The President Declared War on America and I Made a Pie With My Kids

Sometimes I have to stop and remember that these are the precious years. My kids still live under my roof. The dog is in his prime. We laugh and play together. The girls compete in sporting and academic events. My wife and I sit and cheer.This is our life.I won’t let Republican fascists ruin it.So, the day the nepo baby tyrant declared war on America, I made a pie with my kids.Last week, grandma came with two bags overflowing with honey crisp apples. She has a couple trees in her yard, and they always produce more than she can eat. So these apples have been sitting on our table.My daughter, who always likes the kitchen and who always enjoys a project, said, “Daddy, let’s make a pie.” She’d already gotten mom to buy crust. So I printed off a recipe for Dutch apple pie, and she buzzed around me, and I told her to look for ingredients as I peeled and prepared the apples.We found measuring cups. There’s a lot to do with an extra set of hands. You have to keep them busy. Then we mixed brown sugar in and realized there wasn’t enough. So, I had to make a run to the grocery store. When I got back, the girls teased me because I had purchased three bags.“It was a special deal, you had to get three.”“But you didn’t have to get a lifetime supply!”After the grocery store, I had to pick up my other daughter from swimming. I like driving with my children. I drop them off at school in the morning. They take classes on American history, mathematics, and civics. They tell me about their day, and they tell me about their problems, and I do the best I can to provide them with solutions.At home, we resumed our baking. We mixed in the brown sugar and the white sugar and the flour and the nutmeg and the cinnamon, and we prepared it all in maybe 15 minutes.I put the pie in the oven, and we waited. As we waited, I reflected on the news that the president had just gathered up all the generals of our nation, and he subjected them to a speech that was so awful even our compromised media had to cut away.He considers the American people his enemy.He called us all insurrectionists.He said that liberal cities represented the enemy within, and that they would be used as training centers for hostile military action.It’s been clear for a decade now that he’s declared war on decency. So they’re coming, I guess. He’s threatened Chicago. He’s threatened Los Angeles.He’s threatened Portland. Where are they going to send the soldiers next? Outside my door perhaps? Will they gather there wearing masks? Will they restrain my naked children with zip ties?Will the media report it, or will they only continue to broadcast his lies?We don’t know.But life goes on anyway. This is easy to overlook when you study the conflicts of history.Even in war, people make pie. They bake and they wait for bad news. They wait for the scream of the sirens that warn they’re about to die.Yet, we still have things to do. Even in war you wash your clothes and you sweep the floor and you eat and you study and you try to love your neighbor.We have to hold on to the hope that there will be a future, so we must prepare. We drop off our kids at school to learn. We go to work. We endure.But neither can we be deceived by the fact that we appear to have normalcy. It could be taken away at any moment. The forces of danger are massing within our borders, outside our doors, and we don’t know where they’re going to strike next.Don’t let the apples rot. Make a pie.I keep all this in mind. I’m very aware. But at the same time, I know my kids will not always be here.My musings were interrupted by an alarm.The pie was done.So, I shut off the oven and set the pie on a chopping block to cool. I asked my wife if she would like a slice and whether she wanted ice cream too.She said she would. The ice cream we had was vanilla and chocolate and sea salt caramel. She wanted the caramel.I dished up four pieces still steaming hot. I scooped ice cream up for the lot.I distributed the bowls to my wife and to my kids. We sat and watched cartoons. We ate our pie in silence.I asked my wife if it was good, and she said yes. She likes caramel. Caramel and apple pie together is perfect.That was the day that the president declared war on the USA.We watched cartoons in silence. We ate our pie. We prepared for an uncertain future. We loved each other. We hope…But most importantly.We resist.We resist. We resist.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! 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