still ticking

The photo shows my dad's US Army WWII Hamilton watch. I was surprised that upon winding it, that it works, but only for a short time. The lubricants inside are too dry for it to work continuously. After 75 years and 199 days of combat it needs a good cleaning and to have seals replaced. So I'm considering having it cleaned and brought back to working condition. Its ticking is faint, but with modern lubricants, it could last another 75 years or more.

We are in desperate times, very much like the dark days of WWII. We are fighting a war against two unseen dangers. One is the Covid-19 pandemic. We are warned that we'll be fighting on that front for another year or more. And after enduring 6 months of isolation, to better know what we're in for brings depressing thoughts. 

The other danger is ignorance and the rejection of expertise. You take the pandemic on one hand and the belief that it's a hoax on the other. Then you add to the mix a president who has knowingly lied to the American people who insists on having super-spreader events as part of his campaign. God help us all. President Trump told Bob Woodward that the was lying to prevent panic. But now we know that the only panic he cared about would be a panic on the stock market.

Our schooling was designed to build two classes of folks, those who'll get abstract learning and are advanced in it and those who don't get it, are made angry and frustrated by the educational system and fall into the trap of thinking it's equally OK to just make stuff up. We have a president who takes advantage of the "uneducated" he has professed to love. He says whatever he thinks is necessary to slide by, knowing that as the "chosen one" he can get away with it.

I live on 10 acres of forest, surrounded by many more, and this morning I'm sitting on my porch and thinking about the folks in California, Oregon and Washington, knowing that what I see now, the loveliness within my frame of view is what they've lost. What a tragic thing. And once again, I'm reminded of those who've been actively engaged in the manipulation of misinformation. The fossil fuel industry has known for many years what was to come and actively worked for years to deny the effects of global warming. Politicians (particularly in one party) have participated in purposeful advancement of denial in order to take advantage of folks who are now made to suffer in the conflagration between belief and reality. Hey, folks, in case you've not been paying attention to the real world, global warming is real and presents serious dangers to us all. Economically, physically and culturally.

I would prefer to talk about the hands and projects with kids, and about how the hands make us smart, how the hands make us better in all things, and about how the hands placed in service lead us toward a better, more compassionate understanding of ourselves and each other. I know you would rather I talk about those things.

But right now, I must tell you to vote. We have a president who cares only about himself.  He will cheat and use whatever illicit means he can to maintain power. Vote against that man and against all those who've stood  brazenly and fearfully in his support.

As I hold the Hamilton up to my ear, the ticking of democracy is faint. Perhaps younger ears will better hear its beat. Get out there. Give the Republican party the thrashing it deserves.

And in the meantime, make, fix and create, useful beauty in service of each other.