I have been blessed to have known several men in my life who have been humble and wise. My father was a well-respected scientist in his field of chemistry, and yet he wasn’t a braggart or a conceited person. He was a gentle, kind man who mentored many young chemists. Having four daughters probably helped in the humility department! My husband is a multi-talented Renaissance man who is a writer, carpenter, teacher, and outdoorsman. He has a sweet humility and gentleness that shines through his daily life.

Another person who expresses humility and wisdom is James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw, whom I follow on Instagram. His book The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings explains the importance of respect, love, wisdom, humility, courage, honesty, and truth. He has a daily post on Instagram, where you can learn Anishnaabemowen, the language of the People of the Three Fires- the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi. In James’s videos, you can hear his humility and strength of convictions.

I have been thinking about the contrast between James, my dad, and my husband and members of the Republican Party, the president, and the president’s administration. Where is their humility? Where is their wisdom? The president exhibits no humility and no wisdom, and neither do the people surrounding him.

Humility is defined as “freedom from pride or arrogance” in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. James Vukelich explains dabasendizowin, humility, as thinking lowly of yourself. (James's YouTube video ) But the idea of humility goes further; putting yourself lower than others helps you understand people and the world around you. Seeing yourself as a small part of this big world puts your ego in check.

In Ojibwe teachings, humility means you put others and nature before yourself. Honoring the earth and its gifts. Wisdom is understanding that without these gifts, we are nothing.

Buddha said, “A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.”
― Dhammapada, The Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha

I know many Americans still value the important qualities of humility and wisdom. That may be one reason why so many Texans are supporting James Talarico instead of Ken Paxton in the Senate race there. Talarico expresses humility when he travels around Texas, listening to the people of his state. When you hear him speak, you understand that he wants to serve others and help the people of Texas.

(In my region of Michigan, we have three women who are running for the following seats: Congress, state house, and state senate. All three of these women express so many of the sacred teachings that create balance in the world. If you are in northern Michigan, I hope you get out and support Callie Barr for Congress, Kate Gallup for Michigan State Senate, and Melissa Perron for Michigan State Representative.)

Have courage. I hope you get out in nature and experience her healing balm and love for each one of us.

Love to you and your families,

Carol

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I AM OVERWHELMED WITH GRIEF.

• The ICE murders of two men this summer. A baby shot and murdered in his parents’ car.

• The continued war against people of color and immigrants.

• The insanity, narcissism, and dementia of our president.

• The war in Iran.

• The lies about January 6th and the 2020 election.

• The stealing of our public lands.

• The grift and corruption of a president and his family and friends.

• The refusal to adhere to the law. The weaponization of the Justice Department.

• The attack on our First Amendment.

• The dismantling of vital agencies and departments in the federal government.

• The disdain for science and facts.

  This is just a start in the long list of grievances.

Some days I wonder why we aren’t screaming and shouting from the streets!

I help out with a County Democrats’ tent in a local park on Saturdays. It’s beside a farmers’ market. I live in a vacation town. We are a town with haves and have-nots: people who live off of family inheritances and people living paycheck to paycheck. Wealthy people come to their cottages in the summer. Are they concerned at all about our democracy? I see men in their preppy shorts and women wearing designer workout gear or summer dresses with Cole Haan sandals. Moms and dads push thousand-dollar strollers. With the blue lake shining in the background and manicured lawns with perennial gardens blooming, it all looks idyllic.

But 5 miles out of town, you can find people living in their cars on state forest land or couch-surfing at friends’. Visiting nurses and young families have no place to rent because all of the houses have been bought up for vacation homes and short-term rentals.

When I see the disinterest from these people as they walk by our tent, I wonder what they are thinking. I wonder when more people will wake up and care. How many of us are comfortable in our white privilege to “ride it out” and “lay low.” How many ignore the insanity and cruelty because their stocks and 401K are doing great? How many say, “I am just not into politics” even though the choices we make right now will determine if we have a democracy in a year or two.

Even in my despair, I will keep fighting. I am sorry this essay isn’t more uplifting. Times are sorrowful. John Lewis told us not to give in to despair. But I feel so small and insignificant. (I know this is what the regime wants us to feel.) I just wish more people would rise up and show some sort of awareness and concern.

Peace and love to you and your families,

Carol

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My garden and my dog are keeping me sane right now. After a very long, harsh winter and spring, May arrived with sun and tiny spring green leaves. The jonquils, crocus, anemones, daffodils, sweet violets, and dandelions bloomed, and I couldn’t believe that weeks ago we were digging out from a blizzard. Then wild trillium, spring beauties, and yellow trout lilies bloomed in the woods.

June is amazement. Peonies, roses, our William Baffin climbing rose, purple and yellow irises, and wild strawberries bloom. Yellow lady’s slippers pop their heads up in the shaded spaces under our pine and oak trees.

Each morning, if it hasn’t rained, my dog and I head out to water the vegetable and bee flower garden. Then I pick lettuce, spinach, chives, and kale for lunch and dinner. It’s a healing ritual. My black dog with white speckles on his chest grazes the tips of grasses and then lies in the yard watching for squirrels and chipmunks.

One of the greatest gifts of putting up hardware cloth around my garden last year is that I can pick the wild strawberries that I left to grow there years ago. Before this year, the chipmunks gobbled them up first. Finding these sweet, orange-red berries is so simple. But we must find the beauty in the simple gifts.

Robin Wall Kimmerer asks in her book Braiding Sweetgrass, “ How, in our modern world, can we find our way to understand the earth as a gift again, to make our relations with the world sacred again?”

I believe this is the question for our time. We must protect our sacred, wild places. We must protect our farmland, our homesteads, our water, and our parks. Our survival is directly tied to Mother Earth’s survival.

May you find your gift from nature today and hold it in your hearts.

Peace and love to you and your families,

Carol

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I am a baseball fan. My love for the game started in a Virginia backyard with my Dad and sisters. It expanded to playing at Grandma Martin’s field with the “older kids.” When I was twelve, a visit to Fenway Park was a highlight of a trip with family friends. As a young adult, I even suffered through watching the Mariners at the sterile Kingdome in Seattle.

