RENEWAL

1.

It’s time for change in America. Four years ago a man was elected to the American presidency who should have never been chosen to lead anything, let alone a free, democratic country. This man’s tenure has been an ugly, backward time when many norms we took for granted were destroyed. The foundations of our government have been undermined, our relationships with each other have suffered, and relationships with our partners across the globe have crumbled. It’s time to turn things around and get back on track.

2.

This week, a news story in a local paper said that the old building you see pictured here is going to be torn down. It was built almost 130 years ago as a fish cannery. The building functioned well for a long time and was once even touted as one of the biggest fish processing plants in the world. It fell into serious disrepair in recent years, having been sold to an out-of-town developer who allowed it to fall apart become a hazard. It’s the kind of place people break into and hang out in, the kind of place whose present state is barely a shadow of what it once was. The owner has been told that he must erect a fence to keep people out – part of a wall collapsed last week. Soon the entire place will be torn down, once and for all.

3.

The current president’s contempt for truth, fairness, science, and humanity itself has been mind-boggling. In only four years this administration has done serious damage to our country. It’s time to tear down what has no integrity, to clear away what’s broken, rotten and dangerous and replace it with something new.

In this time of renewal, it’s appropriate that the changes we need will be accomplished with the help of our first female, first Black, and first Asian-American vice president-elect. It’s going to be a lot of work. We’ll need to be patient, and we’ll need to try to work together. Let’s hope that what is constructed in place of the current structure will be created with integrity and strength. And maybe even a dash of beauty. We can dream.

4.

***

This entry was posted in photography, writing and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

56 comments

  6. Watching the USA from afar (Australia) as it became torn apart and divided has been horrifying. My hope is that the man at the helm accepts the people’s choice with some maturity and grace, something he has not displayed in four years. A lovely metaphor for the times in your photo essay this week.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts…I’ve longed to visit Australia for many years…maybe I’ll get there someday. In the meantime, I’m glad you’re feeling better about the old place.

      Like

      Reply

  8. Yes, you can!
    Well done, this election. Well done, this post.
    The world has been waiting for this nightmare to pass.
    We wish you all the best for cleaning up the mess that man has left and building up something good together. Hopefully you can soon find a spirit of unity and renewal between the sadly divided parts of your people.

    The old fish processing plant you chose as a metaphore shows well how huge a necessary effort can become, but also how touching damaged beauty can shine through destruction.

    May you get through the transition period well.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  10. Let’s hope the new President (and female Vice-president) can unite the country and form a cohesive society, I was delighted to see a female Vice-president too.

    I, and just about everyone around the world, will be glad to see such an inconsistent, unreliable, loud-mouthed, rude, boorish oaf……….need I say more………ousted from office. I can’t believe people actually voted for the man that divided the country and sunk his head in the sand over this pandemic. You’d think he’s learned something by contracting the virus himself. But no.

    The sooner he’s out of the picture the sooner I’ll be happy.

    Biden’s got a hard job ahead of him though. I hope he’s got a good team to support him.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • We sure are late in getting women elected to political offices (and in getting women in other positions of power, too). I smiled at your description of that small man, thanks. Biden shouldn’t have too much trouble assembling a good team, with all his connections. we shall see what 2021 brings!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. There’s often a sadness associated with getting rid of something, tearing down a once useful and now dangerous structure, surrendering an old vehicle to the junkyard, or even acknowledging that a relationship is not healthy, not rewarding, and no longer worth our genuine concern. And yet, there’s a peace that can be had with doing so and moving forward, creating new horizons, and casting a hopeful eye to possibility.

    Another fine post, Lynn…entirely well stated.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • I had to say something…normally I refrain from this kind of commentary, but this is too big to go unremarked upon. This time there’s no regret in the political arena, but the building has been a great photographic subject and it’ll be sad to see it torn down. I think there’s one seafood processing plant left in town, or maybe two. Thankfully, Anacortes has not been completely yuppified and still has several big, viable marine businesses. The new owner of that property wanted to build condos. I know you’re not surprised. There will be zoning issues so let’s hope that never gets off the ground! We may as well cast a hopeful eye to possibility, as you said. Have a good week, Scott. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  13. Well said, Lynn. Most troubling to me is the fact there are millions of folks that supported trump and his draconian policies. They won’t be going away and they are heavily armed. How our new president will bring them into the fold is beyond me. I doubt if it’s possible and it’s an issue he can’t ignore. I hate to say it but he now has to make America great again.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • That’s exactly what troubles me most, as I mentioned at Pixetera. Bringing trump supporters into the fold does seem beyond daunting, and without the Senate, some plans will have to be scuttled, but who knows what the future will bring? What a year it’s been! Your last comment has me smiling. Thanks, Ken!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • There’s still hope that the runoff election of two Georgia Senators could take away the GOP majority, but it will be a huge struggle with what
        I suspect will be mind numbing amounts of $$$ poured into them… that’s January 5th. It could help Biden undo some of the damage done by the preceding years. Otherwise it’s likely to be obstruction as usual. 😔

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

  16. You chose the photos well for this post. This old factory building is a very good picture for what happens. I feel such a relief, that the change is happening. It all felt so destructive the last years. 4 years nothing seemed to matter at all, dignity and decency didn’t matter, but it matters how we get along, how we interact with each other. Treat others as you want to be treated, right? The word healing seems to be right for this situation and I hope it begins!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • We hope so, too. I think one of the first things Biden plans to do is to join the Paris Agreement again. It would be a start. I’ve enjoyed photographing this old building with its very odd angles, but it’s not safe and it’s too far gone to fix. It will be sad to see it go – but it won’t be sad to see the current administration go!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • So true! – I like such old buildings too or old bridges. They have this atmosphere we miss in our modern world. If everythings new, it would be boring and vice versa. A good mixture is nice (as anywhere else).

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  19. Tremendous relief, and yet, it seems like a muted celebration, it’s almost incomprehensible that 71 million Americans, having witnessed four years of degeneracy, voted to continue the destruction. We need to comprehend, not just push away, how very nearly half of us have embraced this cynicism and negativity. I hope in the next four years we have the guts to honestly confront the things that are rotten in this country, and revive our democracy.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  25. A fair amount of time has passed since this post. Sadly we’ve witnessed the attempt by Trump to overturn the election which seems quite unlikely as his team appears to be the Keystone Kops of lawyers. His refusal to allow Biden’s team to start the transition will make our lives endangered and possibly even worse than it was during his time min office through no fault of the new administration. He is now showing to the world his true colors. The other day as world leaders met virtually to discuss dealing with the pandemic he tweeted and golfed. The man needs a fiddle.
    Your post is a good combination of two different structures that need to be taken apart and hopefully replaced with something much better.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s