November 7

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Still feeling conflicted.  An old friend opined that living a good and kind life, and making nice pictures was good.

Well, yes, but.........................

Fiddling is good.  Making music can help people feel better.

But fiddling while Rome burns?  No honor there.  Music, schmusic -- get the water buckets going!

I am feeling like the world has turned upside down.  Or -- my understanding of it has been thrown off its moorings.  So many people, behaving so totally incomprehensibly. 

I have no sense of what I think might help our troubled country in a significant way.

I do NOT want to be one of those people standing in a corner (or hiding under the bed) with eyes screwed shut and fingers-in-the-ears singing "la la la la I can't hear you".................................  (Well, I *want* to, but I think it Would Be Wrong.............................  When good people stay silent, evil is more likely to triumph.  And/or triumph "bigger" than they would if we were standing up and protesting.  I believe it.)



I'm starting to come to consider the possibility of imagining that wallowing in horror, with eyes wide open, is no less ... unproductive ... than hiding under the bed.

I'm trying to consider where I want my resources to go -- I have supported environmental causes forever, and education for girls.  Animal welfare.  Local businesses.  Public tv.

We went to a concert by Jake Shimabukuro (the ukulele wizard) on Wednesday.  He thanked us profusely for coming out to support the arts in our community.

Well, yes, I guess we were................  So that's something else we can do.

And we can support institutions of other sorts that deserve support.  The New York Times, say.  I'm thinking we'll be subscribing.  To an electronic version, so we're not causing more trees to die or putting more paper into the waste stream.

I'm still taking pics.  I'm still playing with them.  Not sure how I feel about posting them.

But maybe, just maybe, they may raise someone else's mood enough that they drop a few bucks on The Nature Conservancy, or their local humane society, or their women's shelter?



One of my very favorite apples.  Russett.  Not the most photogenic.  Peel dull rather than shiny, not very big, not always very regular in shape.

But my, my, are they good to eat.  Incredibly crisp, when newly picked.  And the flavor.......  Deep, layered, sometimes almost floral......  Mmmmmmmm.

I picked up this leaf on November 7.

I thought it went nicely with the apple.

Walking.  Dandelion.

Tulip tree.  This is a young tree.  Its leaves are huge compared to those of the mature tree in our yard.

Tulip tree on a bright blue day when one could fantasize an optimistic future..........................

Asters.

Oak leaves.

Maple leaves.

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