I know it's dangerous to see things so one sided. I know it's good to be pliable and accept a compromise, I just don't think I can this election cycle. The differences feel too great.
Civil rights are human rights.
Violence is bad.
Help people who ask.
This doesn't seem like things that should ever be up for debate.
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I took the day off work and we went to the beach today. I opted for no sunscreen on my legs and cheerfully laid myself out basking in the sun while the kids buried themselves in sand and splashed in the cold lake water. I didn't bring my phone down, for fear of sand in the cracks and so when it seemed like we'd been there awhile I flipped over and pinked up the back of my legs about as equally as the front. Then it seemed, all at once, we were all starving so we left and went to McDonalds.
I never figured out people who bring their whole living room out to the beach. The chairs, the electronics, the snack cooler, the drink cooler, the entire medicine chest with all the sunscreens, the beach blanket, the towels, the flippers and flotations and goggles, the life-jackets and pails and shovels and squirt toys and sand toys and it takes three trips to the car to get it all down there. Then there's the preparation of the children, taking a full half hour to apply all the things to the kids before one drop of water has even reached a toe. I just don't have that kid of time or patience, plus the sand is hot and I like to get my feet into that water right away.
Today, I watched a mom apply sunscreen, then a swim shirt and a life-jacket, swim wings, water shoes, and a hat to her four year old son. He looked like a kid in a snow suit who couldn't put his arms down waddling out into three inches of cold lake water before his mom screeched "Your goggles!" He turned and waddled back and when she stretched the rubber ribbon over his head and let the goggles snap back into his face with a smack noise, I held in a sinful giggle and was glad for the camouflage of my big sunglasses . The kid plopped down on the beach and cried about his face, rightfully so, it sounded like it hurt. I secretly wished his mom would calm the hell down before grabbing my towel and one sunscreen and yelling to the kids it was time to go. They put their flip flops on and we went out to the car where I showed them how to hold up a towel in between the car doors for each other while one brushes the sand of their bum and gets dry unders on.
It all made me feel smug and free and easy. We seemed like the cool kids on the beach, aloof and un-tethered, squatting to check out the soft-shelled turtles and roughhousing with each other. I didn't take a single picture. Not a single "cheese" was uttered until I asked for some on my burger at McDonalds later... and yet here I sit recording the events of the day. sigh.
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2 comments:
Bill and I are feeling the same way about this election cycle. Not to sound like the old lady I am, but I do miss the days when liberals and conservatives could actually talk and listen to each other and attempt to craft solutions that took both viewpoints into considerations. I am definitely a head-in-the-clouds, liberal idealist, but I recognize that I sometimes need the grounding that comes from someone who has a more conservative bent. I am lucky enough to have a few conservatives in my family who are actually open to discussion and debate (as well as several batshit crazy ones who I can't talk to anymore). This exchange of perspectives is what we need to come up with workable solutions to our problems.
Living and working out in a rural area now, we only have to see other people when WE feel the need, which, frankly, isn't all that often. We're busy with the physical work of taking care of our garden, so it's been a lot easier for me to start to unplug and step away from news and social media. I'm reading a lot more, working on a big embroidery project (as well as plotting a few other ideas), and just enjoying being with Bill again.
My chamomile is poking up teeny tiny sprouts, and I'm looking for the lavender to poke up through the soil any day now. I just found out that bamboo will grow outside here, so I'm planning to start some of that as well.
My mom is attempting Lavender this year. She's doing it in pots. I'm excited about it. I'm glad you and Bill are enjoying what you're doing. Life is short. <3
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