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A Life Less Ordinary

A Divided America – Let the Healing Begin!

Today, I’m featuring two towns in Arizona, less than 25 miles (37 km) apart. And a monstrosity in the same area. This is my contribution to this week’s #wordlesswednesday and a link-up to #weekendcoffeeshare.

(Hover over or click on photos for captions.)

Bisbee, AZ

Bisbee is an artsy, liberal, historic town in Arizona

Tombstone, AZ

Tombstone is an Old West, conservative town in Arizona.

Hmmm… Is this what happens when masks are not enforced? Do you mean the employee has Covid?

The border wall in Narco, AZ

The border wall in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ

This is what Maya thinks about Trump’s border wall!


Let me zoom in on that…

Today is inauguration day in the United States. Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of this country. One of the items on our new president’s ambitious list, this first day in office, is to stop all construction on the southern border wall. He agrees with Maya.

My favorite election signs of 2020

Today is a day for the (real) history books in the USA. We are finally turning a page. Let the healing begin!

42 Comments

  1. I love these photos! Also, your sweet pupper pooped in just the right place.

    • I hope you got a kick out of that poop photo, Ryan! 🙂 I actually have another photo where Mark and two friends are pretending to pee against the wall, but I decided not to use it. Of course, the act might have been caught on border patrol security camera already anyway.

  2. Maya had the right idea! Hope springs eternal after today’s civilized inauguration.

  3. Nice juxtaposition of the two mindsets – progressive and conservative. I think I’ll choose Bisbee! Oh, and yay for Maya! I guess she was just exercising her right of free speech.

  4. Maya might not like the wall, but I do.
    I think a dog could do a better job. He’d be great for foreign relations – he’d walk in a room and everyone would come together trying to pet him!

    • What a great thought, Alex! Maya could be the ambassador and peace creator of the world! You’re right, everybody likes to pet her. 🙂

  5. I’m with Maya!

  6. Hi Liesbet, My husband and I watched every moment of this morning and felt hopeful and moved by many of the words spoken. Neil deGrasse Tyson‘s words resonate. Your photos are fascinating. This is the first time I have actually seen the border wall in photos. Oh, my, Maya and the border wall. Dogs seem to have an extra sense.🙂

    • Hi Erica! I’m so happy about yesterday’s inauguration day. A long road ahead, but positive changes are on the horizon!

      Over the last couple of months in Arizona and California, we saw the border wall in multiple places, more than what I posted about here. It’s a disgrace, really. The US and Mexico are two civilized countries… They should be able to work out their differences (aka illegal immigration) without that monstrosity.

  7. Maya is one smart cookie. May healing now begin!

  8. You won’t believe how many in the UK also feel about Mr Biden now being in the White House, And it’s wonderful to also see the very first female vice-president. Liesbet. I have high hopes for Ms. Harris.

    • I think the way most people in the UK feel about our new president and vice president is similar to how everyone I know in Belgium feels, Hugh. After four years of chaos and going backwards, it’s time to be kind, respectful, and move forwards. I’m so glad that Biden puts the environment at the top as well.

  9. Your photos all speak to the privilege of free speech in America. Lately we’ve had too much of it, along with crazy behavior. I’m with you on “Let the healing begin!”

    • That’s such a good way of saying it, Marian – maybe I should have put “free speech” instead of “division” in the title of my blog post. I agree it’s time for a bit more order, kindness, and common sense again…

  10. It’s funny, we’ve intentionally kept ourselves in liberal enclaves the last several months, so we’ve been pretty insulated from a lot of the craziness. It’s been nice, but I am dreading driving across the country and having to see a bunch of this nonsense. I am happy to talk policy with anyone, but the gun nut culture and the anti-masker nonsense is just too much. Hopefully, it’ll settle down over the next couple months, but it’s worth realizing there can be huge differences within a state and it may be possible to just target places we’ll be more comfortable. Good post to illustrate all that…and good work, Maya!

    • Hi Laura!

