NAKED TRUTHS

    It is one of those coincidences or ironies of life. This replica knock off of David by Michelangelo has been recently "liberated." 
   It stands in the court yard of Cambria's renown Pewter Plough Playhouse, home to the Harmony Cafe. When Chef Giovanni began serving patrons alfresco, David's midsection was wrapped in the Ivy. We were never sure why such a travesty was permitted. Was there a morality vigilante operating as a gardener-or non-gardener?
   It seems unlikely that most men would feel threatened by a
comparison to that portion of the anatomy that was concealed.  However I will go on record and acknowledge envy of those six pack abs-but they were not covered.
   As mysteriously as the modesty ivy appeared, it has been pruned and David stands before the world as Michelangelo intended. And all of this as the #metoo revelations have begun shaking bad men from high places.

     There is of course still one prominent and powerful accused serial predator and accoster who has been untouched, so far. 

    trump has been rebuffed by voters even in his base states, reproached by powerful men and women and accused, again, by many victims but thus far there has been no serious action to investigate the claims or hold him accountable. 

     It seems there will be a breaking point for the serial liar and bragger. His approval rating is as low as any American President. Even some who had begrudgingly supported him are starting to shed the slime pit and reach for traditional American political ground.  

    The image above is for those of you who feel the need for a shower whenever you think of the president.

    The trouble is, he's leaving a legacy.

      This time of year one can't help but think about children and in turn, the life we are presenting to them.  

       I was particularly touched the other evening as a long time dear friend, a tough and realistic professional women who raised a son and step-daughter and is not an overly sentimental person, teared up as she spoke of the president and his behavior as being seen and read by millions of boys and girls of impressionable age. Ponder that for moment, if you have not already.

       He mocks, brags, derides, lies, is proud of not reading, practices no physical fitness and is a pig. Until he does us a favor and departs or is thrown out of office we must explain and account the likes of him. 

       When our granddaughter is around and when nature has it's way, I refer to that as trumping her diaper. Her mother and grandmother don't approve and don't want me to "confuse" her, but I know in a couple of years she will know exactly what "poppy" meant.

        I especially worry about boys and teen males who have enough trouble finding good mentors and role models. When the president behaves as he does, he is poisoning the future.

       The revelations and fall of men who behaved as creeps is a good thing for society.  It would be an even more effective antidote if the predator in chief were held accountable.

        Something now to bookend this post. They are not the current royalty of Beyonce and Jay Z, nor even Harry and Meghan, but when the King of England, Edward fell in love with Wallis Simpson it was not only a scandal, but created a constitutional crisis. Of course he abdicated and the dashing couple were known as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

       The abdication was in 1936, before I was born, but the Duke and Duchess were big conversation in my childhood in the early 50's.  My grandmother and her sisters where English and emigrated as young women. I spent a lot of time with them-my widowed Nannie and her sisters and their husbands including 2 Scots and a Scots-Irish Uncle, plus the Welsh widower of one of the sisters. They shared a three story home, a warren of apt's and rooms and it was very much like a UK boarding house-all related. 

      When I was dressed, they made sure I was "turned out" like a gentleman-the Duke of Windsor being the role model. But they were divided about the abdication and about Wallis Simpson.

     I contrast those sometime spirited discussions-Maggie Smith style-about propriety with what kids today are seeing and hearing. I can't help but think we are spiraling down.

      Maybe this Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa the jolly elf  will bring us civility, decency and class. We've already got a chunk of coal in the White House, well maybe it's not coal yet but the White House has been trumped. 

    See you down the trail

NUMB

   The Sierras are their domain and they roam as they wish.

    This is a young bear and not fully grown. He or she was rooting for a mid morning snack about 10 foot off the trail.

   We encroach into their wilderness with our cleverness.

   Still nature is the dominant component of the equation.

    Normally good spirited and cheerful, Californians have been understandably heavy hearted the last two weeks.

