There are points where things don’t exactly seem to be quite right in Ashtabula County. If you don’t use Facebook and immerse yourself in the madness there you’re otherwise cut off from quite a bit of the social fabric. If you’re not Roman Catholic or Pentacostal you’re similarly cut off from quite a bit of the social fabric. I know there are many folks locally who think that this is normal, truly American, and something to be proud of but it is just weirdly clannish tribalism. No matter what I do I am not accepted as part of the tribe.

How does one communicate in a society that is becoming increasingly tribal? How do you cross those lines? With what background I do have in history the answer I can come to is simply “not well at all”. A look at my ancestors handling such things doesn’t paint all that rosy of a picture. Matoaka’s case provides plenty of examples to learn from, I suppose.

There is quite a bit on my mind. Sleep may help in terms of finding some solutions.