Rambling Reflections on Life, Change, and the Uncertainty of Life…

This morning started earlier than most… 5:15 AM, a time I rarely see unless life insists. The day began with a bittersweet mission: sending my new rescue hound, Gracie, off for her spay appointment. My son took charge, escorting her to the local rescue lady—a tireless soul stretched thin by the relentless tide of abandoned animals in our county. Thanks to her, Gracie’s procedure is affordable, a small mercy in a messy world where kindness often feels like an uphill battle.

Gracie appeared at my gates days ago, persistent and gentle, refusing to leave despite my repeated pleas for her to go home. But this is the reality here—animal abandonment is heartbreakingly common. Gracie, a deer hound with a sweet face and a tail that never stops wagging, was most likely discarded at the end of deer season, no longer wanted. She joins two other mutts who found their way to me the same way. I couldn’t bear to let her freeze outside as the temperatures dropped. Now, she belongs to us, a new member of a patchwork family woven from compassion and necessity.

The weight of the morning did not lift with the daylight. News of disturbing ICE attacks and infiltration reached me, each headline heavier and more unsettling than the last. There’s no neat phrasing for this—not when the actions and policies of those in power seem so starkly at odds with decency and empathy. I am in shock at what’s being allowed, what’s being done, and what we, as a society, are becoming.

It’s a daily wrestling with shame and disbelief. The heaviness of our country’s troubles presses in, and I can’t help but worry about the future—what lies ahead for my children, grandchildren, and the generations yet to come. The questions swirl: How did we get here? Where are we heading? Is there a way back to kindness, to sanity, to something more hopeful?

Some days, the silence feels suffocating, a deep and endless pause. Other days, voices rise… fearless, relentless, unwilling to be drowned out. Their courage is a comfort, a reminder that resistance and hope persist even as despair threatens to settle in. I listen to those voices, let them lift me above the heaviness, if only for a moment.

In the swirl of questions and fears, I find myself returning to the simplest truth I know… just keep moving. There’s no guide for times like these, no assurance that things will get better soon. But there is a quiet faith in persistence, in putting one foot in front of the other, in tending to the small tasks of care and kindness, even when the world feels fractured.

Life, as I see it and feel it, is nearly unrecognizable at times—a landscape of uncertainty, sadness, and unexpected connection. Yet amid the chaos, there are moments of grace: the wag of a rescued hound’s tail, the grit of those who won’t remain silent, and the enduring hope that, somehow, we will find our way forward together. Nothing is too little, whatever you can do to be a part of the resistance to the tyranny and fascist ideology that’s rising here in America. However… You can help. We all MUST HELP,  just be brave enough to do it. Every little thing does make a difference. We Must Just Keep Doing the Right Things, JUST DO THEM…