Thanks to all who responded to my plea for some fresh ideas for a weekly feature!  Many cautioned that perhaps I am trying to do too much, and to remember to take time for myself lest I burn out, and these are certainly things I sometimes fail to consider.  But overall, I am happy with what I do, and the weekly features that let me step back from politics into a brighter arena are, in part, what keeps me sane (if it can be said that I AM sane, which some might argue against). If I do a new Saturday feature, it wouldn’t be an addition, but would replace whatever socio-political article I would otherwise write, so really, no extra work involved!

You guys all had some really great ideas!  Music was mentioned at least twice, from JB’s thought of ”videos of different music, maybe some new bands/artist or some old favorites,” to Kertsen’s thoughts of “commenting on some famous song lyrics especially those protest songs that are always around.”  Colette suggested more of a collaborative effort, combining guest blogs with theme weeks, and she suggested some really fun themes!  Emily had the idea of “Snapshot Saturday where you post the most unusual thing you read or saw during the week.”  All great ideas, so I was pondering when …

My friend Bushka came up with the winning idea that lets me combine all of the above!  “How about… ‘Saturday Surprise’! This will give you a tremendous opportunity to respond to ‘occurrences’ that so often slip through your daily life…Opens you up to plenty of options….. ONE PROVISO…… NO POLITICS!!!!”  Don’t you love it?  I do!  It gives me unlimited lattitude, yet keeps me out of the rabbit hole on Saturday mornings … or afternoons – I haven’t yet decided which.  And I can have tons of fun using the ideas that ALL of you have given me!

So, Saturday Surprise it will be!  It will not begin this Saturday, but likely next Saturday, as I need to do some thinking yet.  I hope this one will be fun for us all.  And many, many thanks to you all for your help and really great suggestions!

Hugh and Colette also expressed interest in posts about things that are being done to protect the environment, and I DO plan to do more along those lines, just probably not as a scheduled feature, since anything that pertains to the environment will almost certainly lead into the political arena.  But stay tuned … in fact I am working on one now for tomorrow morning!

On another note, I am working with an old friend on a piece that I will probably publish next Tuesday or Wednesday. The friend, to whom I promised anonymity, is a republican.  He is also an extremely intelligent man whom I have known for about 20 years and worked with for more than 10 of those 20.  Although he and I disagree on political ideology, we are both mature and respectful in our disagreement, and most importantly, we listen to one another.

My idea started when I asked him if he would be willing to answer a set of questions I compiled, in order to explain his reason for supporting Donald Trump and his policies, in light of everything that Trump has done or said.  I explained that my goal … my only goal … was to try to gain an understanding, to find some common ground, and that I trusted him to give me actual answers, rather than the standard “because he’s a great businessman” or “because he’s going to ‘make America great’ again”.  My friend agreed readily and said he had been thinking about asking me to do the same.  Which expanded my idea for the post, and I think it will be interesting to get an honest view from both sides of the proverbial aisle.  He is on vacation at the moment, but we plan to collaborate this weekend and I hope to have this post ready to go by the middle of next week.

So, thank you all once again, and I hope we will all have fun with Saturday Surprise!