     The horror and fiery devastation has been cut into our psyche. We all have friends in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and points north or south. We've read the heartbreaking accounts of loss of life and destruction of homes, businesses and life dreams. The loss seems incalculable and personal.

     I was particularly taken by what Thomas Fuller, the San Francisco Bureau chief of the New York Times wrote. 

      

From the NY Times CALIFORNIA TODAY

Thomas Fuller, the San Francisco bureau chief for The New York Times, describes his experience covering the fires in Northern California.

I keep a satellite phone in the trunk of my car, the same one I used to cover disasters and insurgencies in places like Myanmar and Nepal. But I never thought I would need it in Napa Valley, not for a wildfire anyway.

During a week spent covering the fires in Northern California, I fell back on my training as a foreign correspondent: finding the satellite on the smoky horizon, locking in the phone’s antenna and dictating paragraphs to patient editors.

But this was not a foreign land. It was my own country, and the conveniences that we take for granted had collapsed. Traffic lights went black and commerce shut down.

Streets that were normally filled with tourists in the charming towns of wine country were deserted except for crews of exhausted firefighters, sheriff’s deputies and a few reporters. In the evacuation zones, rows of destroyed houses made it feel like a country at war, emptied of its civilian population.

Small fires seemed to pop up everywhere. As I raced down narrow country roads to meet deadlines, I caught glimpses of smoldering embers on tree stumps a few feet away. I felt vulnerable while driving through tunnels of vegetation — it would be easy to be surrounded by fire and trapped.

Everything smelled of smoke: my clothes, my car, my bag, my fingers.

I feel enormously grateful to the dozens of people who took the time to articulate their grieving, some while standing in the rubble of their homes. The fires stripped away their privacy. Their kitchens, their exercise equipment, their hobbies — their lives — were in cinders at our feet.

I think back to meeting Lisa Layman, her azure eyes staring at the ashes of her home at Coffey Park in Santa Rosa. She was recovering from cancer and recently had a kidney removed. The night before, she had escaped with her Bible and a scrapbook of her son’s early years. That is all she had.

It is a reporter’s job to bring empathy to disasters like this. But I wondered how I could ever comprehend the magnitude of her loss.

  There were all too many times when my assignments 

put me at locations of devastation-tornados, floods, fires, explosions, hazardous waste derailing or leaks when I asked myself the same question. This week millions of Californians are mulling such.

#metoo

   I'm not a fan of "piling on" when someone is down, but the #metoo response in the wake of Harvey Weinstein being taken down is healthy. 

    Though sadly delayed, by years, the news finally exposed Weinstein's loutish behavior. His fall from power and influence is stunning and appropriate. We are still waiting for justice for those women who donald trump sexually assaulted. We can hope another fall is in order.

    See you down the trail

CALMING THE UNSETTLED

      It seems everyone is fatigued by the crisis a moment energy that emanates from Trumps Washington. During the foreign trip a few observers noted it almost seemed normal. Almost. There were those little quirks; Melania flipping away the donald's hand, his shoving a NATO minister out of the way to mug for the camera, the Pope's message about climate change, insulting comments about Germans-but they were oh so mild compared to the norm.
      The relative normalcy of the trip gets blown away like jet blasts from Air Force One when the trump show returns to DC. 
       The Russian intrigue did not disappear. Now son in law Kushner is under investigatory focus and there remains the president's acknowledgment he tried to obstruct an investigation. It is incredible, fast, furious, unprecedented but it is destructive not only to our tradition and pending history  but also to our mental health. It is as though an amphetamine and psychotropic have been mixed and put into our food supply. We are racing full blast through a house of torture. And we remember, kids are watching. Impressions are being made. The trump legacy is already toxic.

when will it stop?

 Photo by Joe Johnston The Tribune-San Luis Obispo 

   This is the newest problem on the legendary Pacific Coast Highway and no one knows how to fix it. The Mud Creek slide has changed the Pacific coast line as mountain continues to slide into the ocean, obliterating the highway. This is less than an hour north of our home and a reason we, like many others, have been denied access to some of our favorite hiking trails and spots in the Big Sur area.  

