Thank you for writing this. I have been enraged all week (I, too, was a Cassandra but also wanted to believe that our systems would hold, I feel foolish for it now), but you are right that I need to let go of the rage at the people who did not believe me. This is beautifully written, and I love how you weaved Lynch into this. Fire Walk With Me is an unsung masterpiece, and right now, it feels like we are all Laura Palmer in that train car, unable to avoid the horrible truth any longer.
My husband left me in September for whiskey and a woman. It’s been anguishing to be in a rural empty nest living with two dogs and shame. Mahalia Jackson nourished me. The blues healed me. It’s a bit challenging to boot up a career in this context.
I live in the coastal redwoods. We have smaller river confluences nearby and loads of dramatic spots where rivers meet the sea. The sandy shorelines shift dramatically from season to season and year to year.
Sending you love and strength. It’s good to be prepared.
I loved reading this piece. I have followed you since 2015 or 16. Your insights and ability to understand and predict political patterns are unparalleled. Thank you for sharing them. Take care of you…
Looking for that redemption, or at least the road that leads to it.
we’ve done it before, anyway, us americans, that redemption thing. after we’ve done the opposite, of course. once we get done with this opposite (if we do) maybe we can do redemption again.
Oh I wrote more of that song, it was quite the dreamtime opus -- but it was bad! Lots of "the west's on fire and the south is covered in snow, gon down to the river cuz there aint nowhere to go" type lines. I'm rationing humiliation along with reality, so you only get one verse!
Just got back from Morocco and Canary Islands- they are all horrified.... this is a death, you are correct that was 10 years in the making.... from Flynn psyops, to Bannon, trump... the humiliation I had of British folks at breakfast hearing my accent and it's not an apology tour any longer it's like seeking emotional support from allies abroad and then trying to explain to them that the worst part is the radicalized relationships btw families, co workers; the division of every bit of our social fabric for 10 plus years...
It is dead, America as we knew it. The death of the ideology and pride finally makes it easier to accept the abject failure of everything.
The closure of death and not to watch the vultures feast upon the carcasses of all we once loved and thought existed but that hasn't for a decade- trying not to watch the feast is the hardest part that's left, the only self protection we can aim for at this point.
Thank you Sarah. I've read this twice and I'm going in for a third.
Sometimes when presented with beauty and poetry and emotions and deep thought it takes many passes to absorb the layers. I feel them sinking in but I want them to sink deeper. To be satiated with this wonderful piece. I try to write songs myself. Lyrics have no time table. No hours of operation. They pop up in such random times. Mostly when I am in the misty moments between wake and sleep. Sometimes I get up and write them down. Most often I let them fly away to wherever lost lyrics go in the night. Happy that I was able to spend a few moments with them before setting them free. I loved your line about Trump being much like a vulture. I hung on that line for what seemed a very long time. Anyway... Thanks again for this. I'm going back to read it again and maybe have a good warm cry. Be well Sarah.
Thank you! I’m happy to hear that because I try to write pieces that can be read again and again, like songs, and aren’t bound to the news cycle. I go over every line many times until they feel right, so I’m pleased when folks appreciate the result!
It's a good line about the vultures, but it just isn't true. Vultures are valuable contributors to the natural ecosystem. Many of our fellow humans would be in deep hurt without them, as has been discovered when they were eradicated in several locations in southern Africa. Trump has no qualities that rise to the level of any of the wild creatures, including the vultures.
I started to write a comment, and then I started reading the comments, and now I am blown away not only by your piece, but by this thoughtful community. Wow.
I’ve been traveling the last week, and turned off the news. In its place I focused on the gestures of good will in front of me. It felt like a big middle finger to the orange baboon to see Americans everywhere being kind to each other. We can get through this together.
This is a really great community! I’ve had this newsletter for about 15 months and I can count on one hand the number of comments I’ve had to delete. I leave it open to everyone too and still no problems. It’s an amazing thing in this day and age; my readers are very cool and very thoughtful.
Thank you for writing this. I have been enraged all week (I, too, was a Cassandra but also wanted to believe that our systems would hold, I feel foolish for it now), but you are right that I need to let go of the rage at the people who did not believe me. This is beautifully written, and I love how you weaved Lynch into this. Fire Walk With Me is an unsung masterpiece, and right now, it feels like we are all Laura Palmer in that train car, unable to avoid the horrible truth any longer.
Yes. That is exactly what it feels like. Laura Palmer.
“Like” is inadequate for this lovely, painful truth.
"...right now, it feels like we are all Laura Palmer in that train car, unable to avoid the horrible truth any longer."
Boom. What a sentence!
My husband left me in September for whiskey and a woman. It’s been anguishing to be in a rural empty nest living with two dogs and shame. Mahalia Jackson nourished me. The blues healed me. It’s a bit challenging to boot up a career in this context.
I live in the coastal redwoods. We have smaller river confluences nearby and loads of dramatic spots where rivers meet the sea. The sandy shorelines shift dramatically from season to season and year to year.
Sending you love and strength. It’s good to be prepared.
I'm very sorry about that no-good low-down man. I hope the blues and the shores keep healing you. Sending you love and strength as well!
I am that man. Fallen thru thin ice at the confluence. By the rope that was His Grace did I survive.
