Hello world. The populace is getting restless. In the Northern Hemisphere we are approaching the days of long dak. The more north we go the longer the dark of a winter night.
So many of us are seeking to break out of, ease out of, phase out of lockdown that has been a way to combat Coronavirus. It is usually a time of getting cozy, spending more time indoors or around a fire pit with hot coco or mulled cider. In the US, you can get everything "pumpkin spice". I am not sure if that is a good thing... but that it recurs every year is somehow comforting.
A sense of normal, old normal, lives in the aroma especially, and in the flavor. So this year we are venturing out into the darkening night just to get out. It is so unnatural to be isolated for most of us. Towns and cities exist for reasons, the least of which isn't just plain company. We generally like our fellows.

On top of this desire for coziness and fellowship, in the US, we have a divisiveness that seeps around the edges of friendliness. I hope the bonds of friendship will be stronger and outlast the passions of politics. The US thinks it is at a turning point. The stakes are high and the fever of contest is higher. There are better behaved crowds at European football games than around some family tables. The US claims to be the one country in the world that is the very best for all concerned. This country feels somewhat proprietary about our representative democracy as being the best possible government. Indeed, the Declaration of Independence is one of the most powerful Human Rights statements of all time. It is often a contentious discussion when one weighs the balance of individual rights vs community rights. Sometimes I just don't want to hear loud music late at night, no matter what time my neighbor got off work. And that is the lest of it, as far as conflicts go. In The Way To Happiness, L. Ron Hubbard says, "Support a government designed and run for all the people." www.thewaytohappiness.org @waytohappinesstampa
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