    This week more than a million tons of mountain slid over the road. There are 4 slide areas in a quarter mile and we are told springs also feed the motion. It is perplexing. We wait for it to stop.

prevailing

     Mark Wellman's photo from the Yosemite Conservancy has special appeal right now. The timeless beauty and power of the Sierra, the remarkable interaction of human and mountain, and the spirit of adventure and achievement are a tonic for those malady's and unsettling troubles of our day.

I find great peace in the Sierras, an abiding tranquility and perspective on the transitory nature of human endeavor and foibles. 

     

    In time trump will be gone, the body politic may scar but it will heal, that majestic Pacific Coast Highway will be re-engineered, re-imagined, and the mountains and the sea will survive long beyond our generations. The mountains will be steadfast and the pacific will continue to sing the song of this planet. Comfort in these thoughts and the boundless arc of the star nations helps me put the present human mania in focus. Indeed we are like mists in time, vapors. But we dream and hope. 

    See you down the trail.  

   

Waiting and Take a Guess

what is this?

   In keeping with the confusion of these times we begin with a game. Can you tell us what is the image pictured above?

   There have been no edit tricks, what you see is an unedited photo.

    As you keen your eye and wrack your brain you will receive a couple of minutes of reprieve from our contemporary absurdity.

wistful

    Spring comes to central California with color.

the o'really? factor

     Reigning Fox pompous star Bill O'reilly got some bad news as a couple of blue chip advertisers dropped him. The New York Times discovered that 5 women brought sexual harassment charges against the TV yacking head. 

     Reportedly the women received $13 million to go away. O'Reilly is not the first at the conservative propaganda mill, the founder of Fox News was thrown overboard when his sexual harassment problems became epidemic.

life imitates art?

    More than a few people have seen scruff master and  zealot/ideologue Steve Bannon in the Brett O'Keefe character in season 6 of Homeland.

    The O'Keefe character is an alt-right conspiracy wacko who holds forth in new media. O'Keef is played by character actor Jake Weber. Weber is semi famous because as an 8 year old he smuggled cocaine into Mick and Bianca Jagger's wedding. Weber's father was one of Keith Richard's and Jaggers drug suppliers. Weber does a good job with the Bannonesque slob.

    The real scene stealer this season is Rupert Friend who portrays the damaged CIA agent Peter Quinn. Friend's work as a stroke victim has been masterful and riveting. 

what about the peanut gallery?

    How is it all going to end for this looney tunes administration?

     Heaven only knows where the Russian trail may lead but it's become consuming. The Senate and FBI probes will be revealing. Rep. Devon Nunes has compromised the integrity of the House investigation. It's another sideshow.

     The Trump budget may be its own road to a larger Trump Slump. Some of those "ignored" and disaffected who voted for Trump are wising up. His budget proposal is a slap in their face. Vital programs in low income and rural areas and those hit with large job loss would lose programs and subsidies targeted to help economic recovery. The Trump White House is on the road to joining the Taj Mahal, Trump Airlines, Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Vodka and the other failed business ventures. The great deal maker huh?

      Some still hold out hope that Ivanka will be a good influence on daddy, but her security clearance and office in the White House is a flap. Is she part of the business oversight, or is she part of the government? How can she have clearance and an office and not be an employee? These related questions are yet one more distraction.

      The bozos are on the romp. 

down these trails...

faces of big sur

     Big Sur remains cut off and isolated though Cal Trans and state officials are working to repair slides, closures and to replace the Pfeiffer bridge. 
     Periodically we are accessing the archive to present scenes many await seeing in person again. Today, hiking trails.

    

       Before you click on, take a guess at what is the first frame in today's post and leave it below.  Thanks

       See you down the trail.

