This was Karen’s last day walking with us. I didn’t know it at the time, but Karen Brinker would go on to create a new Planned Parenthood action council called the Wilson County Women’s Coalition. Her group is working to educate and inform more people in Wilson County about issues impacting them, encouraging residents to register to vote and run for office, and getting out the vote.
The fall colors were brilliant as we entered Smith County into the city of Carthage. We met up with a Swedish film crew for Jill’s Veranda, a show featuring Swedish country music star Jill Johnson with Lisa Ekdahl. You can watch the show or trailer here. Feeling trippy in our exhaustion was a pretty magical experience for Laura and me, especially being serenaded in the woods along Tennessee’s iconic Center Hill lake.
Just as the Swedish television crew were alarmed about the rollback of abortion rights in the United States, so were the Japanese press, discomforted by the growing white nationalist sentiment in our country. The reporters were visibly nervous of both the fast-moving traffic on these country roads, but also the hostile Trump signs and confederate flags along the way. We were in the heart of Trump country. I told them that unless the Democrats win the presidential election in 2024, we can most assuredly see an eventual outright federal ban on abortion.
At the end of the day, we met with Jonathan Bradley, the new Chair of the Dekalb County Democrats. He brought his daughter and a friend with him to our place at Edgar Evins State Park. As a farmer, he and Button, who is a fresh food aficionado, had a lot to talk about. Pardon the pun, but there was a lot of food for thought for how policy could be created centering our food--how it is grown, its impact on the planet, how it affects our health, labor, economy, etc. Jonathan is an inspiring leader and is strategic in the way he thinks about issues resonating with everyday people. We were invited to go to a big Dekalb County Democratic event later in the week.
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