LH Feb 2026 - How It Is Ending

I am now dressed and ready to go…. nowhere.  I am relishing this day of not going door knocking, of not going to a political rally, of not calling my elected.

Feb 17th Election Season Beginneth

Last Half February consisted of a sudden dive into feverish political activity.  

Danger, Will Robinson!  Boring description of political process!

Every four years we run for our seats on the county political committee.  This is that year!  We need to get a minimum of 10 signatures and voter info (more is better) of registered voters on our petition, which is a piece of actual paper.   So twentieth century, eh?!  

This is a labor-intensive, plodding activity.  It cannot be done online. The candidate cannot fill it out for the voter.  It must be done correctly, or the signature will be invalid.  It requires either begging voters to come to your place, or going door to door asking voters to sign.  It can only be done Feb 17th - March 10th (in Pennsylvania).  

Let’s start with the fact that most people do not even answer their door any more.  Then add that most voters are unfamiliar with this part of the process, and are suspicious.  I tried one year inviting people to my place, which resulted in one signature.  The voters I already know – IF I catch them at home – are willing to sign my petition and – bonus !! – the petitions for the other people running for office.  Voters I don’t know are barely willing to take the time to sign my petition. 

Me preparing to go (gasp) outside
for door knocking. 
Pro tip - it is impossible to do this
without clipboards.

On Tuesday I girded my loins for door knocking. I knocked on 13 doors and a whopping 7 opened - that’s a very good rate.   After two hours, I had 8 signatures, a sense of gratitude that the neighbors remember me, and an earful of the main issue bothering them: those two cars parked at the crest of the hill. 

If you know someone who is in the lower echelons of your political party, you could pleasantly shock them by seeking them out and volunteering to sign their petition, without forcing them to come to your door.  If it is the year for party elections in your state, that is.

Feb 18th Ash Wednesday

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  

You are butt dust and to dust you shall return. (Our favorite Lenten joke, ha ha!)

Following my personal rule of singing whenever possible, I joined the hastily assembled choir to sing J.S. Bach’s “Jesu, Priceless Treasure” but I couldn’t sing the high notes.  I faked it, which somehow seems appropriate for 2026.

I was comforted to receive the imposition of ashes from my own pastor.  My father would be rolling in his Presbyterian grave, but I hope that instead he is enjoying heaven by eating murgh methi, basmati rice, and freshly cooked chapattis, and playing bridge with my mother sans arguing.

The pastor who gave the sermon said to listen.  I’m trying.

Feb 19th  Dental news

My dentist of 25 years retired last September.  It didn’t seem right because she is younger than me.  In reaction, I did nothing about it.  In July, I had already made my appointment for this February with the (now retired) dentist.  I kept my appointment on the 19th with the new dentist, who seems older than my previous dentist and is a man.  On my very first visit he informed me that I need major dental work.  Boo hiss.  I do not know if I want a man touching my teeth.  I called another dentist and the first appointment was late April, for mucho $$$, and that was just for the initial exam.  I am afraid to wait that long for this procedure.

HOWEVER.  The dental work is a CROWN.  I want to be able to go to No Kings Day on March 28th and say I HAVE A CROWN.  Bow before me, all ye maggaty ones.

The procedure will happen in early March with the old white man dentist whom I do not trust.  But for some reason I had no problem trusting the young white male dental hygienist who cleaned my teeth.  I can’t figure myself out.  

Feb 20th Door knocking for signatures 

In my precinct, but not my neighborhood.  Knocked on 20 doors, 5 opened.  Oof.  Five signatures, after one hour of walking, on my petition only.  I was told by several people that their spouse was napping.  First rule of politics:  Never wake a napping voter!  Not even for a precious signature. 

Seen while canvassing.
Love me a Little Free Library!

Feb 21 rally.  Above freezing!

I still need this sign.

So sick of all the entitled privileged creeps.

