This morning I was in Greenbrae on South Eliseo for an eye appointment and then in Sausalito.
Strolling
People Have the Power
I watched President Biden give his address on his decision to withdraw from the presidential race. We may ask ourselves if it is the man or the time period that makes a man great. In our president, we see both in action, a man who has devoted 52 years to political office who looks at this time in history and knows what to do. And he’s doing it with the message that the Supreme Court needs reform. He saw it when Reagan’s choice, Scalia, was approved, and we’ve been seeing it, and now we want to once again have three branches of government that balance each other to continue our democracy. It’s time.
The Tide Has Turned
I’m thrilled with all I’m reading about Kamala Harris. Finally, someone who is speaking it as it is. It’s time to call Trump out for who he is, what he has done, and what he and his cronies plan to do.
Heather Cox Richardson writes this today:
Today more than 350 national security leaders endorsed Harris for president, noting that if elected president, “she would enter that office with more significant national security experience than the four Presidents prior to President Biden.” As vice president, she “has met with more than 150 world leaders and traveled to 21 countries,” the authors wrote, and they called out her work across the globe from her work strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region to her historic trip to Africa and her efforts to expand U.S. relationships with nations in the Caribbean and North Central America. In contrast to Harris, the letter said, “Trump is a threat to America’s national security.”
Just that, is enough to vote for Harris, and of course, there is more. Blood pressure across the nation comes down with a return to issues, clarity, ethics, compassion, and sanity.
President Biden
I just read that President Biden has decided to end his reelection campaign. Clearly, it’s the right decision, and yet tears come. Watching this battle as we did with Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Dianne Feinstein is tough, especially observing it all as an elder.
If we elders are paying attention, we know our minds don’t function as well as they once did. We comfort ourselves that we’ve gained wisdom. Hopefully, we’re less judgemental, less quick to jump to conclusions, though a temper can still stop us in our tracks.
Anyway, I’m grateful for the decision. Because we’re living longer, and productively so, we still need to look at the truth that people do age. We age at different rates, and there’s always potential ahead for each of us, but maybe in the political system, as is in business, we can phase out those, especially on the Supreme Court, who’ve been invincible, and honor upper as well as younger age requirements for office.
Clearly this is a painful decision for our president, and he is a kind and wise man, and it’s the right thing to do, for his legacy and the country.
And now, let’s see what comes as whoever runs is running against a man who is also too old to be president.
Counterbalancing the News
Feeling a bit on edge this morning, I went to Rodeo Beach to balance where water meets rock and sand.
Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far. Jodi Picoult
Presidio Tunnel Tops
Yesterday a friend and I went to the Presidio Tunnel Tops to walk around and see the views. It’s an easy walk from the Presidio to Crissy Field, so gentle movement from grass to sand. We began up top with the Visitor Center where we learned of Michael Painter’s vision that inspired others to cooperate to create this place of beauty, fun, and education. We watched short films on the history of the area, which includes the Native people, Black people, Chinese, and Japanese, and now is a place for all to gather, savor, and feast. We bought lunch at the cafe, and sat in comfy orange lounge chairs to eat with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the world.
This is a place of community and restoration. The children’s playground is made of natural materials and blends in beautifully. If you need a place to believe in the communion of nature, grace, and humanity, this is it. San Francisco is already amazing, and this tops the dream.
Touch
Yesterday I participated in a Sensory Awareness workshop in Berkeley. The pandemic brought workshops on-line on Zoom, and there can be power in that, but in person touch is a leap.
To begin, we brought one hand to our forehead, and eventually the other to the back of the head. Quite lovely, but then, someone else brought their hand to our forehead, and then, to the back of the head. A more profound and deep connection.
We held a bamboo pole to feel the pull of gravity, and the responding lift. We tapped each other’s backs. We sat back to back with another and simultaneously rubbed each other’s backs.
There were other experiments, other ways of awakening and touching into vitality, other ways of opening to play and returning to the spontaneity of childhood.
I’m with this now, the grounding vibration in my feet, signaling up to the top of my head, and deep into the core.
The poem Notes to Self above the Paradox Valley by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer was read.
The whole poem is exquisite but I’m with how “You cannot shovel snow that is yet to fall.”
“Put down the shovel. Breathe
into the dark spaces of your back,
feel how they open like cave doors
to let in the light.”
Expanding Embrace
We’re having our inner garden rejuvenated, so I’m moving windchimes, fairy doors, Buddhas, and gnomes. I see that one hangar is embedded in the tree.
I’ve made a meditation place for myself in the yard down below and this morning as I listen to and see birds in the lower area, I hear plums drop.
Open space for possibility even as we clasp what matters.
The Fourth of July
In 46 years of living here, I’ve never seen the fireworks right there in downtown San Francisco. This year I did, and it was spectacular. They shoot them off in two places so it’s quite a show with the fog adding a cooling taste. Music is played that matches the display. Quite emotional and stirring, especially this year when the Supreme Court is compromised and along with others is dismantling our democracy.
Cascade Falls
The political news requires time in nature. Today I went to Cascade Falls amidst warnings to pack a go-bag. Fire season is here, and yet it’s beautiful as can be, and the truth is if a fire comes roaring I don’t think we’re going to “escape”, and so it is. Strange times as we navigate feelings of vulnerability amidst presence, beauty, and joy.
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