Family

I was very lucky to have my entire nuclear family at our house for Thanksgiving.  In addition we invited my newly orphaned niece and nephew so they would have company for their first Thanksgiving without a parent.

Both my sons and their spouses rallied to support my husband and I, and our two wonderful grandkids pitched in too.  One of my daughters-in-law served as a fabulous sous chef throughout the time leading up to the big event.  She chopped, assembled, stirred, set the table, reminded me to put the cranberries on the table and chatted and laughed while she did it all.  Along with their dad, my terrific sons kept the conversation going and after a very filling and delightful meal, cleaned up afterwards and put all the food away.

Everyone participated in the entertainment options including a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, a marathon game of Life with the grandkids and my niece and nephew, a visit to the dog park in the afternoon, and a game of charades after the big meal and before a delicious array of desserts prepared by my other amazing daughter-in-law and the grandkids, all topped off by a marvelous Chateau d'Yquem sauterne after dinner drink that my dear husband took out for the occasion.

It was such a perfect weekend and I will treasure the memories forever.  

Readers

Last Monday I went to the "launch" of the Second Annual Colorado Book Festival.  I went as an observer as opposed to being the active participant that I was for the first annual event.

The chairman introduced the head of the library which was a cosponsor for the festival, a local television personality who is a meteorologist and who conducts an on air book club, and the main speaker, a lexicographer from the University of Colorado who has just published a book with the venerable Oxford Publishing Company.  The audience was wonky and loved the subject of cliches.  I was dying to talk about foreign policy and politics.

What happened?  Why had I "dropped out?"

There were many reasons but looking back I could attribute it to one in particular:  a difference of opinion about what the Colorado Book Festival should be.

I drew my inspiration for my philosophy from watching CSPAN 2's Book TV every weekend during which time they visit book festivals all over the country, in Mississippi, in Tuscon, in Ohio, in Brooklyn.  Each city holds interviews and presentations that reflect where they live but that also expose the national audience to ideas that made them unique.  For example, I recall watching the Mississippi Book Festival one week where one of the panels featured acclaimed historian Jon Meachem who grew up in Mississippi and the subject of the panel centered around race relations today.  Why, I thought to myself couldn't Denver talk about some of their esteemed authors both past and present and about the colorful history that makes Colorado unique? Why not taut the
contributions that it makes to the national scene?

Many of my ideas were, in fact, put into place.  Among the presentations were ones by our governor who had just written a book about his rise in politics, a University of Colorado professor who had recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her study of Native Americans, the authors of a book about the Aurora mass killings a couple of years ago, and a well known novelist who writes about the West.

The members of my committee assembled panels with topics about business writing, poetry and sports.  None of them concerned current slants on these massive genres.

There were many disappointments, most notably, a lack of publicity, but more importantly the lack of  of concern for the history and legacy of our State as it relates to the rest of our country.  I had offered a list of criteria on how to base the committee's selections to no avail.  A raffle was of greater interest as were the logistics of the children's corner.

So is it going to be better this year with a more aggressive chairman who is not that interested in sophisticated reading either, but does know how to promote and organize?

If the launch is any reflection, the festival will probably draw lots of people who love to read and that's a good thing.  It just won't move them to seek a higher bar.  It won't stimulate them to reach beyond what they already know and it won't open any doors to challenge themselves.  And it certainly won't give them an insight into the national scene.  As Colorado has been criticized in the past, it will remain in awe of the outside world but with no clue on how to interact with those beyond their city.

I comfort myself with the fact that we'll have more booklovers.  Even though to me it's a contest to get better and gain more attention from other parts of the country, those surrounding me are content to just have a festival.  I suppose I'm better off not being so judgmental.

Nature or Nurture?

Many years ago I lived in a highly competitive suburb.  Being smart, rich and attractive all ruled our entire lives.  I still remember a kindergarten concert where the child of one of our friends got the lead role playing the xylophone and the rest of us were sure the parents "bribed" the teacher! The point was you had to win.

