"...I ask you to judge me by the enemies I've made..." FDR

 As some of you know, I live on the couch in the den. I won't go into the whys of this, but it's a comfortable couch, I'm glad I have a roof and it's akin to living in a library. All my history books and biographies are in here in the dark paneling. Denise has her novels and fiction and we've both kicked in various how-to collections. The cookbooks are in the kitchen.

 Once a few things are rearranged, I'll be back in my reading chair with a decent lamp and side table. Hopefully soon. It's yet another defense.

 On a shelf, I have plaster busts of Charles deGaulle, Claude Monet and then there's this guy. All are in front of The Harvard Classics, so it's all appropriate. A quality life is, I think, a combination of art, philosophy, practicality and humor. I can reach for Plato, Great American documents, several art history books and Jonathan Swift.

 I've mentioned before that I usually don't touch politics in my writing and I won't today. While Roosevelt was one the nation's great politicians of the last century, he was as flawed a human as any and much deeper than The New Deal and Yalta. His personality (there were several, depending on the situation) was shaped not so much by war as by his associates, his wife and circumstance. Add Roosevelt family history that included another president, and it's a pretty deep dive.

 Suggested reading: The Man He Became, by James Tobin, and Franklin and Winston, by Jon Meacham. Both reach hard into personal struggle, the vital requirement for good friends and recognizing the need for both. When I look at this little statue, those are what I'm thinking about and wish I could sit and talk with FDR for just an hour without discussing the war.

 The first book deals, of course, with Roosevelt's battle with polio (or whatever it was -- there is some argument) after he became a grownass adult. The sudden loss of even the most basic physical functions plays with your head. While I won't pretend to compare my recent struggles with his, he was able to recover enough function to continue an effective career and use his situation to become someone far different from the Hyde Park playboy he likely would have been.

 Side note: a visit to the Little White House in Warm Springs GA is well worth it. The place is not only where Roosevelt died but also where he fit into the local community and provided untold help to the fellow disabled (especially children) in the era before there was a polio vaccine.

 The second book is a close look at the relationship between Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Thrown together by war when Britain was on the verge of surrender, the book outlines how the two men became fast and tight friends despite periodic differences (usually created by the political realities each faced at home). To say their personal relationship was deep and enduring sells it short.

 This is why sometimes I just sit the den (excuse me, MY ROOM 😉) and look at this little bobblehead and wonder what he'd think and say about things in general, given his history. We know how he'd be politically, but I mean otherwise. Similar statues are available for all the presidents and I'd like a coupla more (Madison, TRoosevelt, Obama). I also commiserate with deGaulle and Monet, depending on what's up. Never hurts to get the views of an exiled political leader and an artist.

 I mean, all of us have to be able to put ourselves in Another World for awhile, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to deal with the real one.

"...there are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still..." -- FDR