Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

We are driving up to celebrate our grandson's fifth birthday. The air is okay up there and supposed to clear further. Ours is unhealthy for sensitive groups but clearing hopefully this afternoon. There will be cupcakes involved and we're bringing up a game from the cabin that he likes to play. His presents from us are hidden away in their garage already. No other cousins, friends or schoolmates will be there. Such is covid normal. He will get zoom calls but these little guys are fed up with all that. Actually, some of us big guys as well. Trump's covid sends a chill to the rest of us: he was tested and monitored constantly, but still he got it. I hope the lack of a mask is the reason, but I can't help being a bit more paranoid than I was. I have a target painted on my back because of age and I know I'm in the most vulnerable group of all. I pray someone gets a handle on how to proceed with protocols and we can protect our citizens, but it may very well be past the tipping point, as is climate change. We had a chance and we blew it. We did not rise to our better natures. And reading Isabel Wilkerson's book "Caste", I see we seldom did. Our country was the inspiration for Nazi racist laws, and we need to disavow our ugly history and mend our country. The time is now. The time for everything to change is now. In the midst of turmoil and chaos. Now.