Politics, Lady Parts and Renaissance Fairs

 

As a person who love politics and blogging, after the first debate in this year’s election cycle it’s been hard to keep these two areas of my life separate. But I try to do it because my “blog branding”---I hate term, but it fits---is that of an older widow navigating her way alone after spending decades in a world built for two. People who come here don’t expect to read an old lady Monday morning quarterbacking and dissecting the line-up of Republican candidates who graced the stage last Thursday. So I sat on my hands the last few days but the itch to cross my self-imposed line started and obviously I couldn’t resist scratching it. I promise to be brief.

After watching the early bird and prime time debates, the follow-up analysis afterward on two cable channels and following Trump’s Twitter volleys late into the night, I just have to ask: Why he is polling so high? Really, the man as much as said FOX moderator Megyn Kelly was mean to him because she was having her period! In his Don Lemon interview post-debate he actually said the words, “She had blood coming out of her eyes. She had blood coming out of her---whatever.” My mouth literally dropped up and in that moment I wanted to paraphrase a Taylor Swift’s song: “All you're ever going be is mean. Why do you have to be so mean?” Then I laughed. From now on I no longer have a vagina, I have a “whatever.” The Donald was just being himself---crude and rude and living proof that money can’t buy class.

Election time was always fun when my husband was alive. We both enjoyed watching, reading and discussing all things related to politics. I miss that. Who am I kidding? That’s not all I miss. This past week has been especially void of human contact. And wouldn’t you know it, Saturday when I went to the grocery store and I looked forward to have a “conversation” with the cashier only to discover I got in the line of a deaf mute cashier who couldn’t say a single word. My store hires a lot of handicapped people so I wasn’t surprised to find him checking out my groceries but I was surprised that he wasn’t wearing a tag that said something like the card my husband carried: “Hello, I have a language disorder that prevents me from speaking but I can understand everything you are saying.” I spend six years of my life observing group and individual speech classes at a language disorders clinic and I recognized the cashier’s language disorder right off but I worried that others would think he was being rude or “moody” and in turn they wouldn't be nice to him. It actually gave me a chill to see the look in his eyes when the transaction ended and he gave me the “thank you stare”. Once you’ve seen that earnest, begging-for-understanding look you don’t forget it. As a widow, you can think you’ve move on but there is always something pulling you back into Tear Zone City.

Neighbors on both side of me have been gone the past two weeks. The younger couple are probably on their honeymoon and the family with two small children on my other side went to an out-of-state Renaissance Fair. They are deeply into all things medieval and she has the hair to prove it---it’s down past her butt. He takes part in jousting tournaments and they have costumes for various stations of medieval life. Often on Mondays in the summer you’ll see an oval shaped, white tent drying in the sun before they pack it back up again for the next fair somewhere around the state.

There was a time in my life when I would have loved taking part in my neighbor's passion-hobby. It involves so many crafts including knitting, tatting, sewing, weaving, cooking over an open fire and even blacksmithing and other guy things involving leather and chain-mail. In the winters they are busy planning and organizing events. I have never understood people who don’t have a passion-hobby. With so many interesting things in the world to do, collect or take part in, it shouldn’t be that hard to find something you love---be it politics, boating, handwork, collecting objects, jousting or collecting visits to state capitals. The latter was a goal of my oldest niece that she and her husband accomplished in their travels a few years back. That being said, my passion-hobby of politics is a mixed bag this election year with my other half gone. And the debate just made me miss him more. ©