President* Trump, I picked the first little handful of raspberries from our bushes this morning. Some went into my yogurt bowl and some were a surprise for Laura. It was a nice antidote to what was a pretty rough night filled with bad dreams, restlessness, and a trip outside with Old Lizzie. Then, on my … Continue reading This time
Strength redefined
Serial displacements
President* Trump, So Old Lizzie seems to be feeling some better. She was able to come upstairs to go to bed last night under her own steam and in between crashed out naps, she’s been super hungry today, which we are taking to be a good sign. It’s hard, though, seeing her so creaky and … Continue reading Serial displacements
Changing the whole recipe
President* Trump, Racism, along with all the other oppressive biases we hold about one another and ourselves, isn’t like a vegetable stew where you can just pick out the offending bits of celery or rutabagas and call it good – problem solved. It’s more like fruitcake where we can extract the weird green bits of … Continue reading Changing the whole recipe
The Hubris Syndrome on steroids
President* Trump, Sometimes I get some pretty interesting things popping up in my “Pocket” – that online service no one asks for that suggests articles based on one’s reading history. The one that’s been sitting open in my browser for a couple of days is an Atlantic piece by Jerry Useem entitled “Power Causes Brain … Continue reading The Hubris Syndrome on steroids
Defunding the police is a good start
President* Trump, I wish Laura or I had thought of the “President*” salutation eons ago – it is so much more appropriate than the “Dear” one, which always made me wince when I typed it. Better late than never, though – eh? So today we added another sign to our front windows today, jiggering things … Continue reading Defunding the police is a good start
A haiku for Charlena
President* Trump, This evening Laura and I marched in the arm of the BLM protest here that originated at Magnuson Park in honor of Charlena Lyles, the Seattle resident who was four months pregnant when she was shot seven times by SPD three years ago in her home. I have no idea how many people … Continue reading A haiku for Charlena
The president* we needed at this time
President* Trump, Laura suggested switching out the scare quotes and swapping in an * to indicate the illegitimacy of your presidency since this is likely how you’ll be listed in the history books. It may take a bit, but the writing is on the wall that you were aided and abetted by Putin and his … Continue reading The president* we needed at this time
Raising up the gnat
“President” Trump, I want to come back to Sister Dang Nghiem and what I’ve learned from her so far. I finished her dharma talk on how to grieve last night and over and over I was astounded by her incredible equanimity and restraint. You see, throughout the entire hour and 23 minutes of her lesson, … Continue reading Raising up the gnat
Strong medicine
Dear President Trump, The graphic accompanying the WP’s lead story this morning announcing that the official US number of covid-19 deaths passed 100,000 yesterday isn’t the gut punch that the NYT’s Sunday cover was, but it’s still quite moving. The idea that each person’s death is marked by a point of light on the map … Continue reading Strong medicine
Beach parties R-Us….sadly
Dear President Trump, You’ve probably seen them too – the pictures of people hanging out on Florida beaches seem to be everywhere. They’re typically accompanied by ‘tsk, tsk’ captions about people not honoring physical distancing guidelines and not wearing masks out in public. Those pictures are concerning, but holy moly do they not hold a … Continue reading Beach parties R-Us….sadly