Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Reflections


 This morning I decided to walk on White House Road again because it's just so beautiful. When I walk there I see birds and amazing trees and moss-covered banks of clay lining the road. The trees ask my eyes to lift up and they do and I see sky and the Spanish moss hanging from the trees which arch overhead as if reaching out to each other. 
It is a glory with its puddles of light amidst the shadows of the oaks. 

Of course, there are also the houses with the flags, the banners, the signs. Trump! they proclaim and at this point it's just so silly. 
We've beat that dead horse to a pulp though, haven't we?
Haven't I?

This time tomorrow Joe Biden will be our president. In the space of five hours, crews will enter the White House, move out every last trace of Donald, Melania, and Barron Trump, deep clean the place, and set the Biden's furniture in place, unpack their bags and put their things where they belong. They will fill the refrigerators with Biden food. 
I think about this a lot- how incredible it is that there are people who are tasked with the job of erasing one family's presence and replacing it with another family's, making it a home for them while the departing family travels to wherever it is they are moving and that very night, every one sleeps in their different places, surrounded by their own things but in such different circumstances. 

Our homes represent so much more than just shelter, don't they? 

"Home is Where The Heart Is," I embroidered on a sampler once. Our homes reflect us in every way. They provide shelter, yes, but they also provide the comfort and security that can only come when we settle into them, we make them our own, whether our homes are cabins or mansions or mud huts or ranch-style houses in suburban neighborhoods. Trailers or tents or tenements can be homes. So can tepees and high-rise apartments and cottages and even caves. 
Those of us who are luckiest have homes that we love, that we cherish and that when we come back to when we have been away, cause our hearts to be at peace. 
There's no place like home. 

And tomorrow, Joe and Dr. Jill Biden will begin the process of settling into a house that they have been very familiar with for many years. That perhaps Joe has yearned to live in throughout his years of service to the American people. 
I hope they are happy there. It is nice to think of their dogs figuring out the arrangements of where they are to sleep and to eat. It is lovely to think of the Biden grandchildren playing in their grandma and grandpa's new house. 
My god. It is just such a relief to imagine these people making their home in that house instead of the people who are sleeping there for the last time tonight before they fly off to a fitting place for them- a "living space" in a resort. 
Although who knows how long they'll stay there? It's illegal for them to actually call it their residence due to zoning and so forth but hell- when did that ever stop DJT from doing something?

You know what else I keep thinking about? Barron Trump. There is something very disturbing there. And I am not criticizing him. I am in no way attacking or making fun of him. But the few times we've even seen footage or images of him at the White House have revealed less than if we had only seen a cardboard cut-out of a boy. The images I've seen would disturb me if they were images of a boy who lived across the street. I feel deeply sorry for him in so many ways, not least of which is that Donald Trump is his father. I wish him peace and I wish him happiness and I wish him some sort of normalcy in his life although I sincerely doubt that is even vaguely possible. 

Anyway, I'll be watching the inauguration. Will you be? I am so excited to see and hear our new Inaugural Poet, a twenty-two year old woman named Amanda Gorman. 


I still remember Maya Angelou reading her poem "On The Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's inauguration and my tears flowing as that majestic queen of a woman spoke her words. 

All right. I have written all of this as if I did not have fears and worries about the happenings tomorrow. I want it to be beautiful and a pure celebration of goodness and hope, despite the limitations put on it by the pandemic. I want everyone to be safe. I want democracy and peace to prevail. 

May it be so.

See you tomorrow. It'll be the same world, but not the same. I honestly think that it will be a better world. That our eyes will be lifted up. That our souls will be soothed. 

Love...Ms. Moon

16 comments:

  1. what a beautiful walk White House Road must be....the moss, the smells... (forget the yard signs).....uplifting and regenerative. I also look forward to tomorrow and may it be a peaceful, glorious and solemn event that it should be. I will not watch it.....as (lucky me) I have a massage appointment that has been TOO long in scheduling...and will so look forward to that (for my own TLC).....but I will think of Joe and Dr Jill..... and will watch/read later in the day. I wish them all peace and strength as they begin their (and our) journey into kinder waters
    Susan M

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  2. I will be watching every minute of it.

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  3. Did you see Joe’s farewell speech to Delaware today? I cried at his emotion. Is it OK to call him ‘Joe’? I’m sure he likes the President Biden moniker, but I bet he much prefers Joe. I will call him both. Yes, I will watch the whole day’s events. I have a doctor’s appointment at 9:45 because I have to be home by 11 to be ready. My 80-year-old aunt told me today that she’s going to make homemade ice cream tomorrow. I asked why and she said, ‘I’m gonna watch that fucker fly off to be your problem (she’s in Illinois; I’m in Florida), and we’re gonna have a party. I always like ice cream at a party.’ Gotta love her!!

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  4. I think we'll all feel better tomorrow. Lighter, like we can fly.

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  5. I will be celebrating tomorrow. Chocolate will be involved, of course.
    Debbie

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  6. May it be so. And I have fallen in love with Catrina's aunt.

    Chris from Boise

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  7. I can't wait! I'll be watching every minute and probably crying happy tears that this day has finally arrived.

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  8. May it all go smoothly-I think Grace is waiting in the wings to join them in the White House.

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  9. We are looking forward to the inauguration and we'll be watching -- with champagne! I agree -- it's an immense relief to imagine the White House occupied by people who respect it, rather than who see it as an opportunity to be exploited. I wonder how long those Trump signs will stay up? What's the point?

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  10. I'm so happy that kind, decent, loving families are back in the White House. People with pets and grandchildren and nieces and spouses that obviously all care deeply for each other. Like you, I feel so sorry for Barron Trump. He may have money and privilege but can that really make up for an absence of love growing up? Look how that turned out with his father.

    But enough about those people! It's a new day, and what a blessed relief!

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  11. Happy inauguration day! Here’s to a better future! Wishing all the best to Biden/Harris as they work to heal our country. Peace!
    Thanks for this thoughtful, loving post.

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  12. Amanda Gorman stole the show, and what a wonderful show it was from beginning to end. Now we can exhale and hopefully begin to heal.

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  13. I loved the poet but I love Catrina's Aunt's attitude and her idea of a party!

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  14. I agree with you about Barron Trump - I always felt there's something not right. I could never figure out if it was just normal teenage "oh god what am I doing here, please leave me alone" or something more sinister. Poor kid. I honestly don't think he stands a chance in that family. What will be nice though is seeing pictures of the White House with dogs, grandchildren and two people who obviously love each other!

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  15. that day has happened now and it was all we could hope for. such a relief. and yeah, poor Barron, to have that pair for parents. there are speculations he is autistic. she has certainly protected him where Trump has totally ignored him. I don't think he really considers that kid his especially if he is, in Trump's view, 'defective'.

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