Winter, cont'd

Hi everybody.

How are you?

It's 14 degrees here, and the occupant of the White House is insane. Otherwise, things are OK. I stayed inside this morning and made coffee and caught up with a friend. A good way to start my morning.

Two things today. I'm going to share some pictures of some beautiful winter walks I took at work over the past two days. Then I'm going to share a link to a call script for you to use when you call both of your Senators and your Member of Congress today. You don't have to use the script, but you do have to call. Every day. Until further notice. If your reps have made strong public statements opposing ICE and the conquest of Greenland, please thank them and let you know they have your back. If they have NOT, then let them know they need to. It does not matter if they are Trump toadies and will never oppose him. They need to hear from you anyway or "We the People" stops meaning anything. Keep an eye out for a possible General Strike on Friday. If I hear more, I'll share that here.

OK, who needs to see some nice, serene pictures of fields and forests and things? I've barely scratched the surface of the 20 miles of hiking trails we have at work. I resolved to walk them all this year, and I want to do it before it gets hot, so I've been chipping away, walking on some of the ones I've never hiked before. Winter hikes can be just as beautiful as other seasons, and since the temperatures have kept crowds away, these walks have been extra peaceful. Just me and the birds and the sound of my boots crunching in the frost-covered grass. And the occasional plane flying over from IAD. But we can just try to ignore those. Banshee Reeks is a wild place and I love it. It is a gift that I get to spend time there, and I am thankful for it.

 

OK. Nice, huh? I'm off today, but I'll be back there tomorrow, and hope to be able to get outside again. It is keeping me sane.

I have also been re-reading Braiding Sweetgrass and a weekly chapter of A Comfort of Crows. I recommend both.

Now for your action item. Here's a link to a script. There are others if you don't like that one. Just Google "call scripts for senators ICE Greenland" and stuff will come up. Or just call with no script and speak freely and from your heart. Be polite to the staff but strong in your convictions. If you have a personal story, tell it. Don't let anyone tell you that these calls don't matter or that protests don't matter. Because they do.

I saw a post from someone in Europe who said that the rest of the world needs to see Americans speaking out and showing up. 

Take time for yourself, too. I have been continuing making things out of citrus fruits as a way to stay calm and focused. This clove orange took a while to make. I just worked on it a little at a time over a couple of days.

And I also made this grapefruit bird feeder to hang on our recycled Christmas tree hanger. So far, no visitors that I know of. Maybe today.

The next thing you know, I might be out in the back yard building myself a shed to decorate with all of this stuff. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

OK everybody. Take courage. You are not alone.

Onward.