER get to truly step away from it. And that’s no secret; everyone knows it, going into the job. So I don’t appreciate those moments when Mr. Trump outshines or pushes aside my President.

The most recent version of this is Freedom 250 versus America 250. Freedom 250 was created by Trump and friends in 2025, to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday. But America 250 was created in 2016 by a bipartisan group, to do the same thing. And now they’re clashing, very publicly. Technically, America 250 should be working with Trump and Freedom 250, but there are issues. A large part of those issues is that Trump touched it, and Orange Man Bad, so people want nothing to do with it. But part of it is that Trump has sort of sidled around the edge of America 250 (which was put in place before Trump’s first term, and so isn’t specifically a “fuck Trump” organization) and done things without coordinating with the group that’s supposed to be in charge.

Freedom 250 got a bunch of musicians to agree to play on the Mall in DC, who then backed out because Trump touched it. This has become a huge embarrassment for the country, in my opinion. There should have been contracts signed that precluded such things. And this is one reason why Trump’s backdoor handling of this has been less than perfect. If it had been done through the America 250 people, there would have been no option (nor an excuse, if we’re going to be honest) for people to back out of America’s birthday party.

The other side of this, is that many of us are planning a birthday party for our country while simultaneously fighting off folks who keep saying they’d rather be anywhere but here and that they hate America. It’s like having a bunch of those grumpy aunts who always show up to say bad shit at your mom’s birthday party. Who invited these folks, you want to ask. The problem is, they’re family (citizens), whether we like them or not, and so we can’t just kick them out. I don’t want Aunt Karen at my celebration, but I am going to have to put up with her and her whinging, because it’s what we do.

I need President Trump to keep doing what he’s doing. I need him to keep taking the heat and distracting the goons so that the government can get things done. It’s something he’s really good at. I need him to keep cleaning up cities, fixing national monuments, and dealing with the drug, alcohol, and mental health issues that are plaguing our cities. I need him to remember DOGE and get that cracking again. I don’t need to see reimbursement checks; I need to see him paying down our national debt. I need our men and women in uniform back home. I know he’s working on all these things and more, and I support what he’s done so far, and even how he’s done it.

But I also need Mister Trump to stop bouncing up and interfering. Every time Mr. Trump comes in, Pres. Trump has to leave, because they can’t co-exist. Until Pres. Trump is done with this job, Mr. Trump *must* take a back seat, and stay out of the way. Most of the checks and balances on our government are there for really good reasons, and if he busts them up, others will do so as well. I need him to stop giving the Dems ideas and ammo.

The fourth week of May is always a pleasant one for me. I abandon the modern world, pack up all my 18th century clothes, and head up to the Fort at No. 4 for a full week of immersion in pre-Revolutionary War British America. My first task upon arriving is always to start a fire, unless someone’s been kind enough to do so for me. Arriving on a Friday morning, as I did, I started my own fire as soon as I was able. The picture is from Friday evening, after the light failed and I was alone and finally finding a moment of peace.

That’s essentially why I like going up to the Fort. The peace just fills the place. Even when it’s busy, as it is during this time, the evenings are quiet. There’s no television, no internet (or very little), nor even any late night chores. Once the light is gone, you’re rather limited in what you can do. While I do have access to a single electric light for emergencies, I rarely use it (it’s over bright and harsh, and I have the fire, and some candles). I do read on my phone while I’m there, but I avoid the majority of social media, the news, etc. The whole idea is to envelop myself in the essence of the 18th century. It takes about 72 hours to purge myself of my modern habits, and then my 18th century self comes out of her shell.

During the time between Friday (May 22) and Wednesday (May 26), there’s a thing going on in our lower field called The Original Rendezvous. It attracts about 150 or so people, all depicting folks from the 1720s through the 1820s. They have contests for the most historically accurate set-up, cribbage tournaments, bragging contests, an amazing potluck, and so much more. I baked 18 loaves of bread on the Saturday afternoon, which was a ton of work but fairly amazing. I went and sold those loaves for $4 a loaf, and the Rendezvous folks came running to buy. Some remembered me from last year, and were ripping into their loaves the second they got them! Such an amazing feeling, feeding so many people and celebrating the trade that would have happened between travelers stopped at the Fort.

About half way through the event, I have to do laundry. This isn’t an option; I don’t have enough appropriate clothing to last a full seven days. I dress the part the entire week, even though the Fort is closed to the public on several of those days, because the Rendezvousers all stay in historically accurate clothes. So on Wednesday, I was out bright and early with soap, a bucket of hot water, and my dirty things. There was much hand scrubbing, washing, rinsing, wringing, and then hanging, but I managed to get enough things clean to make it to the end of my trip.

Of course, now that I’m home, there’s even more laundry to do. Not only am I washing all the things I wore, but also my bed things, my covers (for draping over historically inaccurate Rubbermaid tubs, for instance), and the modern clothing I’d had with me for my dinner out with a friend, and for sleeping in. Yes, in the 18th century, people slept in their shifts. No, I generally don’t, because 18th century people also dealt with a lot of bodily fluids, smells, and other stuff that my modern feelings can’t deal with. That and the idea of a spider getting into my kit while I’m asleep just skeeves me out. LOL! So I have modern sleeping things. I also use underwear, which they did not (at least nothing like we have today), and I’m thankful for that modern underthing which makes my life so much better.

