“Democracy is a shared power, not granted from above, but demanded from below.”
“Public pullback from politics is a double-edged sword. All I know is that I want the American people wielding that sword and not the American government.
I want Americans to see their reflection in that sword and see people holding hands — like they did in the desert a millennium ago, like they do in the desert now.”
Powerful prose once again. The thing I struggle with the most is not being able to galvanize or even get through to those closest to me. I’m building community with likeminded folks, but every conversation with family leads to heartache and gaslighting. It’s heavy seeing a lack of caring from those we love.
Wonderful piece, thank you. As a former NPS Park Ranger, I love that you are taking your family to the parks during this time. I hope y’all find some peace in those places, as I always have. You have an uncanny way of being able to truly express what so many Americans are feeling right now. Just reading your piece and knowing someone is really “getting it”, makes me feel understood, and somehow a little better. Thank you.
Struggling to plug in, or perhaps simply unwilling to after 8 weeks volunteering in Ukraine 🇺🇦 . Maybe I don't want to plug in anymore, the clarity of a nation fighting for its existence against a genocide can offer a belonging like nothing else. It is truly intoxicating to be among people who think, feel, value and love the same things and the same way. It is like an endless road trip, with as yet no end in sight.
You are the most America loving person I know. The country, I mean. The singing group would be proud of your rendition of it's song. I am proud of you as a writer who loves the land, the rocks, the plants, and the people from all walks of life. Your articles are hot heat, full of sound, and a little dry humor, always eloquent and witty, America at its best.
40% of Italians no longer vote. They have checked out after all the Berlusconi years and the collusion and corruption of most of the parties on all sides.
The current right wing gov only has a third of the country votes, but with electoral laws tailor made they can have a majority in Parliament, and they are quickly proceeding to change laws and change the asset of the Italian Republic.
I had BETTER HOPES for this country, because it is a federation of FIFTY states, and possibly much harder to totally subjugate.
I still hope the majority of Americans that basically want the SAME things (livable wage, a safe and clean environment, a decent life for their kids) will find a way to band together. We say in Italian that hope is always the "last one to die."
Thank you for your writings. They are a testimony of the heartfelt anticipatory grief of our times.
Some justified fears here, perhaps, but no loathing, only timeless visions of loving and human possibility. Who else gets that from a trip to Vegas in 2024?
My parents taught school, our summers were spent in a VW Microbus and a tent, criss-crossing the country. There is so much beauty. So much. Thank you for your stories! Thank you for sharing your vision, your vulnerabilities, and your hopes. I don't always agree with you about everything, but you make me think, and help me to recall what I hope was a clear-eyed passion for justice and honor that I had when I was younger. I need to find that again. It's still a passion, but it's less clear now. Walk in beauty.
Dear Sarah! In previous comments, I have referred to you as America's Cassandra: correctly predicting the future, but never believed. Here in Canada, we have our mini-Biden and rank- amateur Trump vying for political power, so when you speak you clarify things for more than Americans. I am so glad that you are finding solace in the wild places. They have much to offer.
Our Native peoples know that they offer wisdom and insight as well as peace for the soul.
Please keep expressing your truths, especially the ones that reveal themselves in those wild spaces. Your insights are so valuable and very badly needed. (Your pictures are worth much more than a kiloword!)
Neither the Joshua tree nor American democracy ever had a fiercer, playful and compassionate lover. You may have passed unmolested through those jumping chollas, but every time I read one of your essays, I am covered with sparkling – even, or especially, when barbed – SK aphorisms, one–line manifestos, and glorious declarations of Independence.
Thank you Sarah for your wonderful writing and photos. I do hope you take the time to go over to the Grand Canyon. I can’t describe how overwhelming a sight it is from the North Rim.
I love your travel essays, the way you and your family submerge yourselves in the National Parks, the tourist attractions, the landscapes, the people. You inspire me to travel to these places and see with that same mix of wonder and perspective.
The desert is magical. I am comforted in these lonely, heartbreak times by a memory from the first time I went to the desert in southern California, where I came upon a beautiful, delicate flower growing seemingly all by itself out of what appeared like an endless stretch of sandy soil. Surveying the scene a little more carefully, I realized that there were actually many other flowers growing up out of that same sandy soil all around me: a family of flowers, in fact, providing one another with sufficient space so that all could access enough of the scarce resources for living that were available in that environment. A lesson for me, and for humanity.
You are the one political/social writer who I never pass by. Maybe I'm a little biased, as I live in Missouri and also travel the same back roads, state parks, and just returned from a weekend in Eureka Springs, where "They Knew" begins. Your beautiful writing and photos are a gift! Thank you!
I see a person laughing (or screaming?) at the sky in your daughter's photo, and a timeless shabbiness in your pink-tinted LV photo. I guess you captured the "real" LV. Thanks for sharing your family's adventures and your ruminations. United we stand.
“Democracy is a shared power, not granted from above, but demanded from below.”
“Public pullback from politics is a double-edged sword. All I know is that I want the American people wielding that sword and not the American government.
