#Stronger

Dear you,

It has been a while since I have spoken, but I am alive and well and somewhat stronger. I have relocated, just a bit, to the east of my previous abode. Leaving behind the chaos of condo-life in a situation where 99% of the bodies in that space were there for a fast, short vacation, I purchased a townhome in a residential community (ah, residential!) in Bay County, to the east of old 30A/Walton County nonsense. Now, here, I regain a center, calm my fight-or-flight response, and enjoy a bit of sane beauty. My lovely feline enjoys the two-floor set-up, dashing up and down the stairs; she has multiple windows to view birds in flight and greenery. I have peace. And sleep. And beauty. And no need for cable, just NPR and a solid internet connection via a tablet/phone hotspot. Ah, alas, NPR, another thing on the new regime's hit list. But, at present, they stand strong and carry on. So, this blog, #stronger.

Stronger:

The POTUS continues his assault on law firms, journalism, foreign films (!), and anything remotely awake, or as they say, woke. During this siege, we witness people and institutions resisting and in some notable cases, winning. They are becoming #stronger.

Locally, here in a still-Panhandle-bright-red-zone of Florida, I see evidence of strength. Yesterday at the Pier Park, Panama City Beach, Walmart parking lot, I saw this car. This car's owner was/is so fucking strong, so brave. Decals scattered over the rear windows and bumpers spoke, denouncing our current POTUS as a Hitler equivalent. Quite unapologetically, the car spoke: this guy and his supporters are deplorable assholes who intend to grind you down. You might see such car-sticker speech anywhere in the USA, but here in the deep-red Panhandle of Florida, not so often. It testifies to a certain level of bravery: go ahead, slash my tires, I will not bow to your autocracy. Impressive, I think. I was too weak to put a Kamala for president sticker on my little vehicle.  This person, these people, are fearless.  God love them.  They are #stronger.

You know, we all have muscles.  We just have to use them. The bodily kind, the mental-political kind, the spiritual kind.

On this night, in this new and lovely and peaceful place, still amid the right-wing (but at least of the quiet variety) I am working out, working on all those versions of muscle.

How are you? Stay strong. Get #stronger. Balance and reach, like the gentleman pictured on the seaside rock in the photo above. 

This is the moment. This is the time. On the verge, we can artfully and wisely push back and save the best, the truly beautiful.

Stay strong for democracy. It ain't dead yet!

Love,

Joyce