WHEN TRUTH IS ON THE WIND

    Fixated on a kite in the breeze we can often forget about the person pulling the strings, down below.

     It's like a puppet master. Maybe it's a bit like Washington. While we are rightly fixated on the Russian intrigues look what's happening over here-in the House.

    Perhaps you have seen a list of House Resolutions that have been introduced-reminding you in the process that Republicans who introduced these pieces of legislation, control the House, Senate and White House.

     There are bills to :

• terminate the Environmental Protection Agency
• terminate the Department of Education
• defund Planned Parenthood 
• criminalize abortion
• provide vouchers for public education
• repeal the Affordable Care Act
• National Right to Work Law-getting rid of unions
• mobilize against sanctuary cities
• repeal wildlife protection

    At the risk of being pedantic, it's like this--

  teaching a child to never turn their back on the ocean-you just never know.

  circus trumpus!

   One of the great headlines about Attorney General Jefferson Sessions

 IF SESSIONS HAD NOTHING TO HIDE THEN 

WHY DID HE HIDE IT?

     I'm curious to know why he lied, under oath? I also want to know what his fellow Senators are going to do about it?

      If a Democrat would have done this, Fox News, Republicans and Conservatives would all be in a cardiac wing or cleaning their brains off the stratosphere. That's only a toe in this swamp.

how this administration resembles 
a trash dumpster

• Russians hacked and intruded into the American electoral system
• The web of contacts of the Trump administration with the Russian government of Putin is both weird and wide
• Trump expresses fondness of Putin, has done business with Russians and is opposed to justified sanctions against the Russians
• The President, his former national security advisor, attorney general, former campaign manager, son-in-law adviser and others have all demonstrated an inability to tell the truth about their Russian connections
• The President ordered a raid in Yemen despite intelligence it was not a good idea 
• When the raid ended in the death of an American and the loss of expensive equipment he called it a success
• When the military and intelligence said the raid failed to get good intelligence Trump blamed the Generals
• Every President has always accepted blame for a failed operation except Trump
• Reich minister Bannon is at war with Secretary of State Tillerson and the Trump children/advisers Ivanka and Kushner
• Completely without documentation Trump says his phones were tapped by the Obama administration

russia house

   There are many things to know about the Russian-Trump connection. Investigations are underway and this scandal in the new administration will not go away. Will it bring down this regime? Too early to know. But in the short run Americans deserve to know why all the contact and what were they talking about? 

     Why did the Trump organization have so many contacts with the Russians? It is without precedent-but everything about this gang of ideologues, amateurs, egoists, nationalists and white supremacists is without precedent. 

     Diverting attention and shouting lies, as they have and will do, won't stop the  professionals who are digging deeply into the Trump-Putin love fest. 

     There's never been an administration so troubled and scandal ridden, even before the boxes are unpacked.

republican ethic/morality

    Americans are waiting for more Republicans to acknowledge the President and his team are either corrupt, morons, or both but who got lucky with unhappy people and with those who truly are deplorable. 

    The trumpistas have already begun to screw the unhappy Americans, but Republicans could build an infrastructure and jobs creation program and do those people, and themselves, some good. They could, if they wished to. 
    There seems nothing to do with the true deplorables except to send them back to their racist, bigoted undrained swamps or they could take that group of haters and make them a brigade to send to Syria.

    In the meantime Rand Paul almost gets arrested for demanding that fellow republicans show him a copy of the so called new health care plan. Surely they have one. How many hundred times did House Republicans try to overturn the ACA? 

    So while the President is demonstrating ways he can be a maniac his party is starting to bludgeon itself and stumble over opportunity to do something except take pot shots. A couple of Senators have shown an interest in taking on the crazy Trump. 
    The House is another matter. Paul Ryan is looking for a spine. Maybe the far right wing can get their bearings by opening another Benghazi probe. Or go after Hillary's e-mails again. Or just maybe they could show a little of that vitriol and vigor by investigating the failed Yemen raid, or the Russian hack of the election or the lying Attorney General, or Mike Pence's Hillary disease-the e-mail indiscretions when he was governor, or the GOP could go after the lying...well you get the point....

trump land the movie

    I hope we all live long enough to see the movie and to read the books about this era. Can't you just imagine how writers and historians will play this. 

