Well, you may have noticed I have not posted a weekend blog since the elections. More by necessity; I’ve been working and Scouting since then. More today, but it’s a boring old committee meeting in a few hours down at Base Camp.


But I do want to reflect on the decisions made by a majority of Americans to end the country’s experiment. In the angry days following the election, I worked myself into a violent, towering rage – the kind where crimes might have been committed had I been poked in the wrong direction.

I am off that particular pinnacle now, but remain camped on the mountain near “Unfocused Anger Ridge.”

In the days following the cataclysm, I had many ideas about things to write. I scribbled some down, and just to give you my thought process – here are my notes verbatim.

#1 Beanie. Scouts vs. Masons. What to do?
#2 What they voted for – what they voted against.
#3 Military vote – what are they loyal to? Would they do what they must? (I actually wrote this blog for AAV.)
#4 All the parts are there. Enabling Acts, Rubber Stamp Reichstag, etc.
#5 No more joy. Is it OK to listen to music or enjoy life anymore?

I know, that’s a lot of things to consider. I’ll review the two easiest ones.

#5. For days afterwards, I didn’t listen to anything. I drove my bus in sullen silence. Eventually, I turned on some background music, but it was more ambient or droning type of things. I have gone back to my regular listening habits since then. George W. Bush took music away from me long ago; I felt it was wrong to listen to anything when there was work to be done. Trump isn’t going to do that this time.

#2. There have been many lists out there about all the things Ms. Harris would have done with her administration. These have all been voted against. What was voted for? White skin and a penis. That is all.

#4. This is more alarming. I will eventually write a full dissertation on this one. But know this – I was at my Lodge meeting this past week. Our chaplain is an actual military historian, and he is deeply concerned with the direction the country is taking. I made the observation that all the parts are there, and asked; “what’s next”. He replied; “The fire.” He presumes that Trump will use the border crisis as a pretext to declare a National Emergency, where he will Federalize the National Guard, and there will be no going back after that.

But it is that #1 that is still giving me pause. In the ragey, hateful, days after the election, I learned that a dear friend voted for Trump. She and her husband are military, and that’s what prompted blog #3 in my list above. She posted on FB that she proudly voted for him, but the post generated enough backlash that she eventually took it down. Needless to say, I was outraged. I swore I’d cut her off at the knees – after all, I don’t give any members of my family any slack (See: Brother Trisec) so why should she be any different?

But she is.

Two years ago, Bean’s husband got transferred to Alaska. Like all military families, they dutifully followed Uncle Sam’s orders and uprooted their lives and moved 6,000 miles away. Nobody had a good time, and the transfer ended badly.

During those hard times, I was on the phone with her about every ten days or so; keeping that link to home alive, and just checking up as a friendly voice back in Boston. I was also looking out for their son, who like many military “brats” has a disconnected and disjointed childhood, no continuity with friends, schools, or home.

Well, they eventually came back home, and Beanie’s husband has decided to retire from active duty, so they’ll be able to call Boston home for as long as they like. Literally the week before the election, I arranged a visitation with a local Scout Troop in the city where they live, and their son took to it immediately.

Then came the election, and the boastful post.

I was ready to go nuclear…but strangely, calmer heads prevailed.

In the weeks since, I have decided to take the high road. You know why? Because I’m a Scout. Because I’m a Mason. Because I try to be a decent person. I have lived my life by many principles that I swore an oath to.

A Scout is Friendly, A Scout is Kind, and many more. Masonically – we are all united in friendship and brotherly love, and as it says in one of our rituals, “harmony being the strength and support of all institutions, more especially this of ours.”

My friends are not a Masonic family, but that institution of ours refers specifically to Old Town Trolley. Even though we fragmented this year, the Dispatchers remain a tight-knit group. We still have a group chat, and I talk to my old companions nearly every week. While my own mental health and family life have recovered, I feel like I still bear the scars of tourism. It remains a very strong bond.

Which is why I choose not to let Donald Trump destroy my relationship with someone I truly care about, as well as her entire family. Trump may destroy everything he touches, but not this time.

If we as Democrats, if we as Human Beings, are unable to maintain relationships during these trying times, then I daresay the Trumpian Cabal has already won, and there is nothing in our power that will be able to stop them if we give up and turn our backs on those that are misguided.

Now, more than ever, compassion and civility are what is needed. If we can’t do that – then we cannot expect them to.