by Linda B. Myers

This morning, my view from the Back Nine is flitting place to place. When sustained thought eludes me, it usually results in what I call Chip Shots:

• Friends rarely appear on my Facebook page anymore, maybe because I refuse to call it Meta. Instead of people I know, I see ads from Temu for products I cannot figure out (how do those models actually get into some of those things?), pleas for donations, and an unsettling amount of bug wranglers raising flying spiders as pets. These people even provide the little monsters with injured flies to torture before the kill (spiders may become the next breed of animal incapable of surviving on its own). I’ve had a spider phobia forever, but all these cute little cartoon voices? Maybe I will eventually accept them. If someone gave current politicos these cute voices, would it work for them?

• I went to Canada last week and found it to be the same charming location it has always been. But feelings are touchy. A grocer fretted to me that he wasn’t sure if removing all American product included those that are packaged in Canada. I am not a great thinker, at ease with such quandaries. At the moment the relationship between Canada and the United States reminds me of an old marriage. One party has cheated. The other party must forgive or pack up and leave. Party One must at least appear to be sorry. What’s it going to be? Long-term relationships are so complicated.

• If you are some sort of cave-dweller still thinking climate isn’t changing, just give some thought to the changes in terminology. We used to have hurricanes. Now we have bomb cyclones. Rogue waves are now killer tides. Freezing rain is an ice storm. When weather language gets this extreme it’s time to agree that weather is screwing with your comfort zone.

• Putting together the aforementioned trip to Canada made me think about planning any getaway nowadays. Today it’s okay to go to Canada but will your current ID get you back? Will whatever place you’re visiting spit you out like a bad seed? Would you prefer air traffic controllers weren’t being fired? If you put down money on a resort, will you even have a job by the time your vacation rolls around? Will discretionary income, if you have any at all, soon be for eggs versus souvenirs? Will that campground you’ve reserved even exist? Traveling has always been an adventure, but it is beginning to feel more like a forced march. All in all, staying home has its appeal.

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See Linda’s collection of Sequim Gazette articles in her newest book, “What Little I Know Now,” available at local book stores or on Amazon.