In the heart of the “new” America

I’m at some remove, being in Colorado where the full force of Trump’s attack on our freedoms hasn’t truly begun but we’re just waiting. As the untrained, uneducated, and at times unhinged thugs he hired as his gestapo grow increasingly willing to murder American citizens in public and on camera there is a tightness in the air around us.

Don’t read the comments could be a prayer as well. If you want your soul to die read a story about a fellow citizen being murdered by a federal agent and then see the long line of mental gymnastics people will do to make it ok.

Nothing here is ok.

We are watching the death of the country we were born into and even worse, the dream of the future. Everything is being sold to the highest bidder as fast as he can get his greedy little hands on it. A wealth of environmental beauty torn apart to feed the endless hunger of a man who will never have enough.

Some of the people are fighting but others are embracing this madness. Then there are the ones who love to tell those of us who are fighting that there is no point because we reinforce the machine. What are we supposed to do? Nothing?

No, I am not doing nothing. I am not capable of doing much but when it comes time for me to be dragged to a concentration camp I will have spent the time until then fighting.

I just don’t see how people can’t see it. Then I remember, they probably can.

The fact is, if someone is still bending over backwards to make this administrations action ok then they are the bad guys. They are complicit. They want this.

The number of sirens I hear through my window every night seems to be increasing. I don’t know if that’s just a city responding to an ever increasing tension or if there’s more going on than I can see but it certainly adds to the tightly wound sensation that things are not ok here.

Thank god my Dad is no longer here to see this.

32.

I’ve made 32 sock cats and one chicken.

Seven went to Off The Bottle for sale. The rest went to neighbors who couldn’t afford gifts for their children because of the ill advised choices of 47.

The Golden Whisker Society
The Golden Whisker Society

Mom is writing a backstory for the website. I’ve created adoption certificates.

I can’t fix the government. I can’t stop the atrocities being committed by this government every day.

I can make soft, squishy cats. I can make Christmas happen for a handful of children who otherwise wouldn’t get anything.

I’m doing what I can.

A little help from a friend…

The sock cats.

They’ve taken over. They are all I think and dream and do. Each one is it’s own unique little critter. Each one is waiting for it’s own home. I have a website, I have adoption certificates, I have a plan.

I also have a bunch of neighbors on my Denver Mutual Aid site that can’t afford to get their kids anything for the holidays.

So this season I am making cats, putting cats with cards and gift certificates into lovely little boxes, putting golden paw print stickers on them, and giving them away to adopters who need them most.

Because in a time when our leaders are showing us what a masterclass in selfishness looks like we need a village more than ever.

In a time when our government is tearing apart families because of the color of their skin and prosecuting people because of the political party they belong to, we need to hold each other close and build community.

Because now more than ever we all need a little help from a friend.

If you have the ability to help your neighbors, find a mutual aid group in your area and join it. Sometimes the asks are as simple as a jacket and blouse for an interview, or $10 for gas, or a handmade gift for the holidays, or help with a child’s birthday cake.

We don’t have to be billionaires to make this country a better place, we can make it better in small, substantial, life changing ways, every single day.

Managing life with chronic illness requires savvy spoons