Observation - January 6th, 2021, Wednesday

It is cloudy in Minneapolis, a gray day in America

 

The capital is occupied by terrorists, insurrectionists

 

A coup de etat is being attempted in America

 

Shots fired at the capital

 

A woman rolls past the cameras on a gurney

 

Her face bloodied, gravely injured

 

Terrorists have occupied the floor of the House

 

The Senate chamber is under their control

 

Trump supporters flying Trump flags wearing Trump hats

 

A bunch of brown shirts, chickens come home to roost

 

The mob is fighting the capital police

 

Reports of flash bang grenades

 

The final process of ratifying the presidential election has been upended

 

The clock is ticking, they have five days to complete their work

January 19th

The news is coming out of the television-background noise-chatter.

Presidential politics, and a new relationship with Iran, ancient Persia…warm coffee on my desk in a tall, yellow painted mug. My gray and white, tawny, tabby cat is watching me, as she usually does this time of day; 4:00 am, when I am sitting at my desk; writing. I lean back in my chair, and reach for my hoodie. It is chilly in the room, and I need an extra layer. As the radiators come to life, hissing and spitting steam. The house had just hit the low point in the heating cycle. It is below zero in the January morning. The thermostat told the furnace to turn to turn on; such small devices, with so few moving parts, that you can hardly call them machines. They sense the temperature, and trigger a flow of electrons along a thin copper wire, sending them down into into the basement, to the gas main, where the flow of gas is increased in the giant, asbestos covered octopus. The flame comes to life and the water in the boiler-boils, steam rises up through expanding clanking pipes, whistling through the valves.

Kitty is always interested in the sound of the house warming up. She turns away from me.