Cleaning House

Those were the days: Women's March 2017. Credit: Denver Post, Getty Images

In compliance with pandemic measures, I spend a lot of time indoors. And, because I'm retired (it's been more than a year now) I've been looking for things to do. For the first couple of months of lockdown/ retirement, I did a lot of house cleaning. That got old pretty fast, so, even though I knew the dust was accumulating around me, I chose to ignore it, and just let it keep piling up.

The other thing I do in retirement is write, mostly in the small bedroom at the front of our house, the one that overlooks Sherbourne Street. 

The other day, I idly ran my finger across a surface in my writing room. The surface noticeably changed colour in the wake of my moving finger; an impressive drift built in front.

This isn't a great metaphor for the gongshow in the US Capitol building on Wednesday, but I'm relying on comic juxtaposition to make my point.

Since the 2016 campaign, Trump has claimed any election he loses must be rigged. That's why thoughtful people have been worried for years that the snake that got let in was Trump all along. 

And just like me and my dust in my slovenly retirement, most people, worried or not, just let it pile up. 

Yesterday Twitter cancelled Trump's account. Imagine what life would have been like if they'd mopped that up three years, or even one year ago.

My metaphor picks up a wobble from this point on. 

Today with little effort I'm going to clean all the dust that's accumulated in my home. I anticipate it will actually be satisfying to spruce the place up. And, if I fall back into my slovenly ways, it won't be the end of the world.

America's great embarrassment for the sake of the ego of a madman, and all the neglect of the past four years, could very well be the end of the world. 

"The revolution or the civil war starts absurdly. It looks ridiculous, comical. Then six months later, your family is dead."*

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen

*https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2021/01/07/if-you-were-lucky-living-in-donald-trumps-america-felt-almost-normal-and-that-was-a-dangerous-thing.html