Sunday was gray, wet, and grim, the weather appropriate for the task at hand. Mike and I planned to spend the day working on our taxes. We have always done them together, filling in endless forms, following — more or less — directions that seem confusing, or pointless. There are forms where you start with one number, perform endless manipulations, and end up at the bottom of the page with the same number you started with. Still, it is always gratifying to complete and sign the return, put it in the envelope, and send it off.
I am usually quite pleased with myself that I am a citizen contributing to the greater good of my country. I am happy to pay for school lunches and Coast Guard rescues, for accurate weather reports, for people who answer telephones and questions in government offices, for the care of our injured military men and women, for highways and public buildings kept in good repair, for people who plan ahead when a disaster threatens and are prepared to help affected communities, for inspectors who make sure our food, medications, airports, and cars are safe, for scientists who find cures for diseases, for clean air and clean water, for all sorts of things that make life better and safer for Americans, and for people the world over. I wouldn’t even mind paying salaries for our legislators and their staffs if they would work cordially together to accomplish something positive for their constituents, instead of acting like enemy combatants.
But this year is different. I don’t want to pay for a ridiculous war, dreamed up as a fantasy game with no thought to the consequences, costing billions of dollars. I don’t want to pay for people to die or be injured, for countries to be devastated by bombs, for the loss of land, infrastructure, food, water, for anyone no longer safe in their own homeland. I don’t want to pay for causing such unmitigated misery that the entire Middle East will hate us, and perhaps retaliate on American soil. Remember how we felt after 9/11?
Is it really all about access to oil? Wouldn’t we be safer if we transitioned to solar and wind for our energy? Probably healthier, too.
America and much of the world has been thoroughly degraded by our president and his administration, as has our White House, torn apart and gaudily gilded.
So I will be out at Five Corners next Saturday from 1:30 to 3 pm with, I hope, thousands of others. March 28 is the next No Kings rally. Get your signs ready, and hope it doesn’t rain.
The League of Women Voters of Martha’s Vineyard will host a public forum on Tuesday, March 31, at 6:30 pm, at the West Tisbury library. Candidates running for office will speak and answer questions. The select board is the only contested race in town this year. Garrison Viera is challenging incumbent Jessica Miller. The program will be filmed, and available on MVTV and on demand through Election Day, April 16.
The annual Spring Egg Hunt will begin at 10:30 am SHARP this Saturday morning, March 28, at the West Tisbury library. Bring your basket and gather outside the front entrance.
Big news is that the Great Pond was opened last week, and there is, once again, beach to walk on. The pond had risen to flood part of the surrounding field, and to wash out the stairs. Abby is happy to be swimming and rolling in wet sand, as I’m sure many other dogs are. Yippee!