In between sleeps

lt’s 2 am. I’m tapping this out on my phone, in bed, the covers drawn up over my head so the light won’t trouble my sleeping husband. This is when I browse the day’s news. I wake up from my first sleep, pick up my phone, and do the NY Times puzzles that get released at midnight, Strands, Connections, Mini Crossword, Wordle, Letterboxed, always in that order. I have very respectable streaks going. Then I survey the different publications and headlines that get pushed to me by an algorithm based on my past reading.

I see that the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the government has to pursue the return of the innocent husband and father ICE mistakenly sent to that gulag in El Salvador. He is one of many, but this kidnapping error they inadvertently admitted. Now their appeals saying “Oops, my bad, nothing to be done,” have arrived at the high court, and tonight it directed them to bring the imprisoned man home. Will they ignore the Supreme Court’s directive too, as they have done with the lower courts? The man’s wife, an American citizen, worries he might be already dead. 

I see the administration is now pushing for federal oversight of Columbia University, a legal arrangement that would last years. Would you want to attend a college under such manners? Will Columbia find some self respect and stop this ever expanding extortion of its academic freedom and integrity? They need to take notes from Georgetown Law School, which refused to bend over and get, well, you know. 

I see directors at the IRS resigned yesterday in protest over ICE demanding data from tax filings on individuals they’re looking to deport. Nothing is sacrosanct. No one is safe. 

Through it all, we keep doing our lives. I had dinner with my darling girl at our usual place in Battery Park on Tuesday evening. She now cannot wait to start her new job and be rid of one monster client in particular. She wagers the new situation has to be an improvement. And the woman who will be her new boss seems a decent sort. Gosh, it was good to see her. Her aura is made of dancing light, I swear. 

The book is coming along. I’m dreaming about it now, which means I am fully immersed, the channel is open, I just need to keep applying myself and processing what I learn in all these interviews through a lens of love. Maybe that won’t make sense without context. I’ll just say that in this work, as in life, if people feel safe just being who they are, that goes a long way. 

Also, spring is coming to my gardens, even though it’s still blisteringly cold out. But soon, I’ll be able to take my laptop and work under the trees again. Okay, starting to feel drowsy again. I going to try for my second sleep of the night and hope it carries me to morning.