The silence between the notes

Uncertainty, patience, trust. Probably my least favorite words from 2020. And we're likely to face them ALL again tomorrow...and the next day...and so many “next” days... I have vague memories of the hanging chad controversy from the 2000 election, but until I saw the video below, I didn’t realize it dragged on for 36 days without an official result! Friends who were more of an adult than I was back then, did that waiting period have the same sense of distrust and angst that I sense coming with this one?! I get that it’s hard to be patient in the face of such uncertainty, and I think 2020 has hit us all with enough uncertainty and upheaval to last a lifetime! But I’m legitimately worried that America won’t be able to handle what comes next. It feels like so many people are ready to burst, no matter what the result is, no matter how quickly we get a result, or how long it takes to thoroughly confirm a result. So we can’t fully trust the system to provide certainty? Ok, then it...

  I'm an incredibly private person when it comes to my inner questions and fears and ideals. I've only ever shared those with a short list of individual confidants. Although I doubt that most people in my world really realize that there's so much they don't know about me...because I'm also an unusually philosophical and reflective person, and I DO SHARE those reflections sincerely and authentically with my friends/coworkers/etc. when I feel it's important to our purpose or our working relationship. But it's also likely that there are more sensitive, even controversial topics hidden deep below the surface of what I'm comfortable sharing...Until someone manages to open the floodgates and establish themselves as trustworthy enough to handle the rest...then since all of my ideas somehow relate to one another, I can't seem to stop until I explain all of them at once to the poor unsuspecting soul who offered to listen for the first few minutes. ...

Disclaimer #1: Regarding the title question--NO! Or at least, it's highly doubtful that North Korea or anyone else considers Moses Lake an upcoming target. But if you read the measly 4 paragraphs in this article, you'll understand the reason for the title. Disclaimer #2: Regarding the following article--The years have been changed to protect the innocent...and the youthfully aging author...And yeah, that's as close as I could come to having a sense of humor when dealing with something so serious.  When I was ___ years old, still in grade school, I had a panic attack because I was afraid the Gulf War was going to come to Moses Lake, Washington and kill everyone I knew. It surely sounded absurd to a grownup, and probably even to a less intense elementary schooler, but to me, it seemed perfectly plausible. In one of the most compassionate parenting moments that I can recall, my mother posted a 3' world map in the hallway next to my bedroom and marked it with places w...