GRAND IS THE WORD

     Could not decide on today's topic so am going to let my fingers do the talking and the walking. Up early to take granddaughter to plane and that is indeed a sad thing. But grand is the word. It has been grand having her here, our granddaughter #1, with undivided time and attention, talking and laughing, not doing anything grand in scope, just having fun - even watching Moana together and deciding that Frozen was definitely better, but the message is the same to all girls and women - you can do anything, be anything and do not let tradition restrict you. Sometimes one needs new traditions even as we remember and value the old.
      And yet here we are and here we were and will it be here we will always be? Why are we still talking of 'honor' killings? Why do we still have female genial mutilation, even here in America? Why is there still a glass ceiling? Why do we still have men in positions of power be it in business or politics or wherever who use their positions to intimidate, grope and molest and even rape women in their employ? Why am I having to talk to my grandchildren, boys as well as girls, about the creeps on line who are out there indeed to get them. Sometimes the bogeyman is real.
     And even with all this it was a grand week. There is nothing sweeter than the hug and kiss from a grandchild, the words of how we will be missed as they are packing to leave, the smile of sheer joy when we are sighted at airports. And it is just grand as well when one realizes that there is hope for the future as yet another almost grown up grandchild feels the same way about bullies and bosses, about creeps and about politics and yes, even about Trump and the actions of my local nemesis as well!
Ahhh, the little things that give us joy.
     But in the meanwhile, I sat this morning, even earlier, reading of the same garbage. Trump and his stooges make comments and then their other underlings are out there trying to explain or ameliorate the consequences of those  statements. Sessions caves in due to pressure from the Master and Rosenstein has to explain that no, it is the leakers they want and not the journalists so in essence ignore what Trump and Sessions have been shouting to the world. Not so easy to do when it is freedom of the press at stake.
     Trump's political body can be substituted for poor Jud in Oklahoma as everyone is now picturing his political funeral as he digs the hole himself. Yet the fear of being in his mouth has Pence stumbling over his own tongue as he tries to crawl out of that mouth by denying his plans to run for 2020 and all the activities of his that seem to point that way. Ugh! Can anyone imagine voting for a Trump four years older, in the grown throes of metal deterioration, of the advance of dementia, and I even wonder where the world will be what with the war of words with North Korea, the opening of federal pristine lands to the ugliness of strip mining and the destruction of the environment, already deeply challenged by  Trump's obtuseness and greed.
     And grand is the scale of destruction and neglect that we have here in the Village. Don Foster is doing the best he can but he is only one man. He needs professional help with problems as deeply entrenched as the waterways. I had hoped that after those torrential rains we had that the yucky stuff was gone but here it is back again, concentrated on my shore line and into the exit canal going past Andover, gross to the nth degree. Don, come take a look again at it now and see the ugliness.
     But what is even uglier here is the same ugliness that taints the country at large. It is the eagerness and willingness of people to give over their very freedom for the dubious chance of standing in the shadow of someone else's presumed power. This reflected 'glory' seems to be what sustains them and the denigration of others feeds them as well. It is also encouraging though, to realize that there is a growing chorus of voices, of people in the village who see the truth for what it is. Yet we need more people to force through an openness that will only help our poor besieged Village and keep it, or remake it into the wonderful place it should be. So any and all rules that are trying to be forced down our throats in secret doses are to be resisted. Any secret plans are to be opened to the air. Any secret deals are to be resisted and  contract nullifications are to be avoided when he agrees to terms we did not agree to. If we need legal help to ensure our safety then so be it. And we are to insist that preparation for new Agreement terms need to be in place NOW. 2018 is months away and 2022 only four years away now and be sure that Levy's lawyers are deep into prep work for the replacement of the Millennium Agreement and not for our benefit either.
     Uch, enough with the ugliness for today. Have to go wake up my granddaughter to get ready. In her bag are packed the hearts of her grandparents but we look forward to more visits here and there and grand it will be.