Is it okay to be proud of reaching a career milestone knowing I’ve only done so because I happen to share a hometown with the resurrected President of the United States? When the world is descending ever deeper in to fascism, and we’re losing more of our human and civil rights by the day?

I don’t know. But I am proud of my first-ever TIME cover story, “Is This the End of the End?”, which takes a look at what’s happened so far — and what’s coming next — for a world rocked by the end of that great equalizer, death.

But for the children running around with rifles, today’s street fair in downtown Turner Falls looked much like the ones I remember from my childhood. Smelled like them, too — the scent of funnel cakes and turkey legs and tacos al pastor from Taqueria El Jefe hit me from blocks away, which is where I had to park owing to the veritable throngs of locals who turned out for the nationwide “Make Ready for Rudy” day of action.

The event was spearheaded by the New Life Church of Turner Falls, famously President Rudy Ruiz’s home congregation. In the lead-up, the day of action was heavily promoted by megachurch leader and YouTube star Pastor Kathy Donaldson, a die-hard (I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself) Ruiz supporter who I think we’ll find out soon has likely lost her already tenuous designation as official White House chaplain. President Ashleigh Grantham’s been reluctant to shake up too much in D.C. since he was sworn in this summer, preferring instead to telegraph his commitment to serving as a steward of Ruiz’s legacy by maintaining the status quo (minus, of course, Ruiz). But I can’t see Grantham welcoming Donaldson back on the premises following what was a pretty explicit call for Americans to take up arms to demand Ruiz retake the White House.