Thanksgiving, 2020

 

Shasta napping in one of her
favorite shady backyard spots.
I thank Shasta's mobile vet. who provides
not only acupuncture but guidance in
keeping Shasta healthy.

Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner. This holiday in 2020 will be like none other in most of our lives as we stay home without any guests, including any dearly loved family and friends. COVID-19 is killing off our fellow citizens at record rates all over the country. Mask wearing, social distancing, washing our hands for 20 seconds when returning from contact away from home and "sheltering in place" are the only ways we can prevent one another from dying of this deadly disease.

That said at this Thanksgiving (and Dwight's and my anniversary) I must say I am filled with thankfulness for so many reasons. Getting the most attention at this moment is my returning good health and well BEing fostered by my amazing Asian Healing Arts doctor.

Pearl and Cloe, cats of our children living in San Francisco 

Also, I am thankful that January 20, 2021, the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamal Harris, is now less than two months away. 

And as those of you who follow this blog are aware I am passionate about restoring native habitat. Without the vast array of natives at Plants of the Southwest and its fabulous owner I could not have created the awesome gardens here in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And a shout out of great thank you to Tooley's Trees  as well, who provided all of our flourishing fruit trees; and Coates Tree Service for the many truckloads of woods chips delivered at a frightfully minimal cost.

And here I would like to expressed my deepest thank you to my husband for all the support when I run myself ragged taking care of the burgeoning food forest beginning to thrive in our backyard. Also, I am so appreciative for all the physical effort it took him to build our three raised beds, turning two of them into hoop houses for thriving vegetables here in this high mountainous desert tiny plot of land. 

Also, I am full of thankfulness for both my chosen by marriage and biological family. As well, I give thanx for both long time friends scattered near and wide as well as the developing friendships here in Santa Fe.

I am so thankful to live in a neighborhood filled with diversity. Different religions and political affiliations make for lively conversations. We have a delightful young Chinese couple with two adorable girls, one not quite one year old and another soon to be three. Next door lives a “geek” who does research at Los Alamos Labs and hails from British Columbia. His lovely wife who is completing the rigors to BE an architect grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico. Then there is the mom of Hank, Shasta’s very favorite neighbor dog, who added what looks like a space ship atop her Stamm home. Eek, I thought when we first drove down our street. As I am getting to know her, she is not only engaging, thoughtful, and knowledgeable but she shares many of my values. And she is raising an enchanting teenaged son.

Booch ( short for Kombucha)
the male kitty of our children living in Seattle, Washington

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

In the recently purchased Stamm home where the oldest person on our cul da sac lived resides a gay couple with their cutest little daughter, Olena, named for the Hawaiian turmeric flower. They along with their parents who live here in Santa Fe are creating a lovely front yard.

Billie, as in Billie Holliday, Booch's sister.

Then in the other Stamm homes live people of varying ages, both single and married. Across the street we enjoy the late middle aged Hispanic Catholic couple. Not only are they Catholic but they practice their religion deeply. To me the man demonstrates many of the characteristics of Joe Biden, but they vote for Trump because he does not believe in abortions (m-m-m-m). 

Pearl

Next door to them lives a midlife couple. She is from Pakistan and he works at home but is employed by Los Alamos Labs. They have a stunningly beautiful adopted daughter who if I remember correctly is from Japan.

I have to say I am in love with
Billie's marble coat, finding it ever so stunning.

And next to them lives a 60ish single woman whose family many generations ago migrated to New Mexico from Spain. She grew up in the house she lives in and holds a plethora of knowledge about the area.

Booch

The house down our street that we originally thought we would buy was purchased by an artist soon after we withdrew our bid. She use to be employed by Meow Wolf but they now have “fired” all of their artists. She creates wonderful, very large sculptures in her garage. Luckily she often leaves the garage door open so we can enjoy her works in progress. 

And across San Felipe Avenue lives the mom of the little white dog Minnie and who shares snickerdoodles with us during holiday season. She and I also have great talks about sports in general and in particular the Houston Astros, since her family is friends with their third baseman, and Oakland Athletics whose midweek afternoon games I use to attend with Shasta's Auntie T and my dear friend that I miss dearly. Shasta's Auntie Rosa cleans our house monthly and she was a marvelous find as well a delightful person hailing from El Paso, Texas.

So as we celebrate our lives at this 2020 Thanksgiving, and realize all the benefits with which we are blessed and positive happenings every single day, may we also enjoy a divine

 

Necessary

“Let us meet this present moment with clarity, strength, and love."  

Rev. Joan Jiko Halifax

Beargrass (Nolina microcarpa) in the snow
along with Dwight's stunning sculpture.

We are at the end of a five year cycle of chaos. This cycle seems to have been necessary to bring to the fore so many issues in our country having previously been swept "under the rug" so to speak: white supremacy that abused women, children, people of color and just about anyone else who was not a white man. Five years ago amidst so much dissatisfaction among the United States inhabitants our 45th President ran for office. People were unhappy with the lack of movement by our Congress and wanted a change. Well indeed change happened The present inhabitant of our White House brought change unlike anything heretofore seen by a President.  His outrageous tweets, the seemingly only way this man communicated, constantly stirred things up so the "norm" was totally unrecognizable. 

With daily startling happenings obliterated any sense of normalcy, the #Me2Movement gained traction with the sexual harassment and sexual assault finally honored for what it was instead of blaming the children and women who had experienced such awful invasion of their persons. "They asked for it" attitude seemed no longer a justification in courts of law.

And the general populous no longer went along with the police brutality of black men and women too. Huge and diverse crowds gathered in the streets in many American cities to march against the killing of black men and women in the name of "the law". Many athletes in all of major league sports took to their platforms standing up against the atrocities measured out on many black men. These now "famous" men often related how they had been pulled over by the police. Some even shared how they had been "locked up" but never charged nor been allow legal counsel or even a phone call before being released. Black Lives Matter has become a movement all Americans regardless of color are participating in.

Complacency had befallen voters all over the country. People abdicated their responsibility to BE involved and vote. Then citizens began to recognize the importance of voting. Hundreds of thousands of postcards and letters were written to encourage this act. In the election of 2020 people showed up and voted in records numbers either with "mail in" ballots or going to the polls to vote in person.

Here in Santa Fe, New Mexico,
we are so often presented with beautiful clouds as these.

So my take today is that the man sitting in our White House was necessary to awaken all of us living in the United States to participate and not be complacent. I remember Starhawk, many years ago, saying that people get what they deserve if they do not vote. Minimal voter turnout of 2016 allowed a sociopathic narcissist to move into our White House.

I for one am elated that come January 20, 2021, in Washington, D.C., we will have a president inaugurated who will respect tradition, undo all of the terribly detrimental proclamations of the past four years and support national as well as individual healing of every citizen in this country. I trust that a sense of stability will return so that we as a nation can get on with necessary action to combat the climate catastrophe as well as more effectively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, I am ever so excited to see the effects of a woman of color as VicePresident on our nation.

Until that momentous celebration, as we are continue to be inundated with shenanigans by the present White House occupant, many we