Observe, listen, learn, and rest.

We must look out for one another, pay attention, and be ready. There will be times we must act, in large and small ways, insisting on respect, truth, and justice for all.

We’ve had a week of chilly, grey, damp weather here, at a time of year when it is more typically clear and cold. Our winters usually kick off with some snow in the early mornings, with the sun burning the clouds away to reveal pale blue skies by afternoon. This week was more like living inside a dirty sponge. When the sun broke through for about twenty minutes this afternoon, it felt like a blessing.

And I think that’s how the next few years will be, lots of building our tolerance for being inside a damp sponge, lots of celebrating any moment the sun breaks out a view of blue sky.

Here in our valley, under these damp grey skies, there is a sense of a collective intake of breath. Winter calls upon our reserves of endurance, even in the best of times. This year, we head into winter marshalling our energies, pausing, focusing.

Some of my neighbors anticipate the next administration with relief, even glee. Some with trepidation and dread. Wherever we stand now, the next few years will happen to all of us. Some of us will be more insulated than others. We must look out for one another, pay attention, and be ready. There will be times we must act, in large and small ways, insisting on respect, truth, and justice for all.

We build tolerance for the journey, but not acceptance of the poison that will be spread during the months ahead. We stand up and speak out our truths - after all, that is how we can create the moments of sunshine and light we all need to survive.

More than eighty years ago, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt spoke to the nation on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked - December 7, 1941. She said:

We must go about our daily business more determined than ever to do the ordinary things as well as we can and when we find a way to do anything more in our communities to help others, to build morale, to give a feeling of security, we must do it. Whatever is asked of us I am sure we can accomplish it. We are the free and unconquerable people of the United States of America.

Observe, listen, learn, and rest. Gather your strength. Together, we will be ready.