My only other modernity that I always wear is my glasses. While they did have some glasses in period, I don’t have any at the moment (soon, hopefully), and so I just wear my modern ones. Not cutting one’s fingers off while cooking, and not slicing one’s foot off while using an axe are much more important to the Fort and myself than the historically accurate blind bumbling I’d do without my glasses. Still, I plan on getting some more accurate glasses made in the next year or so. While I won’t be purchasing from Townsend, they do have a good image of them here.

Chris also joined me at the fort, which was fun. He now has more accurate pants and a good hat, and I’m working on his vest and shirt. After that, it’ll be moccasins for his feet.  Yes, I’m standing on a high step and I’m still shorter than him in the photo. I’m short. He spent his time in the joinery, working on a bench for use at the Fort. We have some slabs with raw sides, leftovers from his work with the chainsaw sawmill, and those are being flattened and smoothed, and will get four legs put into them. Rough benches, indeed, but definitely historically accurate. He seems to be enjoying working with the hand tools, and it was fun watching him interact with the school kids who came through.

I had long talks with a variety of people while I was at the Fort, all enjoyable. I’ll be going up there to teach bread baking classes again, something I really enjoy doing at the Fort. I’ll also be attending the French and Indian War this coming weekend (June 6/7), if anyone’s local and wants to come find me. I’ll be with the Pequawket Alliance outside the palisade, being a citizen of New France that weekend. After that, it’ll be a while before I’m staying overnight there again. I have a lot of work to do with library presentations and ren faires through the rest of the summer. I’m truly hoping to get some writing time in for my new 18th century cookbook, because I haven’t been able to make the time yet this year. It’s been crazy busy!

The end of my week at the Fort was on Friday the 29th. I was sad to go, but mightily glad to get back to modern showers. I can live with no electricity for most things, and it doesn’t bother me at all. There’s just something about showers, though, that make everything else better. While the Fort does have an emergency shower behind the blacksmith forge, it’s cold water only, and quite… bracing. I did use it once, when the day got up to 86*F, and it was nice to be clean but I think the neighborhood was aware of my shenanigans because I squealed when that icy cold waterfall hit my tender flesh. LOL!

Being at the Fort let me shut down a lot of my inner squirrels. I was able to focus better, breathe deeper, and sleep well. My only issue was that the rope bed I use was badly in need of tightening. Chris and I did get it done on the Friday right before I went home, and we took in over a foot of slack in the ropes! The entire bed is much more solid, and I can’t wait  until I get the chance to sleep in it again.

Even loose, the rope bed with feather ticks (two!!) on top is ridiculously comfortable. I just got tired of swaying when getting in and out (the ropes hold the bed together, so it’s important to keep it tight), and the dip in the center. Now, it’s much more pretty to look at, without the swayback feel to it.

I’ve been home long enough to have recovered from the pack and unpack of the event. I’m missing the quiet of the Fort, but quite enjoying the television and social media. Well, some of it. I think what I miss most, though, is being able to step out of my front door and see the Milky Way, and all the stars and planets hanging above me. My home has too much ambient light to see much in the sky beyond the moon and brightest of the stars. But up at the Fort? You can see SO many stars. It’s gorgeous. I had a great view of not just the moon, but also Mars, Venus, and Jupiter bright in the sky. It was absolutely impressive.

I’ve always liked this song. I think the first time I ever heard it was on the Muppet Show (yeah, I know, I’m dating myself). More than just liking it, I feel like it says so much about today…

There’s a portion of the lyrics that say:

There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Are getting so much resistance from behind

It just resonates. I realize in ’66 it was probably the Left they were talking about, but if you really put your mind to it, the issues of ’66 on the Left are today’s Right leaning issues more often than not.

I’m tired of there being no way to communicate across the great divide. I’m tired of the resistance to facts. I’m tired of the lies. I’m tired of having to police Every Single Thing I read or hear about in a day. It’s just exhausting. I’m sure that’s what it’s supposed to be…

But here’s the thing: I’m not giving up. I might be quiet (because, as I remind myself frequently, I am NOT the idiot-whisperer), but I’m still here. I am not giving in to illustrating “when people are wrong on the internet” (for the most part), because it doesn’t actually fix anything. But I do speak up when it’s important, among my friends and family. I’m not where they are, a lot of the time… but I’m noticing more and more that people are beginning to be more open to talking.

This week at the Fort, I had a long talk with someone whose opinion I value highly. We were not on the same side… but we recognized that our end goal was the same. It led to interesting discussion, which both of us decided was worth looking into. Neither of us changed our opinion, per se, but we heard the other side and granted there was at least a grain of truth that warranted investigation. So it isn’t all bad, folks. It just feels like it is, sometimes.

