It’s official. The chipmunks are confused. From Recorder nature columnist Bill Danielson’s informative piece on chipmunks a few weeks ago, we learned how chippies settle into their elaborate underground dens when cold weather hits and snooze away the winter. But wait! Not days later, they were out again, responding to a set of extremely warm days. October was the hottest on record; in fact 2024 is just weeks from being declared the hottest year ever. Faked out, the chippies came back out to feed and play despite the late date.

The chipmunks are not the only ones faked out this year. Nearly half our country’s voters were spun in circles. When the deluge of misinformation the size of hurricane Helene hits the populace, destruction is inevitable.

This is not the first time American democracy has broken my heart. My first political campaign was Charles Weltner’s run for Congress in Atlanta in the 60s when I was about 16. Shy and inexperienced socially as I was, I was quickly enamored of the process of reaching out to voters on behalf of a person I believed in. Charlie won, but later became notorious for resigning from the Democratic Party of Georgia after they nominated a vicious white supremacist, Lester Maddox, for governor. Charlie then lost his seat, a harsh lesson that the good guys do not always win.

This lesson was verified when I worked my heart out for community leader Mel King during his two campaigns for mayor of Boston. I learned the ropes during his tenure as an effective state representative for five terms; those five campaigns began to build connections beyond his district. He first ran for mayor in 1979 in a citywide campaign based on a new coalition across class, race, neighborhoods and ethnic identities. The campaign team stayed together for four years to keep the coalition strong and growing. Each year we took on a new cause — we lost the fight against Proposition 2½ (a law that still hobbles many town budgets), but changed both school committee and city council to district representation, giving far more communities a stronger voice in city affairs.

In 1981 when we won a place in the final election there was literally dancing on Tremont Street downtown in front of the Parker House hotel where the campaign celebration was taking place. I could see one out of every three people on the bus or T wearing our handmade campaign buttons. But in the end, barely more than the original 30% of voters risked voting for a tall, articulate Black man with strong ideas about equity and the importance of government helping all people, not just the few.

So here we are, decades later, and I am left with the conclusion that we have not progressed, but in fact regressed. The candidate who is Black and female came oh so close, but in the end, people closed their ears to the hateful language, blatant lies and threats and gave in to their fears instead of embracing a vision of how much better we can become. This was not about policy or the economy or campaign style.

Unlike the chipmunks, who hopefully are sleeping soundly by now, we do not have time to hibernate. I, for one, am not willing to see my daughters and daughter-in-law have fewer rights and protections than I had at their ages. I am not willing for my grandchildren to suffer the consequences of unmitigated climate disaster or for their world to be devastated by the aggressions enabled by the destruction of international institutions meant to hold back war. I am not willing for some people to be categorized as “lesser” and therefore not welcome in our society.

This week we went to hear Angelique Kidjo, an internationally famous singer from Benin, Africa. Her awards and accolades filled pages, but I was unprepared for the phenomenal energy and power of her non-stop concert. She had the audience of hundreds — all ages, colors, sizes — on their feet, dancing and singing in multiple languages and musical styles. She promoted unity, love, respect even for those we do not understand or agree with. She literally embodied the music — again and again as she sang the music and rhythm inhabited her physical being and burst into dance. She acknowledged worldwide threats to survival and democracy, but exhorted us to action. No, hibernation is not an option. Together we will find the way forward.

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Judy Wagner is a retired environmental planner living in Northfield.