So my story really is about two sisters-in-law who each had two sons.  The husbands were I believe both smart lawyers who attended good schools.  Two of their sons were the same age.  One of the sisters-in-laws was particularly competitive.  She had in her mind making sure her son got into Harvard.  Discussion always revolved around how smart he was.  The other sister-in-law was more modest and humble about her own intelligence.  She was extremely organized.  Her son was always well dressed, well moderated and well scheduled.  I liked him a lot.  He was in my son's play group and he was just a cute kid.

So guess which kid went to Harvard?  The brilliant son of the pushy sister-in-law or the cute son of my friend who provided a comfortable, loving and consistent environment?  You're right if you say the second choice.

Now, how to apply this to my own children's upbringing.

Well, I have to say that I started out being extremely ambitious for my children.  Not to the point of bribery, but I did think it was important for them to get along with other kids and to get good grades in school.  Of course, if they were singled out, I liked that too.

There were a couple of life lessons that eventually made me turn more toward nurture than nature.

The first lesson came when our younger son was in second grade and was having difficulty calming down in his school situation.  At a conference with his teacher, she suggested to me that I concentrate on setting more rules at home, her theory being that if he had chores and responsibility at home, he would learn how to do the same at school.  In other words, don't do as I say, do as I do.

The second lesson occurred when our older son was applying to college and was close to developing a chronic health problem.  He was an honor student, a competitive tennis player and a really nice kid.
At that point I knew that it was my job to love him and not put such high expectations on him that it would impact his well being.

Today I still want my kids to do well.  I'm not so great on unconditional love.  But I hope they know that my love for them is greater than my judgment of their success.  I've always told them to be the best that they can be, but only for their own sakes.  We all feel better when we're complete and I've also told them being complete is having love in one's life, being happy with one's work and having friends.

Maybe it's a bit of nature and a bit of nurture.

When Shel Silverstein Made a Pass at Me

I lamented to my girlfriends that, though I do not approve of Harvey Weinstein and his company of men who sexually harass women, I felt kind of bad that I had never been approached by a man.  But then I got to thinking that I really was approached by many men, just not as aggressively as the women whose approaches were more extreme.  I'm reminded of Dorothy Parker's saying that she made somewhere back in the thirties or forties: "Men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses." In other words, those of us less voluptuous are commonly not the target of aggressive men.

But men did make passes at me when I was younger.  The one that stands out is the time when I was 27 and an intern at CBS in Chicago while earning my master's degree at Northwestern University.  My first job was to go the Playboy Mansion located in the swanky Gold Coast area of Chicago where Shel Silverstein lived and to get him to sign an agreement to allow his song "A Boy Named Sue" to be sung on a local program.

I called Mr. Silverstein on the phone.  He started to make overtures toward me.  "When can we meet?" sounded a bit ominous to me and I panicked for a week before I got back to him.  Shakily I called again and made arrangements to have him sign the agreement.  As  a back up I asked my husband to drive me to the mansion.  I even remember what I was wearing: a two piece print blouse and skirt.  It was summertime.

With strict instructions to my husband, I got out of the car and opened the seven foot iron gate to the mansion, rang the bell and waited for Mr. Silverstein to answer it.  Soon after a short, bald, bearded man with glasses answered the door and we stood in the entry hall while I handed him the papers.  Apparently he had decided I was not worth the effort or else when he saw that I was a short Jewish woman who probably looked like his mother, he would go elsewhere to pursue his prurian interests. He quickly signed the papers and returned them to me without a glitch.

And that's the story of when Shel Silverstein made a pass at me.  In the years to come I would often think of him when I was reading "Where the Sidewalk Ends," or "The Giving Tree" or "Lafcadio" to my children and my grandchildren.  He still delights me though, no doubt, he probably had all kinds of sexual harassment stories to tell before he passed away.