Ballot Betrayal: Furious Americans Turn on Thune as He Stalls SAVE Act in Senate Swamp
https://gellerreport.com/2026/05/ballot-betrayal-furious-americans-turn-on-thune-as-he-stalls-save-act-in-senate-swamp.html/
The explosive standoff over the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act has pushed the U.S. Senate into a pressure cooker, transforming the legislative battle into a high-stakes referendum on the leadership of Majority Leader John Thune. For a rapidly growing number of Americans, the slow, agonizing movement on this landmark election security bill is nothing short of a tactical surrender – a profound failure of nerve from a leader increasingly viewed as a worthless roadblock to the populist agenda. Across the country, the hatred directed at Thune is reaching a boiling point, fueled by the conviction that his deliberate inaction is a direct betrayal of the citizens he was chosen to lead. Indeed, there is no institutional excuse; his handling of the SAVE Act is a definitive reason why he should resign.

Ivanka Trump Targeted for Assassination by IRGC Terrorist
https://gellerreport.com/2026/05/ivanka-trump-targeted-for-assassination-by-irgc-terrorist.html/
Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, who was recently captured, made a pledge to kill the First Daughter and had a blueprint of her Florida home.

James Woods Shares DAMNING Laundry List of Just How Unhinged, Destructive, and VIOLENT Dems Are and WOW
https://twitchy.com/samj/2026/05/24/james-woods-shares-damning-laundry-list-of-just-how-unhinged-destructive-and-violent-dems-are-and-wow-n2428526
https://x.com/RealJamesWoods/status/2058445284506816588/photo/1

Sheriff Says She’ll Arrest Fake Made-Up Wannabe Law Enforcement: ‘You Don’t Want This Smoke’
https://twitchy.com/brettt/2026/05/23/sheriff-says-shell-arrest-fake-made-up-wannabe-law-enforcement-you-dont-want-this-smoke-n2428505
The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office posted the news conference to YouTube back in January, and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal mentions Rene Good but not Alex Pretti. Still, this was the first time I’d seen it, and damn, this woman is the sheriff? How much more woke could she be? First, she invokes Good, then she says that her department will arrest the fake, made-up, wannabe law enforcement officers of ICE if they set foot in Philadelphia. “You don’t want this smoke,” she warns ICE.

Democrat Hijacks Memorial Day to Pay Tribute to……………………….……….George Floyd?
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/05/25/democrat-honors-george-floyd-on-memorial-day-n4953232
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had other plans took to X and posted a lengthy, heartfelt tribute — not to a fallen soldier, but to George Floyd, since May 25 is also the sixth anniversary of when Floyd died. Patriotic Americans were visiting cemeteries, laying wreaths, and reflecting on the price of freedom. Frey chose to honor a drug addict who died of a fentanyl overdose, using the day to push a racial justice narrative.

Henry Nowak and the Rise of Left-Wing Anarcho-Tyranny
https://amac.us/newsline/politics/henry-nowak-and-the-rise-of-left-wing-anarcho-tyranny/

Normalizing Political Violence
https://amac.us/newsline/politics/normalizing-political-violence/
We are living through a dangerous period – one seeking to condone political violence, encouraging it for anti-constitutional ideologies like anarchism, nihilism, communism, radical Islam, anti-Semitism, various warped, anti-historical mindsets that deny American history, tradition, faith, freedom, work, and basic respect.

DHS Slams NJ Governor Mikie Sherrill’s Memorial Day Visit to ICE Facility as ‘Political Stunt’
https://americanjournaldaily.com/nj-gov-feds/

‘The View’ melts down over TrumpRx drug plan to lower prices: ‘We’re all going to die’
https://www.theblaze.com/shows/sara-gonzales-unfiltered/the-view-melts-down-over-trumprx-drug-plan-to-lower-prices-were-all-going-to-die
billionaire Mark Cuban on the TrumpRX.gov initiative…“I think honestly, by this point, President Trump could cure cancer and Democrats and crazy libs would still be against it. They’d be like, ‘But let me tell you why cancer is good, actually,’ because they’re just so unhinged,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments. “Like they have terminal cases of TDS,”

Heads Exploded When Vox Published This Global Warming Report
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2026/05/26/heads-exploded-when-vox-published-this-global-warming-report-n4953245
“Climate change’s worst-case scenario is officially canceled,” young adult infotainment site Vox finally admitted this weekend, causing progressive heads to explode… It’s Official: The Climate Scam Was a Scam All Along – https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2026/05/05/its-official-the-climate-scam-was-a-scam-all-along-n4952514

Ninja Warrior is now officially an Olympic sport
https://www.avclub.com/ninja-warrior-official-olympic-games-2028-los-angeles
The Japanese TV producer behind Ninja Warrior has signed an official deal to license its obstacle designs to the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

Defending America from ALL Enemies, Foreign and Domestic, The Counter Insurgency
https://mailchi.mp/958c5ecbd29b/column-of-the-week-defending-america-from-all-enemies-foreign-and-domestic-the-counter-insurgency?e=85944da000
Presently, America, liberty, and the Constitution are threatened more than at any time in U.S. history except for the November 3, 2020, through January 6, 2021, presidential election and Electoral College certification.

