I woke up this morning in my Brooklyn bed for the first time in 10 days. It was 4:00 am when Ivy rolled in, roaring to start her day before the sun rose (acknowledging it from our bedroom window – Look Dada! So beautiful! – when the sky began its awesome daily hue evolution), experiencing the easy side of jet lag and its 5 hour shift from the previous week and a half in England…
The impetus of the trip was cousin Piera’s wedding, which was an absolutely stunning camping party at a farm in Devon. While we were granted a room as a nod to our toddler/baby situation, the tent city that grew was impressive and the setting was divine. The ceremony involved a picnic with an all-guest grand waltz in a field by a lake and I was incredibly honored to be asked to play guitar and lead the crowd in a singalong of Barry Louis Polisar’s “All I Want Is You“. Everyone contributed to the food preparation as well as the set up and strike of wedding tent and all associated furniture and equipment for late night dance party in the barn. The wedded couple, Piera and Andy are phenomenal people dedicated to sharing their passion for Arts and Sciences and their event was creative, unique, collaborative and beautiful.
We tacked on a week in Sydling St. Nicholas, Dorset, with G and Grand, because they are two of the most supreme beings on this planet. At 93, they have their physical limitations, but they are wise and highly conscious. They love each other in the deepest way and spread it through 4 generations of family. They define divine perfection.
Brexit tension was building when we arrived and on Thursday, G and Grand trudged down to the village hall to cast their ballots. Obviously, they voted to Remain in the European Union, which they witnessed from its nascence, from the despair of bleakest war to the hope that intertwined cultures and economies would eliminate the ceaseless and senseless battles that have scarred the continent for millennia. At 10:00, the polls closed and they began counting the votes of whether to remain in or leave the EU. At about 5:00, Miles woke up and I will never forget the quick intake of breath that Alaina made when she read the New York Times notification that they had voted to leave. I felt sick with fear and loneliness, sadness for all of my family who will be directly affected by this and for the rest of the world, which will suffer as well. It was a loss with incalculable costs and for what? So a few politicians could jockey for power? Cheap fears and closed minds with no compassion for greater humanity led to this result. Many people may be thrilled by this breakup, but none of them could possibly explain what will actually happen to the country, the continent and the world because its implications are infinitely bigger than a binary in/out choice on a piece of paper. We will have to wait and see, but in 3 days the news has had fairly devastating economic impacts all over the world, with trillions of dollars vanishing from markets and portfolios.
Ultimately, it is inconsequential when considered against simple love, which we toasted many times last week, for P&A’s wedding, our 11th anniversary, and G and Grand’s 70th anniversary (Congratulations!). While I do spend a lot of time and energy focused on politics, it actually exists outside the realm of my real life and all that is truly important in my quotidian existence. They play games for power while I play for love.
