I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: Personal

  • 34 South Carolinians pardoned for their January 6th. activities

    34 South Carolinians pardoned for their January 6th. activities


    President Trump pardoned seven people from South Carolina convicted of or who were accused of attacking police on Jan. 6, 2021. The pardons dismiss pending charges for defendants who had not gone to trial and release convicted people who were serving time in prison. Trump’s actions also restore any rights that might have been taken away. However, federal court documents including judgments and original charges will still be public record, according to lawyers connected with the case. Nearly all cases were handled by federal courts in Washington. In addition to the seven people from South Carolina who were convicted or accused of committing violence against police, Trump pardoned another 11 who were convicted or accused of aggressive conduct that stopped short of attacking an officer but in some cases included damaging property. The third and final category of South Carolina defendants whom Trump pardoned included 16 people who were charged with trespassing related offenses — basically being inside the Capitol during the riot without attacking police or vandalizing property. (John Monk, The State, January 24, 2025)

    To the victor belongs the spoils, and part of the spoils now include pick-and-choose justice for convicted felons that assaulted police officers at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. I remember watching their stories unfold on TV in real time. I hoped none of the rioters were people I knew and cared for, but these thirty-four South Carolinians are people who someone does know, someone who will welcome them home with open arms.

    The American poet Maya Angelou said, “Because equal rights, fair play, justice are all like the air: we all have it, or none of us has it. That’s the truth of it.”

    Tell it, Sister Girl.

    Onward.

  • Molly, Molly, how much do we love thee? let me count the ways

    Molly, Molly, how much do we love thee? let me count the ways


    From her first birthday two years ago to the one we celebrate today, this little girl has been the icing on our cake whenever we see her. For Pretty and me, she is the gift that keeps on giving.

    Molly’s first birthday cake (2023)

    (maternal grandmother Gigi laughs at Molly’s first cake experience)

    when you’re three years old, you can use your hands

    big sister Ella and Mama Caroline help with gifts as Daddy keeps watch

    Molly consoles her best friend who wondered why none of the gifts were hers

    what could possibly be better for a party than the 2024 bounce house?

    (two-year-old Molly and four-year-old Ella in their bare feet had fun!)

    a petting zoo in the backyard!

    the goat was in charge of gymnastics

    Molly, Molly, how much do Nana and Naynay love thee? Let me count the ways – too many to count. You are priceless.

  • wintry mix, or snow as we call it in South Carolina

    wintry mix, or snow as we call it in South Carolina


    So you think you know snow? Ha. We are rolling in it in the sunny South. On January 22, 2022, I began this post with pictures of snow in our backyard.

    only one dog outside with me three years ago: Carl

    Carport Kitty reigned in the winter of 2022

    (she died in October of 2022 – she never had to face a cold winter again)

    Carport Kitty and Pretty have similar feelings about winter. Thankfully her heated pad keeps her toasty warm in the laundry room – Carport Kitty, not Pretty. Heh, heh.

    The sun also rises, the snowflakes melt, and Pretty will leave me to work in her antique empire while I watch the disgraceful television coverage of the 2022 Australian Open this afternoon. Bollocks.

    *********************

    Fast forward exactly three years to January 22, 2025. Old man Spike walks with me in the fresh snow around the pool in our backyard.

    Carl still with us but prefers staying inside over his cold paws in the snow

    to each his own, right?

    The Australian Open is winding down to its inevitable close this weekend. We have three Americans in semi-finals this week, and not one of them is named Venus or Serena. Hm. Ben Shelton is in the semi-finals for men’s singles, Madison Keys is also in a singles semi-final, and Taylor Townsend plays doubles with K. Siniakova for the women’s doubles semi-final. Spoiler alert: at least one American will play in a final.

    Between snow and semis, my sleep pattern is wrecked. I barely know what day it is on this continent – much less in Australia.

    Vive la difference. Stay safe and warm. Please stay tuned. We enjoy your visits!

  • field trip!

    field trip!


