reverse threading

the path back is the path forward


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masquerade. [kerri’s blog on two artists tuesday]

it may have been the moon, save for the blue sky behind it, slight bits visible as the cloud cover momentarily parted. it may have been the moon had it been dark, had those tiny bits not been visible, had the glimmers of yellow not diffused through clouds. it may have been the moon, particularly if we had no other information at all, no other clues, nothing else to locate us. in that way we may have confused the moon with the sun.

but this celestial body had other dimensions, other hints pointing to its identity.

the sun was not posing at the moon. it was us – we were simply unclear – and we were reading this particular sun as very similar to the moon as we have seen it in the day sky. its ability to masquerade as the moon is particularly present on winter days, on days of overcast, days where the sun’s disc has a moody feel, on photographs not stamped with the time of day.

it would be far more difficult for the moon to pose as the sun.

a long time ago my daughter and i went to a country music jamboree on the other side of the state. my girl was maybe in early high school years. in the morning – before the sun rose – we drove across the state to go hear some of our favorite country artists – many of whom hadn’t yet made it big-time, but who were poised to headline charts everywhere. on the way we somehow decided that we would speak – the whole time at the jamboree – with southern accents, pretending to be from nashville.

and so we did. everywhere we went that day, everyone we spoke to, every word we spoke to each other, every lyric we sang was smoothly finessed with a slow southern drawl. we were mighty convincing. on the way home we laughed at our masquerades as southern girls up from the south to go to the jamboree in wisconsin. great fun and with no harm done. to be fair – it was a country music concert and we were merely attendees.

but, now, we are seeing – time and time again – people in positions of great power – the greatest power – with zero to pathetically few qualifications – masquerading in job titles in which they are making enormous decisions affecting the entire united states populace. it is a total, unparalleled farce of the system, dangerous beyond comprehension.

the saddest part is that there are plenty of people playing along with this charade. there are plenty of people who are cheering for it, supporting it, touting it on biased and lying media channels. there are plenty of people not questioning, not pushing back, not at all tuned into any sense of morality.

it should not be easy for the leaders of this country – with laws based on the constitution and its amendments – to pretend to be capable, to take uncaring power and run with it, to discard conscience, to masquerade as leaders, to lead with impunity.

it should not be easy for anyone to pretend to be the moon or – for that matter – the sun. we have more information than that, more clues. we have ways to locate posers.

now we must hold them accountable.

*****

read DAVID’s thoughts this TWO ARTIST TUESDAY

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flowers of the forest. [d.r. thursday]

as we were walking into costco the other day, there was a man briskly walking out. he was balancing a a box of items in his right hand. but in his left was a bundle of flowers. i don’t think he was aware of my brief stare, for outside costco it is windier than most places and we were scurrying to get inside.

but i did stare.

it wasn’t because of the man – i wouldn’t be able to identify him in any way. it was because of the bundle of cellophane-wrapped flowers in his hand. he made me think of my sweet poppo who would purchase grocery store flowers for my momma to put in the center of their coffeesitting table or maybe on the side table in their foyer. my momma loved those flowers. inexpensive, and often on sale – she was ever budget-mindful – but she really loved them.

in these days of a bit more challenge we have taken to a new practice. it’s: pretend-i’m-giving-this-to-you. next to a display of valentine cards sweet-topped in love language with $5.99 printed on the back, we held one out to the other – “pretend i’m giving this to you.” we stopped by the floral cooler and he pointed to a bundle of red roses (with buds and petals actually attached, i might mention) and said, “pretend i’m giving these to you.” the “pretend-i-got-you-this” is far-reaching and much more satisfying than you might imagine.

for it is an intention of love and, in our lighter-weighted and budget-minded world, not stuff.

as we drove home from hiking we contemplated what we might do for the rest of the saturday. it was wide open and we had vowed to hold it as our own. we needed this day on the trail, this time outside, this time together sans angsts. we ran ideas in littlebabyscion.

revisiting frugality is not unfamiliar for us. it is, in fact, much more familiar than extravagance. and so, it is much easier for us to be prudent and thrifty when considering the ‘what’s next’ category. off-trail, our legs were tired from hiking in snow and, though refreshed, we were a little weary from being out in the windy cold.

we considered our options. what to do with the rest of saturday. it was getting later.

back home, we made a little charcuterie board, poured a little wine. we decided to stay home – with our happy dogga. we talked about our trail covered in snow, we read a book together, we played one of favorite cds. kind of a gentle end to our day.

i scrolled through my photo stream then reached out to d with my phone, pulling up one the photographs i’ve taken on the trail we love – this photo of stunning blooms of wildflowers in the winter forest – and said, “pretend i’m giving these to you.”

i’ve noticed lately that my eyes look a lot like my poppo’s.

*****

read DAVID’s thoughts this D.R. THURSDAY