feel the purple love bursting all around

There is a good and valid reason that I am reposting a previous blog instead of writing tonight. Actually, there are several. None of them have to do with not writing or being sick or anything tragic. I will explain more when I have a chance but just know I am doing great and will share some exciting news soon. In the meantime, I invite you to read along to join me on a spectacular stroll. One that will appeal to all your senses. For most definitely, reading L is for Lilac will do it all! Smile, take a breath, and feel the purple love bursting all around. Even here, in California, we are dancing under the jacaranda trees with the same delight!

May Day

Even surrounded by the bright blue one can feel the imminent danger targeting our lives these last 100 days. The emergency signals are sparking from one side of the globe to another while we wonder exactly how to respond. This week alone the Reading Partners program that allowed me to read with several 4th graders was cut by the White House. At least 20 states are suing over this abrupt elimination of over 1,000 AmeriCorps programs. “My question to this administration is: Is nothing sacred? Is nothing worth protecting?” Philip J. Weiser, the attorney general of Colorado, one of the states that sued, said in a virtual joint news conference on Tuesday” (The New York Times).

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It’s not indifference

This week Elie Wiesel’s words are echoing around my brain. As a survivor of the Holocaust death camps himself, he tried to piece together the how and the why of such an horrific event. Through his lifetime of study Wiesel came to realize, “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.” As I wander about in my SoCal terrain I do my best not to listen to the outrageous lies set forth from the new broligarchs on the DC block. This is an internal struggle for me as I recall Wiesel: “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” I wish he was still alive so I could ask him how, just how can one navigate such a calculated and vicious attack on human decency going seemingly unchallenged? The list of falsehoods and fabrications broadcasted from the current White House over and over is a long one and I feel powerless to counter any of it.

Beyond staying positive, staying in this moment, staying grateful for all the gifts I receive daily, I am unclear how to combat “the flood the zone with shit” strategy of MAGA. I am struggling. All I know is it’s not indifference that I am feeling, even if all I post this week are photos of this gorgeous landscape in Southern California.

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