The first week of November… was something.
Beauty: the weather was stunning. Cold mornings led to unexpectedly warm evenings. I made time for pleasant weekend walks with friends, and we basked in sunshine while the bay reflected blue skies. Weeknight sunsets turned the sky nearly every color but green, shortly after the time change let me out of work in time to watch. Clear nights made our local cities sparkle.
Friendship: I’ve spent time with people I’ve known for more than a decade, chatted amiably with people I met only this week, and enjoyed unexpected “quality time” engrossed in long conversations with people I’ve known for only months. Life stories. Travel plans. Disappointments in politics. Pet strollers. Compliments on my non-Sharpie-styled eyebrows. Mohawk hairstyle maintenance. A surprising number of people who know where the best Thai Buddhist temples in the region are. Good Indonesian restaurant recommendations! I’ve felt warmth, curiosity, kindness, and delight. I feel so lucky to have people around me who make me feel this way, and I hope I can do the same for them.
Unpleasant revelations: The U.S. elected a grifter felon president before being willing to elect a woman… AGAIN. Nationalism and fascism have more appeal than I can readily accept, as cartoon-villain-types providing simple-but-untrue answers continue to win out over the stickier details of a measurable consensus reality. I see there are plenty of people who prefer to watch the world burn if they don’t get their desired place near the front of some metaphorical line, but don’t hear them offering anything better. (Though I understand from Adam Serwer’s clearly reasoned book. The Cruelty is the Point, that they don’t intend offer alternatives, as their goal is not to improving anything.)
The returning-to-the-opposition party still fails to rise to new challenges, remaining blandly lukewarm about most topics of import (getting elected to protect the environment, but approving fossil fuel projects; being elected to protect individual reproductive rights, but having defectors spoil every opportunity to pass protections; letting allies and trading partners engage in genocide, rather than standing up for human rights; being bipartisan in situations where cross-aisle-status-quo posturing benefits no one…). Failures to deliver results drive apathy; being an alternative to an apocalypse only works so many times.
The fights for progress and justice never end, but it would be nice if they sometimes offered intermissions for refreshment breaks AND guaranteed no backsliding. Since they don’t, please take care of yourselves, avoid the conspiracy theorists in the breakroom, roll up your sleeves, and find a niche where you can make a positive difference.