Feb 23 a mother’s worries

Massive snowstorm in Massachusetts, where several of our loved ones live.  And two of my (adult) children not feeling well.  Here in SWPA we also had snow.

My brother, at the end of his street

Ice and snow on a window in
Boston, Mass.

That evening was the vote in Town Council for the resolution banning any agreement with federal frozen water agencies.  I went to the meeting, prepared to speak again, but left after 40 minutes of listening to bigotry openly expressed by residents of my own town.  Late that evening, the resolution passed, 5 to 2.  

Feb 24  

I knocked on 4 doors, zero opened.  It was cold and windy.   My thoughts were infected by the town council meeting. A lot of the neighbors are probably bigots.  We are in full-blown fascism.  I realized I had forgotten my phone - this is a safety issue when one is door knocking alone.  I aborted my attempt.  I went home. 

Feb 25 More door knocking. 

Three more signatures, which is enough for my petition, but it felt like pulling teeth to get them.  It was clear these voters had no interest in signing other candidates’ petitions.  I feel demoralized that voters in my own party are not more enthusiastic to engage in the process.  I give up.

Seen while canvassing:
squirrel statue outside a door
that did not open.

Dachsund and frog statues
outside another voter's door.

Feb 26th Our local Democratic Committee fundraiser

At last, a joyous event!  Good food, good company.  It was my dream to sing one of the resistance choir songs, and we did, although not in the gorgeous harmony the Minneapolis choirs have done.  I won a raffle basket, which included a truckload of hot chocolate packets, chocolate truffles, library swag, a beautiful blanket, and a resistance hat (the Norwegian-style red hat with tassel) for the Common Household Husband.  The same knitter had already honored me by giving me one. 

The CHM and CHH,
in our matching Norwegian red resistance hats!

Feb 27th Rally - Fridays Without Fetterman

We are not amused.
This is the first time in a long time
that I have been willing to put on
a costume at a rally.

Lady Liberty is so f#&*king disappointed in our senior Senator.  He caves to the Miller-Vought regime most of the time.  There were just 20 of us at the rally, and not much traffic driving by at noon downtown, but it was uplifting to be among friends.

January to mid-Feb are supposed to be resting-up times
for the foot soldiers in the political world. 
But not when there is a town resolution to pay attention to.

This month I did 80 hours of political activity:  32 communications to electeds/university officials, 30+ communications to fellow residents on the town resolution, 8 public events, 7 meetings, 10 data activities, 4 door knockings (51 doors knocked).

We cannot fully rest, but we must take breaks.  Now that I have showered, it’s time tonight for … a Purim Party!  Bring on the hamentaschen!  Let’s drink until we can’t tell the difference between the names of Mordechai and Haman!*  Onward to next month!

Please tell me how your February went. I hope there was some relaxation in it! And some chocolate.

*Let’s not.  This is a stupid tradition.  Please don’t do it.  I certainly can’t drink alcohol like that...any more.

If you are not sick of reading, here’s the recap of FH Feb.

February 2026: How It Started

I am sitting here in my pajamas at 11 AM on the last day of this month, having nothing in my head.  But I do have photos on my device!  

Herewith, the first half of our February.

Feb 5th: Following several ultrasounds and a consultation, the doctor told me I need to have some unwanted uterine stuff removed, for diagnosis.  That will happen in May.   (No photo.  Sorry, but you are not sorry!)  The doctor said usually this material is non-cancerous, but they can develop into cancer so it’s important to get it looked at soon. 

PSA:  Do not neglect your visits to the gynecologist, ladies!

Conversation, on the trip home from one of the pelvic ultrasounds:

Me:  Thanks for taking me to get my lady-parts scanned. 

Common Household Husband: I’m going to tell the folks at the casino what I did today. “I had to take my wife to the hospital to get her lady-parts scanned.”

Me:  You tell them this:  “I took my wife to get her lady-parts scanned.  It’s amazing – for women, it’s all a bunch of bags in there!  They don’t have any sticky-outy parts.”

