Dark

We lost our power at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. We had just finished making dinner and out it went. It had flickered a few times, so we got out the lanterns and turned on some battery operated candles just in case. Then we heard a huge POP and the house went dark. We ate in candlelight and hoped that it would come on. It didn't. Our neighbor across the street did not lose power so he invited us over to hang out. We enjoyed his lights and heat, but then it was time to go home.

We decided to all snuggle into Casey's room. The boys slept on the floor and Pedar and I in Casey's full-sized bed. It was cozy. Curly was upset by the dark. He whimpered a lot and it took a bit to get him to calm down. We all finally went to sleep. I was hoping that at some point the power would come on and I would have to go around and turn off lights. It didn't. Around 3 a.m. I woke up to the sound of swish-swish, swish-swish. The nylon material of Casey's sleeping bag and his constant moving was making a crazy amount of noise.

I was angry. I yelled, "Who is doing that? Stop it!" They were all asleep. They woke up and said, "Why are you yelling? Stop yelling!"

I wasn't very nice. I feel bad about that. I'm not the best in the middle of the night. I wasn't sleeping well in Casey's bed and the boys sleeping bag noises kept me up. I got up and left the room. Erik and Curly followed me into my bed. Pedar went to Erik's and Casey got into his bed.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, the lights flashed on. I was so excited! I said to Erik, "Yeah! I'll go turn the lights off!" And then they flashed off and never came back on.

Thursday morning we all go ready for school and work in the cold and dark. I was dragging. I just felt tired and a little sad about the power outage. I just wanted to stay in bed but I knew that at least at work I would have heat and light. The house got down to about 60 degrees, which isn't too bad. I got off work a little early to get the boys and take them skating. It has been days of rain and no playing outside and we all needed a little break. Pedar met us at home. We all hoped that when we got back later, the power would be back on.

We skated from 4 p.m to 6 p.m. It was so much fun. We got word while we were out that the power came back on! Yeah! The house would be warm and the lights would be on when we arrived. It was really nice to run the dishwasher and do some laundry and turn on lights. I was so grateful.

Today is inauguration day. Dan Rather said:

I have never seen my country on an inauguration day so divided, so anxious, so fearful, so uncertain of its course.

I have never seen a transition so divisive with cabinet picks so encumbered by serious questions of qualifications and ethics.

I have never seen the specter of a foreign foe cast such a dark shadow over the workings of our democracy.

I have never seen an incoming president so preoccupied with responding to the understandable vagaries of dissent and seemingly unwilling to contend with the full weight and responsibilities of the most powerful job in the world.

I have never seen such a tangled web of conflicting interests.

Despite the pageantry of unity on display at the Capitol today, there is a piercing sense that we are entering a chapter in our nation's evolving story unlike one ever yet written. 

Mr. Trump's delivery was staccato and there was very little eye contact as he seemed to be reading carefully from a teleprompter. His words and tone were angry and defiant. He is still in campaign mode and nary a whiff of a unifying spirit. There was little or nothing of uplift - the rhetoric of Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, or Reagan. We heard a cavalcade of slogans and one liners, of huge promises to "bring back" an America - whatever that really means to many who look at our history and see progress in our current society.

The speech started with a message of an establishment in Washington earning riches on the back of struggling families across the country. It was an odd note, considering the background of many of his cabinet picks. President Trump painted a very dark picture of the current state of our nation, beset by gangs and drugs and violence, regardless of what the data shows. His words swelled with his economic populism and the nationalism of "America first." The applause was sparse, and I imagine many more being turned off, even sickened, rather than inspired by what our new President had to say. P

It bears remembering that one never can predict the arc of a presidency. It is an office that is far too often shaped by circumstance well beyond its occupant's control. Those challenges, wherever and however they may rise, now will fall on the desk of President Trump. We can only see what will happen. We hope, for the security and sanctity of our Republic, that Mr. Trump will respond to the challenges with circumspection and wisdom. Today's rhetoric was not reassuring.

This is what I wore to work today. My t-shirt says HUMAN BEING KIND. Click on this link to buy one.

 I am choosing to focus on truth, kindness and unconditional love. I am choosing to research, read and listen.