rcd via email
Trump admin cracks down on leaks with sweeping NDA plan for federal workers
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/05/27/trump-admin-cracks-down-on-leaks-with-sweeping-nda-plan-for-federal-workers-1642682/

rcd via email
Marco Rubio Announces U.S. Has Secured Agreements With 20 Nations to Deport Illegals
https://wltreport.com/2026/05/27/marco-rubio-announces-u-s-has-secured-agreements-with-20-nations-to-deport-illegals/#mpottlbgjcnylc8he99
Twenty countries around the world have now agreed to allow the U.S. to deport illegal aliens there — even if the immigrant isn’t from that country, originally. Brilliantly, the DHS is using these agreements in order to speed up deportation cases by getting many illegal aliens to agree to go back to their home countries rather than trying to fight the system. For instance, under the threat of being deported to a third-world country in Africa, an illegal alien from Mexico will suddenly cave and beg to go back home instead!

City commission demands emergency declaration over LGBTQ refugees fleeing to Seattle from GOP states
https://www.theblaze.com/news/lgbtq-emergency-seattle-refugees-gop
The commission said the throngs of 2SLGBTQIA+ people streaming into Seattle were leading to a strain on community organizations and a lack of resources available to them. “We are at risk of seeing some of these community-based organizations ceasing to exist in the next three, six, or 12 months,”…”The downstream costs of letting people slip through the cracks is going to cost the city more,”
(I bet that these states and cities will DEMAND emergency federal aid money – jlr)

FA 2 FO – Trump Cutting NATO’s Access to Massive Amount of US Weapon Systems
https://www.westernjournal.com/fool-around-find-trump-cutting-natos-access-massive-amount-us-weapon-systems/
“The U.S. accounts for roughly 62 percent of total defense spending across NATO, with an annual military budget of around $980 billion,”…There are 32 member countries in NATO, and one country — the United States — pays almost two-thirds of the bill.

The Pedro Promise
https://michaelsmith.substack.com/p/the-pedro-promise
Vote for Pedro and he will make your wildest dreams come true…Never underestimate the seductive power of the Pedro promise. It doesn’t matter if it can come true, for many the mere promise is enough.

Shooting the horse for no good reason.
https://miguelgg.substack.com/p/shooting-the-horse-for-no-good-reason
The only thing that the Morons of Maranello did right with this car was not painting in in their official Ferrari Red.
(BUT WAIT!m There’s MORE – jlr)
https://miguelgg.substack.com/p/ferrari-luce-ad

A Nation of Suspects
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2026/05/andrew-p-napolitano/a-nation-of-suspects/
Some of the recent legal challenges to the use of surveillance by the Department of Homeland Security upon Americans have resulted in the revelation of truly terrifying behavior by the government, in direct defiance of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. We now know that the federal government spies on innocent Americans without suspicion and without warrants.

Survey: 65% of Americans Alter Summer Travel Plans Due to Rising Prices
https://money.usnews.com/credit-cards/articles/2026-summer-travel-survey

American Thinker – Recent Articles
https://us17.campaign-archive.com/?e=85f805da73&u=64b02e9269ba4913b764daf76&id=621d15ad1e

NM Democrat Governor (Loony Lujan- jlr) Probably Said the Dumbest Thing Regarding Winning Elections
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2026/05/29/nm-democrat-governor-probably-said-the-dumbest-thing-regarding-elections-n2676866
She said that if their party focuses on Democratic women, they don’t need to worry about male voters.
video – 00:00:09 – https://twitter.com/i/status/2060035759013236974
(If you look carefully you can just barely see her right above the big D on the podium – jlr)

AlertsUSA Threat Journal
https://www.threatjournal.com/archive/tj05302026.html
U.S. Braces for Terror at 2026 World Cup

Newsom Calls for Chevron Boycott After Company Blames State Policies for High Gas Prices
https://americanjournaldaily.com/newsom-boycott-gas/
There’s a reliable pattern in American politics — so consistent you could set your watch to it. A government layers on regulations that jack up costs, constituents start drowning at the register, and rather than owning the consequences, elected officials scramble for someone else to pin it on. Accountability, apparently, is for the private sector only. But here’s where it gets interesting. What happens when a company decides to drop the corporate diplomacy and just tell customers the truth? What happens when they slap it right there on a sign at the gas pump for the whole state to see? Well, if you’re a certain Democratic governor with an ego the size of the Sacramento Valley, you melt down on social media… the sitting governor of California used his official government platform to organize a consumer boycott against a specific American energy company. Not over a safety violation. Not over a consumer fraud scandal. Because Chevron had the nerve to be honest with its customers.

Disney Makes the Most Hilarious Claim About ‘The View’
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/05/24/disney-makes-the-most-hilarious-claim-about-the-view-n4953199
Disney has made one of the most ridiculous legal arguments in recent memory: that The View is a legitimate news program.
No, really. They filed paperwork with the FCC and everything…Disney has handed the public a rare opportunity: the chance to make it official, on the record, that The View is exactly what everyone already knows it is.

