First thing this morning we got word that the United States Senate had failed to reach a compromise deal with a short term spending bill so the US government is shutdown.
BOOM. SHUT. CLOSED.
Shutdown means that all government agencies are closed. The offices of the Point Reyes National Seashore are closed. Even Kehoe Beach is closed. They closed the beach? Yes, we know it's like saying, they closed the ocean… but those DC politicos do have audacious thoughts about power. They are talking AGAIN about off-shore oil drilling!!!
Today is THE WOMEN'S MARCH so we headed to the Power to the Polls March in Point Reyes Station to join with the contingent from the Mainstreet Moms and Indivisible West Marin on the corner as State Route 1 turns into Point Reyes Station.
With blue flags in hand and with Richard's sign,"Shutdown swindler, Don the con" and Judith's sign, "Stormy Daniels === no climate denier" with Richard's addendum, "cloudy with a chance of meatballs" we stood our ground with an enthusiastic crowd of West Marinites and folks who came "over-the-hill" to join in the gathering. We were happy to be in good company with the blue wave rallying cry to "get registered" and "VOTE."
Most trips to Point Reyes include a stop at Toby's Feed Barn to pick up a bale of straw or to check on what's showing in the art gallery. Now on display, Toni Littlejohn's "The Paint of Paint" is an affirmation of why we fuss and fight for the freedom of expression and what can happen when we give sway to the powerful forces of gravity and geology. We like to say, "What would we do, if we fought the Revolution and won!" Here it is...
Along the way we did a bit of surreptitious guerrilla marketing. Think shop-lifting, only in reverse. It's called drop-shopping. As a tactic to subvert commercialism, artists add their own products to the shelves. Richard's Make Siberia Warm Again hats on the rack in Toby's gift shop are sure to be a "hot seller." A little cognitive dissonance is always ready in our artist's tool-kit.
Are we worried about the future for our grandkids? You bet. But we remember our favorite meme—"It wasn't B-52's that brought down the Berlin Wall—it was Rock n' Roll and blue jeans: joie de vivre and style." The Tao seeks balance.