Donnie “I’m Already Running For President Again” Trump was in Iowa yesterday because he wanted to get away from the swamp of Washington DC. His rally (soon to appear in a film by Leni Riefenstahl) was set up so he could get out and see the real America. The America he thinks is too dumb to be in his cabinet. He explained to the crowd that he has a bunch of billionaires in his cabinet because poor people are dumb. (I’m paraphrasing because I don’t speak Trump’s language.)
He then talked about the Senate’s new healthcare bill that is going to be bigly better, really really beautiful, and replace the failing Obamacare. Everyone cheered as they lost their healthcare and gave huge tax breaks to millionaires. Trump called the House bill “mean” and said the Senate bill will be really, really, really great. The House bill was the one he celebrated with a kegger in the Rose Garden a few weeks back. “Yay, we passed a mean healthcare bill. Let’s funnel some beer.”
The CBO score for the Senate bill will come out soon and then everyone will run and hide…speaking of running and hiding. Where are the Comey tapes? Where are those tax returns? Where are the three million illegal voters? When is Hillary going to jail?
Trump has changed the wall with Mexico. Now it is going to be a solar wall. I hear there is a third grader designing it on a piece of notebook paper. Mexico will pay for it because we will be stealing their sunlight…I guess.
One thing that I think we need to steal is the delicious recipe for souvlaki from the Souvlaki Hut.
Why is my page titled South of the Strait? Well I live in a far corner of the United States. I live in a small town south of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. If I was going to throw a rock across the strait it would land in Canada. I used to be an English teacher. I have worked in Westport, Port Angeles, and Sequim, Washington... and I did two years of substitute teaching in Coalinga, California.
I've moved around a lot, living in: Sterling,Kansas; Chicago; Jordan, Montana; Lemoore, California; Auckland, New Zealand; Spokane, Washington; Gambier, Ohio.
What do I write? For WordPress I used to print once a week for general comments. I wrote reviews of music concerts my daughter made me attend. (Each month she would want us to drive to Seattle to see a music group. I usually stood in the back watching weird stuff.) I also wrote about trips I have taken in Europe where I liked getting lost. I also wrote during the few months when my son was treated for cancer. (He is officially free of cancer of five years.) About three years ago I decided to stop writing blogs so I could concentrate on writing a few books. I have completed three books...or maybe four. I have now compiled my short stories poems and memoirs on Amazon. You can get it at Amazon now..."A Work In Progress"--Jon Eekhoff. I have been very close to getting a printed book called "Lost Summer" but I was never offered $1,000,000.00. (It's set in Paris, 1920's, with baseball, writers, artist, and actually true stuff.) I wrote a book about college basketball called "Laidlaw." It's kind of a mix of "Moby Dick" and a coach who is about to get fired so he takes his team out for a free drive around the West. My most recent book is "California Tales." These are connected stories about the missionary churches in California. They are sad, funny, inspiring, and odd. I had the entire book done in my head and had just one section to finish the next day...and that is when I fell 20 feet from my roof and landed on the cement. (Like a lot of men, I thought I could maintain my own roof instead of leaving it to the professionals.) I don't remember anything about my accident but I am told I was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Though conscious and responsive after surgery to remove part of my skull, I don't remember anything from my first month there. I spent another month of Harborview working on walking, speaking, and writing. That was two years ago. As a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) survivor, I could have quit writing, but I am not going to quit. I work with the University of Washington Speech and Hearing Clinic.
So, here I am. I am married and live here in Sequim with my wife Cheryl. Our kids live in nearby cities. Writing is now an exhausting exercise, but something I plan to keep working on.
View all posts by South of the Strait