When my husband and I moved to Michigan, I started watching the Detroit Tigers. They’ve been fun to watch. They’ve had so many great players in the last three decades: Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson, Miguel Cabrera, Brandon Inge, Curtis Granderson, and Magglio Ordóñez. (Don’t razz me. I know there are more!)

Even though they are in a terrible slump caused by so many injuries, you gotta love their rookie, Kevin McGonigle. He has been stellar at the plate, at third base, and as shortstop. And last night Spencer Torkleson had three out of four hits with his special “Tork Bomb” home run on a 99 mph fastball!

But something really bugged me during the game. Do you know about the “Tarps Off” trend in sports? I just learned about it. Fans take their shirts off in order to rally their team and to cheer. Fine. You do you.

But last night, the fans were taunting one of the Angels players- Mike Trout. They were chanting, “Over-rated” every time Trout batted. It was classless and unsportsmanlike. And they are wrong.

Just look at Mike Trout’s stats. Mike Trout's Stats.

Trout has dedicated his life to baseball. He has a career batting average of .292 — how many of those fans could beat that?

Jason Benetti, the Detroit Tigers’ play-by-play broadcaster, commented that they were wrong to say Trout was overrated.

Detroit Tigers fans, we can be better than this. Respect the game and respect the players who bring to us one of the most interesting and dynamic sports to watch.

In all the nuttiness and insanity out there, watch some baseball and softball games. Head out to your local park and have a game of catch. And if you’re a friend of mine, keep that shirt on! LOL

Love and peace to you and your families,

Carol

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I am livid about this Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v Callais. For decades, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roberts, has taken a scalpel to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This recent decision weakens Section 2 to the point where it will be almost impossible to enforce.

Before this decision, plaintiffs did not have to prove that laws or congressional maps were made with a discriminatory intent. They only needed to show that the laws or maps had a discriminatory result. With this recent 6-3 decision, plaintiffs have to prove intentional discrimination.

Yunor Rivas wrote for Democracy Docket, “In Callais v. Louisiana, the court said Section 2 violations require a ‘strong inference’ of intentional discrimination, not just evidence that a system disadvantages minority voters. That significantly raises the bar for plaintiffs and opens the door for states to push and defend maps that reduce the power of Black and brown voters and that would have previously faced serious legal hurdles.” Democracy Docket article

The Brennan Center for Justice’s Michael Waldman wrote, “We may see the fastest rollback in representation since the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War. Even if it’s not as bad as that, it will be bad enough.” We are already seeing the rollbacks a week after the decision.

Norm Eisen, Democracy Defenders attorney and former ambassador, wrote,
“It is a dark day for our country. The Roberts Court has all but eliminated the Voting Rights Act’s strongest remaining tool for stopping discriminatory maps and election practices. Voters will now have fewer ways to block discrimination in how districts are drawn, and ultimately how their communities are represented. It is more important than ever to meet this moment with an all-out, cross-coalition effort to ensure equal access to the ballot for Black and Latino citizens and the freedom to vote for all.” I hope you will join this effort to ensure equal access to the ballot box for people in minority communities.

In the dissenting opinion to the court’s decision, Justice Kagan wrote, “Under the Court’s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power.”

I dissent along with Justice Kagan. The Founders of this nation knew that minority opinions needed to be protected. In Federalist Papers No.10, James Madison warns of the dangers of majority factions. By factions, he means people who are united in common interest and “adverse to the rights of other citizens.” He writes that the public good and the rights of citizens who are not in the majority need to be protected. Madison knew that a majority could oppress those in the minority. He advocated for the Congressional system of checks and balances because this system was vital to protecting minority rights. Federalist Paper No.10

As soon as the Supreme Court decision was announced last Wednesday, Southern state legislatures pounced at the chance to gerrymander their congressional maps to disenfranchise black voters. State legislatures with Republican majorities in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama are attempting to redraw their maps. The governor of Florida already signed into law a new map that would add four more Republican-leaning seats in Congress. Louisiana’s governor halted a congressional primary that was already underway in that state. (USA Today article)

Jim Crow 2.0 is alive and well in the halls of the Supreme Court and in the Southern statehouses, led by a bunch of white old men who can’t stand the idea of a multi-cultural, pluralistic democracy in the United States. The audacity of the white men (yes, they are mostly white men) in these legislatures reminds me of men who fought against civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s— men like Bull Connor, Strom Thurmond, and George Wallace. Frankly, I am sick of it.

All of our voices matter. We need to come together to fight racism. We need to vote for people in Congress who know the beauty of diversity and support a pluralistic democracy. In 2027, Congress needs to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. We need to expand the Supreme Court to 13 justices.

Love and peace to you and your families,

Carol

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I have been shaking my head in disgust since seeing the blasphemer-in-chief’s Easter messages that threatened Iranian civilization. The president was threatening genocide. Then came Trump’s hateful and unhinged attacks on Pope Leo XIV and his posting of an AI-generated meme showing Trump as Jesus. This is all too much to ignore.

The meme, depicting Trump as Jesus healing a man, showed Trump’s irreverence to the sacred devotion Christians have for Christ Jesus. And no one was buying the president’s backtracking yesterday when he said he thought he was a doctor in the image. He took down the post, but then posted another AI-generated meme of Jesus with his arm around Trump as if Trump were a modern-day disciple. This is what autocrats and egomaniacs do, not presidents.

I am outraged. How dare Trump depict himself as Christ Jesus, the Wayshower for 2.2 billion Christians around the world? How dare he show himself in an image where he stands next to Jesus! He does not follow the Ten Commandments or hold in his heart the teachings of Christ Jesus. This man shows no meekness, empathy, or kindness, and he certainly cannot heal people.