      What we’ve found is that boondocking in the desert – Southern Arizona or Southern California – pretty much serves its purpose. We stay away from people, get to go on remote hikes, and stick to ourselves in our van. We go shopping and dumping once a week and – fortunately – people in Yuma are good at wearing masks. Luckily, we did travel and camp with two fellow nomadic couples who are as careful, so we managed to socialize a little bit “after hours” this last month.

      It is amazing how many millions belong to that gun-toting, non-mask wearing group. We try to avoid those areas and stick to our guns. I mean, masks. 🙂

  11. Love the photo of Maya making her statement! It’s certainly been a tough year for everyone – here’s hoping we’ll all climb out of the valley together, soon. 🙂

  12. This comment may sound cranky and out of touch with the progressive left, and I’ve thought for days about not making it, but I feel strongly that part of letting the healing begin is to look forward in positive ways and not perpetuate the kind of ugly talk or actions which lower us to the level of the opposition. I am surely an outlier in this regard (at least in this comment section!), so feel free to disregard my touchiness! (And yes, I deplore what has gone on in the past four years, every little piece of it and HIM.)

    • Wise words, Lexie! And even if I didn’t agree, I would encourage you – and anyone – to join the discussion and leave opinions and thoughts here. That’s the only way to understand each other and the first step to agreeing to disagree! 🙂

      Yes, we need to look forward and not backwards. Enough time has been wasted with negative energy. When I read Biden’s objectives for his first day in office and when I read all the amazing things he has put into action already, I feel like I can finally breathe again and support what is going on at the highest level.

  13. I definitely love Maya’s statement. I really hope Biden will restore some sense of sanity into America.

  14. I finished reading Barack Obama’s A Promised Land a few days before the inauguration for President Biden and VP Harris. It gave me a glimpse into US politics and the constant challenges, not just national but also international, for the administration, from a president’s lens. There is a lot of work for President Biden and his team to do. I hope they receive all the support they need going forward. Thanks, Liesbet, for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare.

    • Hi Natalie! I’d like to read Barack Obama’s tome of a book one day as well. It must be more interesting than Michele’s memoir (both competitors of Plunge, haha), since most people I know who read Becoming didn’t think it was that good. Unlike you, I would need an entire year to read A Promised Land, so I better not borrow it from the library. 🙂 After I saw your comment, I realized I hadn’t linked this blog post to your #weekendcoffeeshare. That’s fixed now! Thanks for being a fantastic and diligent host for that link-up!

  15. Thank you for sharing these AZ photos. For a long time I thought that I was going to retire in AZ, I even purchased some land there. It is a state I really like. I enjoyed your post.

    • Hi Maria! That’s great that you have a piece of land in Arizona. Not sure whether you read my Bisbee post from a few weeks ago – that’s the place that we had in mind to check out and maybe settle. But, as you know, a Sagittarius (like you and me) has too much of a wandering spirit to settle. At least this one does. 🙂

  16. I’m with Maya 🙂 x

  17. Duwan @MakeLikeAnApeman

    January 29, 2021 at 14:53

    I hate that this country is so divided. And that this division has become so ugly and hateful.

    We were sailing in the Bahamas one year during election time and I was surprised at how congenial people seemed to be to the opposition. There might be two different events in town supporting two different candidates but in the street I would see people with opposing candidate t-shirts greeting each other warmly.

    And the wall is just like a big metaphor for what we’ve become – divided, separate. Those bars rising up like those of a jail cell and we’ve all become prisoners.

    Sorry for the downer. The pics are great. And Maya is such a sweetie.

    • I agree with your comment about the wall being a metaphor for what the US came to stand for. Too bad really, as I know there are still plenty of people who want the best for everyone. I do think this gap will be hard – if ever – to bridge. Plus, many people don’t realize how well they have it, living in a western country with any convenience/utility/resource they want. Oh well. I have to say, ever since we crossed the border, we have felt more relaxed and less interested in politics. You should try it again. 🙂

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