No Wonder Men Are Opting Out
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/no-wonder-men-are-opting-out
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/05/19/no-wonder-men-are-opting-out/
…here is what nobody in the mainstream conversation will say: it is not only that marriage has become too costly and too legally treacherous for men — though it has. It’s that many young women themselves have become, to put it plainly, not worth having. Half of young British women don’t trust men. More than half of educated young women view men negatively. They arrive at relationships pre-loaded with grievance, primed by algorithms that have fed them a diet of male failure and female outrage since adolescence. They are, by their own account, anxious, miserable and politically furious.
What rational man, surveying this landscape, concludes that what his life is missing is a legally booby-trapped commitment to a woman primed to be impossible to keep happy?

Wednesday Short Cuts – Notable quotables from Hakeem Jeffries, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, The Washington Post, Katy Tur, Guy Benson, Ted Cruz, et al.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/127710
Demagogues – Leftmedia Buffoons – Village Idiot – Political Futures – Re: The Left – For the Record – Belly Laugh of the Day

Press Leakers Get a Dose of Flex Seal From Trump
https://patriotpost.us/articles/127715
The Justice Department has been subpoenaing media companies to track down government officials who are leaking sensitive information to the press.

Panda Express Employees Call the Cops Because a Man Was Wearing MAGA Hat
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2026/05/20/panda-express-employees-call-the-cops-because-a-man-was-wearing-maga-hat-n4953080
Leftists never pass up a chance to demonstrate that for all their claims that Trump is a “fascist” who is bent on destroying “our democracy,” they’re the real totalitarians who are absolutely intolerant of dissent and determined to stamp it out

The Consequences of Suicidal Empathy
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/05/suicidal_empathy_dying_to_be_kind.html
Empathy has been weaponized with palpably destructive results.

Democrats revolt over ‘biological’ wording in women’s history museum bill
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-revolt-over-biological-wording-womens-history-museum-bill
I really don’t understand this. The left can’t really be ‘that’ crazy, can they???

Tribal Politics Teach People to Hate
https://michaelsmith.substack.com/p/tribal-politics-teach-people-to-hate
In an age of ideological warfare, millions have been conditioned to see political opponents not as fellow Americans, but as moral monsters deserving contempt. Yet somehow, modern progressives have convinced themselves they alone occupy the moral high ground.

FBI Reports Largest Single-Year Decline In Violent Crime Since 1937, Crediting Trump Administration Reforms
https://americanjournaldaily.com/fbi-decline-history/
The data found that violent crime overall dropped by roughly 9.3 percent last year. Murders and non-negligent manslaughter declined by more than 18 percent, aggravated assaults fell by more than 7 percent. Rapes dropped roughly 7.6 percent, and property crime decreased by an estimated 12.4 percent.

Active Response Training – Weekend Knowledge Dump- May 22, 2026
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-may-22-2026

A lot of people like to whinge on about how much money Trump as made while in office. I generally ignore those folks. I look at the career criminals politicians like the Clintons, Obamas, and even the newer ones like AOC and such, who have made boatloads of cash while in office, and I don’t care if Trump has some stuff going. What he isn’t doing is taking a salary from the American people. What he isn’t doing is backstreet trading. I can live with it.

And then I run across this gem (H.R. 1761, designed to get a Trump faced $250 bill released). I have one word for this: NO.

When we founded this country (you know, 250 years ago, the very thing we’re celebrating this year), our Founders decided that we should not at any time have living presidents on currency. They had a lot of reasons for that, but the biggest was to avoid the appearance of America being a monarchy. Washington refused several times to be on coins. A law forbidding the minting of coins with living persons on it was enacted in 1866 (just after the Civil War ended). In practice, we didn’t even see a coin with a dead president on it until 1909, when they minted the Lincoln cent (for his 100th birthday).

Has the law been broken? Well, yes and no. It hasn’t been broken, in that no one has minted a coin with a living person’s image on it without permission of Congress, so no law was broken. Congress has given permission a couple of times. The first time was Calvin Coolidge, who was president during the Sesquicentennial (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ever-wonder-why-only-dead-presidents-people-are-on-u-s-coins.261976/) or 150th anniversary of our country’s founding. He didn’t take center stage, but shared the coin with George Washington, and was behind Washington in the actual imprint.

The other notable exception was that the treasury minted a JFK half dollar only a year after Kennedy’s death. But he was still dead.

I know Trump thinks the world of himself. He’s very self centered, while still being able to be a decent leader. I like that he has used his strengths to make our country better. While I don’t think that his face on legal tender will make the country fall apart, I do FIRMLY believe that our current laws should be left the hell alone. HR 1761 wants to abolish the rule stating only dead presidents can be on currency, while also putting Trump’s face on a $250 bill.

As I said on FaceBook when a friend brought it up, “I like Trump just fine, but I also like that we don’t put living presidents faces on money, even commemorative stuff. This is not a good thing imo. And the easiest way to tell that this is not a good thing is to ask myself, would I want a Democratic president to do this? The answer is no. I don’t want to have the face of a living Democratic president on money that might pass through my hands. Now I know we can say that it’s unlikely that I will ever hold $250 bill in my hand, but it is what it is. This is not a precedent or a law that I would like to break. It’s a bad idea.”

