The black cloud that haunted many of us these past eight years swirled into a storm threatening the legs of the table, rattling the dominos, the sharp clacking ominously pleasant—not ivory demanding the sacrifice of elephants, not wood or cheap plastic. Bone would be appropriate, reflecting the investment of our lives in these tiles. (A high school English teacher observed that I could find metaphor in anything.)
One of those tiles reflects our Chicago roots. Chicago weather can be nasty. The summer temperatures fluctuate within minutes from hot to cool, always with humidity. Winter temperatures fluctuate from warm to freezing within minutes. Precipitation fluctuates from drizzle to sleet to snow to ice within minutes. Seasons take weeks to turn. Year round, dark clouds are not uncommon, the low hanging dark gray that weighs on top of your head creating headache. It is those clouds that I dislike most about Chicago, relying on Tylenol and Benadryl and hot baths to get me through the days.
During the past eight years, a certain well-known person who will remain unnamed but readers will recognize, has been a dark cloud over the heads of many. Just when the sun peeked through a few months prior to the presidential election, the cloud swept down to obliterate all light and challenge our values, unsettling the foundation of our lives. Privileged as we are, we never questioned those values, ignorantly assuming our fellow citizens shared the same. Now our family is trying to stack the dominos of housing, jobs, and education on an unstable base.
Way too much metaphor. Read my former posts for an explanation of the dominos. To all who feel unsteady at this time, join me in optimism that good hearts will prevail, that the table is unsteady but not collapsed. I am determined to remain compassionate, kind, and generous to get through these times. Too many people have and continue to suffer much worse. My family will continue rearranging the dominos. I’ll let you know how it goes.
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