It was wet. It was cold.

It was #HandsOff in Hartford and it was awesome

This is SUCH a bad photo, but you get the drift.

Umbrellas were popping up like mushrooms at Hartford’s Hands Off protest on a rainy and cold afternoon but no one seemed to mind. We persevered.

Earlier this week, I barely got out the “Do you want to go to,” when my granddaughter, who is nearly 14, said yes. She is a savvy teenager and we talk about the news — a lot. Today we shared an umbrella and her poster held up better in the mist than did mine. There was something about walking around our beautiful state capitol building to a sea of people holding signs and chanting. It was magical and inspiring and we took turns taking photos of the signs we liked best

Hartford’s was one of some 1,300 protests nationwide. Hartford’s capitol police said there were 2,500 to 3,000 at the historic Capitol building, the largest among protests in the state. People also gathered in Warren, Stamford, Middletown, Enfield, Killingly and Willimantic, among other places.

(And go, Jim Chapdelaine, founder of Indivisible CT, for doing such a great job organizing in Hartford, where speakers included the lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. )

My granddaughter took this photo.

How have the TrumpMusk cuts hit Connecticut? From CT Insider:

Connecticut has felt the shock waves, from over $150 million in canceled public health grants, a $5.6 million cut to funding for school produce, $3.7 million cut from food pantries and $1 million in canceled real estate leases, among other stripped sources of money.

My granddaughter took this one, too.

And she took this one, as well.

Do protests work? They certainly can, so long as they’re loud, national (international helps) and the pressure doesn’t stop when we throw out our soggy posters. I’m pretty sure everyone at today’s soggy protest intends to keep up the pressure. I know I do.

LFG.