i did only what needed to be done…dumping and scrubbing the Bucks feed bowls mostly, emptied the wood ashes and inbetween, i just rested. Next two days are work away and i still am not my good self.
and i ~contemplated~ the word fits, while fading into and out of sleep on the futon couch, i would look across to see these, being Together
tenderly, gently
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Oh I wish you could just stay home and really heal deeply with those charming critters to keep you company in between the necessaries. Meanwhile I don’t know if you saw Mo’s post over at Jude’s but it is so wonderful I’ll post it here for all: http://blog.susangaylord.com/2017/01/left-handed-commencement-address-by.html /and because I know you might not have seen these inspiring photographs from the world:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/21/world/womens-march-pictures.html
Big LOVE
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it is funny..i am sitting here..wanting to write you while everything is so fresh in my mind…and yet i know this weekend will never be forgotten..this was an amazing 72 hours..of ‘jubilant defiance ” as i saw a headline say..there was not a face i saw that was not there with purpose and care..with intention..with thought..and so much worry .so many specific areas of cause…and yet it was the most gentle and joyful place i have ever been..
i started on belmont..a car full of my sister and my nieces..posters to be made..pink hats..made by a friend who is a state representative..we had hopes and dreams …and a 15 hour drive..once we hit philadelphia we were in traffic and more traffic..but the closer we got to dc ..the more hats ..the more waves..the smiles from car to car..we were staying in tyson’s corner, va..way out on the silver line of the metro…about a 40 minute ride in..only two stops from the end of the line…we were invited to an early morning coffee at the mott house by senator leahey. for any vermonters attending the march…and so an early start..we left the hotel in the dark..way before the shuttle started..and so we walked a little over a mile..and we were the only ones at our station..the train came the doors opened..and wow..cars full of women in pink hats ..pinks of every hue..and the cheers it was amazing..and it only for stronger and louder and happier…with each stop women of every age and nationality getting on..their faces breaking into smiles of astonishment and happiness..the laughter that filled the cars as we read each other’s signs as we talked and shered stories and staring places..
we got into the city..asked directions and walked …a long long way along streets filled with women, men , families..thee organizers has women at every cornr offering directions..aid and helpful hints..100 people had rsvp-ed to the mott house breakfast..but there were 100’s there..as we passed place after place of state gatherings the lines were out the door..along the streets around corners..churches opened their doors and gave out coffee..the police drank coffee right along side of us..laughed with us..and you could actually see them relax as the day went along..perhaps you have seen online pictures of some of them..pink hats on their heads…
we could not even get in to the meditation at the senate later in the morning..it did not matter..everywhere women gathered and held their own..we had brought tobacco..grown here by our friend and said prayers at the huge fountain..made our offerings and walked on..everywhere..music..laughter ..determination..we kept walking..and we kept wondering..the crowds grew..we kept saying to ourselves..this is more so much more..than they expected..isn’t ..oh it was..
