Traumatic Week

It has been a traumatic week, with Trump (or President Pussy Grabber, as my co-worker, Acorn, calls him) winning the election and Leonard Cohen dying. I feel like I live in a bubble within a bubble, working where I do within the state of California, but across the nation, including locally, there are various signs that the bottom-of-the barrel Trump supporters are ramping up their childish intimidation tactics toward those who disagree with them (or don't have the right color skin, correct religion, or just happen to be different in some way). That's not to say that elements of the left have been much better, with rioting, looting, and destruction. What a mess. In short, the politicians (including Trump - he's really no different than the establishment politicians, except for the whole lack of experience thing)are doing what they always do, and the imperfect system benefits those at the top. Right now though, there is a riffraff rampage on both sides of the aisle, or so the media would have us believe.

Does any of this really affect me? Being a white male, and being cognizant of the whole white privilege (not to mention male privilege) thing, I realize that I can hide in plain sight. So, no, it doesn't affect me physically. Emotionally though, it's troubling. All of the things I believe in are at risk.

At work, despite the trauma, things are going well. This week was humid and warmish. Last weekend, Willow had a 13th/14th birthday party camp out celebration on the field at camp. We set up a couple of tents, and small group of Willow's friends (some from camp, and some from school), along with Sophie, had a pizza dinner, went on a night hike, roasted marshmallows, slept on the field in the tents, had a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes cooked on a camp stove, played a game called sprout ball on the front lawn, and then went on a hike. They also did a rather intense sharing circle inside the big tent while I listened to music in the newly purchased smaller tent. I'm glad that Willow seems to crave conversations with depth. That's always a good sign.

During the week, Willow was sick. She is better now, but sitting out today's soccer game. I feel like I'm coming down with something too, and the symptoms make me think it's the same cold that Willow had.

Finally, here are some photos from my work week. Out on the trails, the reptiles have gradually been replaced by amphibians, mushrooms, banana slugs, and the like. We did find a tiny garter snake and the usual rattlesnakes though. The Big Leaf maple trees are dropping their giant, yellow leaves like they can't wait to get rid of them. One of my favorite moments of the week was running around with the kids and attempting to catch leaves as they fell. Thankfully, nobody collided, which is always a possibility when a bunch of kids are running around while looking up.

When national politics is traumatic, it makes me doubly thankful that my job is therapeutic.