Pause

 

Village Green/Town² is on what I hope will be a limited break. Sending love to all my readers and hope for a way out of the darkness. - - jam

No Celebration

 

The Things That Are Free

 

We are close to one of the well-known rituals of the Columbia year: the Fourth of July fireworks. We all know they are at the Lakefront. We know they are sponsored by Howard County and that all are welcome. There will be announcements about when it is permissible to come down to the Lakefront and stake out one’s spot with a blanket. There will be folks who disregard this. 

Afterwards there will be complaints about the traffic or the parking or something or other that was displeasing and inconvenient.

Perhaps this is why there are alternative viewing spots around town that provide a good-enough view without the hassle. Many are shared by word of mouth. Some are whispered only among close friends, like the secret knock at a speakeasy.

In my neighborhood the elementary school nearby has been such a gathering place over the years. (I don’t think it is anymore since the reconfiguration of the school’s footprint.) It has taken on its own personality, its own festival atmosphere which is enhanced by the diversity of our students and families. Children run on the grass with glow sticks. There may be ice pops.

When you have risked everything to make a better life for your family and are working multiple jobs to get by, there are many, many extras that you cannot afford. There are many times you must say no to the eager requests of your children when you would rather bring them joy.

That is why my memories of those fireworks at the school have such a pure and holy feeling for me. Everyone there was enjoying the same glorious experience - - without any division by income or enthnicity - - because Fourth of July Fireworks are free.

Everyone is welcome. It will not cost anything extra. It will bring joy. 

How many of those families will be outside enjoying the fireworks this year? How many will stay indoors, looking at the teary and uncomprehending faces of their children and keep their doors locked against the horrors outside? 

Independence Day is meant to remind us of what we rejected and what we embraced when we created a new nation. 

If children who have every potential to learn and grow and become valuable members of our communities are to be hidden in the dark on a night when should be celebrating freedom…

What are we rejecting? What are we embracing? 

Village Green/Town² Comments

Doing the Work

 

Friends, watching people cheer suffering is breaking me.  I have entered a new phase of doubting the world can go on.

And yet…and yet.

People are getting up today and going to work. Bookstores and libraries will be inviting us to read. Childcare workers will nurture children, restaurants will feed people, hospitals will treat the sick, and people will keep going to work.

Except the people who have no more jobs because of DOGE. Or those who have been kidnapped and disappeared by ICE. Or those who need to work but are afraid to leave their homes because of same.

People work in most cases because they must. And the more desperate they become (and/or the more ignorant) the more easily they will be conquered. Not by a foreign adversary but by native bigotry and greed. 

Because in desperation you have no choice.

Those of us who still have a sliver of choice are called to take on more. I’m moved by local examples and I suspect there are plenty we don’t see. 

People in our community are still planning Fourth of July parades and celebrations as though we still live in a normal world. No, more likely because they fiercely refuse to give up on the America that they believe in. 

I have no earthly idea how they are doing it. 

Here’s a lesson I have learned over the past week. I have always struggled to know how to help people because I didn’t feel my financial situation made it possible to do everything that was needed. I felt too small, too incapable, too helpless. Often I’d say I want to win a megamillions lottery so I could meet all those requests without limit.

But here’s the thing.

Since the ceiling in our home fell in and we were displaced so many people have reached out to help us and not a one of them was a large jackpot lottery winner. I don’t know if they wonder if they are too small, too incapable, or too helpless but I do know that they didn’t let that stop them from taking action.

From large offers of help to small gifts - - all were acts of love and all were so valuable to us.

Somehow I feel that the first part of this blog post and the second are connected. I’m trying to make that connection for myself.

Village Green/Town² Comments