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Processing the Blue Wave

~ MaryG ~ 22 Comments

What a crazy time to be alive.

I’m happy, but wary. And also scared.

Scared

It’s like we really don’t know what he’s going to do. Trump is too stupid, arrogant, and insulated to acknowledge that he is WILDY unpopular and RUINED his political party (and much more) for the foreseeable future. In the White House, he lives in a bubble, lovingly attended by sycophants. And yet, he remains the most powerful man in all the realm—with access to nuclear weapons—for two more years.

Happy

I mean come ON…the blue TSUNAMI feels so good. After all the poster-making, protesting, singing, letter writing, donating, art making, posting, calling…we actually won. Grassroots organizing and VOTING beat the billionaires. Holy Shit.

Wary

OK, so I’m like 93.5% sure that MAGA Trumpism is on life support. But what is gonna come next? According to historians, huge defining moments of change and great progress have taken place at the end of eras like this (1850s, 1890s, 1930s). In the words of Heather Cox Richardson, “we have a chance to build something.” I so want this to be the dawn of a new age. I want my grandchildren to grow up in a better, kinder, safer, more affordable, less terrifying world.

I’m wary because I’ve already heard such wildly diverse viewpoints from people on my side. Even SNL came right out with a skit making fun of Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer for being way too mainstream to meet the moment. Will the right leaders emerge to lead us through the storm and into 2028 so we can get The White House into good, safe, smart hands? Will people stay engaged?

OK, so that’s ⬆️ where I’m at on the Sunday night following the Tuesday, November 3rd midterm elections of 2026.

FACEBOOK

In case you don’t know, Facebook is like Ground Zero for GenX politics. (Remember youngsters, GenX lost track of our classmates for decades between school and the invention of social media.) Facebook is where you rediscovered anyone you ever knew when you were much younger, and then found out which ones had drunk the MAGA Kool-Aid and which ones you would not need to unfriend.✂️

I went to bed early on Tuesday night. (I wasn’t going to get burned again watching heartbreaking election returns into the wee hours.) On Wednesday, I woke-up early and immediately saw that there had been a huge Blue Wave—I think they were even calling it a Blue Tsunami in the NYT. My Facebook feed was weirdly quiet though.

I did see one post from an old friend who rarely posts. It just said “YAY, VOTING!” Another rare-posting old friend just said “sending thoughts.” The most ardent activists I know posted nothing. I think they were stunned. Also, gloating seemed wrong.

I decided to post my recent abstract circular painting with the caption “I’m naming this painting Blue Wave 🌊 😊” on Facebook. It just felt right to post some art on Wednesday morning. It received many hearts and wonderful comments from FB friends who were feeling like me. I even got some likes from folks with whom I very rarely interact and didn’t know their political leanings.

Blue Wave, 2026, watercolor and ink

Breathe

Good news

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments

Two good things have happened in my family recently. My daughter’s partner is now my official son-in-law. They tied the knot on their own at the Town Hall. I’m a little bit disappointed that I wasn’t there, but hey, at least I got a picture. My son-in-law is a good and kind person and a wonderful Girl Dad to my granddaughter. He’s also tall and good looking (never hurts).

Let’s face it, weddings are fun, but some young people and their parents spend (waste?) ridiculous amounts of money on them. Personally, I was a lifelong believer in the Princess Bride fantasy and had a traditional wedding (paid for by my parents). I think I’ve cracked open our wedding album about three times in 33 years. And I’ve never watched my wedding video. So the fact that my daughter totally skipped out on feeding “the wedding-industrial conplex” (as my friend calls the wedding biz) is OK by me.

The other good thing is that my son landed a new, better job within his company. And the really good news is that he doesn’t have to move out of state to take it! I really like his company and they seem to really like him. He started there as an intern after his junior year of college. They know him quite well and they truly seem to care about their employees. Perhaps it’s because they’re based in Sweden, where people’s happiness actually matters to employers.

I’m proud of my kids! There. I said it. I find it super annoying when people brag about their adult children on Facebook, but hey—it’s my blog and I’ll brag if I want to 😉

My son’s company sends all employees to Sweden for orientation during their first year. Now I want to go to Sweden!

My 80s friend

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments

At Christmas dinner yesterday, my father told me he had run into my old friend Debbie at the fish market. They recognized each other and exchanged some quick pleasantries.

Debbie and I were neighborhood friends who ended up becoming close friends for many years. She knew my parents well and I knew her family too. Her dad was a great guy. We took several trips to California and Florida in our late teens and twenties. We did a fair number of edgy things together including lots of underage drinking, shoplifting, dine-n-dashing, and at least one crazy 80s Spring Break trip to Fort Lauderdale. (Wet t-shirt contest anyone?) Debbie was 18 months older than me (a year ahead of me in high school) and liked to party and dance. I’m sure my first nightclub experience was with her. Even though she was a true redhead, she loved the sun like I did and we went to the beach as often as possible. We went skiing a few times too and once spun out in my mother’s car driving in a snowstorm. We did a 180 and hit the guardrail. (Debbie was driving at the time and we were fine.) In fact, we wanted to carry on with our ski trip with one headlight dangling, but when we called my parents from a gas station, they made us come home.

Debbie and I stayed friends for many years through a variety of life experiences including her being severely burned in a freak accident. (I remember visiting her in Shriner’s Burn Center where I saw the most horrifically scarred young children.) We knew each other’s deepest, darkest secrets. We attended each other’s weddings and then drifted apart as we became mothers and got busy raising kids. Still, we sent Christmas cards and occasionally saw each other in person.

Then, at some point during the second Obama administration her right-leaning political posts on Facebook caused a tiff between us. We unfriended each other and that was that. Some years later, I felt badly about it, but figured she had probably morphed into a Trump supporter, so what would be the purpose of reaching out. We were too different by then.

You know that expression about some friends being for a reason, some for a season, and some for a lifetime? Well, at one point I might’ve thought we’d be friends for a lifetime, but it turns out we were friends for a season. And our season was the 1980s. Big time.

Christmas 1989 (towards the end of our close friendship)

If I had to pick one song that tends to trigger a Debbie memory, it would be Kool & the Gang’s Celebration. I picture us dancing around in front of a mirror, sipping some alcohol, while we made our hair as big & fluffy as possible for whatever came next.

Freedom

~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

OK, one reason I like my blog is that I feel free to say what I want, including about politics.

In the old days (before Trump), I thought Facebook and other emerging social media was fun. Find old friends and classmates, reminisce, post pics, share news, chat about nonsense, etc.

Then everything went to hell and I had real and permanent falling outs (fallings out?) with the Trumpers in my sphere, as did millions of others.

I’m still on Facebook, but I try not to post too many political things, with abortion access being an exception. (I will not shut my trap about that one until it’s no longer an issue or I’m dead.)

People who read and comment on my blog (and vice versa) are 99% online friends only. I will likely never meet them in real life. But there’s a freedom in that. They’re choosing to read my thoughts, and I theirs.

With 89 days left until we (hopefully) send Donald Trump packin’ for good, my Facebook and Instagram friends (all people I know or have known in real life) have my blog to thank for my relative level of self-control.

So, I can say this on my blog: I am loving the energy right now. From Kamala entering a packed and cheering rally to Beyoncé’s “Freedom” to the Tim Walz dad jokes. It’s soooo good. This is the kind of optimistic, joyful, caring country I want my granddaughter (coming soon) to grow up in.

Big Dad Energy on Threads