The title of this dispatch was originally, Things will get worse. But I decided to change it to Will Things get Worse? because we don’t know for sure. We now live in a world where the political climate is as unstable as the actual global climate.

Tonight, I talked with my sister who lives in Portland. She is more connected than I am here, meaning she has a television and lives in an area that is geographically more dense. She’s also on the grid and therefore the city is responsible for her utilities.

She thinks that things are going to get worse. I think that for her, things are going to get worse. For us, things are going to get worse in that those we care about are going to see a dramatic decline in the quality of their lives.

This evening I saw a portion of Kamala Harris’s concession speech. It moved me the way many of the things she said moved me. Her failing to win the election – she didn’t have a chance, being black, Asian, and female. This is not a country that values these characteristics. I also think that we are still experiencing Obama backlash – some in the US vowed to never, ever, let anyone of color be president ever again.

And then I had a tangential thought. Michele Obama spoke out against bullies and bullying. Some then decided that to be a bully and to have a bully president was admirable. Well, now they have it, someone to emulate. Makes me think of having to deal with such individuals when out on the trails. Rude, nasty men now have a role model, and they are going to mentally refer back to this individual.

So what’s to become of us all? This is the big question. El said that she’s going to at least for now close her eyes to all this. Me, no. I won’t let what is going to happen consume me. But I am going to be more forthright with people. Women tend to be nice and non-confrontational, and I have been in this number. I won’t remain in this number.

This election cycle, some took this to extremes. In the past, people talked with one another about who they would vote for, and why. This time around, people that I talked to (except for a few) were quiet. It was like being at the polling booth when in other places.

Tonight, I emailed back and forth with a local school librarian. The conversation began with my querying her about our providing books over the holidays to the children. The answer was no, that the school district has to approve of each and every book that a child is given.

This made me think of the Alaska State Fair parade, and how for two years straight we passed out books to children. I knew then that there was no way to stop us from doing this. It wasn’t because of this, but next year, there is going to be no Alaska State Fair parade. Change, thank dog, is a constant.

Next: 303. 11/7,/4: Is Hope that thing with, or without feathers?