The first commandment says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” He doesn’t follow this commandment. He puts himself and his family’s wealth before anything else. His corruption is rampant. One could compare him to Herod, not Jesus. (Read: ​https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2025/1125/trump-ethics-cryptocurrency-binance)

Senator Raphael Warnock, who is also the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said in an interview with Jen Psaki on MSNOW that Trump “has no moral code.” He continued, “Religion for him is just one more tool in the toolbox of his project of dividing us in order to dominate us.” And he called his recent postings on Truth Social a “profaning and mockery of faith.” The senator then called on clergy to speak out against Trump’s posts. We all should speak out against them.

All of the threats and unhinged memes show that the blasphemer-in-chief is feeling backed into a corner like a rabid dog. He thought his war in Iran would be like his “grab and go” military operation in Venezuela when President Maduro and his wife were taken and flown to the United States to face trial. He miscalculated and has put the entire world into an economic and geopolitical crisis.

Trump’s recent behavior reveals in microscopic detail that narcissism is the only motivator in his decision-making. (Something many of us have been warning about for decades!) He attacks anyone who defies the idea that he is all-powerful and great.

Pope Leo XIV is the latest target because Pope Leo dared to speak out against war and violence. Just quoting a Beatitude from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount would put Trump in an apoplectic rage. Does Trump even know the Beatitudes, especially this one? “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Bible, Matthew 5:9)

On Saturday, Pope Leo gave his sermon and spoke about peace. He spoke about world leaders who decide to go to war when he said, “To them we cry out: stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation – not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided.”

“Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life,” he added. (Pope says ‘enough of war’ and decries ‘delusion of omnipotence’ at peace vigil)

We all know this president is not a peacemaker. He is a warmonger, a charlatan, a grifter, a convicted felon, a blasphemer, and a crook. His god is money and more money. He wants to be glorified and revered, and his ego cannot stand it when the world and the American people show admiration and respect for others more than him. The Pope is more popular in the United States with Christians and non-Christians than he is. He can’t stand that. WSJ article on Pope Leo's popularity

In an article for The Atlantic yesterday, Tom Nichols wrote, “But whatever is driving this decline in Trump’s self-control, Americans must not shrug off the president’s latest implosion. They should recover their ability to be outraged; more to the point, they must demand that their elected representatives ask questions about the course of the war and whether Trump still has the capacity to fulfill his constitutional duty as commander in chief.” Trump's Latest Meltdown

Tom Nichols has given us our assignment. I hope you follow through with it.

Love and peace to you and your families,

Carol

Senator Warnock on MSNOW

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A few weeks ago, we had a blizzard in March. Over 40 inches of snow fell in a few hours. The northeast wind blasted the snow into drifts of icy concrete.

This winter, we’ve had mini ice storms, too. Any Michigander will tell you we’d rather have snow than ice.

Yesterday, we had rain, snow, and then ice. Many of my friends posted photos from April 2025 when northern Michigan had an unprecedented ice storm that knocked out power and left us stranded for weeks. Yesterday, when I saw the trees, cars, and ground glazed and then encased in ice, my heart sank.

My lilac bushes have little buds on them. Yesterday, I didn’t know if they would survive. The wind howled and whipped ice chunks from the trees into the air like speeding bullets of glass.

The yo-yo weather of the past couple of months has hit this former Virginian hard. I have lived in Northern Michigan for over thirty years, and I thought I was tough. But yesterday almost broke me. Thanks to a strong shoulder and hugs from my husband, I made it through.

You may think, “What a wimp!” But winters are long north of the 45th parallel. Most people in this region escape for spring break, but my husband runs a business that needs him to manage his crew daily. And who can afford $4 a gallon gas or the luxury of hotel rooms or cottage rentals? We can’t.

Deepening my despair is my concern for our nation. We are in troubling times. The war in Iran has injured hundreds of our service members, killed innocent civilians, and endangered an entire region. The New York Times writes updated news stories every day on the war and its impact on the region. The damage to the region’s infrastructure is astounding. (NYT Iranian War reporting) Desalination plants, bridges, power plants, and schools have been bombed. I think daily about those little Iranian girls and their teachers who were killed in the first few days of the war. Does this regime even care? Are they looking at the havoc they have wreaked?

Yesterday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired three top Army officials: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, Maj. Gen. William Green Jr. and General David Hodne. General George was nominated by President Biden in 2023 and was supposed to serve until the fall of 2027. Who fires the army chief of staff in the middle of a war? It’s insane.

Major General Green was the chief of Army Chaplains, and General Hodne was in charge of the Army’s Training and Transformation Command. (Stars and Stripes article). We have no reporting as to why these generals were fired, but it seems like Hegseth is firing people who don’t kowtow to his deranged sense of bullying and bombing. The generals may have voiced their disagreement with Hegseth’s blocking promotions to women and people of color. Were there disagreements about using “boots on the ground” in Iran? Does anyone else feel the ominous, gut-wrenching pit in the bottom of their stomach after hearing about these firings?

Adding to the bad news was the report from Axios that an F-15E has been shot down over Iran. (Axios Story on Fighter Jet.) After the first publication of this story, newspapers are reporting that the pilot was found and picked up. We still do not know about the weapons specialist’s status.

Four weeks into a war no one wanted. Fifteen months trying to endure Trump 2.0.

Even in all this despair, I pull myself to remember what has been accomplished.

• Judges and the courts have stood in the breach against some of the worst executive orders and actions by this evil regime.

• Independent media members continue to bring the news amid difficult times for the First Amendment.

• ACLU lawyer Cecellia Wang made a brilliant argument to the Supreme Court to protect birthright citizenship in the case Trump v Barbara.

• Other lawyers such as Marc Elias, Norm Eisen, and Katie Phang are using their legal genius to fight for voting rights and for our democracy.

• We marched in mass during No Kings Day rallies. No Kings Day 3 brought over 8 million of us to the streets.

• Every first Saturday of the month since March 2025, our local Democratic Party members have organized protests in Petoskey, Michigan. Other organizations have also organized and protested in towns nearby, like Traverse City and Cheboygan.

