Things aren't normal!
In 2001, my brother was in a wreck. He survived, but was paralyzed from the neck down. The accident happened in TN, and my husband, my Mom and I drove to see him the week after. He was in intensive care, and wired up to every device imaginable. We were only allowed to see him for a few minutes. He was eventually transferred to a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and remained in critical care there. It was still a 2 hour drive for me to see him. My sister lived in Columbus and she went to see him almost every day. My brother would be doing ok, and then have a crisis. It was not every week, but when he had a problem and needed extra care, she let me know.
I had a job and my husband had a job. We scheduled visits to Columbus, but not often. Even if my brother's condition was stressful, when I was at home, I tried to stick to my normal routine, work on projects, watch movies or shows on TV. I was making arrangements to get a large oil painting I had cleaned by experts at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and was checking to see when I could go. My sister called, and told me my brother was having a crisis. I couldn't go that day to see him, but I planned to go see him the next day, so I didn't miss work. I went back to trying to schedule the cleaning, and suddenly realized there was no normal. I had been trying to live like my brother wasn't paralyzed from the nect down, and wouldn't recover. I went from denial to reality and stayed there until my brother died a few months later.
I'm feeling the same right now about our country. What we have right now is not normal. The guns in the street, thugs marching around threatening citizens trying to mind their business, people saying the elections were rigged and threatening county workers till they leave their jobs, people attacking our elected officials to stop a peaceful transfer of power, an out of control judiciary targeting women and minorities with their theocratically mindless rulings, and states enthusiastically making laws to limit women's rights and aiming for the LGBQT people to ruin their lives, gerrymandering the states and giving a permanant seat to their fanatical representatives by changing the powers of their governors, none of this is normal. The engineers of this godforsaken plunge over the cliff found the fatal flaw in the Constitution of the U.S.A. The authors assumed that anyone elected or selected to public office would be honorable and protect the intent of our free country. Current powers in this country have fallen from the heights.
The very bottom and the very top of our society have joined forces, against the rest of us. I am talking about the very rich and the very poor, the arrogant humans at the top and the disgruntled at the bottom, however you want to characterize who lives at the top of our heirarchy and who lives at the bottom. Their targets are people who want to be normal, and are trying to maintain the lives they knew, even as the concerted attack from right wing fascists increases in fury and success. This weekend, America celebrates Independence Day. Forty-two million people are going to drive somewhere, in spite of inflation caused by a war between other countries, in spite of the threats against them on our own soil. The very people who are dismantling our political systems will be the ones celebrating the 4th the loudest and most sincerely. The rest of us will question just what there is to celebrate. The rogues who are seizing power say that the left has stolen their country, stolen their votes. As I grimly watch July 4th pass, I will remember that they are the ones stealing my country from me.
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Preach it and never stop fighting back and talking out. Vote Blue in twenty twenty two.
You have a lot on your plate so please remember to be good to yourself too.
BTW I love fine art too.
I don't travel much these days. My brother is long gone, so no worries. I have a dear nephew who lives near Columbus, and a cousin, too. My sister lives in Mansfield now. Maybe I'll ask you if I get to go visit 
I'm in Marietta, but started out in Cleveland My best friend lives there, so I get to relive my childhood once in awhile
Fascism is upon us and making gains rapidly.
