Last week I posted about this stormy season and Norman Dubie’s poem Of Politics & Art.

And when I said stormy I meant hurricanes.
And Wall Street.
And the war.
And the upcoming election.

The whole shootin’ match.

I’ve been talking with my husband and my sister and my chums lately about how to be engaged in the world but not caught up in the storm. How to feel positive and proactive instead of angry and inert. How to hold hope instead of doubt.

I think helping to register voters fits the bill.
So does making Hope Flags.

On Sunday, both of these things happened at a big ol’ Austin-style family picnic.

Live music & politics.
Kids & candidates.

And did I mention Hope Flags?

My best gals Kathie and Bernadette  (of Future Craft Collective) set up a table with flag materials, writing prompts and plenty of space for free-wheelin’ inspiration. Eighty-some artists later, we had a string of flags that even the Tibetans would have been impressed by.

"Prayer flags are simple devices that, coupled with the natural energy of the wind, quietly harmonize the environment, impartially increasing happiness and good fortune among all living beings…" — The Prayer Flag Tradition, Timothy Clark

Makes a gal think things aren’t so bad afterall…