We must continue to resist.

As a Star Wars fan, I feel like we are living in the dark days of The Empire Strikes Back. The Empire underestimated the scraggly bunch of rebels, and don’t forget what happens in The Return of the Jedi. The rebels win.

I know it sounds corny, but don’t forsake the power of your voice and your wallet. May 1st is May Day Strong: No Work, No School, No Shopping. Find out more at Indivisible May Day

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In the Bible, the 8th-century BCE prophet Micah wrote, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) Humility and meekness are also qualities extolled in the Quran. Buddhism values humility, as demonstrated by the Buddha, who gave up his riches and focused on attaining enlightenment under the Tree of Life.

I have been thinking about how our country has gotten to the point where people elected a person who is morally corrupt and who led an insurrection on January 6, 2021, against his own country’s democratically elected officials and its people. How did people elect this man after he was convicted of 36 felonies? I have been struggling to find how we got to this point in our history - a point where we are perilously close to losing our democracy.

Tom Nichols, an Atlantic magazine writer and retired professor at the US Naval War College, has argued that parts of society are suffering from “moral poverty.”

Dr. Eddie Glaude said in a recent The Best People podcast with Nicolle Wallace that “we are running deficits in courage.”

As a young girl, I grew up attending Sunday School. Every Sunday, we learned foundational Christian lessons found in the Sermon on the Mount, the Ten Commandments, and Christ Jesus’s teachings and actions. We learned that loving your neighbor as yourself was only second to loving God first. We learned that peacemakers were blessed. We learned to be honest and to stand up for justice even in the face of adversity. My faith always pushed me to demonstrate what I was taught. In the second Chapter of James in the New Testament, it is written, “Faith without works is dead.”

I woke up this morning thinking, “Well, I can’t do much about the way others act and behave, but I sure can do something about my own thinking and actions.” We each have our own sphere of influence in our families and our communities. Today, I am heading off to do some good works for a family member and to volunteer for a few hours.

So what can the average, everyday citizen do? We must stand up for what is right and good every day. Stand up for our neighbors. Be kind. Volunteer. Donate to fund candidates and causes that support your ideals. And on March 28th, get out for NO KINGS Day. Walk with humility, strength, and courage.

Love and peace to you and your families.

Carol

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LINKS:

https://myislam.org/quran-verses/humility/#:~:text=Surah%20Ash%2DShu’ara%20Ayat%204&text=Indeed%2C%20Allah%20does%20not%20like,everyone%20self%2Ddeluded%20and%20boastful.

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/03/the-ugly-elitism-of-the-american-right/673350/

In 1973, I was a seven-year-old, skinny, blond-haired, lanky kid living with my mom, dad, and three sisters in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

Every night, my parents listened to Walter Cronkite on CBS Evening News. In February, we watched as the POWs from Vietnam came home, and troops were withdrawn. I will never forget seeing US soldiers, airmen, and marines walk down the steps of the airplanes and embrace their loved ones after years of being imprisoned and tortured. On March 14, 1973, John McCain was one of them.

The summer of 1973 started with the thoroughbred horse Secretariat winning the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths and becoming a Triple Crown winner. My horse-crazy sisters and I were amazed by this chestnut-colored, speedy horse. This is when we started begging our parents for a horse, and they settled with a much smaller animal, a Welsh Terrier puppy.

As a young kid, my summer swirled between swim lessons at the local pool, playing Barbies with my sisters, going to Sunday School dressed up in gingham dresses and saddle shoes, and trying to make sense of a very complicated adult world. Walter Cronkite’s reporting brought the world to us and forced me to try to understand a world beyond my backyard.

For most of the time, the chaos of that summer’s events might as well have happened on Mars. My dad worked at NASA and was knuckle-deep into research and development of new aerospace materials, and he was too old to be drafted. And we were a white middle-class family insulated from the racism and upheaval of the times.

But living in the Hampton Roads - an area with 15 military installations, we had friends who served in the military. Our friend John served as an Air Force pilot in Vietnam in 1972 and was stationed at Langley Air Force Base from 1971 to 1975. He was like a big brother to us. We knew he was a brave pilot with a cool orange VW Bug, but we didn’t know much about his experience in Vietnam. I remember an overall feeling of relief that he wasn’t overseas, and that I finally had an older brother who teased us and goofed around with us. We were just getting to know him in 1973.

In July and August, adults, including my mom, were glued to their TVs watching John Dean testify that President Nixon was involved in a cover-up having to do with the Watergate break-in. And White House aide Alexander Butterfield revealed that Nixon kept tape recordings of Oval Office conversations.

Other important events in 1973 included the Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade, our first space station – Spacelab was launched, the American Indian Movement occupied Pine Ridge, Pink Floyd released their album The Dark Side of the Moon, Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the famous Battle of the Sexes tennis match, Marvin Gaye released his song Let’s Get It On, Elton John released his iconic album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Syrian and Egyptian forces launched an attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, OPEC oil embargo caused the energy crisis, and one of my favorite movies The Sting debuted.

1973 was a year of upheaval, the beginning of presidential accountability, and cultural change. We didn’t have social media. We had three main news channels, and my parents could read independent newspapers like Katherine Graham’s Washington Post. Americans were starting to learn a few important lessons. Presidents could be corrupt and lie repeatedly to the American people. A savvy, persistent group of journalists and government sources can bring down a presidency. The US can’t bomb its way to creating a democracy in a foreign nation. Nonviolent protests can bring about change.

1973 was also the year Congress passed the War Powers Act despite a Nixon veto. Congress can be a check on the president. (If only in 2026, Republicans in Congress would find some courage and stand up against a lawless president.)

It’s fifty-three years later. What have we learned? We have a corrupt president and his administration that have lied repeatedly to us. DHS and ICE have killed, brutalized, and imprisoned citizens and community members. Republicans in Congress have chosen to support a narcissistic, increasingly unhinged president instead of the Constitution and the US citizens. Many mainstream media organizations, universities, tech companies, and law firms have kowtowed to Trump. Corruption, worse than Watergate, pollutes our country. We have the Epstein sex crime ring, tax cuts for the rich, and an unprecedented level of corruption by this president, his family, and his administration. And this weekend, we woke up to the news of a war with Iran.

