A recent email advised me that an anonymous individual gave me a gift subscription to Daily Kos. I was thrilled, of course. What a wonderful spin it put on an otherwise challenging day.
I haven't been diving in on the site as much as I am ordinarily wont to do of late. I've been a bit overwhelmed with work (as a caregiver for dementia clients; sometimes post-op and hospice) as well as some pressing personal matters that require time and attention, none of which will shower me with cash - I did enter the recent Mega Millions lottery for the possibility of financial alteration, and sweethearts, I broke even by winning a buck and a good self denigrating joke to tell.
My lack of attendance here is frustrating because of how much the DK community means to me.
I find it difficult to articulate to outsiders how fully invested I am in a virtual community, peopled with many contributors that I do not (and may never) know. [Some civilians will never 'get it' and figure I'm swept up in something akin to Dungeons and Dragons.] Not everyone here shares my political bent (not quite the butt of the hackneyed left of Lenin joke, but pushing it...). Some are more wed to the liberal view, some are less. Nonetheless, with the exception of trolls, all Kossacks are inclined to a perspective that sincerely works for the greater good for the many. All strive for holding ground for a solid middle class and gaining ground for those who are less fortunate to give them a better stake in this nation of all nations.
And to this latter thought, there are no regulars here that do not wish to embrace all who wish to participate in a civil manner with the shared ideas of bright minds. They stand against bigotry of all stripes. Those of frequently disenfranchised collectives; people of color, Native Americans, Latinos, and so on, help us to better understand their plight and (for those of us of Northern European descent in particular) our own part in that circumstance.
We are fiercely addicted to fact and learn much from our more brilliant fellows on the website. I'm always amazed at the wealth of informed perspectives that are well represented here on every topic under the sun. My personal favorites come from those who contribute to posts and threads about climate change and the inevitable global impact it portends. This is a huge picture that requires expertise from many disparate fields so that it can be distilled for comprehensible presentation - the catalyst for action.
On this note, then, I'll toss in my nod to Meteor Blades for doing a weekly round-up of entries on this topic. What's more, I have even met the fellow, at a Los Angeles Kossacks hoo-ha [join your local group, it's a joyful thing you'll do], along with navajo . Wowie zowie that was, since each had done posts which roped me in back in the day, even long before I signed up and became a five digit midget.
Readers and Book Lovers is also a snappy place to visit for encyclopedic knowledge about more topics than I can count.
I don't have cats, or dogs, nor do I knit or quilt, but you can find out about it all in this corner of the virtual universe that really isn't virtual at all. It's people, people!
And I love it and them!
So thank you anonymous! I love you, too! I hope the season of lights is warm for you. You've surely brightened mine.
Postscript: I am still attending to urgent business, I'm boomeranging around ACA insurance enrollment, for example so I won't be able to attend to the post very well. I did not want to delay my shout out of gratitude any longer, however, so here it goes.