Pat Taub
Domestic Violence Month
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, which coincides with a new Netflix series, Maid, about an impoverished young woman, who, with her toddler daughter, flees her abusive husband. Initially she rejects seeing herself as a victim of domestic violence because, while her husband smashed in walls and verbally abused her, she only equated domestic violence with being hit. I wonder how many other women make the same error of judgment? This could be a good time to support your community’s shelters for victims of domestic violence.
The French Dispatch
This is the title of the new Wes Anderson film, which promises the same creative zaniness and delight as his previous films, like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Darjeeling Express. I love entering Anderson’s whimsical interiors, while enjoying his veteran actors, like Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Frances McDormand. “The French Dispatch” opens today in some theaters and can be streamed via HBO Max.
Respecting the Homeless
My hometown newspaper, The Portland Press Herald, (Portland, Maine) published a homeless woman’s moving letter to the editor with the headline, “I am homeless. I am human.” She writes, “The looks of scorn and disgust that I receive are harder to bear than being beaten and robbed.” We can all do our part to restore humanity to the unhoused by not looking away but making eye contact and smiling.
Warm Fall Temperatures
Global warming is producing record warm fall temps in Maine and in the Northeast. It’s hard to believe we haven’t yet had a killing frost. Flower gardens are still yielding new blossoms. While warm temps and flowers are welcome, they point to global warming, which is not being addressed by our government. It’s very discouraging to note that Biden’s social agenda is in danger of cutting programs to deal with climate change. How can we do this to our children and grandchildren? Fittingly, the sociologist Arlie Hochschild once remarked, “Capitalism is a very cruel system.”
My “fall” planter still producing summer flowers
