Since last Friday (Valentines Day), the left side of my face has been in rough shape. My eye stings pretty constant, and it feels EXACTLY like I was sleeping on my right side under a 1940s sun lamp. The one side of my face feels like it’s gotten a bad sunburn.
It’s my long-covid, doing it’s damndest to stay in the picture. I’m not really here to talk about that though. It just ties into what’s been on my mind this week.
I am very much struggling with things outside my little apartment. Namely, the Trump-Musk Administration’s doings. I hesitate joining the chorus of protests, it raises my already high blood pressure and aggravates this covid-related inflammation.
But more than anything else, I don’t want to alienate the people I know who (for reasons beyond my understanding) are his supporters.
My younger brother. My oldest aunt, who I love very much. A favorite blogger. Someone dear who comments regularly on my own blog. My neighbor (on the floor below me) who pats my hand when she sees me. She has the tiniest, softest hands I’ve ever seen.
One of them said to me that he and another friend (who was not a Trumper) chose to “agree to disagree”. It certainly sounds like the mature thing to do, but I’m finding that to be a problem more & more everyday.
Yesterday I was reading the recent “Hard to take" on my blog-friend Debby’s blog, and one of her commenters wrote that she awakens every day hoping to see Trump’s obituary. But she didn’t say it in a mean or threatening way; she sounded frightened, defeated. Something about it just really connected with me.
I visited this commenter’s own blog—it’s a warm, honest place with fresh baked bread and hand-knitted winter caps. But it also included a rant, and as her blog does include a share button, I think I’d just feel better if I shared that rant below.
This is from Jennifer, of The Sparrow Tree Journal
Rant
Three months ago, on Election Day, I swore I wasn't going to let the second Trump term cause me the daily anxiety and stress that the first did.
Yeah. That's not working out. At all.
I've never been so frightened in my life over politics and the direction of our country. Every day it's just more and more horror. The rule of law, precedents, norms, civilized behavior..............none of it means jack shit anymore.
I find myself resenting Trump voters even more than I used to, and that's saying a lot. I'll have zero, ZERO, sympathy when the lowlife losers and racists who voted us into this mess lose their Social Security, disability payments, workplace protections, FEMA disaster relief, Medicaid, and on and on and on. Fuck every single one of them. We tried and tried to tell people what a disaster this was going to be, and "owning the libs" meant more to them than anything good and worthwhile that America has stood for for the past 250 years. They can all go to hell and rot.
The only thing I regret is that the decent people in this country are going to suffer right along with them. Over the weekend I actually found myself googling "safest blue states for women and minorities" and making a plan for selling the house and moving before things get too bad and we're trapped here. States that border Canada are my first choice.
I can't even believe I just wrote such a thing here on the blog. Never in a million years did I think things would come to this. I love my house, my state, my life, but I won't sit around while our version of the Taliban comes into power and live under the control of such people. We have literal (neo) NAZIS running the show. NAZIS. And a way-too-large portion of our population are ALL FOR IT. It's sickening. Scary. Almost unbearable.
How are you coping? Do you think I'm crazy? Alarmist? If not, are you making plans? I'm afraid this is all going to get much, much worse before it gets better. If you have any words of comfort that might make me think otherwise or feel better, please share them.
And thanks for letting me get this off my chest. As you can probably tell, it's been a bad day.
Thank you Jennifer. I very much appreciate your honesty.
.jpg)
Here’s another real bargain—I was on Amazon a couple nights ago and it said “Add 0.81 to your cart to qualify for FREE shipping.” (I am not an Amazon Prime member.)
Finally, as long as I’m here I thought I’d show you what I’ve got hidden away under my bathroom sink; my last bottle of Natural Dentist. I’d love to crack that seal, but I might be better off selling it on Ebay with the other shysters.
You didn’t think I’d post a lunch outing without a photo of Evvie, did you? Here she is, looking cute as a button. She is quite literally a ray of sunshine in my life.
I didn’t get a pic of my boy Dennis (the one who drinks & chain smokes) but here’s Deb showing interest in Dennis’ explanation of a deconstructed Bloody Mary. “Do you really get all those vegetables in one glass, Dennis? Great!”
Remember Pearl? This was our first lunch together in well over a year. (I got long covid in 2024, she got shingles.) I’ve only seen her once in 14 months, and we even live in the same apt building—on the same floor.
Here’s Deb’s entree, a salmon dish with sauce, capers & shrimp, and broccoli on the side.
And here was my entree—broiled scrod with buttered crumbs, garlic & lemon, with a creamy dill sauce and fried potatoes. It was cooked to perfection.
I’d like to say this: don’t rely on Yelp reviews to decide where you want to go. The night before our outing, I read several that talked about how expensive it was to eat at Rico’s. Maybe they were referring to dinner, but my meal included a salad, basket of rolls, two beverages & entree and it only came to $22.63. 