Untitled | Mark Lindsay
Today my joints hurt. Presidential elections release a certain kind of energy in this country. A crack opens in the collective psyche. Like crude oil, negative energy oozes out of it, fowling the land with sticky residue. This year seems more intense than most. The world economy is in crisis, America is in crisis, most people I know are in crisis.
Here in Northern California we get months and months and months of nice, bland weather. Suddenly it changes. You can smell it and feel it in your bones. It makes the hair on you neck stand up. If feels like rain. Mostly I love the feeling, especially in Autumn when dry dust seems to cover the land and, most notably, my old, green truck. The entire earth, truck included, needs a shower. The rain comes, washes clean the world around us, makes its own kind of mess, and then it's over.
Animals have it right when it comes to bad weather. They mind their own business, find shelter early, lay low and come out when things clear up. It's not that difficult a concept. First it rains and then it doesn't.
Yet, when we humans feel the rain of bad news come our way we treat things entirely differently. Our politicians huff and puff and make us feel worse all the while they are claiming to help us feel better. They speak of honor and country and patriotism and flags and moms and dads and guys name Joe who drink beer and do a lot of plumbing. They dance around, claiming to feel our pain. In worst cases it gets very serious and they start wars, all the while claiming the mantle of honor.
The media aren't any better. They can take anything that happens and beat us to death with it. They add dark images, dark music, and speak in dark tones. They stir us up like a crazy uncle would to a bunch of kids at a family picnic. They whip us up and get us to chase one another around lawn. Then, just like the old uncle, they get bored, shrug their shoulders and walk away once things get out of control.
The strange thing is that when it's time to rain it generally does. No one can stop it. During the rain it feels like it will never end. During a drought if feels like it will never rain. Nothing lasts and the universe endures. I'll be glad when the election is over and all the trolls go back under their bridge.