Dear family and friends,
Thank you for coming to visit. As I wrote to my oldest sister the other day, fall is literally falling by in my part of the world. It’s crazy how fast Autumn is moving. I want to slow down. I want to savour the season. But it’s only as I move from house to car and back again when the crisp, clear air hits me and my breath slows. When I’m driving our kids to school, or to their various activities, I take the route through the oldest part of our little town so I can appreciate the deep crimson and bright gold leaves fluttering to the ground, covering yards likre brilliant jewels. Even though life is busy, it’s moments like this, when Autumn captures my heart. (During our Thanksgiving weekend we took our kids to our local pumpkin patch…they are growing up so fast!)
It’s a slow Sunday morning here. My husband David took our girls to an out of town swim meet this weekend. I chose to stay home. There will be several others this fall that I can attend, cheering my girls as they race to improve their swim times. They are busy this fall. Along with their group music lessons and their private ones, they are also playing volleyball and now you know why I spend a lot of time enjoying the seaon on the go, as life is busy. I also stayed home because our son Will wanted to have a friend over on Saturday night and well, someone has to supervise these active 15 year olds and even though they are relatively independant, someone has to feed them.
So I stayed home.
I had time to reflect as I sip my pumpkin spice lattes while sitting on our kitchen’s window seat looking out at the changing weather. It’s been a rainy weekend. I was hoping to plant my garlic but instead I’m feeding boys. I’m also thinking about how our world is changing. So much division, and yet when things fall apart, there is always hope when they come back together again our life will be even better.
Last night I watched the results come in from our Province’s election and this morning I’m sad to say there still isn’t a clear winner. Some of the races are within a hundred or less votes, which means recounting must take place before a winner can be announced. This isn’t a good sign. This means our Province is divided almost equally. What I’d like to see is progress but when two parties are so divided there’s a good possibility there may be in fighting and stale mates when our government officials do reconvene in our Province’s legislature building in Victoria. (At least that is what the Conservative leader, John Rustad said last night when most of the votes were counted, “I’ll keep fighting.”)
What’s happening here though is not unusual. There’s so much division all over the world. In my last post I was talking about the upcoming election in the United States. Other than the fact that they are our southern cousins, my mom was born in the States and if her family hadn’t travelled north and settled in Canada I may have been one too. I’ve been an avid political junkie lately. My family will tell you it’s getting serious how fixated I am towards listening to the daily news and watching the pre election polls. But heading into this election it appears there is still no decisive leader. Republican/Democate, toss the coin. It’s scary to me as anyone watching from the sidelines with any sense of intelligence should be able to see who is acting like a grown up and capable of being their next President.
BTW…I think I have found my people. My American would be friends. I’ve been watching a funny and interesting podcast lately called, “I’ve Had It.” If you want a peak at their latest rant check it out.
I guess what bothers me most as I watch all the news coverage is all the the negative rhetoric thrown down from the Replican leader Trump like a medieval gauntlet threatening war. Everyone is talking about the economy and immigration being the big issue but I personally believe the greatest thing at stake in this election is democracy. What they really need at this conjuncture is a leader who abides by the U.S. constituion, which has held them togther for 240 years. Did I mention since Trump incited a riot on Januaury 6, 2020 to prevent the new democratic party from taking office, he obviously isn’t upholding any democratic oath he took when he became President in 2016. I personally think he should be in jail for inciting the riot and not even have the opportunity to run for office again. (It’s funny how the Republicans, who are voting for him have forgotten all about January 6th, like it’s some sort of ancient history)
But hey, maybe they don’t care about democracy and want an autocratic leader telling them what to do. Just as a reminder, in case you were deep in isolation from Covid and missed this big news day, below is a snippet of the speech Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani., and Trump himself gave his supporters encouraging them to go to the Capital to fight “the steal.” on January 6, 2020. Trump said he was going to be there with them but he was back at the White House’s dining room sipping on a Diet Coke while watching his supporters storm the capital. He didn’t tell them to back down for hours! By that time many people were injured, one person died and the capital had been violently breeched.
Wasn’t that something! It shocks me all over again every time I watch it. It reminds me as a mom, I have a responsibility to teach my children to uphold the law, be respectful of others, but most important of all, be critical thinkers, so they never become puppets like Trump’s supporters are in my opinion. When our children have differences we try to teach them to be civil, kind, and find ways to compromise.
This is what I wish our leaders would demonstrate for future generations. Why do some elections seem to revert to them versus us? What happened to WE?
Recently, I read something (by Neil Crone) that made me laugh regarding how our U.S. neighbours are acting prior to this election and I thought I would share it here in case you didn’t see it. I wish I had written it, as it’s spot on with regards to how I feel and what I’d like to say to my American cousins. What worries me though is that we Canadians are headed in the same direction. I see such agression from our Province’s (and Federal) Conservatives, both in their speech and even on their bumper stickers. Of course, I support free speech but can’t one be polite? Many are just rude!
I’d like to say to my fellow Canadians, let’s not lose our ability to be kind. Let’s not lose our ability to speak our truths in a civil voice. Let’s not forget how to compromise and remember many of us came here as immigrants and we are lucky to live in such a beautiful country. Let’s take care of it, and take care of each other. Let love be our guide. Does that sound too Pollyannaish? Sorry, but I think we need is to go back to a time when we lived with a few golden rules guiding us, Like: “Treat others as you would like others to treat you,” “If you don’t have something nice to say, maybe don’t say anything at all.” In addition to having higher minded values….maybe we could also throw some humour on the table between us.
My husband David is good at humour. I personally think it’s a sign of intelligence. He finds many things funny and ironic. He lives the Win/Win philosophy. Finding humour in all things, even the difficult differences we have with others makes life bearable. Laughing with each other helps connect our souls.
And so this is my, “Do Something More,” speech/post that Michelle Obama talked about during the Democratic National Convention last summer. Even though I have no skin in this game, I see our country following suit if we don’t remember who we are; first global citizens on this big beautiful blue and green marble, cousins to the United States peoples but also proud Canadians.
We must not lose our love of the earth, or our love for each other, because if we do that,
We are all losers!
Now without further ado, let’s sprinkle some joy and kindness and a bit of humour…. here is the sensational piece written by Neil Crone, which I want to share with you.
Until we meet again bro, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope