A Game to Trump

I bought a cookie at a bakery recently and paid an extra 50 cents because of the price of eggs.  That made sense because of what bird flu is doing to the industry.

But now I read this on SF Gate: 

A Mexican restaurant owner in the city – “I’ve had it with this f—king guy,” Hargrave told his employees via text. “… Piece of s—t has the entire world on tilt. It’s like a game.”

When Trump finally enacted the 25% tariffs on Tuesday, Hargrave sprung into action, posting a long letter to his customers declaring immediate changes to his menu, including the addition of a lower-cost guacamole made with garbanzo beans and avocado, as well as a $3 increase on the price of traditional guacamole. Accompanying lime wedges, which customers often discard with their taco plates, would be available by request only. 

The menus — printed on high-quality paper that costs $1,000 per run — were minutes from being printed on Thursday when Hargrave texted his team after seeing a CNBC article that the president had changed his mind. The tariffs are now paused for one month in compliance with the North American Free Trade Agreement. 

The article goes as to how Trump’s whims affect farmers and consumers.  

He fires NOAA workers who monitor climate change and warn of upcoming weather disasters. His method of firing makes the Up in the Air movie look kind. Where do we put it all? He ignores the courts. I read that democracy in this country is already gone. Tragic. And we must hope the country comes together to stop him, quickly, now, and I know people are working on this, and we must stay strong, soft power, strong.

Reflecting

Murder

When does cruelty become outright murder?  Did those who voted for Trump know or realize that he was going to destroy Ukraine and give it to Russia?  I believe many thought they were voting for an improvement in the economy which isn’t happening.

From The Guardian today: 

Russia has carried out massive strikes across Ukraine, using drones and ballistic missiles, a day after the US stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv that had previously given advance warnings of attacks.

The strikes came early on Friday as a Ukrainian delegation prepared to meet with US counterparts in Saudi Arabia for talks about a possible end to the war.

The Kremlin sought to destroy Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. It targeted facilities in several regions, including Odesa and Poltava, using nearly 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 attack drones, the Ukrainian president said.

“All of this was directed against infrastructure that ensures normal life,” he wrote on social media. “Currently, repair and restoration work is ongoing.” He said several people were injured when a missile hit a private building in Kharkiv.

In addition, this comes from Heather Cox Richardson today:

This morning, Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke of Reuters reported that the Trump administration is preparing to deport the 240,000 Ukrainians who fled Russia’s attacks on Ukraine and have temporary legal status in the United States. Foreign affairs journalist Olga Nesterova reminded Americans that “these people had to be completely financially independent, pay tax, pay all fees (around $2K) and have an affidavit from an American person to even come here.”

“This has nothing to do with strategic necessity or geopolitics,” Russia specialist Tom Nichols posted. “This is just cruelty to show [Russian president Vladimir] Putin he has a new American ally.”

Why would we ally with Putin?  What is to be gained except keeping Trump out of the jail cell he should be in?  I wish I understood.  I was on a call where we were asked to send postcards to the White House on March 15, and send letters to Zelensky apologizing but it’s too late.  Trump has made himself king, a very evil king.

Viewing Mt. Tam from the north
Serenity
Egret

Cruelty

I’m working to keep this blog positive for myself and you. I know we’re all aware of the coup, and the lies in the speech last night but today when I read that the Trump administration imposed a $1.00 credit limit on park employees, I felt my blood pressure rise.

Yesterday I was at the Muir Beach overlook.  I used the bathroom.  I used toilet paper. How are the employees supposed to buy toilet paper and resupply the bathrooms with no money?  How are they supposed to turn on the lights in the offices where they work?  How do they buy gas for the vehicles they drive to move from place to place?

What is the purpose?  It’s  cruel. 

I think of the Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem, How Do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.

For this administration their rule is: How do I hate and destroy this country?  Let me count the ways.  

Looking north from the Muir Beach overlook yesterday
Looking South
A defense outlook used during World War II
When there was danger from without, not within.
A rock that looks like a submarine to me
Dripping down to the sea
Looking out across the Pacific
At the entry to my friend’s house! – honor the rippling sounds of the bell.

Interdependence

The world seems turned upside down with the Trump/Musk/Putin trio, now acting as one.  I read The Cult of Trump, and saw how Trump was raised without love to hate and dominate, and yet, destroying the world seems a bit harsh in response.

I know he hates CA but threatening our water supply, again I ask, why?

With that, I was at the marsh yesterday and I offer photos of harmony and connection.  

View of Mt. Tam reflecting
Grace
Touch
Avocet exploring low tide
Golden Slippers Egret discovering nooks
The tide returns

Faith

I offer a poem by James Baldwin:

For Nothing is Fixed.

For nothing is fixed,
forever, forever, forever,
it is not fixed;
the earth is always shifting,
the light is always changing,
the sea does not cease to grind down rock.
Generations do not cease to be born,
and we are responsible to them
because we are the only witnesses they have.
The sea rises, the light fails,
lovers cling to each other,
and children cling to us.
The moment we cease to hold each other,
the moment we break faith with one another,
the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

Walking toward the light at the end of the tunnel

Rising United

We need our independent bookstores.  This Pablo Neruda quote used to hang outside City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.

Tyranny cuts off the singer’s head

   But the voice from the bottom of the well

   Returns to the secret springs of the earth

   And rises out of nowhere through the mouths of the people.

Erosion
Flowers rise from rock
Trees withstand wind, fog, and salt.

Balance

Rumi:

“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds’ wings.”

Photos from where I live.

Siesta for Ducks
Coming Closer
An array of painted rocks in the park
One large painted rock in the grass
A neighbor puts out chalk to inspire creative design in their driveway
A collection
Four-leafed Clover
It’s Spring!

Land

More and more I learn about the importance of the land where we live.  We moved a great deal when I was growing up, as did my husband’s family, and yet, when the two of us came to Marin, we knew this was “it”.  I looked out on the ridge and knew I was home.

The Coast Miwok lived here, peacefully.  It’s a peaceful, nourishing, nurturing place.

In my meditation today, what came up was Mr. Wheelwright who donated the land where Green Gulch Farm Zen Center now beckons and thrives.  He and his wife had lived happily there, and he wanted the land to continue to be loved and cared for.  It’s on the other side of the ridge from where I live, flowing down to the Pacific.  

I think of what brings happiness. When I was in Nepal, I read Dominique LaPierre’s book The City of Joy, about life in a slum in Calcutta and the joy he found there.

Musk wants to go to Mars. I wonder if Mars wants him.  Perhaps we need the devastation he’s creating to bring us together and remind us what matters.  It’s one planet, bound together economically, and morally, and not by the egos of a few.

Morning view of a sky-linked ridge