April 5, 2025
April showers and all that, I get it, but can't we increase the temperature by like 10 degrees?
Millions of people are out there demonstrating and claiming democracy as ours.  Millions of people are standing up against what we were made to believe our whole lives, fascism, is the worst form of government and the devil's work We have been taught through history to be  against a dictator, against the idea that power of the government can be all mighty.  It can only succeed if we let it happen, so millions of people around the world standing up and saying,  "NO" is great news. 


One of my favorite local events is the yearly Pete Seeger Sing that honors his role as an activist as well as a songwriter/musician.  The local group of musicians that puts this event on is a group of folk singers who worked with Pete throughout the years.   I have gone to almost all of them.  We haven't had one in along time, mainly because of COVID, but this year they decided to bring the concert out of the hills and into Greenfield and lead people in song.

I went a little early to get a good seat.  When I got there I was blocked from going in.  There wasn't even standing room left.  The church was beyond capacity.  It was raining and cold so I knew I couldn't stand outside and listen even with a speaker.   I was disappointed.  Yet it thrilled me that so many people came out to participate and sing.  It's fuel to feed our courage and our resistance.  We will follow in Pete Seeger's footsteps.  

I left town and went up to the rookery where it was 44 degrees and pouring rain. I saw one lonely merganser.  But I didn't even open my window for too long.  It is not a good day to photograph anything.  I sat and reflected on the last couple of days.  And then I came on home and turned the heat on.  


I really was very moved by last night's celebration and I'm chock full of memories and stories.  I loved being surrounded by adult students and having their enthusiasm about what they were doing with their lives seep into my skin again.    There's nothing better.  And there's nothing better than knowing we set out to create a place where people felt safe enough to learn and we modeled it so well that it has continued for 40 years to attract staff dedicated to that same goal  and students who embrace it, run with it and learn something new everyday.  

 

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