2017 Life Logs, Day 354: Up, Then Down . . . Way Down
Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Weather: Sunny; High 49, Low 23 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Believe it or not, I returned from a trip to Hyannis this afternoon singing, “It’s a Holly Jolly Christmas.” Usually a trip to Hyannis does not evoke a happy feeling. Too many people, too much traffic, and shopping which I do not enjoy. Today I had an eye examination where I picked out new glasses as a Christmas present to myself. Then I went shopping at Whole Foods, went to two different stores to retun things I bought as Christmas gifts but were the wrong size, went to Barnes & Nobles to pick up a last minute gift, started the drive home, and did some more food shopping for Heather on the way. Why all of this made me feel so happy, I have no idea, but I was definitely in the holiday spirit. I stopped by Heather’s to drop off a couple of bags of goodies, went to the post office to send cards, and made another stop at CVS. There I met up with a friend from the gym and Newcomers. She leads the biking group I am a part of and just returned from visiting her brother in San Diego. We had a great conversation. Then I continued on, making yet another stop at a different grocery store to pick up something needed for our Christmas Eve Feast of Seven Fishes. I came home, wrapped more presents, and was still singing “It’s a Holly Jolly Christmas.” Then I turned on the TV to catch up on the news. I already knew about the passage of the new GOP tax bill, but I didn’t know the piece about how it is going to affect Puerto Rico. That bit of news took the “holly jolly” totally out of today. After learning the details of the additional tax that is going to be imposed on Puerto Rico as a “foreign nation”—which it is not—I understood why the people at Maximo Solar in Aguadilla were asking Justin yesterday why President Trump and the US government so dislike Puerto Ricans. I thought their questioning was due to the lack of support after Hurricane Maria. But after hearing about this new tax being imposed, I think that is what they were referring to. Ricardo Rossello, the governor of Puerto Rico, has been very careful not to ‘upset’ President Trump since Hurricane Maria, but now even he is up in arms. There are many things about this tax bill to be upset about, but to punish Puerto Rico like this seems unbelievably cruel. That plus the millions of people who are going to immediately lose their health insurance is almost more than I can handle. It certainly doesn’t sound like the wonderful Christmas present the Republicans and our President are touting.