Politics – Dear Liza

Rainy Afternoon

Dear Liza,

We have a lot of rainy days in our forecast, so we have decided to just go for walks, knowing we are going to get wet. The grey cloudy light makes the pictures darker than usual, so they look almost magical.

We walked around the park, amazed at the carpet of leaves and the thousands yet to fall. The giant ginkgo tree stays yellow for a week or so, and will drop all its leaves almost overnight.

It was so dark at 1 o’clock in the afternoon that the park lights had come on.

Bridgett got very engrossed in looking at a pair of squirrels chasing each other around the trees. I’m not sure if they were fighting or flirting, but they were so busy they didn’t even notice us.

This tall oak will hold onto its fall leaves for months, until it is ready to spout the green leaves of spring.

Knowing that spring is many long wet months away, I may need to carry the sunshine inside me.

Love,

Grandma Judy

I Worry for My Trans Friends

Dear Liza,

The election of Donald Trump as President of the U.S. has me worried for many reasons. I worry how a Presidency founded on greed, anger, misogyny, and racism will effect our country.

I worry about how people’s bodily autonomy (their right to be in charge of their own body) will be affected. Will my grandchildren be able to get the health care they need? Or will their rights be taken away because they violate some else’s religious beliefs?

I am also worrying about how these laws will affect my trans friends. Again, this is a matter of bodily autonomy. Do people get to decide with their doctors which medications or surgeries they need to be healthy? Or will their health care be declared illegal?

Talking to my friend Misha, I have learned that many trans people are needing to move from their home states, where this sort of care is under threat, to places where it is available. Trans folks also need legal services to change their names on documents. All this is expensive.

If you are worried too, and want to help but don’t know where to start, Misha works with a group called Outside In. The link to one of their fund raising sites is right here.

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Foutsidein.org%2Fabout-us%2Fdonate-now%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cb83ac8357bb948c9f3a608dd0040760b%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638666999034410306%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=yCtuECgqRMf4LpjNB2GWPYbh1%2ByhA8ffJD9%2FJRMIyF0%3D&reserved=0

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Sad Ending

Dear Liza,

I have been looking forward to the 2024 Presidential election for quite some time now.

I have followed all the debates and news stories; I have enjoyed the beautiful signs placed in people’s yards. I have looked forward to having a smart, optimistic woman in charge of our country.

But Election night began with snacks and ended with tears. It was hard to fall asleep.

And now it is over, with an ending I can’t begin to fathom. I am disappointed in my fellow Americans, and concerned for the future.

Not just our country’s future, either. I think having Mr. Trump as President makes the whole world less safe. And since I have people I love all over the world, I worry.

What will I do now? I’m not sure. I need to think. I want to fight the fear that Mr. Trump has created with courage; the resentment he has stirred up with gratitude; the anger he expresses in every speech with joy and love.

When I figure out how to do this, I will let you know.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Voting!

Dear Liza,

It’s nearly the end of October, and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in a very long, rough election season.

Here in Oregon, we have mail-in voting. If it’s hard for you to get around, you just fill in your ballot and mail it off.

But if, like us, you enjoy the feeling of delivering your ballot safely to a protected place, you can walk it down to a ballot collection site. That’s what we did, at the temporary home of the Belmont library.

We walked down between drizzles, deposited our ballots, chatted with the librarians, and then headed across the street to Seven Virtues Coffee for snacks. Pastries and coffee are a fine way to celebrate Democracy, don’t you think?

Now we just sit tight and hope for the best come Election Day, November 5th.

Fingers crossed!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Gearing up for SOAK

Dear Liza,

It is just a few days until I head off to SOAK, the regional Burning Man event, with Auntie Katie and the Cousins. There is a lot to get ready!

First, I have volunteered to buy juices and mixers for the Limbo Lounge Tiki Bar that will be near our camp. I will get reimbursed, I just needed to pick them up and get them to Auntie Katie’s house for storage. I drafted Auntie Bridgett to drive.

The Chef’s Store had everything we needed at pretty good prices. It is huge and full of all sorts of goodies. We will be back for Halloween candy!

Still, seven and a half gallons of pineapple juice is a lot to deal with!

Another chore that needed doing was mending the camp chairs. Since Katie uses them at Burning Man and SOAK, they get a lot of hard use. Fortunately,
she has lots of cool patches that are perfect for, well, patching. I used the heaviest thread I own, doubled up.

The patches all have a sense of humor, as well.

Along with shopping and mending, I am finding all my own gear. My old recess whistle will come in handy, as well as the pocket knife Great Grandpa Lowell gave me years ago. I am sure having fun getting into camping mode!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Making Gifts

Dear Liza,

I have always loved making gifts. You great grandma Billie taught me to sew, and I have made baby quilts and wedding quilts for friends and family. I have sewn goofy dolls, Covid-19 masks, and helped with Auntie Katie’s wedding huppa.

I have baked tons of celebratory cookies and rum balls, peanut butter balls, and Bundt cakes for Kosher luncheons. I have even knitted scarves and hats, for those who wouldn’t be upset about a few dropped stitches.

