We had a huge, scary storm come through yesterday and I have some cleanup to do before I leave for the city. Lots of catalpa leaves are all over the yard and if you’ve seen a catalpa you know the leaves are heart-shaped and large in size. We won’t even talk about all the blossoms that are everywhere.
Mostly, though, I can’t really write today. I am so disheartened by what is going on in Washington DC; the lack of transparency as Mitch McConnell engineers yet another swindle on the American people because he’s spiteful and power-hungry and he wants to give a huge tax cut to the rich by taking money away from Medicaid, the lack of transparency in the White House as press briefings are now private with no recordings allowed, the ongoing investigations, which are vital, while this sorry excuse for a human being undoes everything that made us good and compassionate and powerful and respectable.
I’m simply overwhelmed by it all today. And heartsick.
I’ve got news: governing is not slashing and undoing everything someone else has done just for the sake of doing it, for spite. Governing is listening to the people. Governing is working for the good of all Americans not just the rich. You work for us. We pay your salaries.
2018 can’t come soon enough.
I’ll stop there.
I have to go to Manhattan later today and I’ll be back home tomorrow.
Happy Tuesday.
I agree. Every day it gets worse. And, the death of the UVA student makes me even sadder. May his family find peace. I keep thinking about what it will be like here if we become a totalitarian government, which seems closer every day. Difficult days are ahead. Thank you for being honest, it helps!
Heartbreaking. My thoughts are with his family.
That is the conclusion I have come to recently – his administration is all about spite and nothing else. I feel truly bad for the middle class and poor people who think (and still believe) he will do something/anything for them.
t, you are so spot on.
They will be shocked and by then it will be too late.
It’s like watching the bully in junior high. Right now I am looking for “the happy” that seems to elude me. I start with not listening to the news. Then watch movies on TV. Then I try to keep a smile on my face as I walk around the house. I pick up my sashiko and do a few rows. Clean. Pray. And remember happy times. I have to be very pro-active in finding peace and calm or I might just spend the day crying. He is so mean and vengeful .
Same thing here. Yesterday it became too much. And this morning. Thank goodness I have work in the city today and tomorrow. It might help me get my mind off of this travesty. At least for a few hours.
I am the same as you. I find relief in sewing and watching Midsomer Murders. I have gone through most of the series only a couple of seasons left. Then I think I will go back to Downton Abbey. I listen while I sew and fold laundry. Wish I could listen while I cook.
We all need some way to escape from it – even if it’s only for a short time.
I’m a Canadian watching your news with great interest and sadness. America was great because it was good. It breaks my heart to see what is happening in your country. I pray for you and the rest of the world in these critical times. God Bless.
Thank you, Kathy. I appreciate it.
I am looking for something to give me a sense of peace. It’s hard right now. I am trying not to listen to the news but that’s not always good either. I reach my limits and must retreat from it all. I get renewed by the joy of my Grands, the time I get to spend with my Mom and reading books and watching something on TV that takes me away. The heat doesn’t help my mood either. Today I go for my annual checkup and let’s hope I get good news! Last year I had my check up all was well and then I had my Pancreatitis and Gallbladder attack. Yikes! Trying to think positive but sometimes I can’t. Enjoy the city and seeing Anastasia again. Hugs!
Sometimes I can escape and other times – I can’t. That’s what is going on right now.
hi, claudia. sorry about the storm damage and extra work for you. i know you work hard and love the land on which you live, all those flowers and the shelter and food they provide to wildlife …
i have been avoiding the national news for months. it’s been a hard balance for me to find – being informed (which, of course, helps direct my actions and protests) versus being sad and angry about changes made to programs that have helped people and our country – as an entity and by reputation – to be stronger. so i continue to pray …
glad you have a couple days in nyc and get to see the show again!
kathy in iowa
It will give me a bit of a change and that will help.
Claudia I think the storms were metaphors or simply the result of emotion swelling in this country. I too am sickened by all of those men who are abusing, molesting, raping we the people.
Perfect metaphor, Chris. Perfect.
Claudia, I share your feelings, and I think you’re right. Sometimes you just have to take a break, escape and recharge so you can come back to fight another day. I hope your time in NYC can be a little vacation from the problems of the world, even if you are working.
