We're Americans

On July 22, 2020, the first summer of COVID, I wrote in a post, "Somehow, we humanoids need each other; at the least, it affirms our existence; at the best, it affirms love."

Five years later, so it was last Saturday, October 18, 2025, at the nearby
No Kings Protest.
Two friends stand here on each side of me. We felt the love and
power of the spirit as 1800 of us gathered to say to those now in power:
We are strong! The many deep harms you are inflicting must and will come to an end. We do not hate. We love our country and one another. We want good and better for everyone, yes, even for those of you in opposition.
You are not an "enemy" 

and neither am I.
With open minds and hearts, we stand firm for the Four Freedoms:

We want you with us.
We can and will work things out.
We're Americans!

___                    __

   ***   

_______        ______

And now for the ART PART! Yesterday, waiting in my doctor's waiting room, I worked on figuring out a new app on my iPhone. I came up with a brief sketch with my finger after seeing Liza Donnelly do sketches on her SubStack posts. Later in the day, that prompted me to think about other quick sketches from past efforts in various mediums. Here are some that haven't (mostly not) appeared in the blog, including the sample from today's wait with an app sitting in my hand.

***

Primed

We are the primates seeking Prime
this thing and that with a sale price divine!
Yesterday started the big Begin

and once more today, so you can join in

to enjoy the acquisition precision
of stuff that's price-squeezed
then tap a button and presto! such ease
to get stuff with a special sale sparkle
Fuhgeddaboud the source oligarchical.

Then presto! in boxes and bags
with invoices and tags
stuff flies through the air

with nary a care
then loads into trucks big and small
that race through streets and by shuttered malls
bumping o'er roads, bridges, and ferries
driven by schedules with GPS, it hurries
whether in sun, rain, snow or muck
by your door, the thing lands while the truck
speeds away to another address
you open the thing that you bought for less
then pile it amongst your old stuff
since last year's Prime wasn't enuff.