Longish weekend

Maryland weather, I will see your crazy ass in hell. 

It's noon on Friday and about 28 degrees outside, and we're in the car on our way to Marymount University for the Saints annual showdown with Pope’s Cup rival Catholic University. Last year, the Catholic meet happened on the Friday immediately following Trump's inauguration, a time that seemed terrible at the time. I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then. 

But I do know. And I don't really wish I didn't know what's happening. I'd prefer to be informed and aware. If you call me woke, I'll say thank you. 

*****

Back to the swim meet, which is a very welcome diversion from the horrors. We lost this meet last year, by just a hair, and my son won the 100 breast against a very talented Catholic swimmer, by .02. So it should be exciting and competitive. 

*****

It’s Saturday now. The meet was fun, but not really competitive. I’m not sure what happened to the Catholic University men’s swim team but the Marymount men crushed them. The Marymount medley relay won at the beginning and the freestyle relay won at the end, and my son won both of his breaststroke events. Once again, the freestyle leg of the 200 IM took him down and he finished second in that event. But 3 out of 4 is great.

My 83-year-old mother in law came with us and she enjoyed herself thoroughly. She hadn’t seen him swim in a meet since he was 14 or so. Being unfamiliar with college swimming, she was quite impressed with the officials and the backstroke flags and the coaches with their whistles and clipboards. It could have been NCAA Division I championships for all she knew. Like me, she was on her feet yelling and cheering every time he was in the water, and she cheered for all of the Marymount swimmers in all of their races. We had a late lunch/early dinner, and we had her home by 6. I think it was the most fun she’s had in some time. A 10/10 afternoon. 

And it's a 3 day weekend, which is normally a really nice thing, but an extra weekend day gives the President an extra 24 hours to unleash more Epstein distraction mayhem. We’re always on high alert. We’re always on guard. 

*****

It’s Sunday now. The Sunday of a 3-day weekend is one of my favorite things, and we haven’t invaded Greenland just yet, so I’m cautiously optimistic. Of course the military incursion that Greenland has managed to avoid might end up advancing on the great state of Minnesota, but I’m not going to borrow any more trouble at high rates of interest. I can’t afford the payments. 

There’s a new bookstore in Bethesda, and that is where I plan to spend my afternoon. Two friends are going with me, and I hope they don’t expect me to talk because I’m not much for conversation when I’m book shopping. I had planned to go to church this morning but Mass starts in 20 minutes and I’m still in my pajamas so that might not happen. Maybe I’ll go to a later Mass. Or maybe I won’t. I don’t know. The bookstore trip is a pretty firm plan and that might be all I can commit to today. 

*****

It’s a pretty cold MLK Day morning. We went to the bookstore yesterday as planned, and I bought two books: A Little History of the World and Trouble Maker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford. I also bought two Snoopy keychains (one for my older son) and a fancy notebook and of course, a canvas tote bag because I can’t pass up a canvas tote bag and because I try not to ever leave an independent bookstore without leaving at least $100 behind; or $114 to be exact. I’ll economize elsewhere. 

One of the two friends I went with is the friend I mentioned in this post. And I think she might be cracking. I’ll say crack again - she’s about to crack. The three of us went to a twee little vegan coffee shop (where I had a few sips of literally the worst chai latte ever brewed - so bad that I threw most of it away, despite its $7 price tag). I didn’t bring up the state of the country, nor did my Trump-supporting friend. Our third friend, who is normally the politest and most moderate and even-tempered of our whole friend group, and the least likely to talk about politics, brought up the criminal ICE rampage in Minneapolis. And she did not hold back. 

And for once, my Trump-supporter friend did not take criticism of Trump as a personal attack, nor did she try to deflect or change the subject. She listened and nodded and acknowledged that Renee Good should still be alive, though she stopped short of agreeing with our assessment of the killing as a murder. “They need to turn down the temperature,” she said. Of course she’s missing the point that Trump and his accomplices and lackeys and goons have no desire to turn any temperature down and that they in fact want as much heat and fury and confusion as they can generate. But that’s still a sea change for someone who has steadfastly defended Trump and his policies, and I’ll take it. Eventually the conversation returned to our usual talk of family and animals and books and movies and cooking fatigue, but that was a moment of reality that was sorely needed. Every day, I see stories and social media posts claiming that Trump is losing support and that MAGA is collapsing under its own weight, but this is the first time I’ve seen IRL evidence. Let’s hope this has some momentum. Let’s hope they’re all about to crack.