Dear Friend,
I'm home! In 2.5 weeks, I drove from Tennessee to Virginia (twice) and then on to DC, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Pennsylvania before heading home again. Jim and I did the math: in a little over 14 days, I drove over 4000 miles. I literally could have driven from Tennessee to Paris! In addition to EVERYWHERE IN VERMONT (because it's the only state in the union which seems not to have gotten the same capitalist memo as every other state and also because MAPLE CREAMIES), I particularly loved Long Point in Cape Cod, about which Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “A man may stand there and put all America behind him.” I imagine Thoreau understood there might come a time when this felt like a reprieve.
On the first leg of my journey, I reconnected with two of my high school girlfriends, which was lovely beyond measure. One of them, friend, is “your people,” as we joked during our trip. Meaning, her politics are as conservative as mine are liberal. The extraordinary thing about these relationships is that as wildly different as we three are, we can openly discuss our differences. We also talk about issues, except for abortion. “We are in such different places on this issue that I don’t think we can discuss it yet,” my friend said. This is precious to me. She is precious to me. This same friend sends me articles I can’t wait to dive into and points me toward stories I might otherwise miss - but more on that soon. One way or another, we are what’s possible, friend. We give me hope.
This won't be a long letter—I’m still settling back in at home—but I did want to check in long enough to say hello and make a quick and essential confession: A few days ago, I let my guard down and “liked” a post on social media before fact-checking it. I’m guessing you heard about VP candidate JD Vance’s “childless cat ladies” comment, yes? Well, I logged onto Instagram one sleepless night on the road and immediately read a post that quoted his wife as saying, “My husband only meant to insult people who actively choose not to have kids, not people who are trying but are unsuccessful.” I went on to read the outraged comments and got caught up in the backlash for a few minutes, hitting the “like” button before coming to my senses. (We’ll blame this lapse on fatigue.) But of course, I knew better and immediately snapped out of it. One minute of research revealed that Usha Vance did not, in fact, say those words at all. In the Fox News interview, she suggested that folks should consider J.D's (supposed) point that it was “really hard to be a parent in this country.” She also went on to say that there are many other reasons why people choose not to have children and that many of those reasons “are very good.”
In truth, I think Usha Vance has her work cut out for her if her job will be explaining away her husband’s daft and offensive comments on the campaign trail, but we can save that conversation for another day. The important thing here is that we - beginning with me - must be vigilant about checking our sources. I try to be vigilant about checking all sources, quotes, and stories, much less ones I find on social media, but obviously, I'm not always on my game. I had a serious lapse and need you to help hold me accountable.
This is more important than ever because we no longer find ourselves on equally disingenuous playing fields. U.S. Politics has always been ugly, but outright lies have never been weaponized in this country to the degree they are now. We must challenge this assault at every opportunity. We can't afford to throw up our hands and proclaim that we can’t trust anyone anymore. We cannot be convinced that trustworthy sources no longer exist. (They do, though we must not rely on mainstream or social media.) In short, we must not accept life in post-truth America, even as we recognize that it has arrived. Instead, we will hold ourselves to exceedingly high standards, do our homework, check each other, and remember that for all our good intentions we will make mistakes, have lapses, and begin again. Always, we begin again.
It’s an ongoing process. I’ll help you if you help me, ok?
Have a good night, friend. Off to cook dinner! I'm making celery soup, which I alone am excited about. My plan to win the fam over with butter and potatoes in addition to celery, however, so not to worry. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Sara
PS. I saw a seal at Long Point! (Didn't get a good photo, sadly.)
Photos from our trip:
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