I left for the mountains to parts unknown by me. Little did I know that I'd be cut off from civilization via telephone or internet for 3 full days. I was told to drive through several roads past several barely able to be seen landmarks and when I came to the end of the road, I would have arrived. The only bussiness was a tavern where the gold-miners hung out. I was to contact a woman by the name of Lindsey. So I did just that. I sat there for a half hour sipping on a beer that no one would allow me to pay for. So I took it outside to smoke. Across the broken road was a driftwood sign with the word "Relax" carved into it. So, I relaxed. I was there to meet a friend who would take me to a place where I was to be debriefed. (???) Every so often, the ground would shake some and the sounds of dynamyte blasting off echoed through the forrests. Slowly, one at time, each person came out to talk to me. Then the last of them said, "Oh, that Sharon." They called Sharon and Robert on the lan phone and they promptly drove down the mottled hill toward me. We hung out and spoke of political things with all the others who had "interviewed" me prior to their arrival. Those folks were from the Irish Independent party in the United States with ties back home in their torn country of Ireland. The gold they extracted here in California has fueled many a skirmish for their special interests.
Then there was another faction of folks at the "house" where the politicos gathered. The carrot of heterosexual entrapment better known as marriage became the next topic. I listened to each person discuss the direction our country was going in regards to protecting the money each of us contributed to, but because of the law regarding partners, were deprived from getting should one of the partners die. I chimed in, "Use your powerful voice and save us all. Don't buy in to the marriage scene. More fail at it than succeed and besides its a heterosexual vice; why make it yours?" To these people, the words I offered made perfect sense. Not a one believed in marriage and agreed it was a heterosexual form of conformity, not a gay right. From there, we all slept.
I was instructed to wait at Shaunessy's until the parade got over. I got there and the sign said, "Closed till after the parade." So Iwalked over to the street where the parade was due to begin and entered Hannighans. It was as though I was expected. They all turned to look at me. They each took a sip of their drink and looked at the bartender. I sat at the end of the bar for the next 20 minutes all alone. No worries. Sharon had always said, "In times like these, wait and the universe will come to you." So I waited. One by one a man would approach me and engage me in political disussions. Each departed satisfied. I learned later that this group were Democrats. They had followed me to smoke in the back area and one of these Democrats opened the door ahead of me and spoke with one of the people in the back room. I overheard him say, "This is she." I remembered something very much the same had been said at the taveren in the gold mining area. This time, I really took notice. I went back and fired up my clove. The men began talking to me about the constitution. One made a joke about the "27th ammendment". I felt my eyes twinkle and they said, "Name a right." I said, "Look up the 25th." They did and the eldest man, an important man, spoke of pro tempore and the discussion made me frown. I said, "If Bush is re-elected, many of us will impeach Cheney on collusion charges. This peeked their interest. They drilled me and most walked away satisfied. The elder stayed behind. When I say elder, he had to be no more than 65--a young man for having so much power. This was the Republican faction. I heard one of the younger gents say to the folks with the gray hair, "She is the one." So the older folks (72ish to 85ish) listened to the Elder speak with me and I with he. We had the most wonderful discussion and I fought the urge to cry as I considered my sons enlisting in this dishonorable war our industry created. He spoke to me with tenderness and we spoke of my son's dreams. I filled him in on my ideas, and do you know what this Republican man did? He cried with me. He had been in wars for two different countries--America and Ireland. So there it was. Not a one of us wanted Cheney as our vice president. Not a one of us was comfortable with Globalization within the free trade agreements and NAFTA, nor the imf involvement or the WTO. Not one of us felt we went to war for the right reasons andyou wanna know something??? Each of us found a way to have once voice, United! It was spectacular.
My final day was spent addressing women's groups. Fantastic.
I'm blessed. I really am. Mary, Alma, Jo, Jenny, Dan, David, and the folks at work--thank you folks. Thank you for making me think. A special thanks goes to my acquaintences in the Authors Lounge. They teach me to be patient. Thank you all.
In one voice, no matter what our differences, we can affect change for the betterment of us all. This ,my friends, is what politics is supposed to be about.
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