What I Set the Table For

What I Set the Table For

December 21, 2025

I still believe the possibility of a good outcome depends, in part, on good government. Not perfect government, but government steady enough to demand that power be accountable and that human dignity not be optional. Someone has to tend the space between what is possible and what is permissible. And that space matters.

Travel did something to me. Seeing other places, hearing other languages, noticing how ordinary life goes on under different systems loosened my grip on certainty. It became harder to believe there was only one right way to order a society, or one kind of person worth protecting. Extremes began to feel extreme. The world was too big and too complicated for them.

These days, that widening comes back to me in small moments like preparing the table before people arrive. Travel taught me how much difference exists. The table reminds me what we do with it. We still have to sit somewhere. We still have to face one another. Someone still has to make room.

Good government, at its best, works in much the same way. It does not supply meaning or virtue. It just sets boundaries sturdy enough to hold disagreement without letting dignity collapse. It keeps things from sliding off the table.

Artificial intelligence now remembers more than any of us ever could. It sees patterns across borders and generations, and I am grateful for that. What I am less willing to surrender is the work of judgment, responsibility, and deciding what actually matters.

If there is to be a good merging of human and artificial intelligence, it will not be technical first. It will be moral. Machines can assist our thinking, but they shouldn't decide what kind of people we are willing to be.

The ordinary civic work hasn't changed much, at least not where it really counts. To stay informed without becoming inflamed. To resist the ease of cruelty. To remain governable without going numb or passive.

Democracy does not fail because we disagree.
It falls apart when we forget how to sit together, especially after we've seen how wide the world really is.

So I am trying to live as someone who remembers both: how far the road can take us, and how close we still need to sit when we come home.

Still Curious. Still Growing, Still Grateful.

by Janis @ Simple Raw and Natural

Comments

Happy in the Garden

Yesterday I worked in the garden instead of walking around the neighborhood. It is a different feeling. It's true that I only got in about 6500 steps by the end of the day instead of over 10,000, but it was a different feeling. Travis planted some tomatoes and peppers, I cleaned the lower deck and pulled some weeds. Lucy dug in the dirt and felt so happy. I felt the same way. Working in the garden makes you feel happy and productive. I was puzzled by a plant growing in the herb garden as a weed. I started pulling them out but decided to check if they are edible. Edible weeds, such as dandelion, can be used in our smoothies. I put a picture on Facebook to ask for help identifying the weed, and the consensus is that it is plantain. Some say edible and some say not, but I am inclined to think that it is edible. My brother, Max, lives up in the mountains, and his neighbor says it is edible and the smallest leaves are best with...

The Lou Corona Story

Yesterday, we went to Magic Springs with our daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren. The landscaping there is beautiful this year. This one little flower didn't let a little concrete stop it. Lunch today was three bananas which I ate about 1:30. I'm letting my body rest a little bit after eating too much food the last couple of days. I did domestic chores today. But Travis made a trip to the City Compost Facility for another load of compost. We'll use it on the trees we still have left to plant. We have a volunteer tomato plant coming up in one of the garden beds. It's doing pretty well, too. I have it on my to do list to buy some more tomato cages. The arugula I planted is up. The kale Travis planted is up. The new plum tree is planted. Here is a volunteer Poke Salat that came with the blueberry plant. Travis planted some more blueberries in the blueberry row that lines our driveway. The...

Alko Shredder

It was chilly this morning, but I got out and worked a bit in the garden bed that had the strawberries moved out yesterday. I fed it with the mineral supplement and fertilizer. I started putting on compost, but ran out of time before I finished. We are going to plant some kale in this bed. Bed #3 weeded, minerals added, fertilized, and partly composted. Travis and I went to an estate sale today. First thing we saw was a garden shredder. We bought it for $60.00 and brought it home. There are lots of leaves in my yard that could be shredded. Our new used Alko shredder...made in Germany. For dinner tonight I made a soup. The inspiration came from Dara Dubinet on her You-tube video, but mine was different because I used what we had. My vegetable soup recipe: Juice a beet, 6 carrots, 3 broccoli stalks, and a sweet potato. Then heat a pot of water on the stove, but do not boil. In the Vita-Mix, put 3 med...

Simple Raw and Natural

Search This Blog