Daily Dose from the Pod: The Appalling Allure of Trump

The Western edge of our lot draws me like a magnet. A lone redwood tree still stands there, despite a third of its roots being lopped off by a neighbor on the adjacent lot decades ago. My tiny outdoor office is to the left of the Sequoia Sempirvirens, and on the other side of the office is an ornamental plum where the paving stones underneath it are wrecked with scattered and dropped fruit, the work of messy squirrels and other rodents the thought of whom makes me shiver.

In front of the Sequoia is a circle of dilapidating Adirondacks softened by cheap durable cushions you can find online. In the center of the circle is our gas firepit with its fake logs fashioned to trick the eye. In the few feet which lay between the wonder of nature that is Sequoia Sempirvirens and the wonder of man that is the gas firepit is my happy place. I prop myself there, back to the tree, feet up on the pit, and allow myself to feel anchored by both, to sink in, and for a moment, to breathe with ease.

Frankly I’ve been overwhelmed a lot lately. I’ve had too much on my mind to warrant writing you about any of it. Like, my conscience feels, if you can’t write about all of it, then write none of it, for to write some small piece is to ignore the rest and how can you ignore the rest?

Still, feeling strangled with thought, I’ve decided that this approach no longer works. So, I’ve decided to release some of my thoughts one-by-one in short bits I’ll call Daily Doses from the Pod.

(Mind you, “Daily” is more of a goal than a promise. Even The Daily Show is only on four nights a week. So please don’t hold me to it.)

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Without further ado as they say, here is Today’s Daily Dose:

They’re throwing much of what we might think of as “The Progress of the 20th Century” into a dumpster and setting fire to it. When all’s said and done, they plan to dance in the ashes and gloat and belch and fart with reckless abandon.

Let’s not let that happen.

Vote at every level like your life depends on it. Because even if YOUR life doesn’t depend on it, if you have kids or grandkids who are 30 or under, THEIR life will be forever harmed. Two objective points you can make to those who are “undecided” or think they’re choosing “the lesser of two evils” are:

1. A second Trump term means a Trump majority on the Supreme Court that lasts for 40-50 more years.

2. A second Trump term means the planet burns and drowns instead of cools and heals.

3. A second Trump term means Christian Nationalism is in the driver’s seat of our America. You think the 10 Commandments in all Louisiana public school classrooms is fucked up and weird and unconstitutional? It’s a tiny snowflake in the avalanche of shit to come.

Whelp.

I guess that’s three things you can tell the “undecided” “lesser of two evils” folks. Biden is in zero ways ideal. But neither is he an existential threat to so many of us.

There’s a heavyweight match on Thursday night called Biden v. Trump. Watch it live. Watch it after. Root for Biden. Share the good bits after.

Also, “sempervirens” means “always living.” I find it reassuring to sit at the feet of my Sequoia Sempervirens and in its presence release small doses of thoughts and breath.

Also, tell me where your happiest place is in your home environment. We all need one.

xo

🤗 Here’s a hug for anyone who’s struggling with the state of politics in America.

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