   Maybe in a movie those of you who voted for Trump will be able to find a good support group to help you get over it. Yes, you were fed up or ignored or unhappy but look what you did. It's like a "last call romance." You were in a bar for too long had too much to drink, and went home with someone only to wake up the next morning in a junk yard bed sleeping with rats and a goat. Your clothes were gone except your Make America Great Again shirt, that had been translated into Russian.

     By the way Republicans, you still have time to save your own reputations for the books, movies and real history. Mitch McConnell, even you could be admired if maybe you could convince the Donald to take you by the hand and just dance off the top of the Washington monument. Now is that a movie ending? Poor taste? How can you tell anymore? 

   See you down the trail.

EXTRAORDINARY

    Perplexing matters are just ahead but first we marvel. 

    You are looking at snow, an extraordinarily uncommon sight here on California's central coast.

    In northern San Luis Obispo County the Santa Lucia mountains run from about 1,700 to 3,700 feet though they get taller as they climb toward Big Sur. We are a Mediterranean climate and snow is rare.

     By standards practically anywhere else this is not a lot of snow and they pale as snow capped peaks, but they were a shock to the system as I gazed out of the window while sipping coffee. 

     The jolt was more incongruous since these are the scenes we've been viewing since the rain has abated.

     Bee boxes so they and the birds can do their spring magic.

      Grazing slopes with an abundance of grazing material.

    The snow was gone by late morning and a warming trend is expected.

OOPS

      Who to feel the most sorry for-The Moonlight crew, La La Land's happy and celebrating crowd or Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway?

       Oscar history there. You can imagine the conversation over the production crews ear phones, or in the network offices, or the ATAS office. What a header and plummet of emotion on one hand and bizarre ascension to the top on the other. Maybe the Russians hacked something!

Stooge Patrol

      Donald Trump and his minions should know their obituaries will be written by journalists. 

      The game the White House is playing with restricting access is foolish. But it is also the sort of thing dictators, strong men thugs and Russians do. Combined with his childish "fake news" retorts and his labeling the free press an "enemy of the people" it is also a jab in the eye of a free and open democratic republic. As we have noted "enemy of the people" is an old Russian communist tool designed to silence free thought. 

      Over the weekend I was published on the New York Times on line site raising the concern that Trump treats his followers as a movement and they respond as such, getting further out of the mainstream of American political behavior and history. They disregard the truth, are willingly mesmerized by a con man and ignore the unprecedented amateurism, missteps and blunders. One could question if they and Trump are not the true "enemies of the people."

    This photo of Stephen Miller has been discussed and dissected for several days now. The photo is real, but there is disagreement about whether he is throwing the white power salute sign or is simply fiddling with his coat while doing a television interview. 

      People who know him say he's off the deep end and has been for years. They sight his odd political thoughts while in college and his behavior since. His recent statements have convinced many he's a fascist and white nationalist. He's part of the Bannon gang. What do you think?

     See you down the trail.

Legitimacy?

    The scope of the American divide was clarified in California when Governor Jerry Brown defied the "alternative fact" reality of the Trump regime. It also cast new light on the questionable legitimacy of the new presidency.

    Noting California is the sixth most powerful economy in the world he said this state "is not turning back now, not ever."   He called for courage and persistence as California continues to work on climate change, health care and assistance to emigres.