I want Americans to see their reflection in that sword and see people holding hands — like they did in the desert a millennium ago, like they do in the desert now.”
Powerful prose once again. The thing I struggle with the most is not being able to galvanize or even get through to those closest to me. I’m building community with likeminded folks, but every conversation with family leads to heartache and gaslighting. It’s heavy seeing a lack of caring from those we love.
Thank you for sharing, Sarah.
Wonderful piece, thank you. As a former NPS Park Ranger, I love that you are taking your family to the parks during this time. I hope y’all find some peace in those places, as I always have. You have an uncanny way of being able to truly express what so many Americans are feeling right now. Just reading your piece and knowing someone is really “getting it”, makes me feel understood, and somehow a little better. Thank you.
Struggling to plug in, or perhaps simply unwilling to after 8 weeks volunteering in Ukraine 🇺🇦 . Maybe I don't want to plug in anymore, the clarity of a nation fighting for its existence against a genocide can offer a belonging like nothing else. It is truly intoxicating to be among people who think, feel, value and love the same things and the same way. It is like an endless road trip, with as yet no end in sight.
You are the most America loving person I know. The country, I mean. The singing group would be proud of your rendition of it's song. I am proud of you as a writer who loves the land, the rocks, the plants, and the people from all walks of life. Your articles are hot heat, full of sound, and a little dry humor, always eloquent and witty, America at its best.
40% of Italians no longer vote. They have checked out after all the Berlusconi years and the collusion and corruption of most of the parties on all sides.
The current right wing gov only has a third of the country votes, but with electoral laws tailor made they can have a majority in Parliament, and they are quickly proceeding to change laws and change the asset of the Italian Republic.
I had BETTER HOPES for this country, because it is a federation of FIFTY states, and possibly much harder to totally subjugate.
I still hope the majority of Americans that basically want the SAME things (livable wage, a safe and clean environment, a decent life for their kids) will find a way to band together. We say in Italian that hope is always the "last one to die."
Thank you for your writings. They are a testimony of the heartfelt anticipatory grief of our times.
Sarah’s writing is so beautifully heart wrenching. The closing line is remarkably powerful, real and emotional. Bravo, yet again.
Some justified fears here, perhaps, but no loathing, only timeless visions of loving and human possibility. Who else gets that from a trip to Vegas in 2024?
Thank you again, Sarah.
My parents taught school, our summers were spent in a VW Microbus and a tent, criss-crossing the country. There is so much beauty. So much. Thank you for your stories! Thank you for sharing your vision, your vulnerabilities, and your hopes. I don't always agree with you about everything, but you make me think, and help me to recall what I hope was a clear-eyed passion for justice and honor that I had when I was younger. I need to find that again. It's still a passion, but it's less clear now. Walk in beauty.
Dear Sarah! In previous comments, I have referred to you as America's Cassandra: correctly predicting the future, but never believed. Here in Canada, we have our mini-Biden and rank- amateur Trump vying for political power, so when you speak you clarify things for more than Americans. I am so glad that you are finding solace in the wild places. They have much to offer.
Our Native peoples know that they offer wisdom and insight as well as peace for the soul.
Please keep expressing your truths, especially the ones that reveal themselves in those wild spaces. Your insights are so valuable and very badly needed. (Your pictures are worth much more than a kiloword!)
Glad to see you were out in the park after sunset. Park Rangers say half the park is at night.
Neither the Joshua tree nor American democracy ever had a fiercer, playful and compassionate lover. You may have passed unmolested through those jumping chollas, but every time I read one of your essays, I am covered with sparkling – even, or especially, when barbed – SK aphorisms, one–line manifestos, and glorious declarations of Independence.
Thank you Sarah for your wonderful writing and photos. I do hope you take the time to go over to the Grand Canyon. I can’t describe how overwhelming a sight it is from the North Rim.
I love your travel essays, the way you and your family submerge yourselves in the National Parks, the tourist attractions, the landscapes, the people. You inspire me to travel to these places and see with that same mix of wonder and perspective.
The desert is magical. I am comforted in these lonely, heartbreak times by a memory from the first time I went to the desert in southern California, where I came upon a beautiful, delicate flower growing seemingly all by itself out of what appeared like an endless stretch of sandy soil. Surveying the scene a little more carefully, I realized that there were actually many other flowers growing up out of that same sandy soil all around me: a family of flowers, in fact, providing one another with sufficient space so that all could access enough of the scarce resources for living that were available in that environment. A lesson for me, and for humanity.
You are the one political/social writer who I never pass by. Maybe I'm a little biased, as I live in Missouri and also travel the same back roads, state parks, and just returned from a weekend in Eureka Springs, where "They Knew" begins. Your beautiful writing and photos are a gift! Thank you!
I see a person laughing (or screaming?) at the sky in your daughter's photo, and a timeless shabbiness in your pink-tinted LV photo. I guess you captured the "real" LV. Thanks for sharing your family's adventures and your ruminations. United we stand.