A Long Way Home

I’ve been trail walking earlier in the day since the general election. To make it a better form of exercise, I pick up the pace to get my heartbeats per minute elevated enough to do some good. I don’t know what I will do for exercise once the snow flies and I’ve shoveled the driveway. If autumn continues the way it has been during the hottest year in recorded history, I may not have to worry about it as we could well skip winter.

On Saturday I made a stew with plant protein meatballs. I found some old carrots and celery in the vegetable drawer and wanted to use them up. After peeling the carrots and cutting them into big chunks, they went into the Dutch oven with the chopped celery. I added the rest of the small-sized garden onions, and peeled and halved a pound of garden potatoes. I covered everything with vegetable broth and seasoned with bay leaves, salt, pepper, oregano, dried parsley, and powdered garlic. Once the root vegetables were fork tender, I made a slurry of corn starch and vegetable broth to thicken the stew. Toward the end, I added the meatballs and a couple handfuls of green peas. It came together well. With my spouse away from home, there will be leftovers for days. The flavor reminded me of a dish Mother made using beef. I took that memory into the next day and made rice over which to ladle leftover stew for lunch. It wasn’t her cooking, yet her presence was strong that day.

It seems doubtful I will reconcile with the Iowa Democratic Party. Donald Trump grew his support in the most liberal county in Iowa from 21,044 in 2016, to 22,925 in 2020 to 26,069 in 2024 or a total of 23.9 percent growth during the eight years. Democrats here walloped Trump with Clinton getting 50,200 votes in 2016, Biden 59,177 in 2020 and Harris 58,772 last week. The strong Johnson County performance this year did not win the election in the First Congressional District. Winning there takes gains in the rural vote which wasn’t there in sufficient numbers. Trump increased his winning margin in Iowa overall. We knew we had to do better than this after the results in 2020. Everyone I knew, including me, was doing work to get Democrats elected. The electorate was not receptive to the Democratic presidential candidate this year or since Obama won in 2012. Iowa certainly is Trump country today. More’s the pity.

I will continue to take walks along the state park trail. I will continue to cook a lot of our family dinners. I will work more on my physical and mental health, and overall wellness. As a septuagenarian, I realize there are only so many years left. There is not enough time to spend on activities that don’t produce needed results. For now, and maybe permanently, politics can take a holiday.

The Republicans I know are, for the most part, good people. Misinformed, yet the kind that will help a neighbor or contribute to community projects. There is some racism and misogyny as there has always been locally and in American society more generally. Any improvements I make in my politics will be close to home, among people I know well, and despite our differences.

There is no going back to what was. Today, it seems like a long way home.