I Was Going To Blog About Something Happy Today, But Then...

     This morning I was feeling fine and good. I was coming off a nice weekend. My new purple dining room curtains that I ordered from Amazon arrived:  

...and even though the dining room table was in a state of income tax-related disarray, the taxes were FINALLY FINISHED, and what's not to be happy - or at least relieved - about that?
      Some of my kids came over for their favorite meal, brunch served in the middle of the afternoon, 

​...for which I made their favorite mid-afternoon brunch food: scrambled eggs, tater tots, and a pile of French toast served with fruit, syrup, and whip cream.

        And my daughter brought me from the Fox in the Snow Café the most beautiful, delicious puff pastry, 

...with custard on top and a jelly donut filling.

        Yes, it was a lovely weekend, and today, Monday, March 27, I woke up to a beautiful day in the neighborhood,

​...and a little happy flutter at the realization that one month from today my third book will be released.

     And so this morning I was of a mind to blog about something light and cheery, but then this afternoon when I sat down to write I decided to first have a look at the news and was hit with this:

       Now I'm finding that my mind is no longer in the place it needs to be to write about pleasant things, "the heaven of the now and here, the daily things of life that are so dear."
       Now all I can think about are the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends whose hearts have been torn out of their chests today. Now I'm heartsick and so afraid for my own loved ones, afraid that tomorrow or the next day or any day after that it could be my heart being torn out of my chest.  
          And now, once again, I'm angry, so, so angry, because our lawmakers who have the power to ban assault weapons and pass meaningful, effective  gun control laws refuse to do so. And I don't know what to do about it, except to write about it.
​          But what in the world good will that do?