99 days to go or 3 months, 7 days until retirement. How to rush towards the future without abandoning the present?
Patio days are becoming more frequent as winter turns to spring in California.
I’ve made dozens of trips to little free libraries to donate decades worth of books I’ve cherished. Some, like the one below is a keeper. I want them to find their way into the hands of new readers. I am also giving books to my present students and leaving some in the classroom for whomever comes after me.
This happened.
In case you’re still confused and reeling from the latest behavior of the sexual predator and convicted gangster in the White House and his posse of emboldened white supremacists and christian nationalists; yes, he did what he did. Yes, you saw what you saw. Yes, he said what he said. Yes, this is really happening. Yes, it was expected. Yes, we will resist. No, this will not destroy us. Yes, we will still find hope in the chaos. Yes, we will speak up. No, we will not stand by. No, he is not our president. Yes, the treatment of President Zelensky, is a stain upon our nation. I’m sick about it, but am staying focused. It’s time to speak up. To say, NO, not in my name.
My agitation is eased by the natural world blooming all around me.
Clouds, rain, sun, and wind casting a spell on my troubled mind.
The other night I opened my windows and the scent of the Victorian Box drifted inside like a balm. The page below is from an old sketchbook.
Keep on keeping on middle-aged mammals. We’ve got work to do to keep our democracy afloat.
I love your dispatches from la. Excited for you and the freedom that comes with your retirement. You sound quite prepared for it 🙂
Love this post and that you are speaking out , and your generosity with books !
Thank you for speaking up, and for sharing the loveliness that surrounds you.
I’m at the tail end of a cold. Have not been this sick in a while but I’m definitely on the mend!
XOXO
I knew he was evil, but I didn’t think he’d bring it all forward this quickly. I like you, am just heartsick and physically ill over his behavior and filthy actions. I don’t know what to do to help change things, and I just can’t help but wonder how those “other voters” feel now that they are seeing the carnage and lies.
i always appreciate the calm i experience after reading your blog even when it’s trumped up with latest fray of chaos. like those beautiful flowers in the garden you so lovingly depict we will bloom despite it all! Thanks again!!!
MARYANN, thank you for using your voice and platform. You are right it is time to “SPEAK UP’!!! I shall copy and paste and share. We are in dangerous times. On another note can’t wait to follow your retirement adventures.
Catherine
As always, thank you for your comments, your optimism and your beautiful photos!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for using your voice in such a powerful way. You put into words what I cannot… without being overcome with frustration!! He makes my blood boil!
Beautiful!! And a powerful and much-needed reminder. Staying grounded and finding joy whenever we can are acts of resistance. Thank you so much for your lovely and thoughtful messages and pictures.
From Tasmania, Australia, I am thinking of you.
What an oaf he is.
Muck love
Annette
I am SO grateful to you for this post. Thank you for your clear words and for your declaration of truth. It has been so difficult to watch this all unfold but it helps to read your witnessing.
I am so happy for your coming retirement and travels. Enjoy the spring that has already arrived there!
Nancy Jane
I’m with you
Funny how we have to find a way to hold juxtapositions in life so often. We dream of what’s coming on a personal level, and dread it on a national one. Or visa versa, depending on the times, I guess. We are getting ready to move back to CA after six long years in Oregon and like you, I find myself jumping timelines into the future. Trying to stay present while I’m so excited about what’s to come up ahead! Except politically, obviously. But I can resist wherever I’m living, and fight the good fight. Perhaps this moment belongs to the retired teachers, with brains enough to see what’s going on and time enough to stand up against it. This could be our moment! Oh, and I really think your Trump sketch would look great on a protest sign, t-shirt or button!
I’m so happy you are nearing retirement. Moss Cottage is lovely all times of the year. Everyday I wake up and am thankful I’m alive another day. Then I remember what new chaos I will have to hear and internalize from the destroyers of Democracy. I read Connie Schultz’s article on Substack today and I have hope.
Your posts always remind me that life is beautiful and to look at the good in life.
I absolutely love your inspiring words, thank you! I wake up every day with a sense of doom on the cliff that we seem narrowly perched upon as a nation. When I head back to Scotland in a few months, I’m not sure what people outside the US will think or say to me as an American. This country has been sold for crypto gold by a parcel of rogues indeed.
On to brighter topics, your retirement! It’s a delightful thing to not have to get up at any particular time, so looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the adjustments that happen quickly and slowly as you unwind.
Where do we start?
Amen, Sister!
Thank You. Love your posts, always.
Keeping on. You too. I see purple and yellow crocus blooming, here in southern Oregon. At the coast, the Naked ladies have sent their lovely greenery to gather energy for their show at the end of summer. Always something to look forward to.
Your drawing says it all. What is even more upsetting than his behavior is the fact that so many Americans are still cheering him on. These are scary times. Your optimism is comforting.