Good to hear from you, Beth. I hope all is well.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts – we all need to recharge, don’t we?
I am in total agreement with what you said. It is all so disheartening. And then you add on the other more ordinary things…like the weather…and it is more than I can bear. I’ve been hiding, doing little things around the house to keep my attention. Yesterday I immersed myself in “Grantchester” that was a sweet diversion. Enjoy today’s distraction! ;)
I think that’s why I enjoy mowing so much this summer – it’s a physical workout that helps me escape and it looks good, to boot.
He is a bully and a manipulator. He creates chaos wherever he goes, and distracts everyone to the (too) many travesties he is implementing. Everyone is exhausted by the end of the day just trying to keep up with the “breaking news” which occurs constantly now. His many distractions are also, sadly, allowing the Repubs to manipulate this additional “health care” nonsense they are pulling off. I can’t even imagine how this will affect the many disabled children and adults, along with the VETS which that party claims to honor. It is beyond belief that he has hypnotized nearly 40% of this nation…. and those he has under his “power” are, sadly, the ones he will hurt the most. They don’t or won’t see it. They still think Obamacare is bad, but believe that THEY have the Affordable Care Act insurance, and are insistent that because of that, their insurance won’t be impacted.
It is amazing what these people have accomplished with nothing more than smoke and mirrors…… oh, yes, and, of course, some hate thrown in for their amusement.
They will be shocked. On one hand I feel badly that they will see their health insurance go away, I don’t want to see that happen to anyone – on the other, they chose to remain willfully ignorant with blinders on, instead of actually reading, researching and doing something other than maintain their cult mentality.
Wearing us down is part of their strategy; what was once unthinkable is now just business as usual. It feels like it is all beyond our control but it is not! Rest, recuperate, and then fight on!
Peace
I’m better today and you bet I will fight on! #resist
I am trying just like you and the others have mentioned here to make sense of the world we are living in. It’s so hard to walk through each day and not allow the status of our country and our government to wear you down. My heart is broken and I find myself feeling so much anger. More anger than I’ve ever felt in my life I believe.
Then the sense of helplessness just becomes too overwhelming. I’m not able to get outside much these days because of our horrid heat so I do my best to keep occupied inside my home. Luckily I enjoy baking, reading, working on my family ancestry, old television shows and movies. My little furry guy Winston is my saving grace right now.
I just do my best to keep moving forward and doing anything that I can however small it may be to change things. May you find some peace or at least get your mind off of all of this for the few days that you will be working. And looking forward to your time with Don very soon.
Have a most lovely day Claudia.
I have more perspective on the whole thing today and, even though we lost in GA, see that things are changing. 2018 is coming.
I also am having difficulty over all I’ve read about American student Otto Warmbier; his blood is on the hands of his captors. I can’t stop thinking about it and him. What must his family and friends be going through…unbearable.
Yes, get away today, Claudia; I hope your time in Manhattan is a good distraction…for a little while at least. Hope it’s not too hot in the city for your goings & comings.
Noting Belinda’s comment, I find myself hugging my big ‘ol dog so many times in the day that she’s probably feeling suffocated…but I guess it’s my need for something real and good when the greater world seems to be spinning out of control. (And, of course, in the news, we always hear or see more that’s bad than good…but you can’t make it go away; there’s just a lot of bad stuff going on…)
My husband may be going overseas on an assignment related to his primary job (six months from now) and, although it’s something that will be very good for him, I’m feeling so uncertain about the travel and whether he’ll be safe in the foreign country when it seems we’re too often waking to news about terrorist attacks and unrest. I still can’t get over what happened, coming up on a year ago, in the halcyon south of France, the lovely and smaller city that is Nice, not even the larger metropolis of Paris…or much beleaguered/battered-of-late London. It’s hard/impossible to know what/who might get hit next, but we even had that attack here in SoCalif (Redlands) about 18 months ago, so safety anywhere is just not guaranteed.
