As I survey my surroundings, I am proud of what we’ve done with our home and yard. June flowers are in bloom, our tomato plants, grown from seed, are getting some size – I’ve already tied them to posts. We have a quiet neighborhood made up of older people and several young families. We live in a circle, so the traffic isn’t a problem – noise or otherwise. It’s been a comfortable place to grow old. We are close to shopping, medical care, churches, tennis players, and our families are within an hour of us in several directions.

All of that could make me satisfied with my world. Since the last election, satisfaction has been disrupted. Five months into the takeover, nothing is as it could be, or as it should be.

We have several friends who live on social security checks exclusively. As that income source is under attack, we are feeling the pain of those whose livelihoods are being threatened. What can be done? We’ve been part of a protest, made our dissatisfaction public in various ways, and feared for the chaos that will only increase as decisions are made by folks who have no real understanding of the needs of the less fortunate. I feel like a voice crying in the wilderness. That’s a cliche that I’ve rarely understood in the past. Having been through a catalogue of emotions: sadness, anger, fear, frustration, helplessness, and back through all of them again, I still believe in the innate goodness of people. I’ve witnessed it via news articles and simple observations of life around me. I dislike living in fear, being angry, feeling helpless.

I long for life to return to what it was six months ago.