Just Watch Harvey

Just Watch Harvey

by Mimi Pockross

On March 2, 1970, beloved actress Helen Hayes appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to plug the revival of the play Harvey in which she and actor Jimmy Stewart were starring on Broadway.  The play had been introduced in 1944, enjoyed a record run, and had gone on to become the iconic and highly successful 1950 film in which Mr. Stewart also starred and of which snippets can still be regularly seen in more recent films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Field of Dreams, on television shows like The Simpsons, and now on YouTube.

During the interview Ms. Hayes mentioned that Harvey was a fantasy.  Said Ms. Hayes to Mr. Carson: “I believe going to see Harvey is more effective in getting children off marijuana than are the police. If you get your own sweet illusion and hold it to your heart," she said, "you don’t need outside help.”

Mrs. Chase wrote fourteen plays, three screenplays and two children’s books and in all of her works emphasized the need for imagination to counter the obstacles and fears we all face in the world as a means of remaining sane. A fierce proponent of children’s theater, the playwright Mary Coyle Chase espoused her views from Denver, Colorado where she lived all her life. 

Harvey is the story of an imaginary six foot one-half inch rabbit and his slightly tipsy middle-aged companion, Elwood P. Dowd.  Elwood’s sister wants to put him away in a sanitarium so that she can get on with her life.  The irony is that her sanity becomes a question.   Said a critic of the time during which Harvey was produced,  “(Harvey is) as much a satire of the world we have made as it is a defense of those who prefer madness to what by mere popular vote has come to be accepted as sanity.”

Mrs. Chase was well aware of the interest in mental health during the time that Harvey was written in the early 1940’s.   Sigmund Freud had recently become of interest and thus there was a focus on psychiatry.  Harvey is taken to Chumley’s Rest where treatments of hydrotherapy and a shot called Formula 977 similar to the notion of a lobotomy are considered.

Mary Chase herself struggled with the balance between illusion and reality.  She had grown up hearing Irish folk tales full of fantasy and had found solace in hearing them.  She would continue to offer imagination as a panacea for all the world’s ills.  She dwelled on creating scenarios in which laughter, love and beauty would result.

Perhaps as we deal with the opioid crisis today, we should suggest that in all the rehabilitation centers the residents “Watch Harvey.”

Mimi Pockross is currently writing a book about Mary Coyle Chase and Harvey and lives in Denver, Colorado.

The Whole Gold Star Mess and Harvey Weinstein

What a week for sensational television.  Is America today any worse than the time when all the pulp magazines and muckrakers prevailed?  With the exception of the fact that we've never had a president who acts like the readers rather than rising above their sometimes petty views, probably life is as it always has been: full of events and individuals who capture our attention with their stories, particularly the sensational ones.

I was particularly captivated by two emotional interviews that I watched this week.

The first was an interview by Ari Melber on MSNBC's "The Beat" with the parents of a soldier who was recently killed in one of the areas where we're fighting.  It was heart rendering to watch the grief they were feeling.  It was so raw and so real.  It made you forget politics for a moment and just feel sad.

The second interview was conducted by Hari Sreenivasa on Public Broadcasting with a woman who had been accosted by Harvey Weinstein.  Like the soldier's parents, she was somewhat reluctant to come forth with her story but she felt she needed to do so once others were telling their stories.  She too was so real and I felt her pain so clearly.

The two incidents humbled me.  I tend to be tough and punitive and unfeeling.  Regardless of how one feels about the kerfuffle over the representative who spoke out for the soldier who was recently killed in Niger and regardless of how one feels about Harvey Weinstein's power over women and men's power over women in general, when I see real people just living their lives needing to tell us to be human, it makes me take a step back from all the news we hear today.  It's probably always gone on, but right now, I'm particularly struck by the news of this week.    

Puerto Rico, Trump and My Mother

A couple of mornings ago President Trump threatened to take federal responders and National Guard units out of Puerto Rico because (I am paraphrasing) they are not holding up their part of the bargain.  In fact he appears to be punishing Puerto Rico for not running a perfect union.

