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After a couple days in the single digits, temperatures reached into the forties. I watched the ice behind my building melt.<\/p>\nAfter a couple days in the single digits, temperatures reached into the forties. I watched the ice behind my building melt.<\/p>\n
Neighbors hit the streets, dispatching errands or enjoying a lunch out with friends. They were almost euphoric about the thirty-hour heat wave.<\/p>\n
After cocooning with remotes in hand and indulging in Door Dash dinners for a few evenings, people seemed eager to socialize again, but everyone knew not to get too excited.<\/p>\n
Between predictions for the return of a longer and more brutal polar vortex and reports of the LA wildfires resuming, I felt the need for continued vigilance and also a great desire to see a movie and indulge in a sweet.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t set out to slow down, but I realized I was resting<\/strong> as if with great purpose.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t remember when the term, wind event, <\/strong>became part of our common lexicon, but it seemed everyone became familiar with it quickly as the left coast suffered from catastrophic blazes. Dominating the TV news, they were hard to look away from. It seemed much of the US was joining me in this urge to rest.<\/p>\n After the immeasurable devastation wreaked by the Eaton, Riverside, Palisades, and other wildfires, all spreading under a perfect storm of influences, it seemed that there was no escape from losses.<\/p>\n But even nature feels compelled to take a rest some times.<\/p>\n Fire fighters, governmental agencies and residents trying to help their neighbors, had to schedule some of their efforts to take place when the Santa Ana winds died down. The fate of schools, homes and hospitals largely depended on which way the wind blew.<\/p>\n And I couldn\u2019t help but think about another wind, dry and largely without empathy or compassion, blowing in. Donald Trump is taking the oath of office again. I realized my urge to REST these past few weeks is related.<\/p>\n Yes, I don\u2019t agree with policies that seem to be aimed at widening the gap between haves and have nots, but I\u2018ve lived through supply side disciples steering the country\u2019s financial ship and I didn\u2019t dread the change so much.<\/p>\n Forget that he\u2019s a convicted felon and is clearly responsible for the \u201clove fest\u201d that took place at the capitol in January of 2021 or that he doesn\u2019t have any interest In reading even a bulletized version of a daily briefing.<\/p>\n He\u2019s exhausting!<\/p>\n While other presidents have been concerned with job creation, he\u2019s practically destroyed an entire industry\u00a0\u2014 factchecking. It\u2019s more than challenging considering the number of falsehoods or inaccuracies he spreads. It is EXHAUSTING.<\/p>\n He seems to be more concerned with headlining every news cycle than the work of governing. In the past few weeks, he\u2019s floated the idea of taking over Greenland (even buying it), making Canada a state and re-claiming control of the Panama canal<\/p>\n Trump and conservative senators have discussed restricting or attaching conditions on aid to victims of California wildfires because of the state\u2019s liberal policies. No such conditions hung over helping Florida families hurt by hurricanes Debby, Milton or Helene \u2014 regardless of who the state voted for in recent years.<\/p>\n Trump has always navigated through questionable activities by delaying his day in court. One of his main strategies has always been to exhaust people who might hold a different point of view.<\/p>\n I was so disheartened over the 2024 election results, how so many Americans could promote someone so petty and self-involved, but I was at a loss as to what actions to take.<\/p>\n Then I considered winter\u2019s ice melting in my neighborhood. I remembered the importance of resting\u2026and faith.<\/p>\n After pulling an all-nighter to study for an exam during college, I might have slept for twelve hours straight to \u201ccatch up.\u201d Now, I understand the wisdom of resting before the effort. I don\u2019t know yet what I\u2019ll feel called to do.<\/p>\n Knowing when to rest and wait for clarity is no small thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a couple days in the single digits, temperatures reached into the forties. I watched…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[632],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weekly-blog","grateful-dozen-self-appreciation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n