The weeping cherry tree in front of the chateau.
The cherry blossoms are - at last - beginning to flutter. The weather has been so cold that they lasted a lot longer than they usually do. Cherry blossom season, in slow-mo, was rather exquisite.
What's not exquisite is the looming possibility of a government shut down. What that means, seen from a local perspective, is that the Smithsonian would close its doors during the Cherry Blossom Festival, one of the busiest times of the year. That would be a shame, as would the fact that many related events would be cancelled. Hundreds of thousands of government employees would be put on furlough. HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS. Think about it.
And of course everyone will be angry. Imagine me heaving a big sigh. Yikes.
I'm long past thinking I know what should be done to avert the shutdown. I hear people all the time talking about congressional process as if it's a simple matter, as if all the hundreds of members of Congress should simply see things the same way. Working, as I do, with people directly involved in that process, I assure you it is NOT simple.
This morning I will be sending soothing energy towards the Capitol; I'll be hoping, praying, and wishing that one way or another, this crisis can be resolved.
When Congress experiences conflict, we citizens of the District bear much of the brunt. It is not pleasant to live within that energy field. Nope.
May cool heads prevail. Please? C'mon. May it be so.
19 comments:
Hoping for cool heads. In the meantime, the blossoms are exquisite.
Amen.
MAY IT BE SO.
I was thinking yesterday about your beautiful shamanic dance among the cherry blossoms, and if you would be at the capitol at some point, doing the same thing.
Kind of prophetic. Please, if you have the chance...?
Congress needs all the help it can get.
I would have more faith if their purpose really seemed to be to compromise and put together a budget. But I don't believe that anymore. Politics today is about punishing your opponent. My way or the highway. This is not the first time the Republicans have done this.
Wow, the cherry blossoms are in profusion...Yes, difficult fiscal choices send ripples everywhere.
praying as well here in Indy!
Gorgeous cherry blossoms!
The blossoms are lovely. I remember them fondly from Richmond. All the years we lived there I never made it to the Cherry Blossom Fest in DC. I did get to see them every year but never went to the event. "HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS..." is an impressive number. I don't think those of us in the rest of the country think about the local effects even though we hear about it from time to time as in the mess in California last year when they shut down the govt. You're right.
I do wonder if it isn't all about the individual agendas rather than common good. I don't see much partisanship any longer. So much infighting. I mean, if one party is willing to dive bomb or delay important legislation in the hopes it will make the other party lose the next election, that's just
"ass-holiness".
i can think of worse places to tough out the coming storm. Think spring...even this will pass.
Tom you are my inspiration today! Thank you.
Jo - yes, I'll go down there after my massage and dance around. Then have a stiff drink, probably!
I'm totally miserable and disgusted with the whole political thing. A really excellent Graydon Carter essay in essay in Vanity Fair --the on with Rob Lowe on the front. "In the Arab world, the top 1 percent wants the status quo, while the majority wants to change it. In America the top 1 percent led the country into war and economic devastation, leaving the less fortunate to fight for one and pay for both.
Where is the tsunami of outrage over this"
YES the blossoms are as glorious as ever!
oxoxo
Personally I am so sick of outrage tsunamis I could scream. Outrage never seems to accomplish anything.
I miss you, Elizabeth!
I lived in the DC area when the government shut down last time, and it was kind of like an unplanned August. There was little rush-hour traffic, my friends had unexpected free time, and I had quiet days at work because the government agencies we dealt with were closed.
I know it was a financial hardship, especially for lower pay grade workers, but people dealt with it pretty calmly and, thank goodness, it didn't go on too long.
Of course, I hope it doesn't happen again, but if it does, I hope it goes well for y'all.
reya - just north of you the world is filled with clouds intent on meeting up and melding. trees whose inner green flames are flickering and there's something in the place where their buds will be that catches my eyes but nothing substantial just a hum a glow. a presence perhaps.
america - i saw america so very clearly when i worked on a ranch in kansas one long ago summer. america likes to look through old ripply windows. there are so many versions of the world when you look through an old ripply window. my sense is that that habit, of looking out onto the big field of becoming through old ripply glass, makes seeing the way out to the field of your future hard. difficult even. i can't explain it when i write it. but stopping and starting. letting go. dancing with the beautiful what-ifs is a key piece of america becoming what it is intended to be. steven
Thanks for sending the healing reiki over to the capital. A shutdown would not have much personal impact on me. I even got my tax refund long ago. But many who can't afford it could be devastated by it.
sigh. :-(
Steven you explained it perfectly.
Rebecca: may it be the same way this time around!
I heard Jeff Nunberg comment on the phrase "We're broke.!" He pointed out the lie is in the pronoun we. The richest people in the US never ever ever had it so good. They're richer than ever. They're not broke. We don't have to fix our situation with cuts. All we need to do is:
1. Cut military spending.
2. Raise taxes on the wealthiest American by a whole lot.
Presto! Everything's fixed.
No cuts to services necessary. No shut downs either.
I really like Dan's comment above. Taking the "we" out of the equation when we are NOT all in this together.
btw, I meant "bipartisanship" in my original comment.
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