Sunday Salon -- Dragons

Weather: RAIN!!!!! We are experiencing an atmospheric river right now. Lots of water in a short period of time. One could say this dousing rain arrived like a dragon, primal and untamed nature!

Dragons: Today I am thinking about dragons -- real or imagined or metaphorical, in literature and in politics -- the good and the bad. I found this definition of what dragons represent metaphorically:

Metaphorically, dragons often represent powerful, primal forces like chaos, destruction, untamed nature, and the unknown, but depending on the cultural context, they can also symbolize immense power, wisdom, transformation, and the potential for both good and evil within ourselves; essentially embodying the duality of human nature and our inner struggles with raw desires and fears.

This quote: It is important to remember that dragons can be beaten!

Awakening the dragon: Today our country is in turmoil. Many, many people are losing their jobs and even Trump voters are feeling the pain. This post is about five of those voters who are feeling regret, "Everything Comes at a Cost.". My summary, if you don't want to read the whole thing:

• A sample of regretful Trump voters on the theme: ”I didn’t know it would impact me!” 

  This is a core difference between us and them. They happily voted for President Donald Trump hoping he would hurt other people. We voted against him because he would hurt other people. 

• One voter, Graham Peters, working to eliminate invasive sea lampreys in the Great Lakes, lost his job working for U.S. Fish and Wildlife. “Peters feels betrayed by politicians he helped put in office. He voted for Trump in November, impressed by his vows to bolster the economy and slow immigration across the southern border. ‘If I had known that this was going to happen,’ he said, “I wouldn’t have voted for him,’”

• Next up is a disabled veteran who lost his job with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Northern Virginia. “I voted for Donald Trump. But this is not what I was expecting. We didn’t think they were going to take a chainsaw to a silk rug,” he told WTOP News.

  Trump promised to cut trillions from the federal budget, but the only way that was going to happen was with a chainsaw … along with a wrecking ball, a lot of dynamite, and the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. 

  “I recognize there are a lot of cuts that need to be made, but this is not the one that you think will happen to your family," his wife added. You see, any other cuts would be totally fine. But not something that impacts her and her husband. That cut isn’t fair because he loves his job.

• Another Trump voter is upset and sad because of the cut in funds to the N.I.H. because the medical trial his cousin's daughter was accessing is keeping her alive. "Why weren't Musk and Trump more careful with their cuts?" Now the family is scrambling, trying to find other trial programs for the woman so she can continue living.

Unleash dragons and they're as likely to eat you just as quickly as the people you don't care about.

This movie: "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves." So Fun! (There is a hilarious scene with an pudgy dragon in this one, too!)

Imagine Dragons: Years ago in 2012, I was listening to an audiobook, Seraphina by Hartman, which is a magical story involving dragons. I was so wrapped up in it that my head was swimming in the details even after the book's conclusion. I turned on the car radio after switching off the audiobook and immediately heard the DJ say "Imagine Dragons. It's Time." I honestly didn't know there was a band by that name. I thought this was a message just for me --Imagine life with dragons, Anne. It's time you move out of your linear thinking. It wasn't until several weeks later I realized my folly. Here's the song, It's Time, if you want to listen to it again.

Dragons in literature: Have you read any of these, or can you suggest others? I've read a few books which contain dragons. Here's my list:

• The Hobbit (1937); The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) by Tolkien 
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) by C. S. Lewis
• Earthsea (1964) by Le Guin
• Dragonriders of Pern series (1967) by McCaffery
• The Neverending Story (1979) by Ende
• The Paperbag Princess (1980) by Munsch 
• The Colour of Magic (1983) by Pratchett
• Harry Potter series (1997-2007) by J.K. Rowling
• The Inheritance Cycle series [Eragon] (2002-2011] by Paolini
• Seraphina (2012) by Hartman
• When Women Were Dragons (2023) by Barnhill

This week in books and blogging:

• Completed-
• What Kind of Woman: Poems by Kate Baer
• The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
• Brownstone by Samuel Teer
• Lisette's List by Susan Vreeland
• Currently reading-
• This Motherless Land by Mikki May-- Fiction. Audiobook. 60% complete.
• Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks -- Memorial. Audiobook. 41% complete.
• With My Back to the World: Poems by Victoria Chang -- Poetry. Print. 13%
• The Wedding People by Alison Espach -- Fiction. Print. 8%.
• Blog posts-
• TTT: Books I Loved But Never Reviewed
• Poetry Review: What Kind of Woman: Poems
• Novella Review: The Most
• Nonfiction review: Just Kids

Aging does not make women powerless objects of pity but colorful and entertaining individuals and, on occasion, fire-breathing dragons that wise people don't cross.  --Florence King

(This closing quote seemed apropos after celebrating my birthday this week!)

-Anne