Did you feel it? For me it was Wednesday afternoon after I had just put away the VOTE sign driving it from the diRosa to Creekside, scanning for the 5-0 and wondering if travelling down Highway 37 at 60 mph with four 10-foot wooden letters strapped to the top of my truck is even illegal.
At 4:00 some of the talking heads called Michigan for Biden and I knew that was it, Nevada was slowly trending blue as the mail in votes were being counted and suddenly, I started breathing differently.
“It’s over” I said out loud to no one, “Ding dong, the witch is dead”.
It has been a tough four years. But you know that, you lived it too. And now it’s time for the healing and rebuilding after the storm.
The bad news is that we have a lot of healing to do. But the good news is also that we have a lot of healing to do meaning that instead of swirling in the dysfunction of the last four years, we can get on with the important work like making the world a better place for everyone.
“Work hard and help people”
Those aren’t my words but a sign leaning against the wall at Target in Napa. No, I didn’t buy it and put it up in the house but I did think that maybe it is that simple. Maybe we should get out of our bubbles, work hard and help people. All people.
But first a baseline.
“Coronabrain” Sure, I just made it up but we are all feeling it. I see it every day with my students who often zoom from their dark bedrooms, engaging with short responses when asked direct questions. Some are learning but many are doing an on-line version of what they did in class which is to do the minimum required to get minimum credit and not cause any waves. Again, crisis learning.
It’s no one’s fault except the virus which is exactly my point. It’s way past time to use truth and science to fight the real enemy. 146 deaths in Sonoma County doesn’t seem too bad but 18,000 in California, 235,000 in the US and 1,240,000 worldwide should be a call to action. Let’s start there.
But now, it’s Saturday morning and the official word has come down, time to get to the plaza for some celebrating then get to work creating an America for the people, by the people.
And the lid goes back on the sewer.
Walt Williams is in it for the money, that and the prestige that goes with 22 years of teaching in California high schools (he’s not the smartest tool in the shed). He firmly believes in more standardized testing and that fitting all students into the same box is really the answer. He strongly supports fracking and that climate change is a fantasy made up by hippie liberals, also that the military needs more funding and that schools should just stop whining.