© photo by Carol Bergman 2025
These magnolia blossoms refreshed my spirit today.
Suddenly, like a thing falling upon me from without, came fear.
― H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds
Out of curiosity, I went onto the United States Department of Education site and found the message that became the title of this blog post. I tried to imagine what it felt like to the employees of that federal agency when they realized that their site had been scrubbed. Scrubbed clean. And that their ongoing projects had also been scrubbed, or expunged, as had the employment of some of their colleagues, or each other, or themselves. The offices must have been in trauma turmoil. Therefore expungement is a better word to explain what has happened—and is happening—in Washington DC.
In other words, the UFOs have landed.
A word, then, about UFOs. There is a woman I know—a sweet, generous, educated woman—who "believes" in UFOs, believes they exist and that they are the cause of much of our distress right now. I am at a loss to disabuse her. She reassures me that she voted "right," not right on the political spectrum, just sanely, shall we say, even though she was afraid to go to the polling station on the day of the election in the event of disturbance, or worse. I suggested she play it safe for her own wellbeing, which is fragile, and vote by mail. I obtained a mail-in ballot for her. She filled it out in the privacy of her home, but it didn't work, the wrong people were elected, she said. Someone had obviously not counted her ballot. "Next time," I said, in an effort to reassure her, and myself. But she was not content with my reply. "There is the possibility that the results of the election were generated by AI," she continued. "What if the UFO's have departed and left their AIs behind? Have they already infiltrated at ground level?"
"Unlikely," I said, before saying goodbye, and taking a long walk in the sunshine to restore my equilibrium and emotional sobriety.