A mighty rain fell all night and pounded the roof.  It was a sweet sound to me, and I easily fell asleep. This morning when I went out to get the papers, I saw the snow was just about gone. Only a few small piles remain, and they won’t last long. It will be 50° today. No sun again this morning, just a gray sky, but the sun will be by later. I’ll be happy to see it after so long.

The Bruins were at the White House yesterday to be feted by the President for winning the Stanley Cup last season. Tim Thomas, the celebrated goalie, did not go. He cited the President’s policies as the reason. I totally disagree with his decision. This was an occasion to celebrate an achievement, one which should have transcended politics. No allegiance was demanded, no votes were cast. It was about hockey, a game with sticks and a puck and a net. That’s all.

My father voted democratic until his salary hit six figures then he changed his allegiance to the republicans. He couldn’t believe he had raised such liberals, all four of us. After every election, he’d make a point of telling me his vote cancelled out mine. Once he called me a pinko communist school teacher poisoning the minds of young Americans. I asked him if he thought teaching Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was subversive. He sputtered but never answered and then left the room. He and I were at loggerheads for the whole of my adult life anytime politics were mentioned. Most times I never told him of any political activism in which I took part. The veins in his head would have popped. We all knew that was a sure sign of how angry he was, and we used to keep track when we were kids. We’d try to out-vein each other. I don’t remember when, we called a truce and politics became verboten between us. I do remember it was some time during the Reagan administration which would have had us at each other’s necks for all eight years.

My mother never said a word. She was the smart one.