This is what a new neighbor said tonight, as I rode by his place on Raudi. He was in front of his driveway, kicking at mud with his booted foot. I told him that a few days before, his shooting spooked my horse. This is when he uttered the above statement.

I continued on, then rode Tyra past his place. The second time around he was gone but his dogs, up on his porch, barked loudly, as they always do. My continuing on gave me time to think. This man would say that he has the right to shoot his guns while on his own property. Has the right are key words. Yes, he has the right. But with rights come responsibilities. A high regard for others should be a primary concern. Alas, in our hood, it is not. This family, and others,

Moma and calf out the back door

let their dogs run free rather than confine them. Dogs pack up. They also startle horses when they come flying out of driveways.

There is nothing I can do but continue to ponder the situation. Some of us thought that after Trump lost the election, that things would change, and that people like the above man would come to their senses. What happened was the opposite. They are seething mad and outraged, like hornets. Those of us on the other side, we do have something to worry about. I suspect that, yes, the hornets will again come out of their nests. Break out the Raid . . .

An acquaintance once told me that there were two sides to the political issue. A friend she said, had explained the Trump-based point of view. However, she never told me what this point of view was. Very strange. Then again, she was an individual who once told me target shooting was “a family tradition.”

Does something calamitous have to happen in order for people (I want to call them croutons) to come to their senses? You’d have thought that the viral outbreak (the real one) would have done the trick. No, instead they turned it into a partisan issue. The rest of us have had to pay the price. The virus is still raging.

Pete and I lived in a semi-communal neighborhood in Fairbanks. This was in the late 1980s. Everyone got along, ate dinner at one another’s houses, went for hikes and to thrift stores together. I am sorry to say that I then took like-mindedness for granted. I was at the time working on my MFA degree and didn’t interact with everyone to the degree that I should.

My heart is heavy as I write this because I now know that the undercurrent is no less strong than it was a few months ago. Well, don’t cross the river if you can’t swim the tide.

Next: 117. 4/28/21: Whoosh