First Week of November: Fear and Gratitude

Here we are, Saturday of election week, vote counting continuing.  There are still chores to be done, so sheets are in the washer and the sourdough starter is warming up on the counter.  We are under a tropical storm watch, the latest in a hurricane season that I remember being under watch conditions in years, if not decades, if not ever.

Yesterday our internet at school went out at 11:45, and it hadn't come back on by the time I left.  It was strange to spend the whole afternoon unable to check on much--I am one of the last people in the U.S. who hasn't bought a smart phone, so I couldn't check that way.

In a way it was peaceful.  I had work that didn't need the Internet, so I did some of that--updating the faculty forms that we update once a year.  This year, I'm doing it for my faculty members because I have their forms stored electronically, and in many ways, it's easier for me to just do it so that all the forms match in the ways that pass muster.  I'd rather faculty members focus on teaching and helping students than to spend hours on these forms.

It's been a strange week with grief and fear zapping me in strange ways.  I feel this deep sorrow that our Thanksgiving plans with extended family members have been scuttled.  I know it's the right thing to do, but I still feel this grief.  I was expecting different election results, and even though I knew we might not have results for days, it's still strange to me.

My larger fear isn't about this election and this set of possible leaders, but further down the road.  Trump has shown us some of the weaknesses of our political system, some of the ways we could be vulnerable to someone who wanted to grab more power than the office is supposed to allow.  I've been grateful that Trump has been an ineffective dictator.  But with that gratitude comes the fear that the next person who decides to move from president to dictator will have learned some important lessons.  This article at The Atlantic website does this analysis in a much more researched way than I have.

But let me focus on a more happy gratitude.  My quilt group that cannot meet in person will have a Zoom meeting this morning.  Let me get ready.