remembering...

I listen to the tributes delivered on behalf of Carter, our president from 1977-81. I was pregnant with my first daughter when he handed over the presidency to Regan. As you may recall from my writings here, I didn't know I was legally entitled to vote, so I did not cast a vote for him or anyone else. But despite that busiest handful of years for me (student, clerk, eventually lawyer, teacher, always the family cook, mom, school volunteer, gardener, family photographer -- the usual stuff for a young working parent), I tracked politics. And I watched Carter's popularity plummet and I tried to understand why and honestly, I didn't really get it. It was my first lesson in democracy: I learned that people blame the president for all sorts of things and a vote is often simply a weapon of displeasure.  I hate this in my life ... fill in the blank ... and it's your fault! Vote cast. We move on to someone else.

But here's a funny thing: opinion is fickle. Carter had a popularity ranking of 31% when he was defeated in 1980. But look at the popularity rankings of presidents, as measured in 2024. Here's a list of the ten most beloved, by one reliable source (every source puts Lincoln on the top): 1. Abraham Lincoln (83%), 2. George Washington (76%), 3. JF Kennedy (75%), 4. Theodore Roosevelt (70%), 5. Thomas Jefferson (68%), 6. F.D. Roosevelt (67%), 7. Barack Obama (61%), 8. John Adams (60%), 9. James Madison (60%), and yes.... drum roll here.... 10. Jimmy Carter (58%).

I have nothing to add to the beautiful words of his grandsons, Ford's son, Mondale's son, or the politicians who spoke today. Still, I look at that row of past presidents sitting up front in silence, presumably listening, because I see no earbuds silencing the noise in the National Cathedral for them, and I wonder: what must they be thinking? And I reach out to my awesome grandparent and parent friends via texts and emails, all the while thinking  -- I see in you so much of those traits of a caring person that Carter seemed to embody and pass on to his grandkids!

In watching those children and grandchildren (of Ford, of Mondale, of Carter himself), I smile at this obvious passage of time. I'm not quite Carter's generation, nonetheless, I feel closer in age to past presidents than to their kids! 

People are saying how cool it is that all those politicians who hate each other on the political platform are now sitting together to respect Carter. I suppose. I myself would find it hard to sit next to someone who says and thinks hateful things about others, though I guess if you are celebrating Carter, you'll want to emulate his trait of being a friend to all. In any case, I do think that it is good that we are reminded through the words of those who eulogize a good man what it means to be a good person and what you will be remembered for decades from now. Here's hoping we wont be at 31% among family and friends when we keel over, and if we are, that those numbers will double or even tripe down the line. People seem to let go of grudges once someone is no longer with us. Though not always. No one, simply no one seems to like the long dead president, James Buchanan (no. 1). Or Andrew Johnson (no. 2 in the "most disagreeable" listing). [The third on the list of worsts hasn't yet passed away.]

 

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We have a small warm-up here. Our high is just a couple of degrees below freezing. That's something to celebrate, though initially I remain at home because Ed has done chicken duty once again. He and I are in a holding pattern -- still not fever free, still with some congestion -- his worse than mine. Nonetheless, I'm feeling more spry than, say, two days ago.

Breakfast -- still healthy! -- facing the TV in the kitchen so that I can listen to the Carter remembrances. 

 

And now for today's movement possibilities: I could do 70 loops between the living room and the kitchen once again -- it takes me 30 minutes at a brisk pace to do that -- but did I tell you how incredibly boring that is? Instead, I could do 5 big loops crisscrossing the farmette lands. There are paths that I myself mowed down last fall! 

 

 

They allow for a varied walk and for an appreciation of the beauty of the land even now in the winter season, even without snow. The trees, some fallen, some standing, the old farmstead structures (some seeming to be almost fallen!), the newly planted nut trees and fir trees north of the barn -- all lovely, even now.

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Last night I watched a movie (On Becoming Jane) that loosely traced the little known, little understood love affair that Jane Austen had with Tom Lefroy. The movie tries hard not to give the story a completely dismal ending, but the truth is, Austen's life was neither totally satisfactory nor very long. That her former lover named his daughter after her is little consolation and indeed, perhaps just a little sad -- as if he never got over his profound feelings for her. Should that make her feel happy? (In the movie, Austen claimed to always want to give her written stories more satisfying endings. Is that why we love reading them so much?)

In contrast, many of us, perhaps most of us do get over our first bursting love. The guy I felt such passion for during my adolescence and beyond, eventually flitted over to the occasional dream I'd have, with him front and center, and then, when we met up again decades later, I felt... absolutely nothing. Sucked right out of my heart and soul. And believe me, I had once been totally in love, as you may well know if you've read Like a Swallow!

Ed is still in the sheep shed for the night, so I'm left to my own film selection once more. Should it be Sense and Sensibility, to round up my Austen trilogy? Why not!

With love....