Thursday, May 1, 2025 (Beltane/May Day); from Jinny in San Diego, CA to Sally in Taneytown, MD
Dear Sal,
I’ve survived another three months of Trump 2.0. If someone as relatively privileged and sheltered as I am is having trouble stomaching our current environment, I hate to think how it’s impacting the most vulnerable.
There have been losses and near-misses among my near and dear. Partway through February, husband Jim had what has been labeled after the fact as a likely mini-stroke. He felt dizzy one evening and had trouble forming his words. This had happened for short stretches in the past when he’s had what he labels as migraines. However, this time conditions hadn’t resolved the next morning. I drove him to the emergency room, where they immediately started stroke protocols and kept him for observation for most of the day. By mid-afternoon he was much improved. He was released to go home, with a prescription for several weeks’ worth of blood thinners. So far, knock wood, no recurrences. He’s become more diligent about working out at the gym several days a week. Our good local friend Jean lost a younger brother in late February; we lost our Lithuanian-heritage friend Grazia in late April, but not before she dictated to husband Marc the final chapters of what’s now tentatively titled “Where the Storks Raise Their Young: A World War II Survival Story.”
One of my coping strategies has been to continue tending a plot at the giving garden, where I moved “next door” for this gardening year. Garden coordinator Carolyn is having the timbers surrounding each raised bed replaced over time. The aging boards of my prior plot were on this year’s replacement list, while an adjoining plot, with new timbers already in place, just became available.
I’m also seeing if I can build up an “alternate transportation network” for the eventuality of no longer being able to drive. I’ve spent some time exploring San Diego’s bus/trolley system. A companion exploration has been learning about some of the other public library branches in our library-gifted city. For me, one of the worst aspects of covid-era lockdowns had been widespread library closures. Now that we’re “open” again, I remember to thank our librarians more often and have ramped up my library volunteerism.
For a while, I made a game of seeing how many library branches I could reach easily on public transportation. I quickly found twelve that were within an easy walk of a trolley or bus stop. Each branch has its own personality and size. The downtown library is one of my favorites—a soaring domed structure completed in 2013 to replace a smaller, aging building a few blocks away. The top floor, the 9th, has an extensive patio area with great views of parts of San Diego harbor and the Coronado Island bridge. On pleasant days, I select a book that’s a good, light read and then set up a portable chair and small reading table near the patio railing. From my perch, I get a bird’s eye view of the bridge and of parts of our tourist-friendly downtown. I can happily sit for an hour or more, alternately reading and enjoying the view.
The ninth floor is also home to the library system’s special collections, including an extensive set of books and folios of genealogy, many donated by members of the local genealogical society. A couple of mornings a week, one of their genealogy volunteers comes to help library patrons research their family history. I’ve done a little more online sleuthing to round out what I learned from the older generations of our family back in 1999 when I was researching our family memoir. I now have confirmation of the existence and a few additional details for all four of our great-grandmothers:
Mary Boyd (Pressley), born in South Carolina around 1830
Margaret Dudley (Leckey), born in Virginia in 1840
Lucy Atkinson (Voris), born in Indiana in 1855
Isabelle Peoples (Rea), born in North Carolina in 1859
I try not to pay too much attention to national politics. A day of intense exposure to pontifications from Mr. Trump or his minions can spike my blood pressure. The latest vogue for “government efficiency” seems to me to be ill-planned and overblown. I vaguely remember political jockeying among Dad and his sisters long ago when we went for Sunday dinners to Dad’s family place in Laurel. Aunt Anna would tell stories about minor government inefficiencies she’d noticed in her work at the National Gallery of Art. Her high dudgeon at “use it or lose it” vacation days seemed almost comical at the time. I wonder what she’d make of Mr. Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency.” It seems ironic to me that Mr. Trump is using an immigrant from South Africa to spearhead willy-nilly dismantlement of the federal workforce, while at the same time expanding his anti-immigration efforts. Some nurses I know locally have balked at “efficiency” mandates at the Naval hospital. What is a neonatal care nurse supposed to record? “This shift I kept five babies from dying.” How would that rate on some hypothetical efficiency scale? Whyever Mr. Musk thinks he can snap his fingers and remake a whole series of institutions is beyond me. Weird times!
We’ve somewhat settled into an extended family routine here in San Diego. We’re able to dog-sit Jason and Kelly’s dog Ginger when they go on trips. If I have enough energy, I sometimes prune their leggier garden plants when they’re away. If we’re going to be away for a while, they pitch in to check our mail and water our plants. Grandson Parker has turned 18, will finish high school soon, has been accepted at U.C. Berkeley, where he’s looking forward to his first extended experiences as a “young adult.” In the fall, Ada will switch from the private school she and Parker have attended for the past three years to a large public “magnet school” somewhat north of us. They grow up so fast!
Hope you’re having a lovely spring. Please take good care. Lots of virtual hugs!
Love, Jin