As I sit at my desk thinking about 1973 and the parallels to 2026, my mind drifts back even further to Sam Cooke’s 1963 song “A Change is Gonna Come.” For the past year, we have witnessed the courage of Minnesotans protecting and caring for their neighbors. People have organized and marched. Three NO KINGS rallies, protests at Tesla dealerships, marches against DHS detainment camps, neighborhood activists in Minneapolis, and the frog brigade in Portland inspire us to keep pushing for justice, decency, and the rule of law.

Don’t give up hope. Keep marching. Listen to the experts. Let your voice be heard. Speak truth to power. Support independent media and organizations like Democracy Docket, Democracy Defenders Fund, Defiance.org, and the ACLU that are fighting injustice in the courts. And don’t keep your eyes off of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

Love and peace to you, your families, and to peace-loving people around the world. Prayers for those brave men and women overseas in the armed forces and their families who sacrifice so much.

Carol

A Change is Gonna Come

Defiance.org

Democracy Docket

Democracy Defenders Fund

ACLU

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One of my favorite books growing up was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I grew up with three sisters and often wondered if we fit into any of the roles dramatized by Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. But most of all, I loved the comfort of their home provided by Marmee, the girls’ mom, and Hannah, the March family’s housekeeper and cook. I loved the close-knit connection the girls had with each other and their parents.

I always wanted to be like Jo, who was independent, fun, and unconcerned with society’s pressures to be ladylike. Jo was also fiercely devoted to her family. She says in the novel, “I do think that families are the most beautiful things in the world!” Jo felt the push and pull between her love for her family and her need for independence. When I was in my twenties, I felt the same way. I had a lot of adventures in the Colorado Rockies, the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sequoia National Park, and then Washington State.

I don’t know how my mom got through having her four daughters head off to find themselves in the big, wide world. She and my dad raised four independent, strong, and intelligent women. We made mistakes as the March sisters did, but we also learned from them, worked hard, and settled into our own identities and lives.

As I get older, I wish family members were closer. My sisters and mother are all spread out around the country: Virginia, Colorado, California, and Michigan. And now my daughter is heading off to Colorado for a job. She’s only twenty. My husband said that we’ve been denied three years of dropping her off at college to help us prepare for her big move away from home. That truth hit me right in the heart.

A part of me is so happy she is having a new adventure and is doing something she loves. But another part of me wants to have all my family close by.

My mom just called me from Virginia and asked me over for lunch in a silly, humorous way. She’s over 700 miles away, but I wish we could sit down and have soup and sandwiches together, eat cookies while we play Scrabble, and then watch a sappy movie.

I get a lump in my throat thinking about the mother-daughter moments that I will miss with my own daughter as she heads off to soar on her own wings. I am grateful for the love and stability we gave her, and I pray that she will always feel our love and the love of God wherever she lays her head at night. She is strong, independent, and full of life, just like Jo March. I am so proud of her.

Love and peace to you and your families,

Carol

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We’ve been living in a kind of Charybdis or whirlpool for over a year, and now it seems the hydra-headed Scylla is closing in to strike again and again. (Apologies to The Odyssey and Homer experts for my analogy. I was going through my old Odyssey lesson plans.)

After stacking wood, I took a break and read a The New York Times opinion roundtable conversation entitled ‘We are Creating the Conditions for a Catastrophe’: Three Columnists on Minneapolis by Lydia Polgreen, David French, and Michelle Goldberg. In the conversation, David French discusses a term dual state, which is from Ernst Fraenkel (The Dual State). Fraenkel, a Jewish lawyer and activist, argued that Germans were living in a dual state under the Nazis. David French says,

“We’re living in a version of the dual state. Not to the same extent as the Nazis, of course, but Fraenkel’s framing is still relevant. The Nazis didn’t create their totalitarian state immediately. Instead, they were able to lull much of the population to sleep just by keeping their lives relatively normal. As you say, they went to work, paid their taxes, entered into contracts and did all the things you normally do in a functioning nation. But if you crossed the government, then you passed into a different state entirely, where you would feel the full weight of fascist power — regardless of the rule of law.

One of the saddest things about the killings of Good and Pretti is that you could tell that neither of them seemed to know the danger until it was too late. They believed they were operating in some version of the normal state (what Fraenkel called the “normative state”) where the police usually respond with discipline and restraint.”

David French goes on to explain that many of us think we are living in a “normal state” where federal agents from DHS and ICE will follow strict guidelines. Instead, they are acting violently and with impunity. They are breaking windows, dragging people out of their vehicles and homes, targeting people at close range with pepper spray and other chemicals, kidnapping toddlers, and murdering people. This is called the “prerogative state” – a state where federal agents act violently and unlawfully, and the federal government supports them, fuels their tactics with hate speech, and lies to the nation, just like the Nazis.

Those of us far removed from Minneapolis and St. Paul can go about our lives in normalcy. But if we want our democracy to survive, we need to wake up to the brutal, unlawful actions by DHS and ICE that really do affect all of us. The murders of innocent citizens, the assaults on the citizen-protectors of democracy, the terrorizing of people of color, the kidnapping of immigrants, and the breaking of our Constitution demand our attention and our action. We may be safe at home now, but some of our neighbors and our fellow Americans are not.

In Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny, he gives us twenty lessons we need to know to fight tyranny. The sixth lesson is “Be Wary of Paramilitaries.” Snyder writes, “Armed groups first degrade a political order, and then transform it.” Trump, Stephen Miller, and Kristi Noem are trying to transform ICE and DHS into their own goon squads to intimidate and frighten people in cities and states run by Democrats. Trump has created his own paramilitary within ICE and DHS. Last week, JD Vance claimed these agents have “absolute immunity.” According to many legal experts, they do not, but they are acting as if they do. They are trying to degrade order and the foundation of laws and moral decency in this country.

Dr. Timothy Snyder calls this “the logic of lies and lawlessness” in his Substack post from January 25, 2026. I encourage you to read it. In his article, Snyder calls for Trump’s impeachment and the dismantling of ICE and DHS. He writes,

“The president should be impeached and convicted, as should everyone responsible for these outrages. ICE should be disbanded. So should the Department of Homeland Security. The other agencies within it should be redistributed across other departments. And the people who have killed should be investigated and brought before judges and juries.”

I agree, and we must demand that Congressional representatives and Senators take action to do all of this!

I am so in awe of the people of Minnesota who have shown such ingenuity and resilience. We cannot let them down. We have to support them and speak up.

NO FUNDING for DHS and ICE. Call your Senators. Let them know how you feel.

Continue to resist the “lies and lawlessness” of this administration.

With love and peace to you and your families.

Love,

Carol

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/opinion/minneapolis-alex-pretti-ice-shooting.html

https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/do-ice-agents-truly-have-absolute-immunity

Thinking about...

Lies and Lawlessness

It is not just the moral horror. It is the political logic…

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7 months ago · 3746 likes · 128 comments · Timothy Snyder

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You’ve been blessed if you have ever had the love of a dog. Charles Schulz showed us this in his iconic Peanuts cartoons. I grew up with Charlie Brown and Snoopy, a boy and his dog, illustrated in those classic frames across our newspaper. That was the first cartoon I read after my dad was done reading the paper. All of the Johnston girls loved the wonderful animated Peanuts films. I always tear up when Charlie Brown brings home that adorable black and white puppy from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. The only thing that bugged me was Snoopy living in a doghouse. I wanted Snoopy inside, snuggling on the couch or sleeping beside Charlie’s bed.

I have been blessed with five dogs in my life. When my sisters and I were old enough to be responsible for a dog, my Mom and Dad finally gave in and brought home a purebred Welsh Terrier pup named Taffy. She was loving and independent, the way terriers can be. And you didn’t want to be the cute paper boy caught on your bike if Taffy was outside. Sorry! But we loved her. We took her on walks, fed her, and sat on the kitchen floor with her. (Mom did not let her step beyond the laundry room and kitchen.)

My boyfriend, Rich, had a German Shepherd/Husky pup named Nikki. She convinced me he was a keeper, and we’ve been married for over 33 years. His compassion, love, and care for her showed me his heart of gold.

When Rich and I were living in the Seattle area, we adopted a friend for Nikki at the local shelter. This black and tan ball of fur looked like a kit fox, so we named her Kit. She was a Norwegian Elkhound mix who liked to crawl underneath our couch. We called her the “monster who lived under the couch.” Despite her fraught relationship with Nikki, they did become friends who tolerated each other. It’s a good lesson in life – appreciate one another, but give each other space when needed. Nikki and Kit hiked with us in the mountains and walked along the shores of Lake Washington. But I think they loved it when we moved back to Michigan. This was Nikki’s domain, her first home. Those rascals would run off into the swamp and could be gone for hours, and Nikki always led the charge. Both of them have walked on now.

My best buddy was a border collie/lab mix who was so fast. He chased deer when he could get loose and, unfortunately, had his run-ins with porcupines. He loved jumping for his frisbee and playing fetch. Inside, he was a big love bug. He would put his chin on my lap and look up at me, snuggle in bed, and comfort me when I was sad. It’s still hard to write about him. But one day I will name him and write about him.

Billy Collins has a new collection of poems, Dog Show, illustrated with watercolors by Pamela Sztybel. If you are a dog lover, pick one up at your local independent bookstore. But you might have to skip a few of them, like I did, if you have ever had to say goodbye to your best buddy.

These past few days, I have been recovering from a slip on the ice here in Northern Michigan. Having my pal Mac by my side has been a comfort. He’s a big sixty-pound border collie lab who likes to curl up on any soft piece of furniture and stays by my side wherever I go in the house. Last night in front of the fire, we were both on the couch. He usually takes one end, I take the other. But last night, he came and snuggled and put his head on my lap. The gentle snoring of a dog and a warm fire were soothing but also made me contemplative. The world would be a better place if we all had the love and companionship of a dog.

Start off right if you have a family. Adopt a dog from a shelter and teach your children how to take care of the pup. They’ll learn empathy, compassion, and responsibility. Charles Schulz said, “Happiness is a warm puppy.” And that warm pup will bring many blessings back to you all. We all need more love and happiness lately.

Sending special prayers to Minneapolis and St. Paul and the loved ones of Renee Nicole Good. Keep advocating for all the people affected by the invasion of ICE and CBP in their neighborhoods.

Love and peace to you and yours,

Carol

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Here’s a start to what I would like to see happen.

1. Nurture a national moral compass - lifting one another up; protecting the common good, developing decency and what MLK called the “beloved community.”

2. Rebuild our international relationships especially with European nations and support Ukraine.

3. Reconstruct soft power such as USAID, ambassadorships, UN programs.

4. Support innovation in research in green energy, sciences, and medicine.

5. Make a radical commitment to be caretakers of our planet.

6. Affordability: Find ways to bring prices down for housing, food, insurance. Create a universal healthcare system.

7. Pass comprehensive gun control measures in Congress to protect our communities, families, and children.

8. Demand accountability for those in this administration who have broken the law.

9. Overturn Citizens United with a federal law— get corporate money out of politics.

10. Support independent media and journalists. Support PBS and Radio Free Europe, Asia…

11. Shut down Line 5 and other dangerous oil pipelines.

12. Remove Trump’s name from The Kennedy Center and the US Institute for Peace. Remove all the gold crap from the White House and rebuild the East Wing instead of the hideous ballroom.

What is in your list? Share in the comments.

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Yesterday, Heather Cox Richardson wrote in her Letters from an American about Human Rights Day. December 10th was the 77th Anniversary of the signing of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. I can’t believe I missed commemorating the day. Usually, I am in the classroom teaching the topic. But this year, in my retirement, I was out running errands and missed the day! Richardson gives a great history lesson in her essay (https://substack.com/home/post/p-181302458 ). I encourage you to read it!

When I taught social studies, my students studied the UN Declaration of Human Rights thanks to a wonderful fellow teacher, Nancy Nagurka, who taught me about it. Here is a link to the document. It doesn’t take very long to read. There is a preamble and 30 Articles. Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations

I started teaching the topic with 7th graders and later with 4th graders. We started our lesson by discussing what a human right is and brainstorming what rights they would put in a document. Then we watched a video about Eleanor Roosevelt’s leadership in the document writing. video link Then I broke the students up into groups, and each group was assigned specific rights to teach the class. After this, we had a class discussion about these rights. The crossover between their human rights list and the rights the UN writers developed was pretty cool to see! The deep thinking and serious attitudes shown by my students would have inspired you. One of the main takeaways from the lesson was that people may have these inalienable rights, but governments around the world have to protect them.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day

The theme for this year’s Human Rights Day was “Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials.” The website dynamically writes that these rights are “positive, essential, and attainable.” My students understood this, and I only wish my own country’s leaders did.

Keep fighting for these basic human rights in your own communities.

Peace and love to you and your families,

Carol

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In the Great Lakes region, in the late autumn and early winter, winds blow over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes. Then clouds of moisture move across the colder land, and it snows. A LOT! Wind direction determines where those snow bands form and hit. Last night, the snow bands built up over Lake Michigan, settled right over our house, and into the northern sections of our county. Over a foot of snow accumulated.

This morning, our local school district was closed, whereas the school districts fifteen and thirty miles to the south were open. That’s how snow bands work. One area can get clobbered by snow, and ten or fifteen miles away, the sun is out.

As I slowly woke up at seven o’clock this morning, I thought back to the winter days when I commuted to my teaching job thirty miles away. For over twenty-five years, during the winter months, I had to get up very early in the cold and dark, dig out my car, and drive for over an hour to arrive at school on time. Sometimes I had to drive through two school districts that had decided to close when mine didn’t. Frankly, that really stunk!

When I first moved to northern Michigan, I had minimal experience driving in snow. Thanks to three wise men, I learned how to maneuver the back roads, small town streets, and two-lane highways in ice, snow squalls, and blizzards. Having good tires, a strong defrost mode, tough windshield wipers, and a good snow scraper are serious business Up North.

Rich, my husband, was my first winter driving teacher. He made sure I had a safe winter driving car when I started my job. We bought a Subaru Legacy station wagon with a manual transmission and all-wheel drive. I learned to gear down that little Subaru when I needed to slow down rather than using my brakes in slippery situations. Rich showed me that I could blast through light, fluffy snowdrifts on our dirt road at 6:30 am when the north winds created hillocks of snow, where the neighbor’s field provided perfect passage for wind and blowing snow.

I drove thirty miles, one way, to school every day for almost twenty-six years. For decades of that time, I carpooled with two veteran teachers, Joe and Tom. They taught me how to deal with all types of snow. And they put up with a Virginia-raised girl who was new to Michigan winters.

Tom was a good defensive driver, but also speedy in his VW manual transmission cars. He had a second sense about which drivers were knuckleheads and how to avoid them. Tom emphasized the need to keep a safe distance between your car and the cars in front of you. He also demonstrated that on very cold days, like the middle of February, the snow is dry and easy to deal with on the road. With his snow tires on his VW, he could expertly drive us through any type of winter weather.

Joe was farmboy raised by a teacher and a sugar-beet farmer. He grew up on a tractor and on the wind-swept roads near Brighton, Michigan. His most important winter driving lesson was to keep your foot off the gas pedal as you reach the top of a hill. He said, “You never know what might be on the other side, so best be cautious as you go up the hill.” Joe’s advice saved us from a serious car accident one morning. Here’s what happened…

Heading south on Highway 131 near Walloon Junction is a notoriously dangerous section of large hills. The largest one is ironically called “Short’s Hill.” And boy does the snow blow across that hill! During snowstorms, the road commission plow truck drivers always had a hard time keeping that section of the highway cleared of drifting snow.

One winter morning, I was driving my second winter vehicle, a Ford Explorer gifted to me by my sister. Joe was in the front passenger seat, and Tom was riding in the back. South of Petoskey, the highway was snow-covered and greasy- not the dry cold snow of February. The commute was going along slowly but smoothly despite the snow-covered roads. But as we approached the big hills near Walloon, the snow on the road got thick and more slippery. I guided the truck up the first big hill- Short’s Hill. When we reached three-quarters of the way up the crest, I saw snow flying up on the other side like a ski resort’s snow-making machine had been turned on. But we couldn’t see what had happened. So I cautiously approached the top of the hill- taking Joe’s advice to take my foot off the gas pedal.

Once we crested the hill, I could see that a car had lost control and had spun out. A black sedan had been hit and was blocking the southbound lane. Their driver’s side car door had been ripped from its hinges. The other car involved had hit the snow bank on the right side of the road. Other drivers were having a hard time avoiding these cars. My heart was pounding, and I think I said, “Oh my God. Oh my God” several times. But I kept myself together, geared down into a lower gear, and slowly steered us into the very snowy, greasy middle northbound lane. The middle lane had not been plowed, and it was a northbound lane. But it was our only option. Luckily, all the northbound drivers were using the very far left lane that had been plowed. With God’s grace, I was able to drive us safely past the accident. I don’t remember what Joe and Tom said to me, but I am sure they were calm and encouraging. I remember feeling such relief that I had been able to get us through that tough situation. But I was so worried about the people in the accident and those commuting to work behind us.

After we arrived at school, I called my husband to tell him what happened. When he heard how worried I was about the people who crashed their cars, he called the police to find out how they were. He called me back to tell me that the people in the accident were all fine. I was so relieved!

Today, I am thankful that I didn’t have to make that thirty-mile drive through the snow to work, and I am grateful for three wise men who taught a Virginia girl to drive in the snow in Northern Michigan.

I hope you have experts like these men in your life, or perhaps, you are the patient mentor to someone else. If so, thank you!

Love and peace to you and your families,

Carol

PS: Thank you for reading my essays. Your comments and engagement are appreciated.

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Thomas Paine, Courtesy of The Library of Congress

Throughout this challenging time, as we experience a president and his administration ignoring the rule of law and the Constitution, I often think about the American Revolution – the revolutionary philosophies about government, the people, the events, and the texts from that era.

After George Washington’s Continental Army’s defeat in New York and their subsequent retreat in November of 1776, Thomas Paine wrote The Crisis. The historian David McCullough writes, “Sick at heart over the suffering and despair he saw, but inspired by the undaunted resolution of many around him, Paine is said to have committed his thoughts to paper during the retreat, writing at night on a drumhead by the light of a campfire” (1776, p.251). Can you picture this British-born thirty-nine-year-old man writing in the cold and dark in a ragged army encampment?

Thomas Paine begins his essay The Crisis with the now-famous lines:

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Think of the challenges Washington and his army faced. Soldiers were deserting – some went over to the British side. McCullough writes, “Hundreds, eventually thousands, in New Jersey flocked to the British camps to declare their loyalty” (p. 258). Many soldiers were sick and unable to fight. By some accounts, 90% of the soldiers who fought at the Battle of Long Island were no longer with the Continental Army by the autumn of 1776. Nathanael Greene called it a “shadow army” (McCullough, p. 261).

But George Washington wasn’t defeated. He and his army escaped to fight another day. They also received reinforcements of 2,800 soldiers from General Sullivan’s and General Gates’ divisions.

And as so often happened for the patriot army, luck was on their side. British General William Howe suspended all military operations until the spring of 1777. McCullough calls this decision “One of the fateful decisions of the war” (p. 267).

Washington didn’t suspend operations. He held his army together and gave his men the courage to persevere. During a ferocious and bitterly cold Nor’Easter, he and his army made a bold crossing of the Delaware River and attacked the Hessian army at Trenton on Christmas Day. The Continental Army’s victory at Trenton gave the rebel troops and the country a tremendous boost in morale. It also inspired many soldiers to re-enlist even though their enlistment period ended with the new year. New recruits also signed up- including my ancestor Benjamin Strother, who fought with the 10th VA regiment and Lee’s Legion.

What lessons can we take away from this part of history? We must be courageous and persevere. We must demand the same courage and fight from our members of Congress. Bold action must be taken.

Over 7 million people protested this administration at the second No Kings Day rally. Thousands of people cast their ballots in off-year elections, electing Democrats across the board. The American people are fighters and want their representatives to fight for them!

This past weekend, seven Democratic Senators and one Independent voted with the Republicans on a bill to reopen and fund the government through January 2026. However you feel about their decision, we must continue to fight for the affordability of healthcare, housing, food, and energy. We must continue to support those candidates who are willing to fight for the working people and their families. Now is not the time to shrink in despair.

This Sunday, November 16th, PBS is airing the new film The American Revolution by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt. Please tune in. From the previews and interviews about the film, I bet we will be inspired!

With love and peace to you and your families,

Carol

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My photo of the Hampton Roads area on an early morning flight out of Newport News, VA

The government shutdown is at day 37, the longest federal shutdown in US history. The last government shutdown was also under the Trump administration from December 21, 2018, to January 25, 2019. It cost the US an estimated $3 billion in GDP, not to mention the stress on government workers just in time for the holidays.

I grew up in Southeast Virginia, the region called Hampton Roads. Picture the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and brackish, wide rivers. The area is home to Norfolk Naval Station, the world’s largest navy base. The Navy also has the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek - Fort Story, Naval Air Station Oceana, and the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown. Ft. Eustis in Newport News is home to the US Army. Various Coast Guard Stations are in the area.

My dad, my twin sister, and my brother-in-law all worked at NASA at Joint Base Langley, which is also home to the Air Force. Growing up in this area, many of our friends and neighbors were somehow connected to government service.

These government workers design and build Navy ships. They develop new technologies for supersonic aircraft and space vehicles. Think about all the engineers, scientists, soldiers, marines, sailors, pilots, flight crews, project managers, mechanics, chemists, safety control officers, mathematicians, cooks, custodians, electricians, payroll clerks, landscapers, and maintenance workers who work at these places. Then think about their families and the stress they must be feeling.

These people make the economy hum in Hampton Roads. ODU Professor Bob McNabb explained that every $4 out of $10 of economic activity in the area comes from the federal government. ( 13NewsNow Government shutdown hits 30-day mark; economic impact in Hampton Roads) The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the country could permanently lose between $7 billion to $14 billion, depending on how long the shutdown lasts. PBS article

With the government lay-offs and the federal shutdown, so many people in my old hometown are suffering. In her article, “The government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history,” Rachel Treisman from NPR writes, “Over 1 million federal workers are working without paychecks. Another roughly 600,000 have been furloughed, and although a 2019 law ensures they are entitled to backpay after the shutdown is over, recent comments by President Trump have left many worried about whether that will still happen.” Trump has threatened to withhold pay from some federal workers. The NY Times quoted the president as saying, “some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.” Threatening 600,000 hard-working, stressed-out, and furloughed workers is cruel, and not paying them is illegal.

If you have a minute in your day, call your member of Congress. I have a MAGA Congressman, and I call him almost every week. I leave messages, talk to his aides, and write emails. After Tuesday’s election showed so much dissatisfaction with the Republican playbook and Trump’s administration, we might have more pull with these representatives who seemed to have no care for their constituents. They might care now that they may lose their jobs next year!

Peace and love to you and your families!

Carol

https://www.whro.org/2025-11-05/the-government-shutdown-is-now-the-longest-in-u-s-history-see-how-it-compares

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/us/politics/trump-administration-pain-shutdown.html

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