By Jan Miller Penton

The steady hum of a neighbor’s lawnmower along with the clanking of something metal bouncing in the dryer fill my ears on this sultry, summer afternoon. I’ve just returned from lunching with special friends and made it without spilling one tear.
I love hard, and it’s difficult for me to say goodbye so one of my last orders of business here is starting the conversation of when we’ll get together again. There are many that I wanted to see, but time whizzed by so quickly that I’ll have to wait until my next visit to catch up with several of them.
Any day, especially these days, one could give in to negativity.
But instead of giving into the inevitable sadness I feel at leaving so many that I dearly love, I prefer to look forward to the new adventure ahead and all the good times that are yet to be. I do, however, think this move would be a little more enjoyable if I had a new home to move into.
The housing market is so tight in Newport that finding the right house has been challenging. I keep looking on the Internet and telling myself that any day the perfect house will pop up, but for now we will be helping to keep the storage business strong. Thankfully, my daughter is happy to share her home while we look, and it will be fun to spend some quality time with my girl. But everyone needs his or her own space, so hopefully something will catch our eye soon.
Have you ever heard the phrase Ignorance is bliss? In attempt to not watch national media coverage, I continue to live in the more normal world of my own. Thank goodness in our little spot of earth people genuinely care for one another and try to understand each other’s point of view. While we, as a community, may struggle from time to time dealing with the pain of senseless loss and heartache, it doesn’t take a genius to see that the good and decent people far outweigh those who would only live to cause problems.
Many Americans are tired of the lies and exaggeration. We won’t be puppets on a string, and many are joining me in protest.
No, we aren’t taking it to the streets; we are calmly and quietly mounting our own form of resistance.
We protest distortion of the facts. We protest fear mongering. We protest hate in all forms.
We won’t poison our minds with it.
When I choose the option of turning off the news and listening to that still small voice who cannot lie I feel so much better.
We weren’t meant to live with a barrage of constant drama and negativity.
Just say no.