Thanks, Heidi, for the condolences, and also for your astute comment on grieving the election loss. My in-laws’ decline provided a useful distraction, but beyond that I have been so often in a state of impotent rage and despair that it has felt meaningless to blog. I am not a quick or deft writer of the moment, and with so many millions of people writing beautifully and incisively about the political situation, I have felt little to add even when I do find that sweet spot of metabolizing my rage and despair enough that I CAN write. No shortage of material, obviously. It is tricky to balance the need for active engagement and self-protective withdrawal. As you point out, this is a grief reaction. I am sorry for the loss of your mother, and sorry for all of us that “Cry, the Beloved Country” is an apt summary of our own times.

P.s. Of course my computer crashed again right after posting this last post, and I couldn’t even get online. What IS the universe trying to tell me? Keep my anti-virus software updated better?

Thanks so much, Wendy, for your kind and true words.