I thought about writing a longer blog post about the election. But I'm not really sure I have that much more to say. I could see the next 4 years going any number of ways, from nuclear mishaps/catastrophes, to more general chaos, to an administration that manages to do some good and some bad. I expect to be somewhat insulated: I'm not an outspoken opponent, I'm an older woman which buys me some protection from misogyny, I have economic resources, I live in the mountains, I'm a English teacher which at this point is still a job that people want a human to do. I will do what I can to help those who are not so lucky.
Do I think that I have voted in my last election? No. I think we'll have other elections, but they may not mean much--that has often been the case in my lifetime, so I won't assume that democracy is dead. Even though I thought about sending an e-mail with a reference to A Handmaid's Tale ("See you in the Colonies!"), I don't think we're headed to that scenario--Trump doesn't have the kind of focus and self-control that would make that possible.
While lots of people have been saying lots of things about the election, I've been at the twice-a-year quilt retreat at Lutheridge. When I plunked down my deposit back in the spring, I didn't realize it would be right after the election, and that wouldn't have made a difference anyway. I've been grateful to have a place to sit and sew, but then again, I'm always grateful for a place to sit and sew, whether it's a chair in my living room or a work station at a retreat center.
It's been a strange quilting retreat in other ways. I have a full-time teaching job, which is different from when I left my full-time administrator job to come to quilt camp. If we hadn't had a hurricane, I might have taken yesterday, the first full day of quilt camp, off, but I decided that I didn't feel good about that. Happily, I can both teach and come back to quilt camp.
On Wednesday afternoon (the retreat started Wed. at 3 for those of us who could arrive then), I sat at my table for a bit, just feeling discombobulated, discombobulated because I came directly from work, discombobulated because I didn't feel like sewing yet, discombobulated because I was still digesting election results. Yesterday when I returned from Spartanburg, I expected to need a bit of decompression time. Because I was expecting it, it didn't last as long.
Two years ago, I first started assembling these log cabin patches:
In these few days at quilt camp, I hope to get them all sewed together into a quilt top. I am putting squares into 4 square lengths, because they're all slightly different in terms of measurements. I am paying some attention to colors and patterns, but more attention to measurements at this point. I'm trying not to worry about what happens when I try to put these 4 square lengths into one quilt top--or to be more accurate, since I am not worried, I am trying not to try to figure out how to assemble them yet. It will all come together.
I am also hoping that this quilting is a metaphor for what can happen on the national political scene. It feels like we're in a time of ripping. It's the ripping sound that gets a lot of coverage. But far away from the national commentators, small scraps can be assembled into sturdy quilts that will keep us all warm and protected.
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