In November we think about giving thanks, but there are other important days on the calendar. November is election month. Our local election was on the 7th, and Republicans in Virginia took a trouncing. I will give thanks that our governor, now without any legislative support, will not get to track women’s menstrual cycles. Nor will he get his abortion ban. Democrats now control our legislature, and that is a fine thing. Voters across America realize that this election was between the party that wants to take away our rights and the party who wants all citizens to have the right to control their -own lives without governmental interference. Most Americans know that we, the people, should be in charge of what we do with our bodies and who we love, not politicians. Another - often overshadowed by the others - holiday in the November calendar is Veteran’s Day. It used to be called Armistice Day, to celebrate the end of WWI and pay homage to the many who gave their l...
Fall is my favorite season. I love switching to winter foods and sweaters after a hot summer. I love the bright leaves and the pumpkins surrounded by yellow chrysanthemums on porches. But mostly I love the spooky atmosphere, Halloween, dark gothic movies and little witches trick or treating. I love being scared by fiction, however, not real life, and in our real life, America has become a place threatened by some terrifying stuff — way worse than vampires and zombies. America could possibly no longer be a democracy after the November Congressional midterms. If this were a horror movie, this moment would be that moment — you know it — when the group of cute lost teens decide that going into the creepy house in the middle of the woods is actually a good idea. When the viewer says, “Oh, no! Don’t go in there!” And of course, they do, and all hell breaks loose. Because the cute teens have walked straight into a terror that they’ll never be free from. So will the American public if the Repu...