Maria and I drove to the Foundry in Stockbridge, Mass. this morning to see her art displayed at the traveling Tiny Pricks Project, an international show of artists seeking to create a material record of the things President Trump says.

I’m not into writing about politics, but I am proud of Maria. Her art and the art of the other artists is what we call “quiet art.” It speaks softly but powerfully.

The exhibit is traveling now all over the country and is much in demand.

It upsets and saddens me to see the crude, cruel, arrogant, and dishonest things this President says all of the time. But I have no wish to argue about it when I get upset; I just do more good. My website will never be welcoming or open to people who get their news only from Fox News or CNN.

Their minds are closed. The left and the right are killing the American mind.

Living in rural America, I do understand why many people support the President; he is doing just what he said he would do.

And there are supercilious elites, and they can be obnoxious and arrogant. Still, I will never understand how so many people – including people who call themselves religious and Christian, can support and look the other way at these offensive comments.

To see hundreds of these quotes up on these gallery walls was shocking. Good for these artists, leaving a record behind for people to wonder about down the road.

Maria has three pieces in this exhibit, now heading to Boston, and three more in another part of the show, now in Miami. I was very proud of her work.

“I Think My Rhetoric Brings People Together,” quote from the President, one of Maria’s pieces in the Tiny Pricks Project.

Maria and I share a way to respond: I do good, and she makes art that speaks for itself. She doesn’t need to argue about it. Neither do I.

We do not believe in arguing our politics or hating those who disagree with us. We are losing track of what democracy means. People who differ from me are not traitors or bigots.

We both believe in “quiet art.” Creativity is a powerful force; it makes its arguments. They despots always kill the artists first because they are so influential.

For Maria and me, our politics are what we do and how we live, not how we judge or argue. I have a lot of Trump supporters reading my blog and my books and enjoying my photographs. I appreciate their respect for freedom of speech.

That makes me feel good and has grounded me and others during these disturbing years.

Several artists were at the exhibit in Stockbridge, and they seemed anxious to engage in some Trump-bashing. We didn’t join in.

One of them asked me how I deal with the poison in our politics.  “It’s simple,” I said, “I help refugee children and the elderly in assisted care. We call ourselves the Army Of Good.”

Oh, she said, looking at me as if I fell out of a spaceship. She moved away, perhaps wanting some distance between herself and this strange man.

I brought Zinnia because I am still working on socializing her and exposing her to as many different environments as possible. This is working out well. She came in, looked around and lay down while we browsed.

I just dropped the leash and gave her a chance to be herself. She always rises to that.

The gallery owner said she was welcome at any time. She is an excellent advocate for “quiet art.” She is growing up to be a fantastic dog, and I am fortunate to have her.

I look forward to this complicated year. I suspect I will be trying to do a lot of good. And that is a good thing. Life is what we make of it, and the people who say these things and support them will not bring me to my knees.