I was raised by an authoritarian mother and I'm wondering if his allegedly authoritarian father instilled a similar trait that I had to learn to temper, "You do it my way or else."

One time when I was a young mother in an upscale suburb, several of us moms were helping put on a theatrical presentation.  I yelled at the kids to get "in line" and stop fiddling around.  The other moms were shocked that I didn't handle the kids in a more calm, nurturing manner.  They, it seems, had been raised by moms who were more supportive, more gentle, more understanding.  After that incident, I forced myself to work on being a more empathetic mom.  To this day, I still have trouble and I still have to work at it.  Whether it's gender issues, poverty issues, relationship issues, I am still more likely to blame the other if she doesn't live up to what I perceive to be the "right way" which is my way.

Well, I'm just a normal citizen and President Trump is the President of the United States.  He's supposed to represent what Americans perceive as a grounded person, someone who has had his battles but has come to be a person that is honorable and a role model we all admire.  Is this too idealistic to think that this is the bar for America?  After all, presidents in the past have had their flaws as well. Particularly Richard Nixon's troubled childhood created many dark demons that were the reason he sought to become more powerful. Of course, eventually Americans rejected him but it took an awfully long time.

We all try to learn from our mistakes, but the President of the United States must be better than the rest of us, and, if he's not, we are all in for some terrible times.

Rx: America

Yesterday I learned that a friend's twenty-nine year old grandson committed suicide.

This sad news piggy backed on the horrendous massacre of fifty-eight people in Las Vegas this week, and though, not the same as my friend's grandson's suicide, made me ask myself WHY?  Why is it that so many people today are lashing out by either killing themselves or others?

Former US Representative, now University of Michigan professor Harold Ford said on MSNBC's Morning Joe when analyzing the Las Vegas killings, that he believes we are having a public health crisis.  Something is taking place in society that is making masses of numbers of people "sick."  I prefer this analysis to coming up with all sorts of new gun legislation or pouring billions of dollars into mental health programs or providing revenue to address the opiod crisis.  This country has a serious problem that is affecting exorbitant numbers of the population and it can't be solved by stopping up holes to keep the water from pouring through.  We need a civil engineering project for our country that seriously addresses the inordinate amount of self destruction taking place.

I wish I were smart enough to come up with a comprehensive solution.  In my modest way I've thought that requiring everyone to take on the responsibility of citizenship such as the public service requirement that Israel requires for their eighteen year olds or that the UK "Gap" law requires of their citizens might result in an understanding and create a sense of pride in why we are Americans. It used to be the public education system provided an avenue for that identity.  We all said the pledge each day, studied the constitution, believed in the same history of our country.  That no longer is in play because so many people have their own conflicting ideas on how to educate our youngsters.

We are all seeking to be part of some sort of a community today.  People are anxious to be members of all kinds of group that reaffirm their beliefs and help them bond together.  Whether, it is joining the NRA or Planned Parenthood, Moveon.org or the KKK, everyone wants to belong some place.  It used to be that our family and our home town bound us together, but the definition of family today may not be the traditional mom and dad and two kids all of the same race.  And the town today may just be a sprawling development of homes with no Main Street where everybody knows your name.

We need something that will unite us rather than divide us, some thing that gives us a reason to be American.  I'm not against technology or big concerts or eating out every night or watching dystopian movies.  I guess that's some sort of progress.

What I object to is that we seem to have lost the core principles of what makes our country great, a collective idea of what it means to be an American.  To me being an American means creating laws that allow all the citizens of the country the opportunity to have a productive life and that gives them the tools to have that productive life and maybe even sets the bar for what is a productive life.  It means drawing on our past history to do this to better ourselves where we have made mistakes.  It means accepting that we can't go back to those idyllic Eisenhower years when I grew up, but it also means that those who weren't lucky enough to grow up that way may in the future have a chance to do so as well as those who have already been so fortunate.  It means being able to be all kinds of people with all kinds of professions.  We don't all have to be rich or famous or pious or edgy.  But we all need to be appreciative that our country offers this opportunity to be free to be you and me.  I always think of Henry Drummond (the fictitious version of the lawyer Clarence Darrow) who says in the play "Inherit the Wind," about the Scopes Monkey trial on evolution, something to the effect of, "Mister, you can have your new airplanes, but the sky will lose their wonder and the air will smell of gasoline."

