A Little Journey

A little adventure outside of our dystopia

As many of my subscribers can acknowledge, my emotions drive what I write. Of course this can be both good and bad. I may say some reactionary things due to whatever current event. I also write when feeling depressed or disgusted which tends to result in my more heartfelt articles.

This weekend has been a roller-coaster. Looking long term, our President signed the most devastating, ruinous piece of legislation to ever cross a president’s desk when it comes to fiscal policy. It will do untold harm to millions of Americans. I don’t have the time nor the emotional strength to do a deep dive on something that will be so destructive today. Maybe another time.

Today I am choosing to do a more wholesome, maybe even hopeful article. I hope you enjoy it.

Today we got up bright and early. My wife, and my two younger daughters (8 and 12) decided to do a little hike in the woods. If you have never been to Western New York, do yourself a favor and visit. There are so many fantastic natural attractions. The mountains, gorges, waterfalls, valleys and campgrounds are an amazing thing to behold.

We took advantage of that natural beauty and man was it worth it.

This is a trail just outside of Chestnut Ridge state park. The natural carve out of this waterway reveals the absolutely gorgeous, heaven like beauty that leads to a wonderful prize at the end. It really gives a sense of wonder. I feel so privileged to see such beauty.

I am so lucky to live only about 45 minutes from such a beautiful place. I know many people cannot access these sights, so I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Looking at these pictures really gives me hope that the world is not completely covered in darkness. We are in a very difficult and tumultuous time but I am doing my best to be as positive as I can and I hope you are able to join me in that sentiment. Am I being a little pollyanna? Yeah, probably but I need this little attitude adjustment just for today.

Watching my kids enjoy the hike and experiencing something away from their video games and YouTube was a welcome site. They were able to get muddy and get their shoes waterlogged when hopping from rock to rock in the creek.

This reminded me that there are bigger thing than the hate filled rhetoric of disingenuous politicians that claim to be virtuous men. One smile from one of my little ones can knock out any nasty spin or lie from some MAGA loving sheep.

As we continued our little journey the destination came in to view. It is not terribly difficult to spot.

Tucked away in a trickling, dribble of what could barely be considered a waterfall, is what is lovingly known as The Eternal Flame. It comes from a naturally occurring gas pocket that originates 400 meters below the surface. It is in just the perfect spot that it won’t damage the surrounding foliage but still manages to burn while water falls from above. Yes, occasionally it needs to be relit but it is a very cool sight to see.

(Now I am going to wax poetic a little bit)

The flame above can really be representative of our struggle today. Once in a while that flame goes out. But for long swaths of time that flame will burn strong. And right now I think that flame is in the midst of being relit.

The match has been struck. The outrage across this nation is felt and seen everywhere. The outpouring of votes for local political offices are defeating republicans by huge margins. Recent polls have the president underwater in most every category except maybe the number of Big Macs eaten.

The flame was almost ignited. I felt it during the NO KINGS protests. I thought we were getting closer to seeing some real movement. I never thought you could ignore 11 million people shouting for justice, but here we are.

All we need is that one spark to light that flame. That spark may come unexpectedly or it might come after some more kindling is added (unfortunately more atrocious behavior from the MAGA incels)The anger is there. The hope is rising and the more MAGA pushes it's agenda, the harder we will push ours to the tipping point.

Here is the hopeful part. We outnumber them by huge numbers. The number of people who regret voting for our current president is growing by the day.

I think we are so close to igniting that flame of justice. I see reason to hope that things will get better. The lies will not hold up forever and dictators never share power and that will be fatal.

We will win. Keep your foot on the gas. Keep protesting. Keep talking, don't let these clowns normalize their despicable behavior. Call out their lies if you hear them.

A general strike seems to be on the horizon. It will take a lot of sacrifice. It will take about 35/100 workers to walk out and drive the economy to a standstill. I think we have the numbers just by looking at the amount we got during NO KINGS.

So back to my little getaway with the family. We finished at this magical little place called The Blueberry Tree house Cafe. Excellent panini's and Blueberry lemonade. And it was only about 5 minutes away from our hiking trail.

Thanks for joining me on my little journey. It was nice to have a little reprieve from all the insanity. It also helped me connect more with my family. We got to talk, play, and get all muddy for the first time in a while and thought you guys wouldn’t mind joining me.

Love you all,

Erik

(Liberaldad)