I pondered posting today because I don’t really have anything significant to contribute. In my pondering I wondered if a pandemic that has killed so many has somehow diluted the impact of what happened 22 years ago. Perhaps today’s significance is more personal – not that I lost someone 22 years ago – but rather because I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the news down to the very minute.
However, life moves on but it does not mean we forget…not that horrible day 22 years ago or the long slow march of COVID. Rather it means we are living and hopefully fully living each and every day.
So sometimes Monday is for remembering… and living. And perhaps cleaning out my painting space with a sigh of relief that one small brown dog seems to be doing a bit better.
It’s been a week, hasn’t it? I have tried and tried to make sense of the senseless and I can find no simple answers… no complicated answers either. My heart is heavy for the citizens of Buffalo and for the Black/Brown/Indigenous American/LGBTQIA+/Non-Christian communities that are integral parts of the tapestry that is America. And so I this week, I picked up James Baldwin to settle into his world and listen for what wisdom he might share with me. And so I started The Fire Next Time….and of course, Baldwin has lots to share.
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.
and
We, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation…
Both of those statements are true, but how do we move away from the first and become the second. And as I said… still there are no simple answers and while there might be some more complicated ones… it will take all of us together to be the complicated, yet simple?, answer.
This week we (America) achieved another major milestone on our COVID journey… one million persons have died (actually, more than a million as of this writing) and if that does not shock you I don’t know what, if anything, might. I think that the WaPo posted an incredible look back to our COVID journey. (I don’t know if this link is behind a paywall…sorry) I spent some time there this week remembering the lives that were.
And because in the midst of our, at times, painful reality…some escapism is needed. This week I settled in with my third gnome clue and watched Operation Mincemeat on Netflix. Oh.my.gosh! It was so good. The story (which is true) was just what I needed to move myself to another space for a bit. If you have not watched it, you absolutely should!
And finally, my above photo is the best of this week’s iPhone Pseudo-Macro attempts! Lambs Ear with rain drop remnants (with a side of again necessary weeding… it just never ends, lol)
I hope you have a good weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday with my word update!
I usually write Monday’s post on Sunday afternoon… usually. Yesterday no inspiration struck at all so Monday morning arriving sans blog post is leaving me feeling a bit like the kid who did not do *any* of their homework over the weekend. Hoo boy…
Welcome to the Monday-est Monday! LOL
Sadly, I don’t have any cohesive thoughts but I do have some odds and ends that might be share-worthy! So here we go!
It has been a most un-fall-like fall in these parts. We were still running the air last week. And can I tell you about the volume of mosquitoes outside? As a result, I have begun paying closer attention to the Dark Sky app with hopes of a bug killing frost heading my way SOON because I am so over having a gajillion mosquito bites on my arms and legs! They are even making Sherman miserable so we tried a salve that someone recommended… and it works well! (Bonus in that it has really helped make my hands feel softer too! lol)
Speaking of hands… it has been eons since I went to get manicures at a salon. And for a time I was trying to paint my nails on the regular… but I really missed how nice my nails looked having them done professionally, not to mention that Salon Nails lasted way longer than Home Nails. I know I am late to the Olive and June crowd, but wow. Way back in September I got a start up kit…which I thought was kind of spendy but it had 5 bottles of polish and some other gadgets. I added in the nail primer and can I tell you all how blown away I am?!! Today I am on day 15 of a polish… and it is still going strong! I don’t get the whole Poppy thing and I am not doing “Manicure Bootcamp” but for a long lasting polish they are winners!
My To-Do List today includes filling out my ballot for the November election and get it mailed in pronto. I have been an avid poll worker since moving to PA but I am taking a hard pass this time around. The vitriol at the past two elections has been unsettling and that vitriol… well it has ramped up significantly in my neighborhood. It was not an easy decision, but once I made it I knew it was the right one… at least for the time being. If you go to vote in person in November… please take a moment to thank the people working there. They don’t hear it often enough!
As I mentioned on Friday, I got my flu shot last week and I also got my third COVID booster as well. That Double Whammy did me in… I did not move far from the sofa on Saturday. But by Sunday I was feeling much better and had a bit of a weekend! But that sofa time on Saturday? Well, I watched and re-watched (and maybe made Steve watch it with me for a third time!) the Animal Crossing Nintendo Direct! If you have not played for a bit… some FUN things are coming in November!
What about you? What odds and ends are part of your Monday?
Oh… and that sunset? That was the ending of my day last Thursday. It was too gorgeous not to share!
There are a few times in life when you leap up and the past that you’d been standing on falls away behind you, and the future you mean to land on is not yet in place, and for a moment you’re suspended knowing nothing and no one, not even yourself. — Ann Pachett, The Dutch House
Oh boy, another Monday.
It seems like last week the world began to be more topsy-turvy, and overflowing with uncertainty. I cannot get Danny’s voice out of my head because how he describes it is exactly so! The footing has fallen away, and the firmer future is still 58 days away. So here I am, suspended in knowing nothing and no one… not even myself.
I don’t like feeling so helpless with this uncertainty. One thing that is definitely certain – this virus is here and active. Sadly, not everyone gets that, or is it really that not everyone cares? But out in that “not everyone cares” world, are those I hold most dear. There they are braving places where the virus is like a speeding train… work. And I am truly at a loss this morning. Honestly, I am just so damned mad at people, ALL THE PEOPLE!!
I was certain that there would be no magic to fix all of this, but then this morning I heard this poem by Joy Harjo and as I let the words wash over me, I felt the tiniest crack in the dread… the uncertainty.
To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
See you all back here on Wednesday… I am excited to share some FINISHED THINGS with you!
It was a quiet St. Paddy’s Day weekend at my house but sadly, the same could not be said about my town!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY POLICE: Pittsburgh Police said they arrested 6 people during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the city and that one Public Works employee was hit by a car. https://t.co/XQUhELPF8l
This article from USAToday was timely….#StayHome should be trending everywhere!
As Coronavirus puts us into uncharted waters, tonight I have joined w 15 health leaders to publish an open letter in @USATODAY with an urgent, lifesaving message:
And, late yesterday the CDC finally got their head out of you know where…
The CDC is now recommending all gatherings of 50+ people be postponed for the next *8 weeks.* These recommendations are not made lightly and apply to your daily routines.
This EXCELLENT WaPo article shows us clearly why strict social distancing is important! FYI, our trajectory has now surpassed the course Italy was on…just saying!
Stay well, stay socially distant, and for heaven’s sake, please stay home!
P.S. One thing you should absolutely do today is search “Italian’s singing on balconies” on YouTube. You will find gems like this.It’s a lovely rabbit hole to spend some time in! (Hint…Be like Italy…STAY HOME!)