If you're hurting women, I'm not sure about the need for the rope.
The rope is my lifeline. I pray every day for forgiveness.
I loved reading this piece. I have followed you since 2015 or 16. Your insights and ability to understand and predict political patterns are unparalleled. Thank you for sharing them. Take care of you…
Thank you very much!
Spellbinding writing (please, finish the song).
Looking for that redemption, or at least the road that leads to it.
we’ve done it before, anyway, us americans, that redemption thing. after we’ve done the opposite, of course. once we get done with this opposite (if we do) maybe we can do redemption again.
Oh I wrote more of that song, it was quite the dreamtime opus -- but it was bad! Lots of "the west's on fire and the south is covered in snow, gon down to the river cuz there aint nowhere to go" type lines. I'm rationing humiliation along with reality, so you only get one verse!
Just got back from Morocco and Canary Islands- they are all horrified.... this is a death, you are correct that was 10 years in the making.... from Flynn psyops, to Bannon, trump... the humiliation I had of British folks at breakfast hearing my accent and it's not an apology tour any longer it's like seeking emotional support from allies abroad and then trying to explain to them that the worst part is the radicalized relationships btw families, co workers; the division of every bit of our social fabric for 10 plus years...
It is dead, America as we knew it. The death of the ideology and pride finally makes it easier to accept the abject failure of everything.
The closure of death and not to watch the vultures feast upon the carcasses of all we once loved and thought existed but that hasn't for a decade- trying not to watch the feast is the hardest part that's left, the only self protection we can aim for at this point.
So raw in it's truth. Brought tears to my eyes. I am in Asia and deal with the shame daily.
Most folks have no idea how shitty it feels to be right. How many sleepless nights and anxious tear filled days. Thank you.
Yes, exactly. It's awful. Thank you.
Poetry as usual, SK.
“You couldn’t see the heel because it was stepping on your face.”
The absolute truth. Thank you for this.
Heart wrenching. Stunning. Chilling.
Thank you!
Thank you Sarah. I've read this twice and I'm going in for a third.
Sometimes when presented with beauty and poetry and emotions and deep thought it takes many passes to absorb the layers. I feel them sinking in but I want them to sink deeper. To be satiated with this wonderful piece. I try to write songs myself. Lyrics have no time table. No hours of operation. They pop up in such random times. Mostly when I am in the misty moments between wake and sleep. Sometimes I get up and write them down. Most often I let them fly away to wherever lost lyrics go in the night. Happy that I was able to spend a few moments with them before setting them free. I loved your line about Trump being much like a vulture. I hung on that line for what seemed a very long time. Anyway... Thanks again for this. I'm going back to read it again and maybe have a good warm cry. Be well Sarah.
Thank you! I’m happy to hear that because I try to write pieces that can be read again and again, like songs, and aren’t bound to the news cycle. I go over every line many times until they feel right, so I’m pleased when folks appreciate the result!
It's a good line about the vultures, but it just isn't true. Vultures are valuable contributors to the natural ecosystem. Many of our fellow humans would be in deep hurt without them, as has been discovered when they were eradicated in several locations in southern Africa. Trump has no qualities that rise to the level of any of the wild creatures, including the vultures.
Perhaps Sarah's vulture was metaphorical. Or at least not specific.
I resonated with the imagery of a scavenger.
At any rate, I hear what you're saying about their inherent value to the system.
Excellent. Thank you. I live at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah and completely understand.
Thank you for reading! Someday I hope to visit that confluence too.
Anytime! I’l host you!
Sarah,
What can I say? Your writing is like a balm and a knife cut at the same time.
I work as a nurse in Boulder.
My job is to help people who are in pain and suffering, to find a path to less pain and suffering and better health, and understanding how to do so.
How does one help this country, and the world, go towards less pain and suffering and better health, and understanding how to do so?
My spirit is sad and my heart is broken.
I like one of your answers: always go into the outside and the natural world.
Watch the birds and the critters.
Listen to the wind whistle, the leaves singing.
Thank you for your prose and poetry.
Stay well always.
Carol G.
Thank you — my best to you too!
Thank you for all you do as a Nurse in these challenging times from a former Nurse.. 🩷🩷
Ditto!
Thank you for this achingly beautiful, inspired and generous essay.
Thank you for reading!
I started to write a comment, and then I started reading the comments, and now I am blown away not only by your piece, but by this thoughtful community. Wow.
I’ve been traveling the last week, and turned off the news. In its place I focused on the gestures of good will in front of me. It felt like a big middle finger to the orange baboon to see Americans everywhere being kind to each other. We can get through this together.
Thank you, Sarah.
This is a really great community! I’ve had this newsletter for about 15 months and I can count on one hand the number of comments I’ve had to delete. I leave it open to everyone too and still no problems. It’s an amazing thing in this day and age; my readers are very cool and very thoughtful.
Interesting. What I saw, this week, was people of color being cowed and afraid.
"Been down so long
Looks like up to me".
You are a great writer, Sarah.
Some of it reminds me of Kerouac, that Big America.
Thank you!
I often think of Richard and Mimi Farina. I’m so thankful for Sarah too and often think of her and what she has shared with us.
I love your writing, and the photos are a beautiful bonus. Thank you!
Thanks!