by sheila morris
storytelling for truth lovers
Pretty’s Cat the morning after Hurricane Idalia blew through
hey, old woman with white hair – tell Pretty I need help getting down
oh, for crying out loud – I can’t wait all day for her
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Thanks so much for the many well wishes from family and friends this week – we are safe, grateful to have escaped the worst.
As Hurricane Idalia barrels across the southeastern section of the USA today, Pretty has gone for dog food and I’m watching the rain begin to softly fall through my office windows, listening to Alexa shuffle my playlist of songs I love. Feels like Home to Me by my favorite trio of Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris reminds me of who and what are most important to me when the storms of life threaten to overwhelm.
Something in your eyes
Makes me wanna lose myself
Makes me wanna lose myself
In your arms
… There’s something in your voice
… Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest of my life
If you knew how lonely my life has been
… And how long I’ve been so alone
… If you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you’ve done
… Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where
… I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong
… A window breaks down a long dark street
And a siren wails in the night
… But I’m alright ’cause I have you here with me
And I can almost see through the dark there is light
… If you knew how much this moment means to me
And how long I’ve waited for your touch
If you knew how happy you are making me
I’ve never thought that I’d love anyone so much
… Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where
I come from
… Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong
(Randy Newman, songwriter)
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Pretty and I hope all our cyberspace friends are staying safe from whatever storms threaten today – and every day.
Molly and me
Pretty and Ella with son Drew glued to golf tournament
Feels like home to me.
“The celebration of a major milestone merits its own memorable imagery, and the 2023 US Open will feature both, thanks to the striking design of this year’s theme art. Designed by Camila Pinheiro, a 40-year-old illustrator and mother of two from São Paulo, Brazil, this year’s theme art is an eye-catching portrait of a 1973-era Billie Jean King in front of a bright and bold New York skyline, which will be featured in a variety of colorways. Pinheiro is the first woman to design the US Open’s theme art in a decade, and she says that the final product encapsulates both the perennial spirit of the US Open, and all that’s historic about this year’s edition, which will celebrate 50 years since King and her peers first earned the same prize money as their male counterparts at the event.”
Victoria Chiesa – US Open Insider Newsletter, March, 2023
On Monday, August 28, 2023 the opening night session of the US Open Tennis Tournament in New York City began with high drama on Arthur Ashe Stadium of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as the #6 seed nineteen-year-old American player Coco Gauff faced qualifier thirty-five-year-old German player Laura Siegemund in a battle that lasted almost three hours. Holy moly. These women came to play not only with their blazing rackets but also with their feisty words to the chair umpire about Siegemund’s delay-of-game tactics which continued to get on the last nerve of Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert who encouraged Coco to badger the umpire to call time violations whenever her opponent served. Luckily, Gauff prevailed in a seesaw third set, but the traditional handshake at the end of the match was as frosty as a Wendy’s chocolate frozen drink. Note to Coach Gilbert: try not to be a distraction to Team Coco as she moves on to round 2.
A shocking upset during the day session of day one on the women’s side was the loss by #8 seed Maria Sakkari in straight sets to world #71 player Rebeka Masarova from Spain, a loss Sakkari seemed to blame in part for the odor of weed on Court 17. Wow. Come on, tennis fans. Try gummies – no odor – same high.
Day One on the men’s side saw #4 seed Holger Rune sent home in the first round with another upset loss to unseeded Spanish player Roberto Carballes Baena on Court 5. No one mentioned weed odor, but Rune’s defeat did smell a little. He was allegedly upset by his assignment to an outer court instead of one of the stadium courts since he was a #4 seed in the tournament. Come on, Holger. Your 20-year-old immaturity is showing; focus on your game…wherever and whenever you play, or we will send Brad Gilbert to sit in your player’s box.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama received the most electrifying ovation of Monday night on Ashe Stadium as she led the celebration honoring tennis icon Billie Jean King who was the ultimate pioneer for equal prize money 50 years ago. Come on, Michelle – please run for President.
American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles led the crowd in a “Brave” musical tribute to BJK.
Innocence, your history of silence
Won’t do you any good
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be Brave
Billie Jean King, the tennis world salutes you for being brave in 1973, and the rest of the world salutes you for your ongoing advocacy of women’s rights for the past 50 years. Come on, Billie Jean, keep speaking truth to power. You have taught us the powerful lesson that pressure is a privilege both on and off the courts.
Historian Jon Meacham writes that, “With a single phrase, King joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who’ve shaped modern America.” (Wikipeda)
Sixty years ago today at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom which attracted 250,000 people to the nation’s capitol, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech which was to become one of the most iconic speeches of the American Civil Rights Movement as he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to address the throngs gathered on the mall. Speaking from a script prepared fewer than twelve hours earlier, according to one of the co-writers, singer Mahalia Jackson shouted from the front of the crowd as he spoke, “Tell us about the dream, Martin.” And he did.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, . . . one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. . . With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. . . .
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” (excerpt from Teaching American History)
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I have a dream, too, that one day the AR-15 rifles that contribute to the killing fields across America – including the most recent hate crime at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida while the 60-year anniversary of the March was being celebrated in Washington, D.C. this past Saturday – that those weapons of mass destruction will be banned permanently from the face of the earth. Our hearts are with the families of the innocent Black people who were still being judged by the color of their skin.
Earlier this month I made the difficult decision to close my lengthy relationship with Twitter now identified as X. I no longer can support a platform that uses an identifying mark I personally find disturbing, but I understand many of you don’t share my concerns; I respect your right to moving on with the site.
I also asked you in my final Tweet to please continue to follow me through the email option on my Home Page and/or to use my alternative social media account on Facebook.
When someone closes a cyberspace relationship, followers may worry I died and Pretty didn’t let you know in spite of my final instructions to the contrary. Please do not blame Pretty because I am very much alive and well. I just happen to be done with X.
So if you were a Tweeter with me, please come along with me directly through email here or on Facebook.
Also, if anyone has suggestions for new platforms you feel would be appropriate for me to try, please do leave a comment.
I apologize for this inconvenience, I truly do not want to lose your confidence or your clicks. Words to live by: every “share” helps.
Cheers.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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