I retired 10 years ago this 6/30 from my state job about one month before my 60th birthday, because the MA governor gave state employees an early retirement incentive. I remember being where you are now, so close yet still so far away! One day soon you will wake up to no more days left to wait! I can’t wait to hear about your adventures!
Mary Ann I wanted to hop on and say I was blown away by how good your drawings have become. Those dancing kids, that bully’s face–so loose and expressive and proportioned all at the same time. You are consistent in your practice (I am not) and I think that really does make all the difference in the growth of one’s work. You have inspired me to make drawing a daily priority so that I, too, might improve. On the political side, as inundated as we are by the coverage of American politics I have had to remind myself often that I am Canadian and that “it doesn’t affect me.” Not so true any longer as I grow more and more anxious as he eyes my country, its resources and nationhood as something to be pillaged as he pleases. I look forward to seeing more of your art and making art and hope that it helps soothe the soul at least a little bit in this alternate reality of devisiveness and chaos.
Thank you, my dear friend. I will resist. I saw it too. xo
My daughter came home recently with celebratory news of the 100th day of school. I thought of you and how you are probably counting down. Then I read this missive. Yep. Countdown begins! Love that Victorian Box. And love your words about all the other dangerous goings on about town. NO indeed!
You’ve lifted me up this morning. And PS, you will love retirement.
Thank you for posting this. We are now all aware of how dangerous he situation in the world is.
For us in Europe that always been in alliance with USA and seen the country as a role model for democracy,
Has now to rethink everything we knew as true. I guess it has been a slippery slope for a long time.
Thank you for such a firm standing from you and the way you write about it. Let’s make all we can together with you to protest in all ways. People around me are definitely stop buying from American companies, stop using the platforms (we hane to find alternatives), nobody wants a Tesla anymore etc. If we all start thinking about ways to protest, maybe it means something. I’m not sure but let’s hope that some of the republicans will wake up.
That baffoon cannot prevail. Do not obey in advance! Resist!
We are with you in spirit from Melbourne, Australia.
Yes we can’t be silent anymore.
Love the dancers soooo much!! They should be a fabric design. Xo. sv
Hear hear
Sending love & solidarity
across the ocean ✌🏼💚
Watching the US from way down here in Australia and can NOT imagine how demoralising it is. We’re always saving you a seat, should you ever need one.
Your comments and drawing today show the world that everyday Americans do not think like that person. Here in Australia I have been watching the news over the past couple of years, and was alarmed that he would be re-elected. His treatment of women and people he perceives as being enemies is frightening. I trust that many more Americans will speak up and take some form of action to enable you to following the Constitution which does not give him supreme power. Stay strong.
Right on, sister! Keep fighting the good fight.
Thank you so much for having the courage to speak up in your blog, Mary Anne. It means a lot, and it’s so important.
Well said!
I’m with you!!!Thanks for speaking up!! And happy spring flowers to you.
❤️❤️
It was a total set up. He is an evil evil man. Everyday it gets worst. Fox News said he should get the Noble Peace Prize. What flippin universe do these people live in . Frightening!!!!!
Posse:
On March 15th, many people will mail Donald Trump a postcard that publicly expresses our opposition to him. And we, in vast numbers, from all corners of the world, will overwhelm the man with his unpopularity and failure. We will show the media and the politicians what standing with him — and against us — means. And most importantly, we will bury the White House post office in pink slips, all informing Donnie that he’s fired.
If each of us — every protester from every march, each congress calling citizen, every boycotter, volunteer, donor, and petition signer — writes even a single postcard and we put them all in the mail on the same day, March 15th, well – you do the math.
No alternative fact or Russian translation will explain away our record-breaking, officially-verifiable, warehouse-filling flood of fury. Hank Aaron currently holds the record for fan mail, having received 900,000 pieces in a year. We’re setting a new record: over a million pieces in a day, with not a single nice thing to say.
So sharpen your wit, unsheathe your writing implements, and see if your sincerest ill-wishes can pierce Donald’s famously thin skin.
Prepare for March 15th, 2025, a day hereafter to be known as #TheIdesOfTrump
Write one postcard. Write a dozen! Spread the word! Everyone on Earth should let Donnie know how he’s doing. They can’t build a wall high enough to stop the mail.
Then, on March 15th, mail your messages to:
President (for now) Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
It might just be enough to make him crack or at least stress.
Copy and repost.
I’m in.
Thank you for this; it’s the first I’ve heard of it and will gladly participate. Also saving the drawing above — that may be my postcard, if it’s okay to reuse with permission.
Yes!! Let’s do this!
Copied and pasted to everyone I know.
Oh my gosh, I LOVE this!!!! I’m so in!!!
❤️❤️😡❤️❤️
I’ll do it, but it won’t stress him in the least. He does not care.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️