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I want to return to my old self, the one who makes you laugh, the one who survived major turmoil and can joke about it, the one who frolics with gravity on the mountain... and I suppose I will. But you see, I'm privileged. I am white and a heterosexual. I grew up on Long Island awash in advantages and a good education. So if you can bear with this one more post about He Who Must Not Be Named, I promise to return to my feel-good, nature-oriented posts. That doesn't mean I am abandoning the good fight. I will always be there to help. As Chelsea Clinton said during the Democratic convention, "that’s the responsibility that comes with being smiled on by fate." Just let me have this one more rant, though: 
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 Can everyone just please stop asking themselves how things could possibly get any weirder?
 Most of the people I am close to are freaking out with justifiable cause. We are frightened for the environment, for the lives of our friends of color, origin and choice of lifestyle, the future of the social security system we’ve paid into our entire lives, and the threat of actual nuclear war.
To many of us, the results seem like the equivalent of a 9-year-old child who's inadvertently burned his parents’ house down and has yet to understand the magnitude of what he’s done. I don’t blame us a bit for being unhinged at results of the presidential election. Our dreams of shattering the ultimate glass ceiling lie tattered for now. I’ll admit that I’ve vacillated between anger, fear, and some downright toxic expletives I’ve used in the privacy of my home. Some of them have left my husband shaking his head in disbelief, that his wife could ever utter. Much like a death, it’s over, it’s done, you can’t argue with it, and there’s no rebuttal. So let’s stop fighting amongst ourselves, shower off the toxicity and figure out a way to go forward. Take out your anger by whacking a tennis ball, punching a pillow, or my personal favorite, splitting firewood. (It turns out I still wield a pretty mean mauling axe in spite of my age and size.) And don't forget to drink plenty of water. For whatever our complaint is, the Trump campaign won somewhat fair and somewhat square, according to the laws we now have in place. People who are frustrated have been heard, and much as we don't care for it, that's how we roll in our country. So to you guys who have been so disenfranchised by the system, (and the 53% of women who voted for Trump) I say this: Your show is on, your day is here. Let’s see what ya got.  Ouch. I‘m just as stunned as everyone I know. But having trained in aikido for nearly 30 years, I know how to get up again. I’ve probably done it more than a million times. I’ve lived through the Kennedy assassination, the 60s, the Nixon, Reagan and Bush administrations, and I still believe that our country is great. But the fear that possible deregulating of everything we’ve fought so hard for scares me more than all the previous upsets. I’m afraid for the environment. I fear the idea that misogynists may have gotten a thumbs-up over this decision. And hey, it’s managed to scare that definitive scaremaster himself, Stephen King, who on his Facebook feed has stated that he will be shutting down for an indeterminate time. I have to admit that I've had fun on Facebook this election, posting funny memes and responding to outrageous claims by friends of friends. It reminded me of my punk rock days, jumping into the mosh pit of expletives to defend a friend, getting bounced around, stepping out for a beer, and then going back in again. But it’s over now, and we have to find a way to move forward. Secretary Clinton has done this again and again in her life; if any woman can get bounced around as much as she and keep coming back, then we all can be a little stronger because of her. So in the coming months let’s be careful, mindful of our surroundings, and not give up fighting for a dream where eventually, maybe ¾ of us can agree on something. My inclination is to keep on fighting the good fight locally, while staying connected to our friends world-wide. There are so many things we can still accomplish in spite of a conservative stronghold. The sun did come up this morning in Oregon, mired in fog, but it’s still up there, shining over a giant, cantankerous country where apparently anything can happen.  |
Here's where I expound on whatever I'm passionate about at the time. I welcome your comments, as long as you're not hateful, a terrorist, or attempting to pedal work-at-home offers.
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