2020 Project 365 – Week Twenty-seven

Blogger has updated its interface and I am NOT AMUSED. The spacing is weird, I have to add pictures one at a dang time (I used to upload them all, and then just insert them where I wanted), and I can’t just type in the labels anymore – I have to scroll through the whole list to find the ones I want. I have a jillion labels. Labels might be a thing of the past (I mostly use the search feature when I’m trying to find a post anyway). Okay, rant over. For now.

Sunday, June 28^th                                                             

Dr. M spent some time with his dad & the hydrangeas that are from his mother’s funeral. 

I spent some time with my dad and Sue, and picked some blueberries. When I commented that the thing on the right was NOT a blueberry, my dad yanked it up & sent it home with me (garlic – yum!).

Monday, June 29^th                            

The moon! 

Tuesday, June 30^th                                                                 

Another day, another mask situation. 

Our neighbor’s daylilies are lovely! 

Wednesday, July 1^st                                                         

I posted this about being glad my new curling iron came with that warning, and then things took a bawdy turn – especially after I read the instructions. And all I can say about that is OUCH.

 

Thursday, July 2^nd       

One of my coworkers’ husbands brought us patriotic donuts. Yum! 

That evening we had a visitation from the blissed out Roy. 

Friday, July 3^rd                                                                     

I had the day off from work – woo hoo! I finished up this project – another non-sock item made from sock yarn that I’d had for about 5 years. I actually mostly finished it a couple of weeks ago, but I was POSITIVE I had another skein of the yarn in the house somewhere. I did another pretty exhaustive search on this day & had no luck. It’s fine – this is supposed to be a scarf, not a shawl anyway. Photo shoot to come after it dries. 

Saturday, July 4^th                

We spent part of the day with Dr. M’s dad. We had bbq & baked beans with fried okra (I don’t know why the only picture I took of that was the okra). And then we had cupcakes, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Dr. M spent some time talking with his dad & I spent some time picking blueberries. I think it’s fitting that I began and ended the week with blueberries! 

I often have a lot of conflicting feelings about this day, but this year it was more troubling than usual. I’ll let Frederick Douglass explain (and my goodness, I read an alternate opinion of him this week & now I’m giving him side eye!). 

I’ve had a lovely long weekend, but I don’t mind going back to work (at least I won’t mind once I’m up and out of the shower – pre-shower I will be a little salty about it). When I’m out of my routine I can spiral down into complete lethargy with a touch of depression. I did get some housework done, so I feel good about that, and I finished a couple of books and started on THREE more. But I’ll bet my screen time was through the roof! What did you do with your down time? (If you had some – and I don’t want to hear it from my retired people – I’m looking at you Daddy.)

 

2019 Project 365 – Week Thirty-nine

As I’m writing this it seems as though my Atlanta Braves are limping into the playoffs. My expectations for how far they’ll go have diminished in the past week. But no matter what they do (& maybe they’ll surprise me!), they’ve had a great year.

Sunday, September 22^nd                                              

It’s been a while since I had dinner for breakfast – bbq, baked beans, & okra. It’s not pretty, but it was YUMMY.

Dr. M is getting a new musical instrument for his birthday (stay tuned!), so to get himself ready he pulled out his dulcimers again.

Monday, September 23^rd              

As I said on FB, I went to the grocery store during lunch and this is going to be the weirdest sandwich ever! Also, I feel like “swisspers” is a little twee for the name of a cotton ball brand, don’t you?

Tuesday, September 24^th                                                

The Bug Parking Badly, blah blah blah. Fortunately these spaces are huge – there was already a car beside me when I parked & I didn’t impede anyone’s ability to get into or out of their car. That’s my story & I’m sticking to it!

Wednesday, September 25^th                                                         

Surprise! Dr M’s (very) early birthday, anniversary, & Christmas gift. I blame this on Ken Burns. It has been fun listening to Dr. M teach himself a new instrument!

Thursday, September 26^th                                                            

No picture

Friday, September 27^th                                                           

Heather’s mum has finally decided to bloom. It’s had buds for about a month now – it seems to take forever for them to bust out.

Saturday, September 28^th            

My father-in-law’s cat & my hair had the same idea today: just relax & go with the flow.

