Dear President Trump, I’m well past the years when hormones regularly amped up my emotional tenderness. And before pressing on, no, such cycling is not a sign of female weakness or irrationality. Rather, it’s a built-in course-corrector or truth serum that puts us back in touch with what’s real and needs attention. I would go … Continue reading What’s real and needs attention
Community
A long letter on a hard topic
Dear President Trump, Warning – this is a long letter on a hard topic. Last night on the way home I heard a piece on NPR about flood forecasting and how poorly people understand the phrase “100-year flood.” Most of us think if we live in a 100-year flood zone and we were flooded last … Continue reading A long letter on a hard topic
White by design
Dear President Trump, It’s only 1pm and already it’s been another banner bird day. We took the dogs to the Union Bay Natural Area this morning and saw or heard the following birds: redwing blackbirds, seagulls, mallards, song sparrows, wrens, two osprey (plus noisy chicks), and a heron. We also saw turtles sunning themselves on … Continue reading White by design
Enlightening bolts and Mx.
Dear President Trump, I can always tell when you and your administration are stressed because your contact page “autoreplies” are delayed such that notes back to me come in odd clumps days later rather than arriving within a few minutes of submission. This latest round has been going on since the Mueller report was finalized. … Continue reading Enlightening bolts and Mx.
Racist legacies
Dear President Trump, The other day Laura told her brother and me how awhile back she tried to find out if anyone in their family had owned slaves (their family is from Tennessee). She described how even though she didn’t find any evidence that their family owned slaves there are too many holes in the … Continue reading Racist legacies
And yet and still
Dear President Trump, The title of the Easter sermon this morning was “In Praise of What Isn’t.” Our pastor’s theme was how crucial it is that we not get stuck on what is and lose sight of what can be. She wasn’t saying that we should ignore what is or pretend that the bad things … Continue reading And yet and still
Getting a grip and letting go
Dear President Trump, Laura has really cut back her Twitter time since too much isn’t good for her equilibrium, but she still finds good stuff. The best bit she sent me today was a clip that a parent taped of their kid who’s maybe 15 months old. The child is sitting facing backwards in their … Continue reading Getting a grip and letting go
It’s hard to enjoy spring when the POTUS is a narcissistic sociopath
Dear President Trump, I know it won’t make it any less of a cheap shot to preface it with an acknowledgment that it’s a cheap shot, but Happy DT Day – who knew (more than two years ago, that is) that we’d ever have a POTUS who is better recognized on April Fools’ Day than … Continue reading It’s hard to enjoy spring when the POTUS is a narcissistic sociopath
Radical empathy (Part 6)
Dear President Trump, You know Mr. President, there are a lot of people out there who toil away at thankless tasks day in and day out, year in and year out. The variety of such tasks is vast; some get undone almost as fast as they are done and some would be squelched if the … Continue reading Radical empathy (Part 6)
Three positives
Dear President Trump, When I woke up this morning I decided today’s letter needs to warrant a “positive” tag when it gets posted in my blog. It can have other, less upbeat, tags too, but “positive” needs to be in the mix. The first positive is how when my colleague gave me a pep talk … Continue reading Three positives