When I woke up later than normal Saturday morning, all I really wanted to do was curl back into that toasty nest and stay there for the rest of the day. Under no circumstances did I want to brave the cold, steady rain that greeted me when I peered out the dining room window. The rain looked frigid and miserable, and I didn’t want to take time out of my day protest. I wanted to grab a blanket, book, and cup of coffee and entice my cat to sleep the day away on my lap.
I could have easily stayed home, because no one was expecting me to be there, unlike my husband, a magazine editor. He would be missed by all the faces he identifies to me and then I quickly forget.
I try to be anonymous nowadays, unlike when I was a small town newspaper editor; I left that job about 16 years ago. I loathe having my life on display for everyone in the community—accessible to any angry reader who chased me through the grocery store or seemed hellbent on getting me fired. I much prefer the lower profile I have now.
So, I wasn’t obligated to anyone to go to the protest—except myself, that is, because I am an American. One person can make a difference, whether that’s at the ballot box or telling an important story. Every one of us needs to be telling how our democracy is being stolen by an oligarch-wannabe and his billionaire hatchet man.
We all need to use our strengths, our talents, and our voices in whatever way we are best able to do so. My husband speaks through his photography, and I strive to use words and video to tell stories—and yesterday’s story was how Bloomington, Indiana, came out to fight.
What are you reading right now?
Since January 20, I’ve been consumed by the work of independent journalists, and I’ve been pulling out, flipping through, and consuming old books on media law, American history, and the Constitution, as well as autobiographies of notable modern-day politicians and public servants.
The obsession is so bad that I can’t seem to reclaim my normal reading habits. Last year, I read 119 books; this year, nine. By this time last year, I had read 39 books, and April was my top month with 17 books. This year? Six in January—Watching You by Lisa Jewell, The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand, Angel Falls by Kristin Hannah, When She Woke by Hillary Jordan, Fall to Pieces by Mary Forsberg Weiland and Larkin Warren, and Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty—one in February—Between a Heart and a Rock Place by Pat Benatar (this one took me a while to read because I didn’t care for the beginning, but it won me over in the end)—and two in March—What a Fool Believes by Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser, and On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah.
I have five or six books partially read. I regularly read several books at a time, but right now I’m having trouble focusing. I’ll eventually finish them all—maybe after the mid-term elections.
Travel surprises and shitshows
Traveling for work has also been a distraction. I took my husband with me to a work conference in Dallas so he could get away from life. Texas is never on my list of places I look forward to visiting, but downtown Dallas offered some pleasant surprises, including one of the best exhibits I’ve seen—The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (about the assassination of John F. Kennedy)—good bourbon, a lovely little bookstore, outstanding barbecue (so much great food!), and a short walk to the convention center—I got plenty of steps that week.
And then there is flying in the Trump 2.0 era. With the air crashes and mishaps, the air traffic controller layoffs, and the country’s all-around chaos, I was scared shitless to fly—and I fly a lot. But I kept telling myself that the pilot wants to make it home, too, and that helped keep the fears in check.
Since getting home just over a week ago, we’ve had two tornado scares with sirens, winds, and trips to the basement—we were lucky, others weren’t. Since, we’ve had massive amounts of rain and flooding. Climate change is real, folks.
In all the hubbub, I neglected to mention a positive that happened this week—my husband was AGAIN featured in an exhibit with his photographs. Folks, he’s pretty great!
Be well this week and find good in your world.
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