I was on the river and when I got out 10 miles later, I waited 5 minutes and got a ride from a local democrat, and taken to a bar where we talked for a couple hours about what’s going on around us and what we can do. I was then delivered through the wheat fields back to my car.
I was also slinging democracy at our booth at the Lane county fair one afternoon. Some people were in favor. Others were not, or were suspicious of it.
Another thing that people do is they walk up and then instruct us on some issue (often rather specific for their benefit) and issue demands, assuming we will immediately contact DC and make it happen.
Tomorrow is another democrat coffeehouse at Provisions Thirteen. It’s gonna be
in-ter-est-ing!
I’ve had fun this summer, it’s not all fighting fascism.
Last week was delightful and beautiful on the river. The fish were many, darting around underneath, big ones too. They looked like rainbow trout, shiny pink on the sides.
I went out for a walk just before it got dark and stopped and talked to a friend watering her lavender. Then I found a couple ripe figs on the next block. Soon after I found a free box of agates and I took three. I started out for exercise and ended up being happy with where I live. I was also taking note of house paint colors as I am deciding on mine coming soon.
I’m going to go with something bright that pops kind of like the zinnias I just picked along with green beans at the local farm. I’m not the fastest picker but in 20 minutes I had enough for the week. It was just me and the eggplants a row over until a man showed up and told me about how he had discovered this farm.
I forgot my pump so there was no paddleboarding today. I walked along the edge of the water and looked at rocks and sticks and a dirty diaper. The sticks here are always good, smooth and graceful in shape.
I walked through the old apple orchard where a brown rabbit was resting in the grass, it’s round ears standing up.
When at the river, I went back to the side channel, where I haven’t gone in years because it requires walking upstream in waist deep water pulling my board for 20 minutes then having to paddle hard across the current, but I made it and immediately jumped into the calm water. It’s like a nursery for young fish, frogs, and newts. A green heron and kingfisher were fishing.
Today I said out loud, this is summer! I felt it sink in. I feel like I’m in the sun sometimes, metaphorically, bright but not burning. The heat hasn’t been too bad- it got kind of hot yesterday but then became soupy/hazy, transitioning from something to something else. Later the sky got pink and everything glowed in its reflection.
To clear out the heat I prop the front and back door open and the cool evening air flows through. “It’s like a ship” my neighbor said as she walked through my house the other day for the first time.
Yesterday sitting on the porch waiting for the house to cool I wrote down what was happening, which was:
Soft air
Dusk brings breeze
In from the garden
The cat jumps over the gate to sit by me
The red impatiens glow in the dwindling light
The trees hold the sky
I’m hosting my poetry party on the 9th, let me know if you want to come!
Music by Disasterpeace: Popcorn, Paper Lanterns, The Mantle Plan
