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We are becoming as polarized as Congress. We see less and less of the person who makes a different choice. We judge people more on the shirt they’re not wearing. The civil civil war is becoming more and more uncivil. I can blame things, people—but mostly it’s the television. It used to inform me—now it only incites me. Fills my veins with “breaking news”—it’s a dog whistle, it’s heroin, it’s processed food. I’m fooled to think if I don’t pay attention, the Morlocks will surely take over. Perhaps it’s time to watch my own shoes and make my own direction. I don’t want to pick a line to stand in or on. I just want to agree with myself more. How did we ever come to think that it’s better to compare with people we already agree with?

Grrrrrrr

My age is revealing a growing disdain for the following competitions: checkstands, gas pumps, 30-second ads, hostesses, traffic of all kinds, heat or cold (in any continuous form), appointments, my handwriting, and arguments that last more than 5 seconds.

I’d like to think this disdain reflects preference, not impatience, though lately I have a suspicion that my fancy French coffeemaker has been playing tortoise to my hare on purpose, in an effort to soften my glare while it brews.

Moonset

Just a bit too close!

                          Near as I can figure it was about 2 miles from the neighborhood

How did we get here?

After she called them "deplorables," I thought, this race is going to be closer than people think. Her apology was like a judge telling the jury, "The jury will disregard that statement." Who calls people “deplorables” unless they're thinking it? It was spontaneous; it was the way she really felt.

How did we get here? How did this happen?

I’m not sure a Kansas farmer gives a damn about transgender bathrooms, gerrymandering, tell-all books, gays in the military. Their ideologies, I believe, are much more symbolic: flag, country, wages, and removing their hats (no matter the word or words) as they salute the symbol. These are the other half of Americans we urban folk got too sophisticated to notice—the silent majority, the Tea Party, and those who are now so desperate they're willing to hear only certain words coming from their guy who doesn't sound like a bridge-seller and seems to be talking right to them. It matters not a bit that the next guy or gal will be a Democrat or a Republican—it's the same old song, and those “deplorables” will be disenfranchised all over again.

No one person can bring to the table a unifying thesaurus. We are victims of supervised neglect; both sides are deaf and neither can read the other’s sign language. A serious chink in the republic’s armor: politicos and their ideologies (and their passion for same) caused this. Greed on both sides kicked the can down the road, not realizing or caring that a population was inside it. They’re unable to change.

Reminds me of the old nylon stockings: once you had a run …

The Oaks

The oaks in the meadow are much too quiet, too still—suspiciously so. I imagine when I turn my back they swing dance, break dance, waltz? I try to catch them; I cheat with my peripheral advantage, but they’re wise to me and refuse catching. Those oaks in the meadow—much too quiet, too still.

I remain suspicious.