Loss: losing ground, face, out. (Wanderings Part 7)

The most emotionally challenging thing for me over the past eight years actually has been national politics. My deteriorating physical condition has deprived me of most of the typical distractions, so the "news" has been hard to avoid. The political situation has caused me to reexamine repeatedly and intensely my values, beliefs and feelings. I have tried and tried to understand what has been happening and why. So, I write about losses and losing as a way to cope. As set out in the essays below, I do not blame only Donald Trump and his cronies and puppets. He has done considerable damage but, in some ways, more lasting damage has been done by his opponents in their efforts to disparage him and interfere with his policies. And, of course, many problems preceded and still transcend Trump, et al.