Look, there are a lot of things we could be doing. I, for one, would like to know what DOGE is doing right now. I’d like to get our men and women out of Iraq. I’d like to see us move to a peacetime setting at home (as much as is possible). Let’s focus on fixing the education system. Work on the economy. Release the Epstein Files. There’s SO MUCH he and the government could be doing.

Instead, now he’s bugging Congress to turn over long-standing stuff that has good reason to be there. Is this really the moment we want to talk about putting living faces on currency? Why? I have to ask: what is it being used to distract from? Argh.

If we want to truly commemorate our country’s 250th birthday, fine. Let’s issue a 250th coin or bill, sure. But why not use names that were a PART OF that amazing day? People who’ve never made it onto currency before? Betsy Ross. Nathaniel Greene. James Forten. James Lafayette. It’s not like there aren’t a TON of people who were integral to the founding and formation of this country, who could grace a coin or bill. Sigh… I do not like this hill, and I am not willing to die on it. But I’m also ridiculously tired of reporting people who are saying that since only dead people are on money, they should off Trump. Because frankly, that’s the next step in this. And I DO NOT LIKE IT.

I love songs by strong women. This one really hit me. I love the tune, the slightly odd scansion of it, and her voice just purrs. I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

Tomorrow morning (Friday, May 22nd), I’m leaving for the Fort at No. 4. I’ll be doing cooking and baking demos, first for school children on Friday and then for patrons on Saturday and Sunday. It’s also the week of the big Original Rendezvous, which you can tour if you visit the fort over the weekend. The Rendezvous covers the time from about 1740 to 1840 (roughly). There are mountain men, F&I folks, RevWar folks, and a lot of others. It’s a lot of fun, and highly educational. I encourage anyone and everyone to come visit me and the Rendezvous people!

I’ll be doing my first attempt at large batch baking this year. That means putting between 12 and 20 loaves of bread into the big bake oven, at least a few times during the week I’ll be there. No more “make 2 loaves at a time” stuff; it’s time to learn how to make a lot of loaves, as they would have back then. I’ll also be doing cooking for myself and my helpers, and making more notes for my 18th century cookbook.

Unfortunately, all that means I won’t be posting here. I do have some small access to internet there, but it’s sketchy and I generally don’t use it. This is my time to DISconnect from the world, and so I’ll be going dark here for the time I’m at the fort. I promise I’ll come back with tales of food cooked, bread baked, and new skills learned!

Meet the Texas Democrat Who Wants a Prison Camp for ‘American Zionists’
https://redstate.com/ben-smith/2026/05/19/meet-the-texas-democrat-who-wants-a-prison-camp-for-american-zionists-n2202512
A Democratic congressional candidate in San Antonio wants to turn an ICE detention center into a prison for “American Zionists,” and she has a runoff election in one week. Maureen Galindo, running to represent Texas’ newly redrawn 35th Congressional District, is facing a cascade of condemnation after a series of social media posts in which she called for Zionists to be imprisoned, accused Jewish “Zionists” of controlling politicians and the media, and declared that her runoff opponent should be tried for treason.
(sounds like she is trying to get elected on the far left wack-a-doodle ticket – jlr)

via https://www.facebook.com/MichaelARothman
𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐏 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐇 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃𝐒: 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐘𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐂 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 — 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄
Fields, with the receipts as a precinct chair:
‘𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘺𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘊 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 — “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 10 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘯, 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”
‘𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘤𝘵 — 𝘢.𝘬.𝘢. 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 — 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘛𝘚𝘋 — 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴? 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘺𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭-𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴.”
Why this delegate’s testimony lands. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐮𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝟑𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, and Cornyn personally negotiated it — the precise category of ‘reasonable compromise’ that historically convinces moderate Texas Republicans to vote red and gets cited as proof Texas can work across the aisle. 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬.
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐎𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐒 𝐇𝐈𝐌, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐏 𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌

Alleged Manifesto in San Diego Mosque Mass Shooting Throws Wrench in Early Assumptions About Motives
https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2026/05/19/maniesto-in-san-diego-mosque-shooting-n2202515
The attackers were NOT Trans and they blame Jewish people for everything – They hated women, they were incels. – They said they didn’t hate Muslims. They said they hated Islam. They hated Black people. – They hated all immigrants (legal and illegal) – They hated gay people and trans. The shooters were incels. Repeat, they were not trans – The shooters were NOT MAGA, did NOT like Trump and did NOT identify with the Right. – The shooters openly called for the Left to shoot Trump and Vance – One of the shooters said he was/is left wing depending on the definition. He also claimed to be Christian.

JB Pritzker Admin Depicts White People, Cops as Mosquitoes in Microaggression Training That Rails Against ‘Color Blindness
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/jb-pritzker-admin-depicts-white-people-cops-as-mosquitoes-in-microaggression-training-that-rails-against-color-blindness/
The training from Pritzker’s Department of Human Rights—offered to ‘private-sector, government, and public participants’—also shows a black woman torching the mosquitoes with a flamethrower
video – 00:01:58 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDd3bzA7450&t=5s

The Gospel According to Useful Idiots
https://michaelsmith.substack.com/p/the-gospel-according-to-useful-idiots
Modern Progressivism Runs on Magical Thinking, Institutional Money, and the Refusal to Ask One Simple Question: “Is It Working?”

