Activism on the Horizon? in Everyday Ramblings

When I was reading oral narratives by people who lived in this neighborhood as children they often talk about the fruit trees. Those are apples back there. The trees are actually not on the property with the white house and brand new yellow light.

I took this shot this morning. That house is getting a makeover. The front door is yellow too but they did a bit of a sloppy job painting the door and I notice it when I go by hoping it will get touched up before they finish.

A rowdy young family owns the house next door. The man of the house was apparently in a pretty famous band at one time. I think he is Scottish. Their yard is a mess of toys and elaborate garden projects and lots of fruit trees. I hope some day to find out more about the original owners. Both of the parents have motorcycles.

Because I had to work half day today I watched the livestream of our church service and went for a walk with the camera just after sunrise.

It was drizzling and not too cold. I went for another walk after I clocked-out. This annual upgrade we do is stressful. There are a lot of people involved and we often have technical problems. The individual tasked to test a part of my module that I cannot access (long story) had trouble getting into the building she works in and wasn’t there at the time we were supposed to start and I was worried.

But it all worked out. Now I get to untie the knots in my stomach and relax and slide into the holiday week. Saint Joe is coming back from Hawaii tonight and I am absolutely not working any overtime next week, nada, no sir, no way.

I am teaching knees tomorrow. I taught a sort of prequel class on Wednesday and one of my students is having trouble with one of her knees and overdid it even though I gave lots of alternatives. I talked to Mrs. Sherlock yesterday about it, she was there and she reassured me that the practice was appropriate and beneficial.

My class is gentle! I can’t imagine how this student would fair in a more traditional class. But it made me think long and hard about what I am teaching tomorrow in what will be a small class.

I love my new iPhone SE. It is small but so powerful and makes my life just that much easier. I didn’t realize how much space in my head dealing with the out of date technology of my five year old Galaxy was taking until a couple of days ago.

This idea of dismantling Social Security and Medicare (our safety net for retired folks) that the individuals that have been elected to govern my country are considering frightens me.

I heard a liberal therapist who works with those with limited means say something yesterday that made an impression on me. She says they will adapt and scrounge and be creative no matter what happens because that is what they do now.

She says it is those that are middle class that are going to struggle because things are not going to stay the way we imagined them to be. We are going to need to change our expectations and what we do to make it through.

Her suggestion is to write down one’s fear and concerns and then develop a plan to address them. That is going to take some courage.

I am fond of my princess privileged life just the way it is. Being a realist about how my circumstances might change as a woman getting older on her own…is going to be a challenge.

But who knows? I don’t and I intend to resist these changes. Our senior minister said today that if they do create a registry for Muslims here in the U.S. that we should all register as an act of resistance. We are Universalists so that sort of makes sense.

My plan is to retire six months before the next presidential election. I may be forced into a communal living situation by then but at least I won’t need to worry about losing my job.

Activism here I come.

Last updated November 21, 2016