I live Among People Who Say they Want to Kill Me. I Choose Not to Believe Them.

I live in a tiny village in rural South Carolina, and absolutely love it here. Let’s get that straight.

This past Halloween evening I was sitting out on my front porch, the light on,` with my friend Dean and a big bag of candy. The village kids were OUT, and it was such a compete joy to see them. There is no sweeter music in the world than the sound of happy children.

One neighbor, a man I don’t know, climbed the stairs on to the porch with a darling pre-teen girl dressed as an astronaut. As a big NASA fan, I greeted her warmly. The man kinda smiled, spoke much louder than necessary, and said he wanted her to take the President of the United States to the moon and leave him there to die. When I managed to catch my breath, I said “no political talk here.” He responded, still too loudly, '“Let me just say one thing!”.

At that point I did something somewhat out of character for me. I stood up in front of him as tall as I could, and I said quietly, “No! This is my house.” It’s hard to know sometimes how to turn the other cheek. “My House” was the best I could come up with at the moment. It may have worked. He smiled brightly and said, “You’re the artist, aren’t you?” I said yes and invited them in to see the paintings and the studio. He was polite and gracious. We shook hands. The girl never spoke, not one word, but she smiled at me.

Still, from time to time I hear from my neighbors that they want to kill people like me. That they want the shooting to start. Maybe it’s because when they put out their confederate and Trump flags, I put out my Tibetan prayer flags. Maybe it’s because I’m an outsider. Who knows. I’ve been shoved in the post office, by a large man …. probably for wearing a mask. Bumped hard in my back by carts in the grocery store, always by men, presumably for the same. Would physical gestures like that turn to murder? Again, who knows.

But I’m going to keep turning the other cheek as best I can. Seeing the kindness in my neighbors. Taking care of my home. Doing what I can to support the village. And leaving my prayer flags in place … who knows … maybe they are keeping me safe.