    "We have heard the blatant attacks on science. Familiar signposts of our democracy-truth, civility, working together-have been obscured or swept aside," the Governor said.
     He quoted the Woody Guthrie anthem, This Land is Your Land including an oft deleted verse,
       "Nobody living can ever stop me,
        As I go walking the freedom highway;
        Nobody living can ever make me turn back
        This land was made for you and me."

alternative legitimacy 

       A fact Kellyanne Conway or her boss can not deny is the minority status of the regime. Yes he was elected by the electoral college as is legal, but it is also true he was clobbered in the popular vote and it is true he was rejected by establishment Republicans. But the real factor as to his legitimacy or lack of it, is his disconnect between facts and the lies he spews. As he has done historically he denies reality. Many, if not all, of his followers believe him. They live in a fantasy land, constructed by deceit and ignorance.

        Most of his followers think unemployment rose under the Obama White House. It did not. There has been record job growth. He paints the bleak picture of America gripped by crime and carnage. Crime rates have dropped dramatically, despite the tragic mass shootings empowered by the NRA and its belligerent disregard of America. The economy is not in ruin, it has been on a record setting period of growth, following the near depression. There are more disconnects. In fact the lies are well reported but his supporters are disconnected from truth, they believe their liar in chief.

        Will those who supported him come back to reality? The man now refuses to release his tax returns though he promised to. He is moderating his hardline on deporting illegals. He railed at Goldman Sachs and used Hillary Clinton's connection to the firm as proof of her corruption. He has now designated 5 Goldman Sachs alumni as key members of his team.

        His team includes predatory lenders, crooks who made the life of his "ignored" supporters a hell.  There is the ever charming Conway who claims there are "alternative facts." Here's one, she was reportedly in a fist fight at one of the inaugural balls. How's that for class?  It appears his press spokesman Sean Spicer has saved his job, for the time being. After the weekend tantrum his first regular briefing was more civil and traditional though he too had trouble with facts. He refused too acknowledge that unemployment, as reported by his federal regime, is at a low of 4.7. Spicer said Trump doesn't look at statistics. 

      Perhaps the most festering problem is his bosses continued conflict of interest. What is at the core? There are credible sources who suggest that Trump is mentally ill, in the grips of a narcissism so powerful that he really doesn't know the truth or in his predatory mind doesn't think it applies to him. As he has said a few times he is next to God in ability. The ego maniac in chief may well be so far out of touch he is in fact a danger and at least illegitimate.  How many times can you lie at the rate he does and not be too sick to hold office?  

      The lies and disconnects are warning signs. Yet we live in the "post-truth" world where your opinion matters as much as the truth or facts. I used to think the dire pronouncements about what catastrophe he could bring were over started. Not now, now that so many devotees of the vulgarian refuse to believe the truth. He's perfect for the so called freedom caucus who want to destroy the government. He and they are a disease in the American body.

fresh and healthy

    

   

        Aside from the obvious success of California's economy and a Governor, respected by Republicans and beloved by Democrats the other good news is the ending of the 5 year drought.

     Growing up in Indiana I was used to hard rains, something I had not seen here on the California central coast until this year.

   In five days we had 6 inches of rain in our Phillippi gauge on the ridge. Our total for the year is almost 27 inches. In some places there is evidence of the saturation.

     As we move forward in these uncertain times I can't help but wish a man with the judgement, balance, vision, experience, governing skill, bi-partisan support and character of Jerry Brown was leading this nation. For those of you majority of Americans who worry about the miscreant freak who sits in the oval office, know this western Republic will have your back.

    See you down the trail. 

You Need to Pay Attention

the redhot poker or torch lily in our back garden

    

     Winter's face on the California central coast is a far cry from the snow, ice, sheets of lead gray skies and cold rain of my native Indiana. 

      Here nature adorns itself with festive color and blooms and cattle birth new calves. A few blogger friends have posted scenes of snow recently and while I enjoy the pictures, I'm pleased to no longer shovel, scrap or drive in it. I've become a weather wimp.

     As much as I've tried to ignore it, the color of this poker stirs a thought about the president-elect.

