June Lake, California
In the high Sierra
upon reflection-there will be no winners
thoughts on the professor and the judge later
It's September "protection time." Pinot are some of the last grapes to be harvested as the precious fruit draws a little more California sun. While the winemaker will wait, the grapes are just fine for the birds, deer, or bear right now.
This vintage of Stolo Creekside Pinot grows less than 3 miles from the Pacific. The cool climate, foggy nights and early mornings and the later day sun has primed the crop and it needs protection and maybe a serenade. The music is just across Santa Rosa Creek road.
Yes, there is romance to wine country. Vistas, parties, beauty all around, but there's also hard work. Those protective nets didn't put themselves on so snuggly. Tackling acres of vines gives home garden and yard projects a different slant eh?
no decency
no winners
When and if the judge and the professor trade memories of a distant event there will be no winners, only victims.
Few, very few people know the truth of what happened in a bedroom at a house party all those years ago. The story is out there now, so it must be dealt with.
But it's a shame our culture has come to examine the history before a US Senate Committee. A shame that a nomination to the Supreme Court travels this kind of path.
It is a shame for the families of the judge and the professor.
If the assault occurred it is a shame Professor Ford has to recall it and before the world. If the assault did not occur it is a character assassination.
If Judge Kavanaugh was a sexual aggressor all those years ago it is a shame he does not acknowledge it. If it is true it is a shame that he has lied.
It's a shame that all those years ago sexual aggression, especially fueled by alcohol even happened and even more of a shame that in much of US culture it was "understood" and tacitly accepted. It is a shame that much of our culture has been patriarchal and unfair and unjust.
It is a shame that pain such as this had to be the change agent in our relationships.
It is a shame that this time of change has so hyper charged the relationship and conversations between men and women.
It is a shame that our due process has been hobbled. It's a shame that to question a woman who makes an allegation risks bringing scorn or political peril.
It is a shame that our political system has become the public square for a culture that seems to lack decency.
It is a shame Mitch McConnell blocked a sitting President from appointing a Judge. It is a shame the vile tone he brought into the Senate deliberative process.
It is a shame this nomination has now become about something more than a court appointment. It is a shame that a percentage of citizens already have their minds settled on what happened and who tells the truth. It is a shame that a sexual predator has the authority to appoint a Justice.
It is a shame what has become of us. It is a shame what we have done the ideal of this democratic republic.
No winners. No human winners. Perhaps the system wins if there is an agreement, a settlement on what is true. And if this nation abides that. If. If that is possible.
It is a shame we don't know if we can resolve this with decency. It is a shame decency is no longer a public standard.
See you down the trail.
