Protest is patriotism... or why I wasn't at the protest

Family lore, according to my father, has it that we had an ancestor who participated in the Boston Tea Party and helped dump British tea into Boston Harbor. I have no idea if this is accurate or not, but family records indicate that we did have family who had already immigrated to the Colonies at that time. Since family lore also says that an ancestor ended up here because of being transported after being convicted of sheep stealing in the border matches, it seems likely that that particular branch of the family held little affection for the British monarchy. 

All this to say, I come by my need to protest naturally. Protesting doesn't mean you dislike your country, it means you love it enough to want it to be the best country it can be. When it falls short, there need to be people who are willing to encourage it along. Disagreement is a healthy thing. It provides the opportunity for wrestling with different ideas and thoughts. The end result is often better than if disagreement and discussion never happened. Protest is part of the ongoing discussion between the governing powers of a country and its people. Protest is patriotism at its most fundamental. 

And protest my family did yesterday. B., HC, D., G., and L. ended up going downtown to participate in the big protest. They are in there somewhere... maybe... the crowds did snake around the downtown. 

(Not my photo)

J. took H., Y., and K. to our local protest.

You'll notice that neither R.'s or my initial appear in that list. That was because she and I had our own little outing to the ER. Earlier in the morning she was helping J. in the yard and an accident involving garden clippers occurred which entailed receiving three stitches on her forehead. She is fine and everything will heal well. It's just not how any of us had planned our morning. I have to say it was the very first time I have ever walked in to a completely empty ER and only waited three minutes to get moved to triage and into a room. Two hours door to door is a family ER record.