VIGNETTES OF LIFE

     Sometimes it is the little picture that tells the whole picture. The words of love from a husband whose wife was taken violently and suddenly. The finger wrestling of a wife as she discouraged her husband from holding her hand. The signs held by the young as they plead for the right to safety or the right to live in a country that is truly theirs.
     It is the picture of a woman in the hat, a signature of Olivia Pope in Scandal. It is just as iconic as the pillbox of Jackie Kennedy, except that this hat represents an almost in your face defiant attitude - the question being who is she defying?!
     It is the glee and joy when a seat in a legislative body turns over, becomes Democrat, and the hopes are raised. It is the voices of dissent and disappointment that voters have when asked about you know who. It is the sight of huge semis lined up under a bridge to prevent a man from jumping to his death. And it is the GoFundMe page raising $100,000 in a day for the hero of the Waffle House shooting.
     It is seen in the rather silly fight over motorized scooters, you know, the toy of kids and now evidently of adults who think it is okay to use on crowded sidewalks. The answer seemingly seems to be to vandalize them!! Stupid. Use common sense is the answer.
     Life in not too pretty a picture in the so called Apartheid Week, a cynical and thinly veiled open demonstration of anti Semitism. It is in the shouting and even physical accosting of college students as they walk on campus with a kippah or a star or a religious garment showing. It is in the bewilderment of these students as they face something they never thought they would have to - not in America!!
     And does the hate ever end? Why must a boy ask a girl to a prom using words of hate? Where does it come in? Why was it necessary? But at least the DACA program was given a breath of life yesterday by a Federal court which gave the Justice Department - what a misnomer that is these days - to explain their reasoning for their shutdown, one, presumably, not based on hatred and prejudice and lies.
     And for  a funny side or an icky side - take your choice - we have the touchy feely behavior of Trump and Macron. Hugging and kissing and picking dandruff off a jacket - primate grooming perhaps? - and for what? Another duel of the infamous handshake only in different form? Actually, it was both silly and icky at the same time. Just shake hands like normal people.
     And it is in the scenes inside homes across the country, simple scenes of simple joys. Of welcoming home a traveler. Or hearing a good lecture. Or listening to beautiful music for it does soothe the soul. Or going to the library and bringing home a stack of good books, like a treasure waiting to be uncovered.
Or in the simple presence of a friend and in the hugs of a beloved child or grandchild.
     Vignettes of life. So small and yet so telling.