We all need to move forward and really, right now especially it means, we all need to actively work towards this goal.  The public health crisis is imminent.  And we better find the right medicine.

Giant of the Senate????

For 48 chapters and 12 hours, my husband and I recently listened to Al Franken's new book published in May of 2017 entitled "Al Franken, Giant of the Senate."  His upbringing in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, also home to Thomas Friedman, Bob Dylan and a bunch of other luminaries.  His rise to fame as a comedian and writer on Saturday Night Live and his eventual decision to run for the US Senate.  It's a delightful recount of an interesting life peppered with Mr. Franken's hilarious commentary.

Of course in Mr. Franken's subtle understated tone, he was humorously putting himself in the category of past giants of the Senate like Mike Mansfield and Lyndon Johnson among others, but what he really wanted to do was to convey to you the incredible amount of time and energy and commitment it takes to be a senator of the US and why in fact he chose to become one.

It's not very often that a non-fiction subject can hold one's attention for this lengthy amount of time, but, in fact, for the most part Mr. Franken who narrated the audio book did do so.  He's so funny and chatty that you just are always waiting for the next laugh.  There was only one place at the end when I thought it was the conclusion and then he went on to the next chapter that I got a little anxious.

As far as how the book relates to today's horrible divisive atmosphere, it actually encourages people to be civil, but I'm skeptical about whether the book will do that or merely "strengthen his base."  I, for one am much more moderate than Mr. Franken, but I did get some good ideas about how to be a responsible citizen.

I was surprised at how bright he was.  I did not know he graduated from Harvard. I was impressed at his devotion to his constituency and his attention to their issues.  I could see why he would get frustrated at not being able to get more accomplished.  And I wanted to meet his wife, Franny, who has been a devoted and supportive and helpful companion for more than thirty years.

Some of the best parts of the book had to do with his first campaign when he originally lost the election and slid by with a very tiny margin after a mandatory recount reversed the results.  Another highlight was his chapter when he discusses his difficulty in filtering some of the jokes he really wanted to make.  I also found his relationship with President Obama interesting as well as his success in preventing AOL/Time Warner from becoming a part of the Comcast/NBC conglomerate.

I love politics so I enjoyed hearing about "the process" maybe more than others might, but Mr. Franken's book is definitely an entertaining way to get a civics lesson and I highly recommend reading it. 

California Country

 It’s been a while since I’ve been to LA.  Much like revisiting New York, the scene changes every time I return.

As always, it’s total sensory overload, but more than that, it’s a collective mindset that the LA way is the only way.

Everyone looks great even though the styles today are kind of schleppy.  Grungy haute courtier is the style.  Lots of skin, tasteful tattoos, leggings and off the shoulder blouses for the ladies and untucked shirts and tight jeans for the men.  Only the old people, a growing population who are rarely acknowledged, wear tailored slacks and skirts, blouses with sleeves or Ivy League shirts.  Regardless of one’s ethnic or gender background or political persuasion, everyone is stylish.  LGBT’s, hipsters, actors.  It doesn’t matter. They’re all magazine ready.  

Everyone likes to “pose.”  In front of Jeff Koons’ Michael Jackson at the Broad Museum.  In front of Frank Gehry’s Disney Hall.  At the beach.  Wherever. 

Dogs rule.  You can take them anywhere.  And the dogs are all good looking too.  Protocol is to stop and talk each time you see a couple or three of them on a leash.  It’s just not polite if you don’t comment on how cute they all are.  Actually protocol is to talk to all humans too.  It points out how all inclusive LA residents are.

Shopping is by Amazon.  Packages in all sizes clump together in the downtown high rises and other condominium complexes.