so many barricades..so many noes and don’ts set up along with the permits…it did not matter..we were so respectful..and simply swelled into side streets.they took some of them down…it did not matter..we kept sweling..more and more..we found a place by the Hirshhorn museum….my nieces left for a moment and we did not see them again for 5 hours..because you simply could not move..the speakers..the began..the crowds became so quiet..so respectful..gloria steams voice reached us and robyn..my sister looked at me and we were back in time..decades of shared marches and battles shared..there were so many moments…i cannot even begin to cobvey the amazing feeling of the day..you were compressed by so many bodies..you could not really move..it could have been so horrid..and yet it was;t anything like claustrophobic ..people were gentle..food was shared..worries were shared..we were beginning to hear that the route of the march was changed..the enormity of the crowd was beginning to sink in..no one knew what was going to happen..the speakers kept coming and it was almost 90 minutes passed time to march..the crowd was restless and cries of march march filled the air..and then
alicia keyes got up and started talking..singing and the words passed..there are too many of us to march..we have filled all the spaces..the march is this ..we are here ..we are the march (and the storm)…and the crowd settled..pictures on phones on fave book..we saw the people all over the country…the world..filling streets..and still people were coming..they were stopping the metros..letting off while trains before they would load the next..because there were too many people to be handled safely otherwise..and so small marches began everywhere..people with their groups making small circles of movement..people walking around blocks with whoever they were near..people singing..holding signs and posters..and children ..childfren dancing in spaces of safety made for them by caring adults..policeman laughing and giving such thoughtful help. because everywhere cell phones were dead and people separated and then reunited through the care and thoughtfulness of strangers..people talking about their causes and everywhere people saying it doesn’t stop here today this is the beginning..we cannot lose this..sharing links and pklaces of connection to continue the strength of this amazing day
there so many small monents..people were wedged on a cement wall behind us and someone splilled a bottle of water..it cascaded down on us but really soaking the woman right in front of us..and immediately a real towel appeared out of who knows where..drying us up with apologies..i know that sounds small and random..but it was so kind..and that was the day..we began to hear news ..places where one or two people marched..to see pictures of people in hospitals walking up and down the hall ..there was no space..but strollers were safe..wheel chairs were safe.. people with walkers and canes were safe
we are thrilled to be where we are but our hearts are so filled by what we are receiving from vermont,,the ramps from 89 closed..15,000 people in montpelier..a very small city..bernie sanders surprising the crowds..people we know walking miles with their kids to share the day..and as we were finding out this happened ..well everywhere
an hour wait in the line going back to the hotel..it passes like no time at all..and we are so grateful to be met by the shuttle that is now running non stop between the station and the hotel..we get back,,charge phones,and see the posts from the whole world..
driving home yesterday..sharing the pictures and words from all over the world and country..laughing at pictures of posters we had not seen..reading and sharing 10 acts for 100 days..making plans..stopping in the evening at the rest stop outside of bennington..two older men working and finding out where we had been full of questions and support..being dropped off grateful to be home but hating to leave the warmth and magic that had filled the car..and they had two more hours to go…i don’t know if this is coherent..or if i am being able to share the feeling of the weekend..
but before i left wrote that i would carry each of you with me in my heart..and i did..but really the thing is..you were carried in so many hearts..you were carried in the heart of every person there..i do not think i have ever been in a place where there were so many differing causes united in one voice..in one heart..such a feeling of united purpose ..
it was great to have good speakers ..to have music from amazing voices..but these were not the things or the people who will stay with me..and as some one said..the shiny objects were not the important part of the day..it was just the people..the women ..like us..who will be what stays with me..the little girl who spoke in english and then spanish..
i loved marti’s sign of respect..i wore a double poster board my niece made me..carrie fisher was leia..with the words..a woman’s place is in the resistance..and my sister had a great poster of Leia woman hear me roar..and we were asked to stand together so many times for pictures ..any way it is a new beginning for some and a begin again for many of us..but it was a day that i will never forget..and truly we were all there..a fierce but gentle day
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oh i truly apologize for not proof reading the above..i am just tired.. cynthia
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Oh my dear Cynthia, your words, your telling, are moving through me with such quiet, strong, joyful energy. You carried all of us, those of us who were in rallies, those of us walking, and we carried each other, those of us who stayed where we were but were so much a part of it all with thoughts, spirits, hearts. We became an elastic circle, expanding to include all with grace, dignity and above all else, kindness that reverberated as much as words, signs, speakers. You, as tired as you must be, came here and told the story, your story, our story of January 21, 2017. A day never to be forgotten, a day to carry us forward in whatever way we feel called upon to do so. Thank you.
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your words bring tears of wonder and hope for the world half the world is women listening deeply to the cry for love of our beautiful broken world, subverting the dominant paradigm of greed to mending our ways
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in and out of the dream, it’s been like that
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windthread 
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