A Splendid Chautauqua Lake Dawn

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I was up at 5:45, got my coffee, walked outside to see how warm it was, 45º, saw the stars and moon through the tree branches, and came in and listened to C-SPAN listeners talk about Trump's assertion that the 'media is the enemy of the people.'  Interesting and varied response though predictable.  And the C-Span just mentioned yesterday's enthusiastic crowd at our Congressman's Town Hall in Ashville, New York.  We keep making the national news here in our tiny village of Ashville.  I also trotted outside numerous times, listening to the echoes of the ice cracking and taking one photograph after another of the morning sunrise.  It was splendid.

7:34

8:26

Yesterday was a very different Saturday for me, as I attended a lively, passionate town hall meeting with our Congressman, Tom Reed. I wore my American flag hat, a Special Ops T shirt (given to me by my son in law, Drew), to show that liberals are patriotic, too.

Ready To Get Involved

The town hall was to be held in our senior center but because the crowd was so large and the weather was temperate, we were able to have it outside.  I had to park a quarter of a mile away because so many people attended.

The Road To The Town Hall

It was clear that the anti Trump, anti Republican crowd was aroused and they dominated the meeting, asking questions, screaming out slogans, and generally being disruptive when Reed said things  they disagreed with.  I loved it, the passion of the locals, who are finally waking up to the reality of the present.

Passionate Voters

Because they were not expecting such a crowd, it was very difficult to hear what was being said, either by Reed or the crowd which was too bad.  I stood in the background, trying to hear what was being said, next to a group of older guys, most likely Trump supporters, who were laughing and making fun of the passionate and what I assume they thought were the irrational outbursts of women. And one of the guys looked at the others and said,  "They probably drive Subaru's." I loved it since I, too, drive a Subaru but never thought of it as a liberal car but I guess around here it is.  Reed handled his angry constituents as well as possible, never losing his cool, appearing to listen to their concerns. It made be see why I would never want to be a politician.  I finally left about three quarters of the way through his talk as I was tired of not being able to hear the speakers.

Truth Matters

Pussy Hats Unite

When I got home, Evie was watching the town hall being streamed on New York Times live.  We watched until the town hall was over and went about our business .  I gathered the trash, went off to the Transfer Center, and came home to see Evie watching MSNBC on the TV.  Once again, they were filming the town hall and I said I was somewhere in the video.

Our  Four Term Congressman

They then cut to a number of reporters interviewing Tom Reed and there I am, standing behind Reed, tall and reserved, like the old man in the sea, trying to hear what Reed was saying. I was in the background of the video for two or three minutes and we laughed thinking that none of our friends were watching it because few watch MSNBC.  Then Evie said, 'Maybe our good friends from California, Rick and Carolyn, might be watching since we have similar political views." And then the phone rang, I picked it up and it was Rick, calling from California, to ask if that was me On TV. What a riot.  We talked and laughed about the coincidence and bemoaned the recent Trump antics.  And on Facebook, one of my Turkish students, who lives here in the States also mentioned she had seen me on TV.   I  guess it was my two minutes of fame.

Our day then took a predictable turn, as I had soup for lunch and Evie made me a great quesadilla with cheese and guacamole. After lunch, it was so nice and sunny outside (in the low 60's), that I got a lawn chair out of the garage for Evie and she was able to get a good hour of sun in our backyard. While she enjoyed the outdoors,  I watched the Kansas/Baylor basketball game, falling asleep at half time, but I woke in time to see the end where Kansas won in the last minute.  Around 3:30 we made ourselves go for a walk along Lakeside Drive in Bemus, so we could live with ourselves.  We are getting too lazy and comfortable and don't want to leave our house!  So we did it but neither of us like our walk much even the it was a sunny afternoon.  I think we needed snow and cold weather to be happy.

Around 6:00, we had our Saturday night cocktail hour, with a manhattan, good cheese and crackers although it was semi ruined by our listening to Trump's redundant and thin skinned speech in Florida. Like any narcissist, he needs constant adulation and he certainly got it yesterday. We finally went to Apple music and were able to enjoy our drinks and appetizers in peace.  Dinner was easy; Evie put the leftover schnitzel, potatoes and broccoli on a pan and heated it up in the oven and we had dinner. We watched the most recent episode of Real Time With Bill Maher and as usual, he did not disappoint us. He is not afraid of speaking his mind and I know he infuriates many people because of his views on religion as well as Republicans and especially his dislike of Trump.  His show could only be on a network like HBO because it is so outrageous at times.