Though food trucks are still important, the restaurants featuring all kinds of poke are even more in vogue.   Accompanying poke and other lighter fare are cocktails with like Bloody Mary's with unusual ingredients like cucumber or bacon. 

As usual, the highways are like a scene in “La la land.”  And when you visit with anybody, it’s all about the highways you’re going to take to get to the next highway to get to the next highway to get to your destination.  “Take the 405 to the 110 and then to the 470.” Or something like that.

Of course everyone is on their cell phones.  You especially need the apps which can tell you how many minutes delay one has on each highway and then suggestions on alternate routes to go.

And one can expect other forms of delays like when they’re filming a commercial and you need to stop in your tracks until the scene is cut.

More and more the “Old Hollywood” shows up as a reminder of the days when Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart reigned.  All those famous symbols look even more classic.  The Hollywood Bowl.  The Pantages Theater.  The Roosevelt Hotel.  The Beverly Hills mansions where all the movie stars used to live.

There are hundreds of venues for theater and nightclubs and other forms of entertainment like improv just for women or a film festival for Star Wars fanatics.  The larger than life billboards are ubiquitous and taut every new movie and televisions series that are on the cable and streaming networks.  Marvel characters, grizzly crime, dystopian topics.  Pick your flavor.

The bougainvillea and hibiscus flourish everywhere.  It’s what makes LA the most inviting.   Walk down even a somewhat seedy street and rich greenery embraces you.

What I find most interesting is the total acceptance of political correctness.  Everywhere you go the population is an amalgamation of black, brown and white and everyone seems happy and comfortable with each other, a belief that this state knows how to solve their problems and how to get along.

You have to be tough to live in a city of so many millions.  Just being on a highway takes guts and determination beyond the norm.  It’s like you’re playing a football game every day.  You’re always in offense and defense mode.

Returning to my hometown of Denver seemed a bit of a letdown.  The people aren’t as pretty and if they are, they don’t quite know how to show it off.  It just seems a bit boring after all the intense stimulation.   Our restaurant and entertainment ratio is much smaller.  We do have a plethora of pot places and soccer fields.

Hey.  It is a nice place to raise a family.

Bannon Babble

So we finally got a chance to see Steve Bannon live and in person (well almost in person) last Sunday night on Sixty Minutes.  Charlie Rose's interview was amazing.  He certainly pressed on the issues that all of us were concerned in hearing about, most particularly his response to Charlottesville and to David Duke, the paragon of racism.

What struck me most about Steve Bannon was his belief that he knew better than the rest of us what was good for the country and for the president.  For the life of me, I can't figure out why we should believe him.  He's just a guy who made a bit of money in hedge funds and then in film.  And oh yeah, he spent a year strategizing with the Trump campaign, and helping steer the ultimate victory.

I don't know.  If I were looking at a resume, that background would seem a bit serendipity.  But then my resume isn't so great either.

Mr. Bannon's personna does reflect Mr. Trump's philosophy about running a country.  He knows better because he knows better.  Well, he did convince enough people to win the election.

I sort of think that Mr. Trump has a bit of the medicine man in him.  He talks a good game, but do those elixirs really work?  For a while, but then everyone discovers the real truth.  Like Chris Christie said about Mr. Bannon, let him enjoy his fifteen minutes of fame.

I already don't think anything Mr. Bannon says is based on the good of the country.  It's based on his own good.  That's what happens when you don't know what home and hearth is and you live your entire life in transactions and then you only read the materials that back up your beliefs.  He needs a good wife, but then these days good wives are hard to find.

I'm Stressed

At my gym I work out next to two attractive seventy something gray haired ladies who are the best of friends.   They are known to hang together on the treadmill which they take verrrrry slowly, or to work the machines together taking turns doing their repetitions.  In between they chat with all the regulars and the trainers and frequently me.

I only know a little bit about their personal history.  One of them is traditionally married.  The other is not.

