On my walk around Paradise Village this morning with Jim Fudge, I couldn't resist taking another picture of the small lily.  Just as I was getting ready to take the picture, an ant darted onto the surface of a petal, and I solved the problem of seeming always to take the same pictures of the same flowers day after day.  I don't remember ever taking a picture of an ant...  The Lily just happened the time to be included.

I had been watching the Senate session in which the Ex-director of the CIA explains what the President before he fired him.  I was glad to hear James B. Comey say President What's His Name lied when he denied asking the FBI director to stop the investigation of Mike Flynn. I especially admired the courage of Jim Comey when the President asked for his loyalty.  'The President said, "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty."  I didn't move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed.  We simply looked at each other in silence.'

Resisting the impulse to rage in writing here is one of the hardest things I have done in a long time.  Resisting the impulse is easier when I watch Jim Comey explain calmly why the President's expectations and actions have been wrong.  I keep wondering how much longer the citizens of our country can put up with the misbehaviors of this president... and then I remember the Nixon years and the misbehaviors of that president... and I remember the resilience of my country and how we got through those bad years with a better understanding of our country and of its leaders.  I had thought we would't see times like those again, but here they are.  We will recover again.

My advice to those who feel like raging is to hold fast to the exhilarating feeling of freedom that comes to us when the weaknesses of our Democracy are laid open for the world to see, and we know the bad times will end and order will be restored.  Perhaps this man who is president will resign. Although I hope it doesn't happen, perhaps he will manage to hang on to the office for four years; but whatever happens, the country will not only survive but will become stronger.  We have a good example of what not to do, and we aren't likely to forget the lessons we are learning.