Monday Musings

Funny how going about your usual routine can lift one's spirit.  This weekend we had the kids visiting, and between them, the grandson, and the Farmer's Market on Saturday, I got a lot of good feelings back.

There was a group holding signs of support for Muslims, Queer, the Disabled, etc.  I had a great chat with some of the sign holders and thanked them for their commitment.   Then, a woman standing near by with several small children, was handing out safety pins with an information sheet on what the safety pin symbolizes right now.

It all seems a little silly in some ways, these small acts.  I wear a safety pin so people know that can count on me to help them if they need it, whether it be a bully on a bus pulling a woman's hijab, or someone yelling at someone to 'go back to your land.'  These things are going on all over our country since the election ended. I read today a middle school in Maryland was vandalized with swastikas in the bathroom.  Middle school?  Are you kidding me?

Visions of Kristallnacht come to me.  Violence loosed upon the Jews in Germany that left at least 100 dead.

Back to the spirit lifting:  my grandson was as adorable as ever, came out with some great lines (the music the band played at the market was 'annoying'), and I loved watching him play with kids at the park in a spontaneous gathering of strangers whose only goal was to play and have fun.

We ate food in the warm autumn sun, tapped our feet to the (annoying) music, watched all the happy people.  Everything felt so...so...normal.  I needed that normalcy.  Back at the house, we soaked in the hot tub, ate more good food, fooled around with our silly boy, and talked about his little sister who will join us in March.  My daughter is looking radiant in the way that expectant mothers do.  She's doing the waddle walk, and she and her husband could not be cuter.

We always enjoy our visits.  She explained how she is working with her students in High School Civics class to deal with the blow of this election.  Her students are primarily Latino and Mexican kids and they're scared to death.  I listed intently as she talked about needing to address their emotional and mental well-being, as well as instructing them about the political system that is in place.  What struck me most is they feel the President Elect is their enemy.  And they are right.  He has said so in word and deed.  I can't imagine how scary it must be to feel you will be harassed because you are a person of color, and therefore, in some bigot's mind, an illegal immigrant.  I'm glad they have my daughter for a teacher, a person who will not white wash the situation for them, but who also gives them hope and something to reach for in their future. 

So, yes, feeling uplifted.  And staying away from the television.  And buying teeny tiny baby clothes.  

And vowing to be a part of the resistance.   I'm going to do it all.