And the Band Plays On and Other Monday Musings

Benjamin Strait in his Pep Band performance at the Pecan Festival,  And no, the photo is not in black and white to be artsy.  I must have changed the photo settings without realizing it.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Blackshear.  We were at the city Park, the Pecan Festival in full splendor.  We were surrounded by people who had just overwhelming endorsed candidates that were anathema to me, and whom I believe will lead to the diminishment of the country, and will not act in the best interests of the people that elected them, including the destruction of the environment and the dismantling of public schools,  will allow guns everywhere, block or eliminate minimum wage, deny  equal pay to women, deny equal rights to the LGBT community, accelerate the gap between rich and poor, and blur the lines between church and state.  But other than that, they are undeniably friendly, sweet people, who are pleasant and generous, kind and thoughtful, and they really like good BBQ.

Benjamin's Pep Band performed several musical numbers, and they were all very impressive.  It was a good mix of students, and I'm proud Benjamin is a part of them.

Alison and I spent the rest of Saturday  on St. Simon's for our 18th wedding anniversary.  It was a great time, just visiting the pier, seeing the movie Gone Girl ( a great little thriller) and dinner at the Italian restaurant, Triamici.  The food was marvelous.  The company was better.

It was an Italian food weekend, starting Thursday with one of the best workday luncheons I have had in a long time, with the Senior Musing Turtles (Boatdock Bill Davis, myself, and Roland Thurston), and birthday girl, Julianna Lacefield.  There was a lot of great conversation, as it was the first time all four of us had gotten together to talk.

Benjamin and I saw the movie Interstellar Friday.  I thought it was pretty good (although the ending got a little fuzzy and new age-y for me), but Benjamin was ecstatic about it.  It inspired a lot of scientific talk from him after, some of which I got lost in.  

I am getting in trouble on Facebook,  Not the kind that gets me banned or disciplined,   It's just the election has left me hurt and angry, and its hard for me to keep my mouth shut.  Of course, people call you out.  I even got in trouble in a liberal group because I indicated support for Elizabeth Warren.  Apparently you aren't supposed to advocate specific candidates. Most of the stuff goes over my head, and although many have indicated how much they HATE the President, they have not given any coherent reasons why.  Their attacks quickly become personal.  The only one that struck a nerve is the one that called me a bigot for my feelings about Baptists.  I had to think about that one for awhile.  I do worry about the effect that the Conservative Christian Right is having on our political and social culture.  But I have no doubt that there are many, many good, kind decent people who follow those denominations (which is a lot broader than Baptists).  There are also some (OK, maybe something less than some, but I do believe they exist) in that group who consider themselves liberals and progressives, but stay in those denominations for other reasons.

I have a full work week, three play practices, and a Writer's Guild meeting ahead of me.  Somehow, I have to push aside the constant inner dialogue in my head about how disastrous the election was, and how much damage it is going to do to our country, and begin to focus on other things.  I don't know if I can do it.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait