How I got through this past week

Kathleen Anderson

Well, it has been quite a week. The recent Supreme Court ruling(s) have set the national news and social media on fire. There is so much anger, concern and discord I definitely felt the need for a break.

Fortunately, I live in a beautiful setting filled with nature. The weather in north Olympia has been awesome most of the time. Cool, hot and cool again so I didn’t feel like I had to shelter in place.

I took to my trees for some peace and quiet, and guess what I found? An owl’s nest with baby owlets. I spent mornings in my garden, planting some veggies and repotting plants.

I have a daughter who is driving here from California, so I have been tracking her trip and talking to her when she takes a break from driving.

I played with the great-grands and laughed as they cooled off in the sprinkler, dashing in and out of the water while squealing with delight.

And I watched the chickens as they wandered around the yard in search of buried treasure, the squirrels as they raced back and forth from their tree home to their feeder and the bees as they bobbed and weaved in searched for more nectar.

I read a good book and watched a few good movies, one so bad I couldn’t give it up. I spent time with family members I hadn’t seen for awhile and got caught up on their news.

I also ran some errands and did a little shopping. Life has gone on, for me, as usual.

For others, life is in turmoil. Demonstrations, outrage, celebratory gatherings, posturing, and the chance to take credit for something they had very little to do with.

Still others are busy making promises they have little, if any, chance to keep.

Once in a while, I pop my head up to see if the dust has settled yet. But I don’t stay long… too early yet, I guess, for sanity to make a comeback.

I believe in free speech with all my heart. I just don’t respond well to hateful, hurtful adjectives and name calling. I believe you have the right to your beliefs and that I have the same right to mine.

With few exceptions I don’t believe there has to be a good guy for every bad one. I think we can agree to disagree; the exceptions being, in my mind,  the Holocaust and similar genocides and enslaving of other human beings.

These things happened because good men saw evil and did nothing.

I don’t know how the recent ruling by our Supreme Court will eventually shake out. I am quite sure the justices are dealing with many issues that never crossed the minds of our forefathers when they sat down to write our Constitution.

Time will tell. History, depending on who writes it, will describe and define it and future elections may alter it. I just hope we survive it in one piece.

Kathleen Anderson writes this column each week from her home in Olympia.  Contact her at  kathleen@theJOLTnews.com or post your comment below.