I traveled a lot many, many years ago and maybe some of it was never safe but I clearly had a false sense of security. You know how it is when young(!); you feel that you’re immortal…but, man, I’ve done some really stupid things when outside the U.S. and put myself at risk with just pure ignorance with no thought to my personal safety, like getting lost in a big foreign city when by myself and ending up in unsavory areas where no one spoke my language, with night coming on. Just one example.
Risk is a part of life; we can’t stop living, or they win. I read one of those ‘lists’ recently, of places where the state department says not to go if you’re an American, and it’s just so sad to think that anyone can’t freely travel with certainty to the lands of other peoples, which is how we learn and grow. I believe one place on that list was Kenya, and I remember when I wanted to go there a lot in my 20s (safari; to observe, never hunt); exotic names of places in Africa like Zanzibar, Tanzania (didn’t we all read about Jane Goodall and her chimps in Nat’l Geo?) … such far-flung places beckoned, and I was somewhat adventurous all those years ago. Durban in South Africa; looked so scenic when I was a kid watching that surfing movie by Bruce Brown called “Endless Summer” — surf & travel odyssey. Easy to get romantic/idealized notions of places when younger without knowing yet of political turmoil and strife. Sigh.
We can’t let them win, that’s for sure. But I know we all look at international travel differently these days.
A heartbreaking loss of life.
It’s a little warm here but definitely better than it was earlier in the week!
Claudia,i am especially sorry and concerned that you and many of your commentors are feeling so disheartened,because many of you seem more informed than the average. Even at a little bit of a remove (in Canada) and from behind the momentous task of moving forward in my own situation(a useful distraction?!), It does feel like a hugely disorienting shift and bizarre phase in time is unfolding. It seems that everywhere in our lives there are signs of unprecedented transitions into alarming uncertainty.
Thanks for sharing along with the need and ways for balancing it all out.
Thanks for the many beautiful images lately!
Enjoy your trip and keep up your spirits.
Thank you so much, Grace.
Sorry about the mess the storm left behind. We had rain in Queens but luckily no damage or mess.. Enjoy your trip to the city.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn. It’s been a nice visit. Headed home later today.
As an Australian viewing the Trump spectacle from a distance, I truly feel for you Claudia.
The hate-filled bizarro world that is US politics today leaves me totally open-mouthed – and so grateful for our Westminster system of government.
Resist!
I never thought this would happen to our country and I damned if I’m not going to fight and resist!
It’s as if we are imploding. Sunday, Noble and I went to hear a Bach concert with friends in Beacon and then went to their home in Wallkill. She is a meadow designer so we spent a lovely time in the meadows with butterflies everywhere, birds of all kinds and their many cats showing off their magical world. Delicious dinner and great conversation. Perfect day. When we returned home, I flipped on the news and there were the words “Breaking News,” which used to be reserved for out-of-the-ordinary world events. Now it is the norm. Another atrocity in London. Mirroring thousands of similar instances across the world in which kindness, grace, goodness and decency has been replaced with cruelty, hatred, divisiveness and evil. Because of one man. One man whose ego and greed are so massive that he is willing to sacrifice every last one of us satisfy his lust for power and approval. Disheartening doesn’t even begin to cover it. And when I get into anti-social media battles, the one thing I bring up to those who believe he has their best interests at heart is that I am battling for them, too; for their children; grandchildren; indeed for ALL children on this planet. I am not against them, we are on the same side. They just don’t know it.
You know I am in total agreement, Tina.
Sorry about the storm & looks like lots of rain may be coming your way this weekend. Looks like I may have to turn on the sprinkler system….hot & dry all of a sudden.
My neighbor left today for a long train ride through Glacier Park & up into Canada. I’m so jealous…I’d love to have that escape. I’m doing better about staying away from the tv, except for Rachel. I have 4 sisters and several good friends who all share my concerns. Sometimes just having someone to talk to helps me. I just hope and pray that the dem. wins tonight in Georgia….how can people continue putting repubs. in office. It’s like a dictatorship!
I’m also reading a good, easy book….my concentration is not real good right now so I’m staying light. Hope you have a nice evening and if you get a chance check out my blog.
We do have rain coming this weekend, which means I have to mow Thursday. Life is all about mowing these days.
I’ve been having a hard time reading, but I started a book yesterday because I have to review it in about a week – so I am forcing myself to read!