Well, it’s not quite summertime, but it is Bummertime…

I stood damply beneath a wind-warped umbrella recently in my front yard, the temperature around 40 degrees, waiting for Lucy to find the perfect patch of grass.

What do you know – the president wants to cut Amtrak out of Kansas. So with apologies to Arlo Guthrie:

“When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.” With those immortal words, our country’s “star” President-to-be famously bragged about how he liked to grab women. These days I find myself wishing he would be a little quicker about grabbing men. No, no, I don’t mean in that way. I just mean, well, it’s been almost a month now since the news came out that Governor Brownback is being considered for a job with the Trump administration. It was a real grabber of a story. It certainly

There was a recent report on this station that indicated that some in the “prepper” community are getting bodacious with their underground shelters. They’ve got pools with water slides, bowling alleys and high-end appliances down there. They’re paying millions for these things.

Come gather 'round people, help me understand What seems to be happening all over this land What was wrong is now right, what was foul is now grand Is it me or have we all gone crazy When crooks are commended by the one in command The times they are a-freaking me out Our nation of immigrants now puts up a wall We're obsessing over who's in the next bathroom stall We're cutting off health care to the poorest of all While the big orange bird tweets and he twitters Politicians are too scared to

So they’re saying Medicaid expansion is dead for another Legislative session. The 82 percent of Kansans who support expansion will just have to wait another year.

(Apologies to Tammy Wynette…) D – e – V – o – s Is Education Secretary She’s going to make all of our schools A lot less grizzly bear-y She may not know a single thing About e-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n But if you give ‘em great big campaign contributions Then the senators will give you a win She doesn’t believe in separation ‘tween church and s-t-a-t-e Gonna use your and my taxpayer money To push religiosity No matter how you spell it, this puts all our kids in a big ol’ terrible mess Now that our

I know we’re almost into February, but some of our Christmas lights are still glowing outside out on our deck. They’re a tangle of multi-colored strands—some old-style twinkle lights, mixed in with newer LED lights. They’re big, little and medium in size, every shape and color, all brightening the long nights of winter.

In times of trouble I like to turn to the Carter Family…only had to change a couple of words this time: There’s a dark and a Trump side of life There’s a bright and a sunny side too Though we meet with the darkness and strife The sunny side we also may view Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side Keep on the sunny side of life It will help us on our way, on Inauguration Day If we keep on the sunny side of life Storms and fury broke on Election Day Crushing hopes that we cherished so