Cars Are Fast Becoming Dystopian Prison Pods…
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/cars-are-fast-becoming-dystopian-prison-pods
The surveillance state has found its newest frontier: your car’s dashboard. What used to be a symbol of American freedom and independence is rapidly morphing into a high-tech cage that watches your every move and can override your decisions at will.

Extreme Hakeem Says Things
https://michaelsmith.substack.com/p/extreme-hakeem-says-things
Given, those things are unconstitutional and racist, but it is (D)ifferent when they do it.
Late last night, I saw a montage of prominent Democrats and their leaders openly threatening those who oppose them – but it isn’t just their opposition, it is anyone who isn’t 100% on board with their stealth fascism and authoritarianism disguised as “democracy”.

Gavin Newsom Says Democrats Will Circumvent Election Results
https://gellerreport.com/2026/05/threat-to-democracy-gavin-newsom-says-democrats-will-circumvent-election-results.html/
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has a secret “break the glass” plan to prevent California from electing a Republican governor

“Even The Center Is Vanishing”
https://gellerreport.com/2026/05/even-the-center-is-vanishing.html
Not only have conservatives become vanishingly rare in academia, but so have centrists. That’s how complete the left’s dominance is: Even moderates are now a fringe group in academia.
pic – https://x.com/SteveStuWill/status/2056175243232940032

Ketanji Brown Jackson Publicly Trashes All 8 of Her Fellow Supreme Court Justices
https://www.westernjournal.com/ketanji-brown-jackson-publicly-trashes-8-fellow-supreme-court-justices/
She suggested that the court acted politically by speeding up the case’s final ruling so that Louisiana would have time to craft a new map for the upcoming midterm elections.

New Skyraider II ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Joins AFSOC Fleet
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/05/19/new-skyraider-ii-swiss-army-knife-joins-afsoc-fleet-n2202495
The OA-1K Skyraider II, to be assigned to the United States Special Operations Command. The OA-1K was, we note, developed by L3Harris from their AT-802 Air Tractor – a cropduster. And the new plane, aside from having a storied name in close-air support, has plenty of capability in its own right.

MA city votes to disable gunshot detection system just one week after major “active-shooter event” in order to shield blacks, migrants from cops
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/4380134/posts
This, of course, means that the criminals in high-crime areas will be free to commit more crimes thanks to the color of their skin and immigration status. Everyone who is not part of these privileged groups will just have to dodge the bullets.

The Stupid was strong whit this one.
https://miguelgg.substack.com/p/the-stupid-was-strong-whit-this-one
All the wrong things were done. – If you are not putting the same effort (or more) to train your brain on self-defense legal issues as you are doing range work, you can end up also wearing orange jammies for a long time
embedded video – 00:01:12

I worked at NHRF for two weekends, and they were so different from one another it’s hard to even describe.

Our first weekend, Saturday was raw. The high for the day was 56*F, and let me tell you, it was raining buckets. So it was cold, wet, and miserable. It’s not often I call uncle, but at the end of the day on Saturday, I begged my sweetie to take me home. We drove back an hour and a half so we could shower, warm up, have a hot drink, and sleep in a warm bed rather than our cots. Luckily our canvas tent is extremely well made. No leaks, not even a minor one. Could we have stayed? Sure… but I wouldn’t have been in a great place to work on Sunday.

Saturday, the Blue Haired Fairy worked for me. Sunday was supposed to be a repeat. But after all the rain and misery, both BHF and girlfriend were miserable, and coming down with something. They left, and I ran the booth, while also trying to do garbage runs and fetch water at faire. Not a great combo (there’s a reason BHF does it at this fair). I managed, but barely, and I was grumpy a lot of it. I tried not to let it show to patrons and fellow vendors tho, and definitely not to my volunteers.

I was down volunteers, too. I should have had 8 for the first weekend, and had 6. That’s not an undoable number, though. I remember the days when it was just me and one other person. I did that for 2 years… but the fair was also much smaller as well. Frankly, I should have a staff of 12, so I can have shifts. As it is, these amazing folks worked from about 8am until 6pm, basically non-stop. And I did mention, they’re volunteers. Because NHRF is a charity, all our scut work teams run on volunteers. There are very few paid positions, and those few are only paid gas and essentials. We give our money to the food bank and meals on wheels (which in our area does a lot of work with veterans and cancer patients). So these guys did this heavy, taxing work, for hours, in the cold and wet… because I say nice things and gave them plastic volunteer cups and 3D printed cauldrons (thanks Chris!). They’re amazing.

Second weekend, it was in the 80s both days. People who didn’t come in the rain ended up coming Saturday. We usually get about 3800 to 4000 people a day at NHRF, with a rain day being considered good at 1800 (which we met this year on the rain days). On Saturday, we had 5600 people walk through our gates. Well, 5600 paying customers (we don’t count those who have free passes). I cannot even begin to tell you how busy it was. It was insane.