That description is based on what I saw on my ultrasound image.

Feb 7th: Assiduous readers of this blog have already seen this photo, but I must repeat it to emphasize How Much Damn Snow We Got.

Feb 7: Carveout for the mailbox.

I spent most of the month attempting to abolish ice, in one format or another.

This was how I spent my Superbowl Sunday.

Feb 7th, conversation at breakfast

Me:  The month of January this year lasted 4,587 days.

Common Household Husband: Sounds like the number of years.  5,487.  

Me: ??  I was talking about the number of days in January.

CHH: I’m talking about the Hebrew calendar.  Isn’t this the year 5487 or something? 

[We check.  It’s 5786, if you count from Genesis 1.]

CHH:  What do you think people were doing in this neck of the woods, 5,786 years ago?

Me: They were happily shored up in their protective lean-tos.

CHH:  Do you think they had a societal structure?  Were they preparing to hold elections?

Me: Yes, and they probably had some way of picking their leaders.

CHH:   Maybe it was a death battle.

Me: You mean, like in that movie?  Wakanda?  The reason we have elections is to avoid a death battle.  

CHH:  We’re past that now.

Me (moving on to the important task at hand):  What is there for breakfast this morning?  

There are two servings of peaches left.  Once we are out of peaches, we use raisins, which signals approaching fascism.

CHH: There are sardines in the closet.

Me:  We are not at the sardines part of fascism yet.

Feb 9th:  I made a little speech in public at the Town Council meeting, to say I want no official collaboration of our police with federal frozen water.  In January and February I worked very hard behind the scenes to help other residents also speak publicly at this meeting.

The meeting went on for about 3 1/2 hours; I left before the end.  There were 29 residents speaking in favor of the resolution (to not sign a 287g agreement with federal agencies) and 13 speaking against.  I am pleased to say that on Feb 23rd the resolution was approved, along party lines.  This was only possible because of the election victories we had in November 2025.

Feb 10th:  We woke up to a temperature in the house of 60 degrees.  That was one day after the outside temp went above freezing and then again down below freezing overnight.  

Diagnosis by Mr. Furnace Man: Ice in that intake pipe.

The fix: He knocked the ice out of the pipe.

Cost: more than $100 but now we know.

That day, the outside temperature went above freezing for the first time in four weeks.  God bless all y'all in Canada and points north.  I am not made for this prolonged cold.

That evening, the closet door fell off.  The CHH fixed it.

The secrets that pipe holds!

Feb 11th was the glorious day I got my car gloriously washed.

I have about 10 more photos from inside the car wash.
That is how thrilled I was to do this.  Also,
the car wash has a certain level of
fascinating horror to me.

Feb 13th: The best Valentine's Day gift ever.  A collection to warm my heart, hands, soul, and sidewalks.  The Common Household Husband said that was the last jug of sidewalk salt in the store.

P.S. That plant is not dead. Yet.

The ever-astute readers of this blog will already know that we went to Cleveland, Ohio, mid-month.  A daring move, knowing what the weather can dish out to that lake-side city.  We lucked out -- it was sunny.

Shout out to one of my favorite authors!  There is a church named after her in Cleveland.  She has a new book, recently published!  I would tell you about it but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.  

The Church of St. Mel! !
Posted here in honor of one of my
favorite authors, Melissa Westemeier

We took a little side trip to Oberlin, Ohio, to the Allen Memorial Art Museum, on the grounds of the college.  Highly recommend.  And look, the snow has mostly melted!

I hope to say more about this in
a future blog post because art is necessary
in these times.  We shall see if that post materializes.

Well, folks, that's my recap of the first half of this hapless month.  It's noon-thirty and time to get out of the pajamas and start the day.

My recap of the last half of Feb 2026 is here.

The Feast of Saint Valentine

We went to George’s Kitchen, a diner in Cleveland, for a late breakfast on Valentine’s Day.  Our party consisted of me, the Common Household Husband, Older Daughter and her husband.

