Fran Sale Stafford

Distraught

“Make America Great Again.” A statement made to win an election. America was great because of Democracy. It was what made us a world leader, a country to emulate, to count on. A country where repressed people could apply to become part of our great nation.

“Make America Great Again” was the cry of an unhinged man who wanted to be an autocrat, a phrase that meant “make America white again,” to stop immigration from any country that wasn’t “white,” to destroy the progress that had been made with civil liberties and rights of all Americans. To undermine the progress that has been made in race relations, in rights of Americans who are in the LBGQIA+ communities. To despoil the lands of the Native Americans, to reduce and despoil our National Parks in the name of dollars. The promises made were not kept, they couldn’t be. This is not democracy and doesn’t represent the majority.

A cry from a man whose goal was to line his own pockets with gold at the expense of the country he was supposed to lead. A cry from a man who doesn’t recognize the truth or doesn’t care. A man who abdicated his duties from the beginning.

What happened yesterday at his instigation, an insurrection, the violation of the symbol of our Democracy and the disruption of the Democratic process was unconscionable at the least. A criminal act by thousands of people who call themselves Americans. This doesn’t “Make American Great Again,” it makes us an international fool, it shows our weaknesses. And never during or after these actions could he stand up and tell them to stand down, that he lost a fair and honest election, that the people spoke, the courts upheld, and Congress was trying to certify.

I remain horrified by the turn our country has taken in the past 4 years, I hope our leaders can come together and work to heal, but to have 100 representatives still argue against certification after the coup attempt by people carrying Confederate flags, Trump flags, the black and white desecration of the American flag, breaking down doors and breaking windows to illegally enter the Capitol building, damaging offices of our elected official is not hopeful.

We don’t have to agree with our neighbors to remain civil with them. Violence is not the answer. We need to heal, to find peace, to find compromise. To attempt to rebuild our nation and hope that the damage that has been done in the past four years doesn’t destroy us as a nation.

I was shaken badly by this and fear for the America my children and grandchildren may be facing. Healing for our nation is not in the hands of one man, it has to come from all of us.

Challenges begun

As the ball dropped beginning 2021, I started spinning my Christmas gift fiber to be the first official block of the Breed Blanket Project 2021 challenge. The fiber was two ounces each of two colors of a very soft BFL wool. It only takes less than an ounce to do a square so the first ounce was spun, washed, dried, and is now being knit onto the test square of Jacob wool that I spun in November and December and plied in the late days of December. Because I want a larger blanket than a dozen 10 inch squares would make, I am going to be making two or even three squares each month of the fiber selected for the month. The other two ounces of the Christmas gift is the teal still being spun. There is another ounce of each of them that can become additional squares or a hat or fingerless mitts. I love the colors of both and they are gorgeous together.

I am glad to have this challenge to keep me occupied until such a time as we can finally get a vaccine and feel somewhat safer about going out into the region for essentials and family connections. Our county of only about 15000 people has reported 652 cases of COVID, and 95 of them have occurred since December 31. The village store keeps their newspapers right at the door and my routine on days we get a paper is to take one step in with exact change, take a paper, put the money on the counter and flee without ever letting the door close. Yesterday, three customers and a vendor all left the store just as we arrived and none of them were masked. The resistance to such a simply safely measure is so strong here. I’m sure that we will see even more of a surge as the holiday gatherings that surely happened all over the county spread it. So far the hospitalization and death rates here have been fairly low which surprises me as the population is older and if the products carried by and brought out of the village store is any indication, a lot of smoking and drinking is done by the population. This is just another challenge to our new year.

Our country is facing the worst challenge with COVID and with the political climate when our “leaders” take to social media and the airwave encouraging violence to over throw a legitimate, fair election. Our Democracy is threatened, our country is fractured and it is frightening. We are not a third world country. What happened to civility. Did none of these people pay attention in Civics and Government classes? We have a Constitution, but it is being ignored by so many politicians. We have a President who envisions himself a Dictator and has a cult following that is armed and dangerous. I hope the next few days are not as contentious as they are playing out to be, I hope no one is harmed, and I hope that all the players who are encouraging the rabble are properly punished.

Happy New Year

The year ended with business paperwork showing an abysmal year for the shop. A putting away of last year and a clean house to start the new year. The last of the Christmas roast that had been frozen was thawed and warmed for supper last night with Huevos Rancheros on the schedule for the morning. We stayed up to watch the ball drop over the empty Times Square.

I started my double challenge spinning while watching another 30 minutes of new year festivities after midnight.

Yesterday, I knit the first square for the blanket as a test, using wool spun in November and December, and though it will be part of the finished blanket, it doesn’t count in the challenge. The wool I am starting with is BFL, 2 ounces each of the two colors above, Parrot Head and Kingfisher. One will start a new square after enough is spun and that will be my official one for the challenge, the other will be added to the square under them to provide the finishing corner of the blanket when all the quadrants of 4 breeds each are sewn together. The two spindles are “new” (within the past 5 weeks) and the fiber new at Christmas, so that satisfies the second challenge.

The morning brought an awakening thought that I had no eggs, so no Huevos for the Rancheros. He got cheese enchiladas and sausage instead. Our weekly curbside groceries were ready shortly after and again, the substitution or lack there of was a problem. It is frustrating that simple common sense can’t be used in offering substitutions. But it did get me the collards and black eyed peas that I will enjoy tonight as hubby has ham, au gratin potatoes, and something green. I enjoy corn bread with it, but have gotten frustrated that I make an 8″ skillet of it and half ends up going to the chickens before it all gets eaten. Maybe I should look for a tiny cast iron skillet and divide the recipe so that there are only 4 slices instead of 8.

The new year started rainy and cold but the rest of the week looks lovely. Tomorrow there is no official Farmer’s Market, but a few vendors have offered pre orders with a short window pick up. We will drive in to get eggs and some veggies. Next week, the winter markets begin.

Let’s hope that the vaccines get distributed fairly and quickly and that there are no more incidents of deliberate waste of them. Let’s also hope that the “adults” that hold positions in our House and Senate, act like adults and move the election result to completion. This year has to be better than last. A new grandson last January, socially distanced meet ups with our children and their families a few times, and my spindle spinning and knitting have gotten me through the past year.