When I walked into the workout room the other day, the single lady was waiting for her friend and on the machine for quads.  For some reason we started chatting and she was saying she didn't know why, but for the last few days, she'd been feeling particularly stressed.  In my usual way, I empathized and blamed it on the constancy of the events that have been pummeling us daily since the election.  Just this week there was the Texas flood, the DACA crisis, the North Korean threat, the coming of Hurricane Irma, Trump's son testifying in a Senate committee for his meeting with the Russians during the campaign and the pathetic debut of Mrs. Clinton's book in which she blames everyone else other than herself for her defeat.  

I tell her I try to shut out the chaos with classical music and a resolve to only listen to the blabber for part of the day.

"Mmmmm," she said.  "I paint.  But maybe I ought to turn off MSNBC when I'm painting."  This seemed to cheer her up.

When her friend showed up right after our discussion, her friend asked her how she was feeling and she said she had been depressed, but now she was feeling better.  She had just decided to turn off MSNBC.

Melania's Shoes

This morning I was watching, as I do most Saturdays, Michael Smerconish on CNN.  This week he was trying to find a new angle on the week long depressing reports on the Texas floods. He began the show by talking about the President's and the First Lady's clothes and shoes.  Apparently Mr. Trump received criticism for wearing khakis to visit the flood site and Mrs. Trump was criticized for wearing seven inch spiky heels (I'm guessing the size.)

Mr. Smerconish dismissed Mr. Trump's dress noting that Presidents Obama and Bush wore khakis to their visits to their disaster visits of Sandy and Katrina. When it came to Mrs. Trump's heels, he just said in a very male fashion, "Who Cares?"

Actually I didn't see Mrs. Trump's heels this morning but I did see Mike Pence's wife Karen's approach to the dress of the day.  She was more casually dressed than I would have preferred.  She wore a blue silk short-sleeved tee outlined in black and indistinct nicely fitting jeans.  To be honest she's got a pretty nice figure.  I was a bit envious.

My less than expert commentary on the dress of both women is that they speak to who they are:  Melania always has to find a way to make a flashy statement even though she's trying really hard to be proper, and Karen in her "aw shucks" demeanor and her attitude of wanting to support her man, usually selects a look that says all I like want to do is get down to brass tacks and start helping. I'm as ordinary as you.

It is true that Mrs. Trump switched from her spiky heels and black pants and top and green combat jacket to jeans, tennies and a white shirt.  She probably could have worn one outfit and made it work.

So what would I wear if I were first or second lady?  First I'd consider the weather:  I know it's hot and humid.  Second, I'd think about the location and where I'd be photographed.   That would be walking on the tarmac to the plane and getting off the plane.  Third I'd think about my destinations once I got off the plane.  Fourth, I'd definitely want to be comfortable and not have to think about what I was wearing, and fifth, of course I'd want to look good.  As always, my clothes would have to be appropriate to my size, my stature, and my best assets.

Mrs. Trump definitely is good at using her height to accentuate the positive.  I credit her for that.  What would I change?   I'd make the heels the height of the ones she usually wears if she has to make a statement.  I see her in her red jeans, her white shirt, perhaps tucked in with a slimmer belt than she usually wears.  Maybe she could have worn a jean jacket at the start that she could take off if the weather became too warm.  I like the hat and pony tail, although an alternative might have been to not wear a hat and pull her hair back at the nape of neck.  She seems to have trouble going from harnessed appropriate to harnessed casual.

For Mrs. Pence, I'd wear jeans similar to the Not Your Daughter Jeans that are considered a regular fit rather than such a tight one or else some attractive khakis.  I'd wear a white tee shirt and over that a lightweight attractive blouse maybe in her blue of choice with sleeves rolled up.  For shoes, (she was wearing flats), I'd wear some attractive canvas shoes with flaps and no ties.  And I'd comb my hair or find some way to hold it in place.

In essence, I don't think either one of the women hit the mark.  Maybe they'll get better with time.  I'm pretty sure that Michelle Obama and Jill Biden would have known what to do.