For a look at what happened to politics after the election of 2016 read Of Bears and Ballots: an Alaskan Adventure in Small-Town Politics, by Heather Lende. This author has been in my blog before, she has a wonderful style of writing. Haines, Alaska is a small town, everyone knows each other and gets along. This does not mean they are always in agreement, but they are friends and neighbors. Council meetings, etc., used Robert's Rule of Order, folks are addressed formally, and things get done, decided, etc. This changed after November 2016 ... people were less polite, there was angry controversy over a fishing boat harbor, and an angry recall of a recent election (that is, the 'right' people didn't win). This all played out on the national level, too, but in this small town, you get a very personal look at it. My copy included an update as to what followed: a huge storm (snow, rain, mudslides) and the pandemic. Well written and thoughtful.

Here is a history of a very small, but extremely useful item: The Pocket: a Hidden History of Women's Lives,1660 - 1900, by Barbara Burman & Ariane Fennetaux. Men's clothing, it seems, have always had pockets, not so for women's clothing. Women dealt with this by making tie on pockets, little 'spaces' that would tie on under a dress or apron, accessed by a slit in the outer layer(s). All women, from duchess to house maid had one, sometimes more, that could hold, well, just about anything: ribbon, pencils, thimbles, ducklings .... Girls were taught at a very young age to make them, and many were decorated with fancy stitching or embroidered designs. Women could recognize their work, and those of their relatives or friends, which proved useful when identifying one that had been stolen and then recovered. (It's the inventories of these that give an idea of what was carried). A bit dry in places, but an interesting subject.

Reading Hermit With Dog