I don't need to tell you that these are jittery times.

I spent last winter in Seville answering questions from anxious friends about how to escape the US and build a new life abroad if necessary. (See my Amigos Project for more on that.)

​Through the summer I’ll be in California, exploring how folks around here are finding ways to stand firm, build connections, and watch out for one another. Like the ragtag flotilla of little boats heading to Dunkirk in WWII, the times call upon each of us to do our bit to save those we can.
 
And who knows? Maybe our small acts of kindness will add up to something that changes the course of history.

“It all matters. That someone turns out the lamp, picks up the windblown wrapper, says hello to the invalid, pays at the unattended lot, listens to the repeated tale, folds the abandoned laundry, plays the game fairly, tells the story honestly, acknowledges help, gives credit, says good night, resists temptation, wipes the counter, waits at the yellow, makes the bed, tips the maid, remembers the illness, congratulates the victor, accepts the consequences, takes a stand, steps up, offers a hand, goes first, goes last, chooses the small portion, teaches the child, tends to the dying, comforts the grieving, removes the splinter, wipes the tear, directs the lost, touches the lonely, is the whole thing. What is most beautiful is least acknowledged.” 
― Laura McBride, We Are Called to Rise