      Mr Trump you've got to pay attention and start attending or reading the daily intelligence briefings that are available to you. You are dealing with higher stakes than a real estate project. This is not reality television, it is the real world. It is a far cry more complicated, complex, historical and dangerous than anything you've ever wrapped your mind around. If you can Tweet all night about Alec Baldwin, you can listen to your director of national intelligence. You might learn something. Actually you need to learn, a lot. Grow up!

did the russians elect our president?

       While it sounds like the yarn of a le Carre', Ludlum, Clancy, Silva, Knebel or some other espionage writer there is now serious question about how the Russians may have engineered Trump's election. The CIA has briefed Congress. The administration now ponders how to respond to this historic violation of our democratic republic.  Maybe that's a reason the trumpster has taken only 3 intel briefings in over a month. You've got to pay attention. We all do. So should the electors on the electoral college.This is unexplored territory.

a real hero

NASA Photo 1962

   We lost a true American leader and hero with the passing of 95 year old John Glenn. The photo was taken aboard the recovery ship after Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth.

    On February 20, 1962 Owen Fisher, biology teacher and football and track coach turned on a radio in our science lab classroom and said, "today we are going to listen to history." Glenn's flight in Friendship 7 was not a sure thing. The success made us proud.

    He was already a decorated hero, a marine pilot who flew missions in World War II and Korea. A democrat he was elected to the US Senate in 1974 and served until 1999. In 98 he became the oldest American to fly in space when he returned aboard the shuttle Discovery. 

    The President elect called him a "great American hero."

It is hard to imagine two men more different in skill, courage, temperament, service and character.

    See you down the trail.

SLO Vibes and A Time to "Know"

     The annual Monarch migration gets us moving south to Pismo Beach.

    We were lucky to spot a couple of the beauties in individual profiles.

   A zoom catches them in clusters.

    Spotting scopes provide a close up look.

 Photo through scope by Katherine Cochrun

   After the butterfly viewing the beach is a great stop.

   A look in at Avila is always a great scene

    As is picturesque Mission Plaza in San Luis Obispo

   Spotted in downtown SLO, a new experience in barber shops.

quieting the disquieting 

     The President-elect is getting positive response to his interview on CBS's 60 Minutes. Gone was the bombast and shrill and in its place was a subdued and even more pensive man.

     He is backing away from several things he preached on the campaign trail. He reflected on the good chemistry he and President Obama established, was emphatic in saying he "did not want to hurt" Hillary Clinton, acknowledged his part of a nasty campaign and said his "life has changed" and is now about something "more important than anything he has done" before.

     On hearing reports of incidents inspired by things he said he looked into the camera directly and told his supporters to stop it. But he's drawing severe criticism for appointing his campaign executive Steve Bannon to be an advisor. Bannon is the mogul at Breitbart, the right wing source of white supremacist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic and hate articles. It is a cluster point for the worst of the domestic terror groups.

     Teachers and principals in several schools across the country report incidents since last Tuesday. A 10 year old girl was grabbed on the vagina by a boy who said he could do it "because the president did." In Royal Oak Michigan middle school students began chanting "Build a Wall, Build a Wall."

In Woodland Hills California a Muslim girl's head scarf was ripped off by a boy who called her a "towel head" and said she should be deported. White students called black students "cotton pickers." There has been rash of similar reports coast to coast.

An Episcopal Church in Brown County Indiana

 vandalized this weekend

a baseball diamond in Wellsville New York

vandalized this week

     Horrible things were said in the last year and some of his comments drew alt right extremists out of the shadows. He can't take back the irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric but in the 60 Minutes interview it seemed he was sincere in telling those responsible for the reprehensible incidents to knock it off. The Bannon appointment is a kind of political payoff, but it was a bad move and seems in defiance to his promise to govern for all.

     He told 60 Minutes those thousands who have taken to the streets to protest his election should give him a chance. He said they don't really "know him."

     We are about to learn a lot more and so is he.

     See you down the trail.