It was the diner-iest looking diner I have seen in a long time.  Our seasoned waitress was clad in a beautiful bright red sweater, appropriate for this saint’s day.  As we arrived at our table, I observed several patrons shoving money into the waitress’s apron pocket as they were leaving.  They clearly adored her.  

George wants everyone to eat a lot of eggs.  The menu discouraged the ordering of eggs in increments of one or two.  All breakfast dishes were THREE eggs plus something else, such as corned beef hash, or bacon & hash browns, or an omelette.  EXCEPT, if you ordered pancakes, you could then add TWO eggs.  

The menu said, “Absolutely no substitutions” at the top of every page.  I was downright afraid to ask for just two eggs, without ordering pancakes.

The waitress took our order, calling my 30+ year-old daughter “dear”, a requirement in a diner.  On the down side, orange juice was the only juice available.  On the up side, the CHH was excited to order corned beef hash.  He’s not going to get that at home.

When we were finished giving our order, the waitress said, “Ok, thanks.  I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” and walked away.

A short time later, she served us our large meals. A while later she came back to check on us.  Upon seeing that the CHH had cleaned bare his plate of corned beef hash, she said, “Oh, you did a good job on that!”  CHH teased, “Well, I was waiting for you to bring me some breakfast.”  She replied that she was all alone because she had killed two husbands. 

As we were lingering over breakfast, we heard the man at the table behind us call our waitress over.  I did not look, but could hear that he had a baby with him.  We overheard him say, “I have a huge request. And there will be a big tip in it for you.  Would you be able to watch my baby while I go out to the car?  I know it’s a big thing to ask, but I will only be gone a few minutes.”  I guess he had not heard her comment about former husbands.    She agreed to look after Baby.

At our table, the CHH murmured his doubt that Single Dad would actually return.  We held our breath.  A minute passed. The waitress cooed at the baby.  Our tension increased.  Two minutes.  Then, sigh of relief, Single Dad returned.  Faith in human beings restored, at least for today!

I’m not much into Valentine’s Day, but our red-sweatered waitress showed us the day of love in action.  (Perhaps we should ask those deceased husbands if they know St. Valentine, who might be hanging out with them in martyr’s row in heaven).  

I wish I could write novels, if only so I could put that waitress into a book.   

Handwritten sign on the door
listing the hours.  
No service after 2:45 PM!

To Do List or Not To Do List, That is the Congestion

 January and February are months of True Drudgery for me. My duties and tasks are overwhelming.  Is it this way for everyone, specifically in Jan-Feb?  

In 2024 I wrote myself a Jan-Feb To Do list, I guess so I wouldn’t be surprised by anything, such as:

• It’s January 15th!  Have you paid your quarterly estimated taxes? Due today!

• Church stats (this is actually 9 separate tasks). Forget the Feb GA deadline, YOUR deadline is January 26th!

• People are clamoring for retreat info.  Better send that email soon!

• Learn the music for the retreat!  Better practice some more!  And get that song lyric sheet done and printed.

• Why are the Christmas decorations not in the attic?  Eh?!

• Where is your email inviting voters in your precinct to the fundraiser for which the deadline is in 10 days?  Better get on that!

And so on.  

I completed these tasks.

There are 55 individual items on my list for these two months.  So far I have completed 24 of them.  That’s just the regular stuff.  I have also had a $#!t-ton of stuff to do in the grassroots category, all rushed and desperate-feeling, and not part of the 55 tasks.

I feel competent to do each task individually, but not competent to complete all of them during this short time period.  I even would enjoy doing some of them, if they weren’t bunched together.  

Most of these are not yet finished.  The deadline looms.

The Common Household Husband is facing huge stresses, real and equally overwhelming.

Add to this the anxiety of just living in these times.  

And the challenges that come naturally with aging.  

And the tasks that come with our paid jobs.  

And winter storms.  

And prolonged cold.  

And the grocery store always being out of raw-fresh-not-frozen turkey breast to roast at home.