    Once upon a time there were two little girls who lived in two different places with one common bond: their grandmothers. What to do with seven-year-old Collins who was visiting her grandmothers at Lake Murray and five-year-old Ella on a freezing cold day outside? Why, perfect day for an indoor field trip to the South Carolina State Museum!

    granddaughters learn how rocks are made at State Museum field trip

    (Saturday, January 11, 2025)

    Naynay hovers over Collins and Ella at petting zoo in spring of 2023

    Two years earlier the grandmothers had taken the girls to an exotic animals petting zoo at Eudora Wildlife Safari Park in Salley, South Carolina. They both loved the tractor with the huge tires.

    granddaughters share ocean secrets late summer of 2023

    Later that year the girls teamed up for a magical beach trip with their grandmothers at Folly Beach where they explored the waves crashing around their short little legs.

    what a difference two years make! those little legs much taller!

    tour guide Kaka brought State Museum to life for the granddaughters

    grandmothers Kitty, Kaka and Naynay with Collins and Ella

    at planetarium aurora show

    the museum had a tractor tire, too, and we loved to play in it

    the museum had four floors – where are the grandmothers?

    so Ella, if we stand right here on this black thing,

    the man in the submarine moves

    Nana had to work in her antique empire the day of the Museum Field Trip, but Ella will be sure to tell her about her play date with Collins when she sees her this week. We all missed Nana who loves a good Field Trip.

    Until we meet again…

    **********************

    The wild fires in California have been catastrophic for so many Americans – we feel their pain as they return to a home that no longer exists, a life as they knew it is gone. We ask for clarity of thought and calmness of purpose for those experiencing losses as they make life changing decisions.

  • Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope: the President from Plains

    Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope: the President from Plains


    Following the shady corruption of power in the Nixon administration, the American people were ready for a newcomer outside the beltway of Washington, D. C. In walked Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter (1924 -2024), a peanut farmer from Plains who was a Sunday School teacher in a Baptist church, a man with a reputation for honesty and integrity. He was just the recipe needed in the 1976 election after the Watergate years.

    I had followed and admired Jimmy Carter even before his run for governor of Georgia in 1970 so I was hopeful for what his administration could accomplish from the White House. Alas, being an outsider in Washington must be much more difficult  than I thought; for Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter it was a mountain too high to climb. The many good measures he accomplished including the Camp David Accords were often lost in the rhetoric surrounding the hostages in Iran that were released on the day Ronald Reagan took office at the end of Carter’s one term.

    Jimmy Carter was only 56 years old when he left the Oval Office for his home in Plains, Georgia, in 1981. He remained a constant voice for the poor and disenfranchised from his post-presidency bully pulpit throughout his life. In 2002 Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his open resistance to the War in Iraq in addition to his countless contributions toward creating and preserving democracy around the world. The Carter Center in Atlanta has been a model for presidential libraries, a thriving institution whose motto is “Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope.”

    During the last years President Carter not only wrote thirty books but also found a passion for painting. Pretty and I are always grateful for the Christmas cards we have received every year from Rosalyn and Jimmy Carter, and we are particularly happy whenever the cards are works of art by the former president.

    2023 Christmas card from the Carter Center was this self-portrait

    One of my favorite memories of President Carter took place in his hometown of Plains when Pretty and I were part of a tour group sponsored by the Carter Center in 2002. We were running late for our lunch with the group, had picked up our plates at the buffet, and had begun to select our food when I heard a voice behind me say, do you have plans to sit with anyone? I turned to see Jimmy Carter in line behind me and almost fainted. Rosalyn and I would like for you two to join us at our table. We sat down beside them, and I immediately became mute. Pretty, on the other hand, carried the day with her entertaining chatter with President and Mrs. Carter as we dined on fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and delicious desserts. I think I was finally able to speak but made an inane remark that was unremarkable. Jimmy and Rosalyn sharing fried chicken with Pretty and me – they couldn’t have been more gracious, more engaged. I remember wondering how many dignitaries had eaten fried chicken with them at a White House state dinner.

    Rosalyn and Jimmy Carter working together on Carter Center project

    I find it difficult to say goodbye to former President James E. Carter, Jr. He has been a part of my political consciousness for the past fifty-five years – more than two-thirds of my life. He was an uncommon man, flawed like the rest of us, but someone who came from a tiny town in Georgia to tackle the world’s problems from his unique position in American life.

    Rest in the peace that passes all understanding, Mr. President. You earned it.