SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS

As we see the end of summer transition into the colorful Fall tones of forested New England, we watch with horror as Trump rampages over our country’s economy and democracy. It was laughable to see Trump’s so called “summit” with Putin in Alaska. It was pathetic but not surprising to see Trump bow down to Putin but get nothing in return. It was as if Trump had purposely set himself up to be humiliated.

As a nation we are better than this. The amplified political rhetoric, anger, and fear floating around right now does not have to be our future. Heather Cox Richardson and others have spoke eloquently about our sometimes violent past when our country seemed to split apart only to gradually come back together after the dark fever dreams pass and we move into the sunlit uplands of better leadership.

Trump seems to relish pouring gasoline on the simmering fires of our current political passions. He did it again this week after the assassination of podcaster Charlie Kirk. I remembered that Kirk had been interviewed last March by our Governor/podcaster Gavin Newsom. Gavin had just started his new career in podcasting and was learning the ropes of how to do it when he interviewed Kirk. I admired Newsom for the courage of reaching out to the political right so his liberal audience could hear another point of view. Unfortunately, he chose Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk as his first two guests. The results were a little like watching an energetic teen-ager playing a full game of baseball against a major league team. I listened to Gavin’s interview of Charlie Kirk to try to understand Kirk’s appeal. He was polite, smart, politically savvy, very Christian, and had a great ability to charm his audience. But I felt that he was troubling because he used his appealing ways to put his finger on and exploit points of deep anxiety among parts of our population, especially young men. Even though Gavin seemed unable to keep up with Kirk, I applaud our Governor for letting us hear what was a prominent voice in this rising tide of the young political right. We all need to hear this so we can find better ways to counter the far right’s hateful intolerance.

In the meantime, Putin continues his slaughter of the innocent people of Ukraine. We still get notes and posts from our librarian friends from different parts of Ukraine. Despite Trump’s shameless worshipping of Putin, Vlad-the-Impaler is undeterred in his cruel war against a heroic nation. The Russian military is engaged in a crusade that is nothing short of an apocalypse for the people of Ukraine. In the last few weeks, it has stepped up the number of its attacks on Ukrainian cities and especially Ukrainian civilians to the highest level of the war. Recently, one of our Ukrainian friends posted a beautiful photo of flowers in full bloom. I realized that when you are surrounded by the ugliness of war, simple things like a beautiful flower can be an act of defiance and resistance to the appalling circumstances that the good people of Ukraine now endure. We all seem to need some kind of therapy right now.

Our therapy for the moment is to spend a month in the beautiful Green Mountain state of Vermont. Parts of New England are currently going through one of its worst droughts ever and some areas are under an extreme drought warning. But it sure looks a lot greener than parts of our parched California and the American West.

Occasionally, we tool around the property in an ATV, especially to go to the top of the nearby hill, called the “cocktail lounge”, to have a beer and watch the sunset. But the best way to enjoy the Vermont forests is to stretch our legs and hike.

After my doctor recently recommended that I take my 75-year-old body to the gym, I have become a devoted gym rat in San Francisco along with our son Walker. In coming to rural Vermont, gym rats must become creative. I found that two 1-gallon water jugs make excellent weights for my workout. Two pieces of cord wood work pretty well too. Ellen prefers to do her arm lifts with two bottles of white wine. Whatever works!

We spend a lot of time doing chores around the Farm including cleaning out around new trees with Ellen’s brother John, painting four coats on a new bench, and repelling the return of the dreaded orb weaver spiders. The work never ends.

One of our nieces explained to us that Vermont is maple syrup. We saw lots of examples of sugaring operations on our walks around the forests. The forests are much more developed and managed here than in the “wilder” forests that I’m used to in the American West.

When I travel, I am often fascinated by signs that give a flavor of the local community. Our nearest small town of South Strafford had this sign about “Unconditional Love + Community”. Another nearby town of Norwich celebrated the 70^th birthday of the beloved store of Dan and Whits. Finally, the barbershop Walt & Ernies had been in the same location of Hanover, NH since 1938. It is about to move to another nearby location, and all the locals (including me) put their farewell greetings on the wall. I loved the one that said, “Best Mullets Ever”.

One of our urban friends could not understand what we do with our time in out-of-the-way rural Vermont. After all, we do stay in a cabin on a dirt road off a dirt road off a dirt road. But, perhaps surprisingly, our time is almost always occupied with Farm chores, hikes in the green forests, visiting family and friends, cooking meals, buying fresh corn at the local farm stand, staring at the stars, watching the clouds float by, and attending some of the large number of cultural events here in the Upper Valley of Vermont. One of those recent events was a lecture by environmental writer Bill McKibbon. His book The End of Nature was hugely influential, and he continues his work as a public activist in top outlets such as the New Yorker, the New York Times and the Atlantic. We spoke with him later at a dinner after his lecture. We also met our friends there including Jim Nachtway who is one of the great war photographers of our time. This rich cultural mix also includes thriving environmental centers and community supported organic farms such as Cedar Circle which has also become our go to place for a good cup of coffee.

Finally, I wanted to give a shout out to our son Walker. He continues his full-time creative and journalistic work for CBS News. He travels constantly for his job, but we do occasionally see his stories on the news and even sometimes see him in person when he returns to his home in San Francisco. He and his partner Rosa took a much-deserved vacation to Indonesia recently where they visited an increasingly rare healthy coral reef. Rosa, who is a certified scuba diver and Emmy Award winning filmmaker, took this beautiful photograph of Walker floating above the reef during Walker’s first dive. It is a remarkable image of hope and grandeur in our sadly troubled world.

Our next post will be sent from England. It seems like a good time to escape the current sour mood of our country. Hopefully, when we return in November, we will be reinvigorated to take on the challenges ahead. Talk to you soon…