Another year, another march

Another year, another women's march and this time around we didn't have to leave Sunnyside under the cover of darkness to meet in a spooky parking lot in Astoria for a 5 hour bus ride to DC. SO. MUCH. EASIER. And yes, some of the spirit that united us in that effort was lost, but really it was still fun to get a few of the local lady activists to come out for a power walk through the streets of Manhattan. Even this guy that photo bombed us looked happy. Of course, we aren't protesting nice things...Trump's assault on our Constitution and public institutions is no joke as much as I wanted to dismiss him initially. He's still president and he's still fucking things up on a daily basis. It's almost unbelievable how much damage he's done in one year, including this latest government shutdown which he's in jeopardy of having to own. Watching the Democrats fawn all over themselves trying to weakly stand up to it all is just as bad unfortunately. But what can I do? The midterms are still months away and most weeks I'm still not convinced we'll be victorious in them. So for now we stay focused. We keep taking to the streets. We keep sharing and spreading the truth in an era of so much misinformation and outright lies. And thanks to Samarra on graphics and Julie on posters, we had some pretty kickass signage to take with us.

Since Nacho ended up with a trip the day before, Amanda offered to have Max watch all four kids. And I was more than happy to take her up on it. The girls got a play date and we got to march and chant kid-free while navigating the chaos of a large gathering in the city. Getting off the train at Times Square was a bit hectic since we couldn't get on any of the uptown trains on the 1/2/3 line. The platform was a mess and trains were leaving without us so we jumped ship and took to 8th Ave to see if we could walk up.  Ellery suggested we hop on an uptown bus which worked for a few blocks until we had to abandon that too because of the march diversion. After a bit of confusion, we got to enter the route on 64th as it fed into Central Park West.  That one block took us about an hour to make it down, but we eventually got to turn onto the main route and into the glorious sunshine. The temps were almost 50F but in the shade it definitely still had a winter chill.  After that, we didn't waste much time making our way down the path towards Central Park South. Passing by Trump Tower at Columbus Circle prompted lots of boos and flipped fingers and I was happy to partake. The march this year felt less...well, everything. I wasn't as emotional or angry or fired up. I just wanted to be there. To be seen again and to be part of this huge crowd. So I went and I felt like it was important but maybe just for me. Afterwards, most of our group was up for grabbing lunch back in the hood so I texted Anne at the Lowery and we made our way over to be greeted with her warm hospitality. Love that place and love that it has been such a great spot for some of our best meet ups. After such a big day, I really just wanted to chill out at home and that's what I did. The girls were back from their playdate at the Lefers and so we made an evening in more fun with a little relax time on my bed. I love these girls. Even when they annoy each other and me. I hope that some of the things I care about will become their passions. And I pray they have better leadership as they grow. We need to do better for them.