So my group is the General Team. We are responsible for making sure there are garbage cans with bags at regular intervals, that those trash bins don’t overflow and are taken to our dumpster as they fill up… and getting big bottles of water that we have at the various stages and performing areas, for those who need it. It might be a bit warm, but it’s wet and it’ll keep you from getting dehydrated, and it’s free. We do several other things as well, but those are the two big ones.

On Saturday at about 12:30pm, our fair ran out of garbage bags. I found out at 12:40pm. I contacted “our guy” who made an emergency trip to get more, but it took time. At 1pm, while our guy was still out and about trying to find the right size bags, we discovered two more things. First, we were out of water (and that means water for our “green room” that provides food, water, and help to performers and vendors and volunteers), and second, the health inspector showed up unannounced. As the trash barrels overflowed and people just started dumping trash everywhere, the inspector was talking to my immediate boss, who was trying to distract the inspector long enough for the team to be back in production.

I split my team of 5. We three ladies did trash, and the two guys did water bottle delivery. We smashed it, and got everything done, and all the gross trash picked up. By end of day, all was in good stead, and we retired to a nice meal with friends at a restaurant. But the day… oy vey. At one point, I was dealing with a very large bag of trash with no wagon or wheelbarrow to help, so I had to drag it. I was not strong enough to lift it. But the bag broke, and I had a snail trail of icky juicy garbage to clean up. Friends showed up at that moment, aghast, and I just laughed. This is what I do for NHRF. It’s honest work, and it helps my community, and as gross as it was, it’s worth it.

We beat all our attendance records this year. Our little fair, in its 21st year, has grown in size several times since I joined it, and had grown long before I arrived. We’ve been well supported by the community, too. They know their “fun” dollars go right back to their neighbors in need, and that we have an incredibly small overhead because we all watch out for one another.

Working for NHRF has taught me a lot of things. It’s taught me that there are some people who you just have to shake your head and walk away from. It’s taught me that I have inner strengths I never dreamed I’d have. I’ve learned how to be an effective leader, which still blows my mind. I have a huge group of people who do dirty, filthy things, deal with port-a-potty hazmat situations, stinky garbage, irate patrons… all because I thank them, feed them at times, and give them trinkets. They come back to work on MY team, year after year. It makes me proud… and humble.

I often quote some anonymous person who said, “There are no bad employees, only bad managers.” While that’s not always entirely true, I can say with authority that good managers (or bosses of any kind) can make you stay and WANT to stay even when the job itself sucks donkey ass. Working on my team is like that. We deal with all the crap no one else wants to, and we do it efficiently and quickly. Most of the time, no one even notices us doing our jobs, which means we’re doing it right. If my team fails, that’s on ME. I strive to learn things every year. And I hear from my team members every year, over and over, “We love working for Allyson. She’s amazing!” I suffer from enough impostor syndrome that I struggle not to negate their statements, but I keep my mouth shut. Not today, Satan! This year, one of my hardest workers had a new job he started only 3 weeks ago. He told them coming in, “I work for NHRF as a volunteer, so I cannot work these days.” Luckily, it’s a local business, and they know how much we do for the locals. He had to work one of the days (farm with an emergency trumps everything) but was there the other three. And he worked his ass off, laughing the whole time.

Did I mention we do all this while dressed up as Vikings, medieval ladies, and in one notable case this year, a lady gnome with a tall red conical hat and a beard? LOL… My team interact with patrons as we go about our work, and people recognize us as staples at the fair. There are a ridiculous amount of photos of “people hauling garbage” because we do it in character and with good attitude.

My fair ended with a quiet Sunday evening. I had Chris pick me up Monday after most people were already off site, so we didn’t have to muck about with backing the trailer up. I slept like a log after sitting around a quiet last fire with a couple of friends still on site. We talked politics. One is Libertarian (big L), and one is “middle, independent” but not suffering from TDS. It was interesting talking. Big L was concerned about the ongoing police action (as am I), supportive of infrastructure fixes (East Wing, Reflecting Pool, etc), and mixed over various health policies. Middle independent was all over the board, but not stupid about anything, and listened when I explained a couple of things. I gave her some stuff to go look up, and she did just that when she went back to her car for the night. It was… nice. Three different political views, all talking honestly, giving facts and opinions (clearly stated), and receipts as necessary. I wish all my political discussions were like that, because while we didn’t agree on everything (even vehemently disagreed on a couple of things), there was no rancor, no drama. Just discussion, and an exchange of information for future thought. As it should be.

On Friday, I go to the Fort for a little over a week. I’m looking forward to that, though I’m more looking forward to a few nights in my own bed, stretched out and not worried about tipping my cot over or freezing because I got the zipper stuck on my sleeping bag. LOL… Oh, and btw, the featured image is one I took of our faire on the first Friday evening, before all the rain started. Not everyone is set up yet, but you can see the line of canvas tents across the top of the lake. One of those is mine. My “home away from home.”