Another 2 inches of snow overnight.
Windchill in the negatives.

Had to shovel a carveout to reach
the mailbox.

These are things that even an abundant supply of tea and dark chocolate cannot cure.

Sooner or later something in the Common Household was bound to explode.  Two nights ago it did.  Both members of this household uttered harsh words.  Used nasty tones to each other.  A door was slammed.  Both members of this household went to bed angry with each other.

The next morning, thanks to both members of this household being thinking and feeling human beings, we said our apologies to each other, and acknowledged that the unbearable stress is getting to us.  

This is all while we are adequately fed, clothed, and sheltered.  I cannot imagine the trauma of those being beaten down by our own government, literally beaten, shackled, threatened, tossed around, separated from family, racially profiled, subjected to illness, disappeared.  And murdered. All that is brought to us by several unfeeling, greedy, racist human beings, and moreover by their enablers who hope to profit.   Never forget that human beings are capable of what they are doing.  

All this is to say, please take care of yourselves and each other.  The Common Household Husband and I said out loud that we must recognize when the stresses are getting overwhelming for each of us, and take extra precautions not to act or react harshly.  

Please do gather in groups of people who will care for and look out for each other.  

Please do art.  

Please do music and singing.  Keep a song in your pocket. Here is mine for this year.

Find beauty.  Encourage each other.  As the scripture I heard today says:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  - Philippians 4:8

Pie should be on that list in Philippians 4:8.

First Lines: January 2026 edition

I would have to say, looking back over the month’s reading, that there is a thread running through most of these six books: patriarchy.  

Dearest Blog Reader, in the likely event that you do not read any of my blathering below, I will ask you now – what’s in your book stack these days?

Book 1

Cordelia

I didn’t know how long I sat cross-legged in the snow, waiting for the dead man crumpled on the ground in front of my building to wake up. 

 

 

Book 2

I’m here because two people broke a promise to God.

 

 

Book 3

Scene - Dr Stockmann’s sitting room.  It is evening.  The room is plainly but neatly appointed and furnished.

 

 

Book 4

At the Window with Binoculars

Standing at her kitchen window, Domenica Macdonald, cultural anthropologist, denizen of Scotland Street, citizen of Edinburgh, lowered the binoculars that for the last fifteen minutes she had trained on the street below.

 

Book 5

This is what happened in Faha over the Christmas of 1962, in what became known in the parish as the time of the child. 

 

Book 6

The Door to Hell

I am lost. The flames in the crater have erased the stars and then drained all the shadows of light.

 

 

The titles and authors revealed:

 

 

Book 1

A New Lease on Death (The Ruby and Cordelia Mysteries #1)

By Olivia Blacke

325 pages • first pub 2024 

fiction fantasy mystery

Recommended through Mel W’s blog

 

The premise is that one of the detectives has already met her demise.  !  I enjoyed the characters and the setting.  Sometimes the prose was a bit repetitive.  Ends on a big reveal which will obviously require the reading of the next book to resolve.  And that is somewhat annoying, but I would like to read it.

 

Book 2

Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds

John Fugelsang

304 pages • first pub 2025

nonfiction politics religion 

Instructive, amusing in parts, and infuriating in others.  I was astonished to hear the Catholic Church’s actual practice on birth control in one place described.  I was already aware of many of the theological interpretations of the Bible verses, but I still found it interesting.  And we all know there is plenty of patriarchy to be found in both fundamentalism and fascism.

 

 

Book 3

An Enemy of the People - the play by Henrik Ibsen

164 pages • first pub 1882.   

Although this play was written in 1882, the issues treated are relevant today.  It was an easy read, and was available to buy for Kindle for very little $ being passed on to J.B., the King of Amazon*.  I read it for book club, and then we are going to see an interpretation of the play next month.  

Themes: environment, male hubris, crowd mentality, economics, family dynamics, reasons for compromising one’s values, the price to pay for not compromising one’s values.

