The clouds have parted and from where I am sitting, I can see blinding-white snow clinging to branches on trees in the backyard across from mine. I don't think it's quite warm enough for anything to melt yet, but I understand the main roads and highways are safe. I really don't have any plans to go out today unless I have to. Thankfully, it's a work from home day. The snow has kept the strays from visiting for food, which has made me sad—mainly knowing they're out there sheltering from the cold.
Ten more days of freedom. All current experiences are haunted by the specter of what is soon to come. I'm supposed to fly overseas in a few months, and I'm glad I bought refundable tickets. I have no idea how unhinged things may be here by then. Nothing is reliable, nothing is trustworthy, nothing is clean, nothing comes without motives, everyone has their price. Nobody wants to learn anything or even admit that they don't know, but so many assert that their opinion is on a level with expertise. Scientists, disease researchers, vaccine developers, history professors, philosophers, and other specialists in their field—all free to be discarded and disregarded. The most money and most power is being consolidated into the hands of increasingly worse and worse people, and crime pays if you're from the right family.
How do you raise your child to reject choosing toxic and sometimes violent views toward women, queers and the left when they see so many men making so much money doing precisely that, and the underlying system itself encourages and incentivizes it?
When all else fails you, embrace absurdity. Dada.
