Sunday, April 2, 2017

Resistance Report

Sanford Town Hall. Can you spot me?  With friends Rhonda, Melodee & Pilar.
It appears that I missed the whole month of March!  I remember when I posted several times a month, and now I'm struggling.  Not that there isn't a lot going on and even time to post about it, if anything there is too much!  Since this election and the havoc it has created, it is difficult to know which fire to (try) to put out.  Each day has another shoe dropping, so we're fighting issues most important to us, and adding, adding, adding others as they come along.  You can see how quickly it becomes overwhelming.  Since last posting, my schedule has looked something like this:
  • Two Sanford Town Hall Meetings, one in Beaufort and another in Hilton Head.
  • An immigration demonstration (our sheriff wants to voluntarily agree to devote 5 officers to work with ICE in rounding up undocumented immigrants.  Our area depends heavily on immigrant workers and this only causes fear and chaos in their community.  I wonder if they even imagine what our life would be like without them.)
  • Lowcountry Indivisible meeting and responding to frequent Calls to Action
  • Maintianing ties with Lowcountry Suffragettes, Liberal Ladies of the Lowcountry, Drinking Liberally and our more casual, monthly Progressive's Lunch - all of which bring different information and outlooks to the table.
  • Almost daily responses to those issues most important to me - by phone or fax
Drinking Liberally Motley Crew

Some interesting resources have sprung up in this tech age:
  • Resistbot is a phone service.  You can text "Resist" to 50409 and they will turn your tests into a fax and send to your Congress people.  
  • Daily Action is another phone service.  Text "Daily" to 228466 and each morning you will receive a political action to perform, along with phone numbers to reach appropriate people
  • 5 Calls is an app at https://5calls.org which does the research for each issue, determining which representatives are the most influential for each topic.  They provide phone numbers for those offices, as well as scripts.
  • Countable is a very informative app.  It lets you know what is coming up for a vote in the House and Senate,  It gives pros and cons for each issue and lets you express your opinion.  You  may call or email your representatives directly from the app.
  • My preference is to fax...a real fax.  I can't help but feel that emails and texts can be too easily ignored.  Snail mail is too slow and often phone lines are tied up, but a fax is immediate and they have something in hand, which one hopes is less able to be ignored.  If I develop a good letter, all I have to do is change the name and send to as many people as required.  I've also found an online service that allows you to send two free faxes a day directly from your computer - GotFreeFaxes.com.  I've signed up to be able to send 100 pages for $9.95.  That should hold me for a while!
Anyway, you can see that "the Resistance" is serious and we know it is for the long haul.  It is encouraging to see so many people involved and more politically informed. We felt we played a major part in preventing them from repealing Obamacare and that was encouraging - and, Lord knows, we needed it!

Believe it or not, it hasn't been all politics all the time (though it DOES consume a lot of time). I have tried to have some normalcy in my life.  Ana and I still do our zentangle, though sometimes I don't touch it from one gathering to the next!  I'm (half-heartedly) trying to get back into walking, especially since our weather has been so good.  This has been such a lovely, mild winter that I almost hate to see it begin to warm.  We are now firmly in the 80s, with cool mornings and warm afternoons.  We're enjoying it while we can.  Last summer was the hottest since I've been here and we wonder what lies ahead.
  • My political activities have crossed paths with friends I haven't see in a long time.  I shared lunches with both Pam G. and Debby R, both within the same week.  It was great to catch up and I hope it won't be so long next time.
  • Chris and I went to see Kedi, a delightful movie about the street cats of Istanbul, the lives they lead and the lives they touch.  It was very sweet - and always nice to see Istanbul.
  • Twice Rosie and I have joined my friend, Tippy, for a walk on Dolphin Head Beach, which is more private and less crowded than public beaches.  I was able to let Rosie off the leash, and she loved it!!  She ran and ran and ran.  She was truly happy and free -  so good to see!   The following photo says it all - she was like a baby that just keels over when really tired.  She slept on the way home and was done for the day.  It was also relaxing to me and a nice break from the chaos of life at the moment.
One tired puppy!
Tuesday of last week, my cousin Bill and his wife Betty stopped by on their way home from visiting their son in Florida.  It was great to see them as it had been a while.  Betty had some health issues that kept them sidelined for a while and it's good to see them able to travel again.  That was a good excuse to make a Lemon Blueberry Cake!  Rosie loved the new, unsuspecting targets of affection, and they loved her!  It was a nice visit.

I'm still feeding feral cats and making hospice visits.  I'm getting better at the hospice thing, which takes a little time - to get to know the patient and develop ways of communicating with them.  Unfortunately, two of my original three have passed away, but this week I'll be picking up three new people.  Every visit is different and I just have to go with the flow.  Something as small as a chocolate Easter egg or taking them outside to sit in the sun for a few minutes can make a difference.  I'm still learning and hope to improve.

Well, that catches you up of my crazy life.  I hope all is well with you and that Spring is in the air (except for upside down friends, who may be having fall!!).  Let me hear from you and keep me posted on your doings.  Love to all.