The presidential campaign continues to distract me. I know I’m not the only one who feels she is in limbo, unable to read or even watch TV much, because of the driving need to consume news stories and op eds about the candidates.

I have to know the latest. This week it was: has Trump finally gone too far (dare we hope)? Maybe it is true, as some say, that he never wanted the job and it’s only a matter of time before he folds (dare we hope?).

Is there any remedy for ‘post-factual’ politics (George Will’s term)? If in fact Trump’s followers are willing to accept belief as fact when it suits their purpose, what place does rationality have? John Oliver captured this dilemma well the week after the RNC.

Does it help to blame Roger Ailes, Fox News, the Tea Party, our education system, or the ghost writer of Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal” (who sounds like he’s practically suicidal for his part in aiding Trump’s ascendancy –described here, in a New Yorker article)? Or to call to task all those lame Republicans who have either endorsed the lunatic or remained silent out of fear of messing up their own political ambitions?

Meanwhile, I also collect scathing condemnations of the ‘purity vote’ which strikes me as another form of being unhinged from reality, but from a place of sanctimonious delusion rather than reactionary xenophobia. Who are these people that cannot fathom that sitting this one out or voting for “Jill fucking Stein” (radio host Dan Savage’s name) is to risk turning our country into a flaming dumpster? Maybe Sanders now regrets waiting so long to endorse Clinton, seeing as how so many of his followers do not seem to understand that they are voting ‘in the real world’ (his words).

Occasionally, I hiss in the direction of Lexington, Mass., which is not very far from here, since that is where Jill Stein is from.

Here’s where I need to cite the best article I’ve read so far about the double standard applied to Hillary Clinton, which doesn’t convert her from crook to saint, but does put the unrelenting attacks against her into a serviceable framework of sexism. Too bad the ‘jail Hillary’ folks don’t give a rat’s ass about facts.

It would be like a circus if the stakes weren’t so high. It might even be hilarious if it didn’t reveal the underbelly of our society and just how wide and deep the divides are between various factions.

I hadn’t intended to write this. But maybe I needed to document this craziness as a way to manage it.

Meanwhile, the mundane business of caring for trees, scrubbing scuff marks off of baseboard, making herb butter, vacuuming up dog hair, and a little bit of stitching keep me sane. Good thing, too.

We removed an ailing Rose of Sharon and took some low hanging limbs off of one of our catalpa. I got some quotes for long-deferred tree work. Since we are going from paying two tuitions last year, to paying none this year, we can spring for this. There are big dead limbs in a chokecherry out back. A maple out front with branches tangled in the wires. A four-trunked maple at the side that is compromising our roof. It will feel really good to take care of these trees.