Sunday is the aftermath of  Senate approval of the 1.9 trillion aid package for a battered national.  No republican senator voted for the bill. It stands to reason that many are destitute with no remaining options, — food and shelter balanced on the knife-edge of being called back to the workplace after long months of layoff, etc.  I cannot imagine how such a circumstance would feel with a small child to provide for.  Such precarity is the condition of revolution.

The word “revolution” sounds quaint, insurrection, “taking back” the streets, and then rushing the imperial palace…  Even in past times revolution was an imperfect act of desperation, guaranteed to produce bodies and blood.  Today changing the status quo is likely to take some time, as power is distributed, which means that the entire system must be recast, made anew: education, regulation of all electronic communication, policing, taxation and certainly voting rights.  How are the core institutions of a society remodeled?

There’s no better time to start than now.  Analogous to a long hike of exploration into a great forest, there is no map, and a cool head is needed, because mistakes will  be made.  Never to be forgotten along the way those invested in the old status quo will be 100 percent committed to seduce and misdirect, even to violently prevent the achievement of a more free, a more fraternal society.

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As the photos indicate spring is thirteen days away,  preparations are underway.  The decor on the mantel piece has been changed to reflect the bright colors of spring.

Last night we spent a pleasurable session seated at the dining room table making colorful beads out of modeling clay,  These were baked for a few minutes in the oven until hard.  The beads memorialize the loss of a granddaughter Kai, three years ago.  They will be used as incentive awards for children undergoing treatment at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital.

The statue of the Buddha in the backyard sits dispassionately watching the last of the winter snow melt away.  Buddha is a symbol of our connection with all things, living and nonliving.  The springtime is a season in particular when we rejoice in that connection.

Finally a photo of the raccoon that resides under our shed.  We enjoy observing the raccoon’s systematic exploration of the yard.  The raccoon, and all wild animals need no reminder of their community with all things.

And so “namaste” seems a suitable benediction.

The divine in me bows to the divine in you…