I almost missed this beauty. It was peeking out from the yarrow in the memorial garden. I don’t get many roses from these bushes – maybe one or two – but when they do emerge, what loveliness! They are almost always accompanied by these little bugs.

Well, all I can think about right now was last night’s January 6th Committee hearing. I hope you watched it. If you didn’t, watch it online. There is nothing more important than what is happening in the hearings: the systematic laying out of facts about January 6th, all of them leading to the ringleader, Trump. This is the first in a series of hearings where the committee will unveil what they have discovered.

The video of the attack on the Capitol, taken by a documentary filmmaker, was absolutely horrifying. The evidence that Trump knew he had lost, had been told that he lost by advisors, but kept inciting his cultists no matter the evidence was chilling. Equally chilling are his words about hanging Mike Pence.

These are facts. Those who blindly follow Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories won’t let themselves be swayed. That would be admitting they’d been taken in by a conman, a carnival barker. They’re lost.

But for the rest of us who value truth and the Constitution and our democracy, this evidence is chilling. And it’s just the start.

Bravo to GOP Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are risking their careers in the pursuit of truth.

It was riveting. We’ll be watching the next hearing on Monday at 10 am.

The word “patriot” has been bastardized by those who are anything but patriots. But I’ll invoke it to say that I believe it’s our patriotic duty to watch these hearings – to bear witness. Just as I watched the Watergate hearings (Watergate seems like child’s play now) I will watch these hearings. Yes, it can be upsetting. You should  be upset.

And please, if you’re going to say “It won’t make a difference” please don’t. It’s defeatism, which isn’t helpful. The fact is we don’t know what will happen. But it’s clear to me that the Committee is skillfully and painstakingly laying out a case against Trump and all who enabled him.

It’s all Don and I can talk about this morning.

It’s a gorgeous day and I can hear a bird singing right outside my window. I’m reading The Punishment She Deserves  by Elizabeth George, trying to finish it by tomorrow because I have another book waiting for me at the library.

The puzzle I’m working on is the hardest I’ve ever encountered, so it’s very slow going.

I will post Don’s recipe for sugar-free apple pie over the weekend.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.