A Peaceful Blue Sky
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A Peaceful Blue Sky
“And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.”
My Ukrainian friend was sharing on Thanksgiving morning that she was grateful for a peaceful blue sky. She was thinking of her family in Odesa and Kyiv, who don’t have that luxury.
So if you’re looking for something to be grateful for, start there — if you live under a peaceful blue sky, please count your blessings.
I do this work 24/7 as I explained to Ukrainian soldier and filmmaker Volodymyr Demchenko, who joined our recent Speakeasy and RadPod, because I’m trying to wake Americans up to information warfare before the bombs start dropping here. Information warfare preceded the bomb in Ukraine.
Right now, our skies are still peaceful. Each time I pause to look up at the sky, I gain perspective.
I wash my spirit clean under starry skies, removing myself from the sturm und drang grid as often as possible.
Behold, the glorious photo I took Friday morning in the pre-dawn hour in the Cholla Garden at Joshua Tree National Monument. After feeding hundreds of people in recovery — my jam on Thanksgiving mornings — I drove to the desert for nature to feed my soul.
I still can’t believe I captured the moment in that way. That’s Venus in the right hand corner, and it was about 30 minutes before the sun came up in the Cholla Garden, a magnificent spot in Joshua Tree National Park for watching the sunrise.
Thanks to environmental activist Audrey Peterman, I am now a connoisseur of sunrises. I was able to share with Joshua Tree travelers also getting in position before the sunrise, about how a golden light in summer bathes the mountains behind the sun in the predawn hour during summer months. In Fall, it’s more of a crisp blue hue. I also told them to listen for the moment the cactus wren sing in unison, as they welcome the sun. This time when the birdsong occurred, I was thankful no drone intruders spoiled the moment.
As I awaited the glorious arrival of the sun, I congratulated myself for the decision to go it alone on Thanksgiving night.
I am very protective of my joy during the holidays. Growing up in a home with untreated war trauma, holidays provided an excellent opportunity for family members to pick fights in order to ensure maximum pow.
I have been removing myself from the blast zone for years. They can get it all out of their system, while I return whole — peaceful and radiant.
My adult children live on opposite coasts, and we see each other in the days preceding and after the holidays — low key, no stress, all love.
As I was listening on the drive to my Bette Dangerous Holiday playlist — it’s a phat collection of Christmas songs — I realized I needed some off-the-grid music to match the beauty of the highway into Joshua Tree and somehow found John Mayer’s new radio station — Life With John Mayer. There he was chatting away on Thanksgiving evening, about music and life and falling off Segues — a perfect metaphor for a writer.
Almost immediately, he played my favorite song in the world, Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” and I thought — in this life of fighting fascists for seven years, there was never a time while I was writing late at night when a John Mayer song didn’t make me feel better. So I told him that — on Thanksgiving.
Falling of Segues
I go the desert to heal my soul — to wash my spirit clean — a reminder that the pain we suffer on this planet can be transformed into spiritual growth if we choose to step out of self and gaze at something more infinite, more majestic, like the moon or a peaceful blue sky or the endless sea of stars.
As I looked up at the 4 am sky, on my way to a front row seat to another glorious sunrise, dazzled at the plethora of a twinkly things in the sky, I thought:
There are enough stars for everyone.
And then I witnesses the glory of another day dawning.
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More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
“We just have to see that the battle for democracy is broader. It's deeper.“—David Pepper
“I need people to see they're on the frontline. Wherever you live, if you’re doing this work, you are the frontline.”—David Pepper
“The message should be a fair deal… fairness everywhere.”—Martin Sheil
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“I say a silent prayer of thanksgiving as I walk upon the earth.”-Audrey Peterman.
“May the viral hope for truth and humanity wash away the chaos of these years.”-S.C., Bette community member
“Something Sacred never dies in almost all of us, who can hear the invitation of Truth…”-words from a Bette Dangerous community member
“Nothing but blue skies from now on…”-Irving Berlin