Feest Isolation Days – 20 October
Before I go on and on about Exmoor which I promise I will do for much of the week…a different and important subject.
The Women’s March of four years ago has happened again in cities all across America. This weekend, women, and especially young women, are on the march again. They want Trump out. The organiser has asked that all participants wear masks and socially distance. She said the only super spreader event should be the recent one at the White House. (Has she seen the Trump rally photos?) The day after his inauguration four years ago, women marched across the globe. This time the women are urging people to vote Trump out. Signs say things like “Make America THINK again”, “Girls just wanna have fundamental rights”. I especially liked this one…sums so much up…
We were in New Zealand for the Women’s March in 2017 – the first in the world – that occurred just after the inauguration. Among the thousands who marched down Queen Street in Auckland there were more than half a dozen of us friends carrying our signs. I carried an upside down American Flag. We ended in Myers Park where speeches brought us all even closer together.
The most impressive speaker talked about the “enduring pay gap between men and women” and the “staggering rates of domestic abuse in New Zealand.” While acknowledging that women were relatively well off in New Zealand, she said, “our identities and struggles as women are not bound to where we hold our citizenship. If we have rights and a voice, we will not rest until others do too.” That was Labour MP Jacinda Adhern. I’d never heard her before and she was totally impressive. I’m not the only one who thinks so! She has just been elected…again… as the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Jacinda, who is forty, said after the victory: “New Zealand has shown the Labour Party its greatest support in almost 50 years. We will not take your support for granted. And I can promise you we will be a party that governs for every New Zealander.” What a woman! Well done that woman.
There are now fourteen days until the US election. And with that I can share some of our Exmoor experience!
Sometimes it isn’t until you get away and go to a different place that you realise what it is that has been a major stressor in your life. Covid is bad enough, but it was the election that has been bothering me for weeks now. The idea of that man in the White House again is unthinkable.
Our house on Exmoor was perfect! It was like walking into a hug as one of the previous visitors said, and the hug was so complete we plan to return next month.
I’ll leave you with a picture today and tell you more about it tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m cutting down on my constant viewing of the news and especially the American election news. I feel a lot happier and hope to stay that way. In fifteen days, I could be happier still. We shall see. Balance. It’s all about balance. Let’s hope the world gets a bit more of that soon. Take care and enjoy! And keep those masks on and socially distance.
With love
Kathy x