Random thoughts from my scattered mind

 

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I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t resist watching the trump doings in New York around lunchtime. To my eyes, trump had lost much of his bravado—the look on his face was almost shock. What was fascinating, and a bit appalling, was how the media focused on the arraignment for two hours when we saw maybe two seconds of trump live and one still photo. They are doing it again—giving trump all the free coverage he could wish, and it’s working—his fund-raising and support among Republicans is up. Even Mitt Romney is calling the arraignment politically inspired—that’s another subject for another night. From trump’s point of view, however, I’d say the day ended with a whimper and not a bang (with a hat tip to T.S.Eliot). The protests and crowds on his behalf were feeble.

But there was other political news that interested me. A judge in Llano County—yes, folks, right here in bright red Texas—has ordered twelve books returned to school libraries within twenty-four hours and decreed that no books may be removed during the pending court case. The books had been removed by lawmakers who judged their content inappropriate without public discussion, and a group of county residents sued, claiming their rights had been violated. Books included some on transgender teens and a history of the Ku Klux Klan. The judge cited the First Amendment in his decision. Book advocates say this is a significant victory that may resonate across the country, Fingers crossed. Any victory for books is cause for rejoicing.

There’s another story about schools coming out of Texas. A group of parents at Fort Worth’s Tanglewood Elementary (a neighborhood adjacent to mine) have hired off-duty police officers as guards during the school day. Our local representative to the state legislature has embraced the idea, and a representative group of parents has traveled to Austin to present their pilot program, called Texans Against School Violence.

My worries about this kind of action are several. I can’t believe the solution is more guns, and indeed at both Parkland and Uvalde, armed security was helpless. Additionally, this school is in an upscale neighborhood where parents can afford to contribute toward the expense. Go across town to what is still an essentially segregated neighborhood, and that won’t be true. At first glance, Texans Against Gun Violence seems an elitist reaction, but I probably need to learn more about it. Wonder how many of them are gun owners.

I read an article recently that calculated the number of elementary schools in the country and then figured the cost of an armed guard at each of those schools. The figure was so high as to be laughable. To my mind, gun control, not more guns, is the answer. It’s never occurred to me though perhaps it should to be worried because I live across the street from what we in my neighborhood think is the city’s best, most historic, most diversified public elementary school.

Enough of schools and books. I found a question asked on a small writer’s group listserv this week puzzling and thought provoking. The question was, “Do you have rituals that give meaning and substance to your life?” My first instinct about rituals had to do with either church or passages of life—communion (for me as a Protestant), the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, or a wedding, graduation ceremony, etc. . Big things,

But then I realized rituals can be pretty simple. What, I wondered, is the difference between routine and ritual? I like the routines of my life. When do those routines become ritual? After some back and forth with the friend who asked the question, we finally decided that routines become ritual when they bring joy and meaning to life. And they don’t have to be elaborate.

So what are the rituals in my life? Starting the day with a cup of hot tea at my desk, reading emails and the news of the day, anticipating getting to my writing work of the day whatever it is. And, similarly, ending the day at my desk, reading a mystery, with a glass of wine.  When I think about it, my life has been full of rituals. One I remember distinctly:

When our kids were in high school, my brother and I, both divorced, got our families together for Sunday dinners. Yes, I was the one who did the cooking. Sometimes for as many as fifteen people as neighbors, friends, and the kids school friends joined us. John would preside at the head of the table, as the patriarch, and he would go around the table, asking each of us what was good about our week. Those are times I treasure in my memory.  So perhaps rituals are the things that help us build memories.

How about you? Are there rituals in our life to which you cling?

And a parting note: The good guys are winning tonight. The progressive candidate has won the election for mayor of Chicago, and the liberal has won the swing seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a race that was called the most significant of this season—and a record-setter for expenditures.  I’ll go to sleep happy, maybe dreaming of rituals.