A Brief Encounter

 I ran into a very friendly fellow American this morning as I was coming out of the Daily Baguette Cafe. He came out as I was pausing to smoke a cigarette and struck up a conversation. He was from California, he told me, but came originally from Minnesota and has been here in Bali 3 years. I thought of saying Oh, Minnesota, the home of Tim Walz. I'm glad I didn't though, because he immediately started out on a rant about how terrible America is now. Even the food is fake, he said, and everyone is so woke. It's all you hear about. Woke culture. And he can't stand it anymore. 

To be honest, I don't know what woke means. Yes I see it all the time on Facebook and so on, but I can't really put my finger on any specific meaning other than perhaps it has, among those who are opposed to it, something to do with a dislike of and an intpolerance for homosexuality and trans people and liberal ideas, and so on. Anyway, I sure didn't want to talk about it. I can understand if people don't like woke culture, whatever woke happens to mean to them, but I don't understand how it does any harm to them or how it seems a threat to the extent that they would have been driven out of the country altogether. Very strange. I've been away for a long time now, and I am reminded again that I'm better off for it.

Now I'm a Believer

 Well, I have to admit that I have been positively surprised by the Harris campaign. As I mentioned here previously, I felt that Biden could have won the election fairly easily, but it appears now that Harris may win even more decisively than Biden would have, so it's all good. She is, after all, basically committed to carrying out Biden's vision for the future. And what we need ultimately in this election is a resounding victory in hopes of finally stamping out the poison that MAGA has injected into American politics--a resounding victory not only on the presidential level but on a congressional level as well so that we may secure a democratic House and Senate and actually get some things done in this country. 

Of course there are still nearly 100 days left before the election and the Republicans are desperately searching for anything they can cling to. This, so far, turns out to be insults, racist and misogynistic slurs, fake outrage over fake issues, and the like. Frankly, I think most people are finally tired and turned off by crap like this. Yes, there are some who will doggedly cling to Trump's dark vision of grievance, paranoia and fear, but hopefully many more are seeing the light of optimism and joy that the Harris team is bringing to the Democratic ticket.

The Smile

 The young woman had come prepared. As she climbed onto her motorbike, I noted that there was something attached to her chest, and that what was attached to her chest was a baby. It was tucked into a sort of backpack arrangement, head and arms sticking out as if from the shell of a tortoise. It was a small baby, maybe 4 months old. I don't know, I've forgotten what 4 months is like, or 2 months, or 6 months. This was a girl, I think. Yes, I'm sure. Pretty sure. And she did that thing that all babies do. She engaged me with her eyes, staring at me as if I were the most strange and wonderful creature in the world. Blue eyes. Wisps of blonde hair like angel hair at Christmas time. And then she smiled, as babies do, and she raised her little hand and curled her fingers in and out. Hello. And then we also smile again, don't we. How can we help it? What else can we do? And in the next moment, the child is whisked away, bound for another and another world of whirling colors and wonderful new creatures. And a brief prayer passes from my soul to my tongue and I lift a finger and touch it to the dryness of my lips. 

May God watch over this little one in the sea of trouble between here and home.