 

Book 4

A Promise of Ankles: (44 Scotland Street #14)

By Alexander McCall Smith

320 pages • first pub 2020

fiction contemporary

I could only get this book from the library on audio.  Curses on my need to read series in order!  I managed to finish, but it was a struggle.  I liked the narrator's voice, and judging by his name, Robert Ian Mackenzie, he seems the perfect choice to narrate a book that is set in Scotland.  I have no idea if he is Scottish.

Includes some amusing plot developments about a human skull and, separately, language dominance.

Re patriarchy:  McCall Smith’s characters often express views about how they feel females or males should live.  It’s maybe not patriarchy per se, but I can’t remember any instance where the characters in the Scotland Street series show wide variance from what I will call traditional societal gender norms.  However, to me, there is an overall feeling of acceptance of others’ differences in his books.  It’s just that the differences portrayed are not too far from “center”.

 

 

Book 5

Time of the Child By Niall Williams

304 pages • first pub 2024

fiction literary

Recommended by Stephen Colbert and S. K.

A story ultimately of hope, in a slow but enjoyable read.  It takes place at Christmas-time in a small town in Ireland in 1962. The characters are quite appealing.  Loads of mentions of tea, but often it’s an offer of tea, only to be refused.  The patriarchy is inherent in the setting (a small Catholic town in 1962); the plot ultimately pushes gently against that patriarchy. 

The prose varies from delicious to a bit convoluted, but it’s mostly lovely.  I recommend it, but it’s best to read during a long snowy winter, with a cup of hot tea at hand and the news turned off.

 

Book 6

Sovietistan - a travel diary of going through former Soviet Republics.  

By Erika Fatland with Kari Dickson (Translator)

470 pages • first pub 2014 

nonfiction history travel

“A good mix of humor and despotism” – Older Daughter

A fascinating description of the Norwegian author’s travels through the five Central Asian countries that used to be part of Russia/ Soviet Union.  Recommend, but best perhaps to read in periodic doses.

This book was highly recommended to me in 2023 by Older Daughter, who read it as part of her project to read books by continent.  I supposedly studied the Soviet Union in grad school, but learned next to nothing about the Central Asian SSRs (I am pretty sure this is my fault, not the school’s fault).  I started reading Sovietistan, gave up, bought the kindle version about 6 months ago*, then stopped again because of other reading assignments (book clubs) and despair at my own country’s descent toward autocracy.  

To encourage me to resume, she said that I should keep reading it because the book is “a good mix of humor and despotism”.  Which it is.  This book works well to read in chunks, with a section for each of the five countries.

That is the same daughter who in December exclaimed enthusiastically, “I finished the dictator book!”  

Me:  “THE dictator book?!”

Older Daughter: “There is a whole genre of books from Central America called the “dictator” genre. The title of the book I read is called I, the Supreme. Or in Spanish, Yo, El Supremo.  From the country of Paraguay.”

I will not be reading Yo, El Supremo anytime soon, but it could be fun to shout that phrase.

While reading Sovietistan I could read about the dictatorships without looking away – at their core, autocrats are ridiculous.  They insist on being called El Supremo. From afar, their narcissism is amusingly appalling.  But for some reason I balked at reading about girls/young women who were kidnapped and forced to marry the man who kidnapped them, often with the permission of the girl’s parents.  I skimmed those sections.  Patriarchy is prominent in these Central Asian countries.  (And, it seems now, plenty of other places too.)  

This book enlightened me on how those former Soviet republics have fared since the dissolution of the USSR.  I did not fact-check the history as presented in the book.  It should be no surprise that there is plenty of environmental disaster.

There is some description of the changing demographics of the countries. Since publication, there have been some changes in leadership for some of the countries.  

- - - - - - - - 

* I despise any of my money going to Amazon but I simply must continue to read, which is easier for me on my kindle.  If I can’t get the kindle version through my library, I might buy it.  Reading helps fight the patriarchy.  In my opinion.