love & equality

coneflowers 

You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.
-Pablo Neruda


I'm lucky that if I were to marry my partner, we'd have no legal barriers in our way. I'm a woman who loves a man, so my country would be cool with us marrying. (though why we have to legally marry to prove to our government or our community that we're in a committed partnership, is a whole other topic) 

I have long felt the legal institution of marriage in this country is a farce, when it has only been allowed to certain people, and not to all people. But our country made steps today, towards changing that. By allowing Americans an equal right, under law, to marry who they love, despite their sexuality, the Supreme Court has given the institution of marriage new a level of dignity. (only 37 states to go!)

What a beautiful, simple thing.  And it came about in a culture that is evolving in its own way to accept this kind of change. Letting people spend their lives with who they love. 

Days like these make me think of my niece & nephew, and how wonderful it is, to think that as they come-of-age, they may be living in a country that will treat them equally, no matter who they love. It brought me to tears. 

#16

thanks, Abe.

adoration

yes. i'm still in awe.

I should probably post something of substance. but all I've got on my mind
is the glory of trusting my president again. and this crazy spring-like weather we've been having.

and the one month I have left to create a birthday#1 present for little A.

taken his seat.

yes we did

i'm still amazed. thrilled. relieved. hopeful.

only about an hour to go. before our next president.

shall save our country

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."
-Abraham Lincoln, Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 1, 1862

44

one of my biggest loves, is our democracy. as imperfect as it can be & as hard it sometimes seems. but it is meant to grow, to change and to be constantly improved. It is meant to be cared for, strived for and appreciated. by the people who get to live with it.

and when the power of the people is proven. it is a reminder of how lucky we are.

when Obama/Biden took Ohio, I had tears come, feeling like 8 years of anger, fear & cheat, letting out in choked relief.

and when Virgina put it over the edge. I finally began clapping. It is amazing to feel Joy.












It is going to be a long, hard road. helping to fix what has been damaged in this country.
I believe the voting majority, have chosen the right people to do it.

oh wow. talk about the better angels of our nature & the swell of a chorus of our union. I wonder, Mr. Abe Lincoln. what you'd be thinking about now. or Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Dream. Or even Thomas Jefferson, as he had declared that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

congratulations America. we've decided to go with Hope. let's all stand together, and show the world just how amazing & great we really can be.

we the people

of course.

big speech

"But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you."

I didn't weep last night, as I thought I'd might. During Obama's big speech. But I sat transfixed. And once again, moved by Obama and the campaign that has swept me, my friends & family, and this country. Of Change. Of Hope.

Thank you Barack Obama. Thank you Joe Biden. I believe we-the-country, are on the road to salvation.

am also sort of relieved that I won't feel compelled to sit in front of the tv for another night. the junkie is going to enjoy some relief.

able to love again

"People around the world have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power."

thanks Bill. for last night's speech. and for reminding me of the man & politician & democrat I know you can be. maybe I can now forgive you for your dirty disappointing politics of this Spring. and once again love you adoringly, as I had for so many years.

tho' I haven't been writing about it. I've been glued to CNN/MSNBC/CPSAN since Monday afternoon. these are the days created for politico junkies. and I am very definitely. one of them.

by the way, hey John Kerry. great speech. where was all that fire four years ago?





also, if I could have a t-shirt that just says "joe biden kicks ass" -- that'd be great. if not a tee, maybe a tattoo.

it's our time.

"And because of what you said – because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another – a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States."

great things list #9, Spring

today is the Spring Equinox.
First day of Spring.
A season of Hope.
a day that most of us who make daily drudges through winter, look forward to.
though it could still snow, or freeze, basically Spring is here.
I can tell walking outside, I can smell things. the air is actually verdant. b/c the world has thawed. and living outside again.

dreaming of fresh basil on fresh tomatoes, all warm from the sunshine.
the basil sprouts, above. at 17 days.

dreaming of zinnias. in the summer.
















and now the time comes, to start feeling busy because the outdoors must be tended to.

1. move compost pile to garden plot, work into soil at least 2 ft. deep
2. rake up leaf piles that have acted as mulch through winter.
3. plant peas?
4. trim crazy-lady looking shrubs around house.
5. plant pansies in front.
6. buy many cubic feet of peat moss
7. clean up new daffodil bed, around trunk of the Buckeye. line in red bricks.
8. repair, or have repaired, the crumbly edge of concrete front stoop
9. go to greenhouse/nursery, for boost of spring/summer fever. try not to dream bigger than yard allows.
10. plant grass in bare patches of backyard.

Finally, I hope everyone got to read this NYT editorial on Obama and his historic & honest speech about American's racial divide and its ability to be a more perfect union. Or for that matter, read the speech/see the speech. A profile in courage, healing the racial divide, a ray of hope.
I believe in the greatness of this country, its citizenry & its power to lead by example. But I think our country has been, and is being, torn apart by divisions politically, religiously & economically. And so I hope, though our greatness has been fractured, it yet can be rebuilt. By its people & its democratic process. Obama has the strength & integrity to lead us through that.

A chorus of our Union, touched by the better angels of our nature.

great things list #7

seed starting.

the sunny morning, got me inspired. I've not wanted to
do this on a cloudy, cranky day.

these are the beginnings of Basil. Genovese & Siam.

also. nervous about political events taking place today.
in Ohio & Texas.
damn politics. love it all, in a nail-biting way. here's hoping
what happens today, is what is best for all of us.

#328

tonight, I went to a caucus. my plan to volunteer & vote, and hoped that our turnout would be good--despite the oncoming snow storm.

tonight, I stood in a room of 600 people, from my little senate district, and watched them count themselves off. starting in one corner, a person said "one" and we went around the room, through the crowd, until every person had a chance to yell the next number. I am #328.
and in the next room, went the count for the other candidates.

they expected no more than 300. They got 846. And the lines were long. And some people complained. But most people joked about how of course, no one expected such a turnout.

I didn't take a picture, I was too busy helping people get registered. But I did stand up on a chair, during the "count," I was standing, because I wanted to see each face as they yelled out a number.

I felt like I was really taking part in a Democratic process. There we all stood, each person with a voice & a vote. And in the end, despite the hours of standing & waiting, we were done, and we all cheered & applauded. Because we did it. Because like Obama says, "ordinary people can still do extraordinary things"

We are ordinary people. Ordinary people who live, and take part in, our democracy. And we did an extraordinary thing tonight. Even right here, in Kansas.

great things list #6, voting

it is a big day for Democracy. this Super Tuesday.

so tonight, I'll be voting. As a Kansan, that
means, I'll be heading to a caucus.
Where I've also volunteered to help with registration
and counting heads.

I'm actually calm today. November 4th, will likely be the day o' emotional moments.
(usually election days give me surges of choked-up emotions. because of pride, fear, thankfulness, community, hope and, the Constitution.)

because, though sometimes a flawed process, a Democracy it is still
a great process.

of the people, by the people, for the people.