Another view. I took this after I had retreated to the bedroom to listen to a podcast. Don was on the phone. The combination of the phone call and – right before that – recording a new song for a few hours, all of which took place less than 20 feet away from where I was sitting, was too much. I needed some privacy, if only for a while.

We get along extraordinarily well. We love being just a few steps away from each other. But sometimes, especially in this frightening time, both of us need some privacy. Later in the day, we took a walk up in the woods, back and forth down our paths. It helped. I am very, very grateful he is by my side. Always. But especially now.

I think I watched too much news last night and I had a restless night of sleep. To be expected. I’m sure this same restlessness is happening to millions of Americans. As more details emerge, I am more and more angry; at the same time, depressed and sad.

I happened to be on Twitter the moment they permanently suspended his account. It should have happened long ago, but better late than never. He’s trying to incite another attack.

In other news, we were going to take our tree down yesterday. It’s been up for 38 days! But Don looked at me and plaintively asked, “Could we keep it up one more day?” So we did. However, it’s definitely time, so today we’ll deal with that. It’s been beautiful. I’ve hugged and thanked this beauty for enriching our life when we most needed it.

Haven’t started a puzzle yet, but I think I will today, after the tree is down.

Don’s working on a song, I’ll be working a puzzle. And he made me apple pie the other day to cheer me up, so we’ll have a piece late in the afternoon.

My dears, I’m thinking of you. Sending lots of love your way.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

The photo has no particular reason for being here. I haven’t been taking any photos for the past two days. I’ve been glued to the news and to Twitter. But I suppose it symbolizes shelter, a safe place, our haven during this unbelievably shocking time.

Pence, being the weak man that he is, doesn’t want to go for the 25th Amendment. He worries, of course, about his prospects for 2024. I got news for you buddy: you’re not going to President. But you could  be President if you removed him from office. You’d get to play President for 12 days.

So we must impeach. He must be removed as soon as possible. I’ve already read about plans these disgusting criminals have for the 19th and 20th. And that scares me to death.

They must be stopped. The photos show me exactly who they are. Vermin. Wearing Auschwitz shirts, carrying Confederate flags – looking – and I’m going to generalize a bit here – like the uneducated lowlifes that they are.

I don’t mean to linger on this, but it’s all I have right now.

Although, the other day, Don finally  cleaned up his portion of the office after a series of not-so-subtle remarks from yours truly. I even went upstairs to help him, which was a good idea, because he needs feedback as well as help making piles of items to save and items to throw out. It looks so  much better up there! I can finally walk to the window by his desk to raise and lower the blinds!

He feels very satisfied, as he should. Yay, Don!

It’s a sunny day here. Cold, but sunny. No snow on the horizon, as far as I can see.

I’m going to try to limit my news intake today, just checking in occasionally to see what’s happening. I do know that during all of this, I’ve gone upstairs to the studio and stared at the dollhouse, losing myself in my miniature world. It’s comforting.

I’m waiting on wallpaper for the bathroom. In the meantime, I think I might start a puzzle today.

I’m thinking of all of you as we wrestle with the realization that our Capitol was attacked.

Prosecute every one of them. Every piece of crap who took part in this assault on our democracy.

Even though I say I don’t edit, I do. I don’t use the words I would use here, out loud, in this house. So ‘crap’ it is.

Praying for peace for our country, for each other, for all of you.

Much love to you.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

I remain shaken to my core after watching yesterday’s attempted coup.

Though I had not been watching television, I was checking Twitter to see if Jon Ossoff had been officially declared the winner of the Senate race, and I saw one of the first photos of the insurrectionists breaching the Capitol. I immediately ran to get Don, we turned on the television and there we remained until we went to bed.

Some thoughts:

Why was law enforcement so unprepared for this? We knew something was coming, we knew that Trump was ginning up his followers. He repeatedly talked about January 6th and how it was going to be ‘wild.’

Even more, I saw photos of Capitol Police taking selfies with members of that mob. I saw them let them in through a gate. I saw them stand there doing nothing as they walked through the Capitol without going through a screener. How did the insurrectionists know where offices were? How were they able to breach the Capitol so quickly and easily? Don and I couldn’t believe how easy it was for them to walk around, with huge flags that could be used as weapons, going from the Hall of Statuary to the floor of the Senate. What the hell?

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but it seems obvious to me that there was someone or several someones on the inside who helped them. There had to be.

To see them desecrate the Capitol, looting offices, trashing everything while taking selfies? They need to be arrested and thrown in jail. This cannot stand.

The seditious members of Congress need to be unseated. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz need to be expelled. They are not worthy to hold any office, let alone one of such importance. There needs to be a clean sweep of Congress. And this should NEVER be tolerated again.

As for Trump, that vile, disgusting excuse for a human being – impeach him today and remove him from office. Or invoke the 25th Amendment. The fact that some of the decisions yesterday – to call in the National Guard, etc. – were made by Pence rather than Trump tells me that the administration knows he is out of his mind. If that’s the case, take him out via the 25th. He needs to be removed from office and thrown in jail.

He incited a group of people that he would never be seen with normally to commit crimes. He’s been doing this for five years, of course, and anyone who tells you they didn’t expect something of this nature was willfully ignoring the daily evidence of his sociopathy. We knew something was coming, that he wouldn’t leave office without creating as much chaos as possible. These misfits and malcontents, these believers in conspiracy theories who would rather live in a fantasy than in the real world were ripe for exploitation. And Trump knew it. As did every person in that administration and the resignations that are suddenly happening should have happened long ago. What? You’re suddenly shocked by his behavior? Give me a break. You worked for him. You enabled him. You didn’t take a stand until two weeks before he leaves office? All of them are beneath contempt.

That this could happen in this country says a great deal about where we are. Someone we heard recently on MSNBC said that we, as a nation, are no longer dealing with a shared set of facts. We have a large portion of the population that believes in a bunch of nonsense that can be debunked in approximately 30 seconds. And we have a monster in the White House.

He has been inciting violence since his early rallies, encouraging people to attack reporters. He made no secret of his propensity for violence or of his insatiable need to be a dictator. And now it’s come to this.

On a day when we should have been able to celebrate the incredible wins in Georgia, we witnessed a coup attempt. I confess that I knew it could get bad, but yesterday’s insurrection went further than I could have imagined.

Throw him in prison for the rest of his sorry life. Throw the insurrectionists in jail and put them on trial. Expel those elected representatives who tried to overthrow an election. They are vile. They are not public servants. We need to rid our governing bodies of these vermin and start fresh.

That’s how I feel this morning.

I’m not editing. I’m writing this in the moment on this day after an attempted coup.

I didn’t get to your comments yesterday. Sorry.

Stay safe.

Pray for our country.

Happy Thursday.