Leaving Michigan. Another family vacation, swimming in the lake, sitting under a beach sun, watching four grandchildren play – becomes memory.

And the country, the world staggers on, to what end as always, is unknowable.

Woke up this morning to read of the President of the United State’s threats to Rosie O’Donnell to remove her citizenship. She was born in New York City. She is now residing in Ireland, concerned for the safety of her children.

She replied thus to the President on Instagram:

“hey donald—

you’re rattled again?

18 years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours.

you call me a threat to humanity—

but I’m everything you fear:

a loud woman

a queer woman

a mother who tells the truth

an american who got out of the country b4 you set it ablaze

you build walls—

I build a life for my autistic kid in a country where decency still exists

you crave loyalty—

I teach my children to question power

you sell fear on golf courses

I make art about surviving trauma

You lie, you steal, you degrade—

I nurture, I create, I persist

you are everything that is wrong with america—

and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it

you want to revoke my citizenship?

go ahead and try, king joffrey* with a tangerine spray tan

i’m not yours to silence

i never was”

*Joffrey is a monstrous, stupid, vicious king in Game of Thrones.

This woman does not kowtow to power. She is an example. This darkness will run it’s course, probably with blood as we know such things seem to do. Courage friend!

The sun will rise!

How about a tune, one strong enough to strengthen our spirits. This, performed by Train, lyrics by Pat Monahan, Scott Underwood, James Stafford, Charles Colin is suitable.