Reminders and disappointments

Frank and I had a splendid day. Slow breakfast at my house with much talk; a little shopping trip, a gift for his youngest grandchild; then out to Sauvie Island, where we saw some bald eagles and a strange bird foot (we are not bird experts, we think it was a chicken's foot--ID help welcome!) hanging from a tree. He delighted in finding a couple of tiny feathers. "I love feathers," he told me. "I used to think these were gifts from the Creator, but now I think that was sort of arrogant. Who am I, for the Creator to single me out for gifts? Now I think maybe they're just reminders of Creation. But I think if I didn't appreciate them, I'd be missing out, failing somehow." He tucked the tiny feathers, downy and perfect, into a pillbox in his pocket.

Then back to town for a wonderful Mexican lunch at my favorite restaurant, where we talked about Obama, the relief we felt when he won, and our reasons for feeling disappointed in his first four years. We deplore the drones and the military policy that has kept the endless war going. We both feel he's been painfully slow about immigration reforms, hardly any kinder to immigrants than his Republican predecessor. But I think Frank nailed the disappointment best when he said,

"I thought he was going to be a great communicator. I thought he was going to keep us informed. If he couldn't do what he wanted to do, he could tell us why, and we could back him up, write letters, fight with him. If there was some reason why he had to keep the military effort going, why couldn't he explain that to us? If he's the people's president, we could expect him to talk to us. But he hasn't done that. He has all our email addresses. He can reach us on Facebook. But he doesn't explain anything. So that's my main disappointment."

It's been great showing Portland to Frank, catching up, hanging out, being offline. I am surprised how much I like the being offline part. Not checking Blips, writing comments, I feel free. A little wild and loose. There are more possibilities. He was surprised to hear how much I have accustomed myself to daily online conversations. He suggested I might consider setting aside a day a week when I just unplug completely. I like this.