And now I have something new I can make and give to friends: Art Journals!

I just sent my dear friend Pat a journal, a book built from scratch via lessons from Ruth Inman. It is filled with silly poems, by me and other people. It has thoughts and thanks and bits of art to make her smile.

There isn’t another one like it in the whole world. It was made by the ME I am right now for the Pat that she is right now. It has politics, pets, wine, art, and memories of travel.

I love having a new way to show my special people how much I love them!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Happy Brain

Dear Liza,

This has been a good week for figuring stuff out. Whether that is because of the new brain exercises I have been doing or not, I think I will keep up with them. A happy brain makes a happy Grandma Judy.

Drawing pictures with my non-dominant hand has made my whole body work harder. My left hand is figuring out how to hold a pencil, my right hand makes a fist, thinking she should be doing something, and my brain works overtime, making sense of the whole situation. It just seems to wake everything up!

This week I have gone on more walks. The sudden sunshine after weeks of rain is part of the reason, of course. Blinding sunshine through winter trees is just good for the soul.

But there’s more! For the Art Journal, I have made art I really like. Mapping my day as a board game and planning my ‘dream houses’ (yes, there are more than one!) have kept me happily introspective.

I have also figured out how to re-write my blogs so they can be printed. I sigh big sighs as I hunt up photos from years ago and cuddle up close to the feelings that they conjure.

All of these are good things. Art, writing, figuring things out, and sunshine. I am enjoying them, but also very aware that I am using them as emotional armor against what seems like an approaching storm in our country. In the coming weeks, I am going to need all the joy I can get.

Defensive happiness. It works.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Insomnia

Dear Liza,

I have rarely had trouble sleeping. As a teacher for thirty years and a working mom for twenty of those, I was so tired by bedtime that I was asleep before the lamp was cool. My body and brain had been running so fast all day, it was bliss to just shut down and go away for a while.

But lately, there has been trouble in sleepy-nigh’ night paradise. There are lots of perfectly good reasons for this.

We are in the middle of an ‘atmospheric river’ that is currently dumping seven inches of rain on Portland. I am a good sport about rain, but going for a real decent walk just isn’t as much fun. So I’m not getting as much exercise as I probably should.

Age may have something to do with it. What seem like little aches during the day become (you’ll forgive the expression) real pains in the neck, and can make finding and keeping a comfortable position difficult.

And then there is the news. Last night my brain kept running scenarios, not of plans, not anything I could help or stop, but scenes from a hypothetical disaster movie called “How it Ended for (your city here).” People were smashing things. Roads were blocked. It was like being in the Capital, but there was no place to be evacuated to. It was just us, and them. I won’t bother attaching photos. I’m sure they are etched into your brain, as well.

So this morning I am hobbling by on two hours sleep, determined to do the day as best I can. To not get snippy with my people, to do art and French and exercise and pet the cat. To do the day and be ready for sleep when it is done.

I wish the same for you.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Floating Anxiety (And its Antidote?)

Dear Liza,

I try not to focus too much on scary or sad things, especially when I am writing to you. But some days they are all I can think about.

People are getting sick with Corona virus while our President calls doctors liars and sells beans from his office. Peaceful Protesters here in Portland are taken away in unmarked vans by armed Federal Police. The whole country seems to be having a nervous breakdown.

Many years ago, there was a TV show called “My So-Called Life”. It was about a teenage girl and her problems of growing up. One day she said, “Mom asked me how school was today. It was like it is every day, like a drive-by shooting. You just huddle down and wait for it to be over.” That is sort of how I am feeling.

But this could go in for months, or even years, before a cure or vaccine allows us to go back to some sort of normal life. Before we can travel to Paris or go to the movies, and not be afraid of the people we see. So while I am huddled down, I try to find the joys.

Our Firewood lake becomes Monet’s Giverny

I can’t articulate them very well at the moment, but here are the sights that lift my spirits.

I love you very much, Liza, and I hope I can see you soon.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Parody of Sonnet 29

Dear Liza,

Here I am again, playing with Shakespeare! One of his more famous Sonnets is Number 29, which starts, “When in disgrace in fortune and men’s eyes…”. It talks about how hard it is to be down on your luck and jealous of other people’s successes, and how nice it is, in those hard times, to have someone in your life who loves you best.

Inspired by our current global mess, here is my take.

Parody of Sonnet 29

Now in disgrace upon the global stage
Our once-proud nation fumbles forward, blind
Led by a man-child driven by bent rage
Fueled by the remnants of his tiny mind

In Germany their leader knows the facts
And South Korea quickly got the jump
But here the scientists all got the ax
If, in their knowledge, they spoke anti-Trump

But there is hope out in the country wide
In folks who want to keep their fellows safe
We can be careful, even stay inside,
E’en when the confines of our houses chafe

To save ourselves from tantrum throwing men,
We need to be the grown-ups, once again

Hope you are well, and stay well!

Love, Grandma Judy