​Hello Friends! It’s been a long time since I’ve reached out to you. After those intense four years of daily, or almost daily actions, I needed to take a break and have remained minimally involved with political activity. In 2016, anger and shock motivated so many of us to form the groups we’ve become involved in. This time, the election results have numbed me, and of course, many others. I simply have no words. I am searching, asking, talking with close friends. I have barely thawed and I’m not going to force it.

I wanted to reach out to you – you who were such a force of power and resistance for those four years – and will be again, in whatever way is right for you, even if it means disconnecting yourself from politics and letting the chips fall where they may. I know so many of you are disappointed, hurt, depressed, angry, disgusted and that you feel defeated. That is okay. Those are all natural reactions to the culture that has elected DT again. We have to feel whatever it is we feel. Those feelings will change eventually. And when they do, we’ll find the path to survive, and yes – even thrive – over these next four years.

I know that I will regenerate my activism, but I’m not sure how just yet. Most likely it will be in the form of a Substack “newsletter.” I might use my knowledge of music, or my words once I find them, and political intention. If you would like to receive it in the future, please let me know. I will only populate my Substack contacts with your approval/acceptance to be on the mailing list.

Today is a day of giving thanks. We all have so much to be grateful for. And that’s enough for now. I’m sending you a recording of “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland. It is a well-known orchestral piece. The melody is taken straight from a Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts.”

These are the lyrics:

​’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free

​I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and that you find yourself where you ought to be on this day.  Betty