I went to hear The Right Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori speak about climate change. She was the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States (the first woman to hold that position) for about 9 years while I lived in Ohio. I didn’t realize that her background is in oceanography – she has a doctorate in that field, so she is able to address climate change from a spiritual perspective & a scientific one. It was a great talk. She asked if we were treating our earth like the Promised Land. And I was introduced to the concept of solastalgia (a form of mental or existential distress caused by environmental change. In many cases this is in reference to global climate change, but more localized events such as volcanic eruptions, drought or destructive mining techniques can cause solastalgia as well.). My favorite quote was this one, in answer to what you say to people who don’t believe in climate science: “Climate science is not a political issue – it’s a reality issue. I don’t associate politics with reality. We can put our heads in the sand, but we’re still going to roast our rear ends.”

I’m not sure I can top that quote. There’s a blizzard in Montana, and in the 90s here, and there’s a category 5 hurricane brewing in the eastern Atlantic. Have a great week? 

P.S. I loved the statement the church made to parents of children (God put the wiggle in children – ha!).

Pie in the Sky Thoughts...

Lately I’ve had an imaginary conversation with someone who asks why I’m a liberal snowflake (or some such). I’m not sure when I think this conversation would take place because I tend to avoid confrontation whenever possible. But I’ve been thinking about my response:

Because I believe that God wants everyone to have a place at the table, 

and I believe that our task on earth is to make sure 

that all of those welcome people can find the dwelling, 

that they can open the door, 

that they’re able to step over the threshold, 

that they can find a seat, 

that they have the proper utensils, 

that the food is sustenance, 

and that the fellowship is beautiful.

All of the things that we do that make the table unavailable for all of God’s people? 

I’m against those things.

We will not let hate win (will we?)

Yesterday I unfriended someone on Facebook - not something I do very often. Usually, if a person has wildly different views of life than I do & I don't want to see his or her posts, I'll just hide that person from my news feed. But this time I decided that I just didn't need to be Facebook friends with a person who had this particular point of view. What did she post? It was one of those memes that said, in effect, no white person alive today ever owned a slave and no black person today has ever been a slave, so basically everyone just get over yourselves.

As if the effects of centuries of people owning other people can be rinsed down the drain like grime after a hard day's work. As if the very institutions that undergird our nation aren't set, by default, to favor white citizens. As if the average black child in the United States today really does have the same advantages as the average white child.

I read an essay the other day where a woman was talking to a black man who couldn't swim. She said that he must not have grown up around water. But he replied that his town had a pool, but that black people weren't allowed to use it. Today that town's pool most likely doesn't discriminate. But what is the legacy of this story from our (relatively) recent past? I grew up hearing that "black people don't swim," as if it was a genetic disposition instead of a lack of opportunity. And this is just one example of systemic discrimination.

I used to believe that once the "older generation" died off, the United States would become a utopia where no one was treated differently based on the color of their skin, sexual preference, gender, or nationality. I'm not that naive anymore. We can't afford to wait for some fictional utopia. We need to actively seek the change we want in the world. What does that look like for me or you? No clue. But I'm ready.

What the What?

I didn't actually feel all that confident.
Had to be talked down off the ledge a few times.
And yet, secretly, in my heart of hearts
I thought that there was NO WAY.

And yet, way.

I can't really froth at the mouth in this space (I have family who read this whose consciences are apparently vastly different from mine. They are not surprised by this.). But I just want to say this: I got about four hours of very restless sleep last night. And as I tossed and turned, I realized that I felt the exact same way that I did when I found out that my mother's cancer had spread. And just like then, I think I'm going to grieve for a bit and then get back up and keep trying to make the world a better place.

Throwback Thursday

My poor brother - I did warn him that I was going to post this picture of us. His Army son came home for Christmas yesterday, so I thought this was a good time to post it. I'm wearing my dad's National Guard coveralls, and J is wearing... well you can see what he's wearing. He says at least his hat, purse, & shoes matched!

P.S. Check out Dr. M's throwback post to a Christmas poem past: here.

Uh Oh Spaghetti-O

Last night during a reprieve from coughing and blowing my nose, I dreamed that I was eating spaghetti. I took a big bite, and chomped down on a cough drop. Ewww! For the rest of the night I dreamed or thought about how disgusting that would be. Tomato sauce with a hint of "Vapor Action." Even now I shudder in revulsion.

And of course I had to share my revulsion with all my readers because that's me. If you met me in person you would quickly realize that not only do I not have a filter for things I say, but that I think that all the things I'm thinking about are fascinating. I over share. Just a tad.

Once, when I was doing the sermon on Youth Sunday (boy those folks LOVED me - I was the soul of brevity, so no problem at all with getting out of church in time to beat the lunch crowd), I may have mentioned that our family sometimes skipped church because we were tired. And that on those days my parents had us read a story out of the Children's Bible. Afterward, my dad said that people liked a woman of mystery. That I did not need to share everything that was in my head. Really.

And now I feel like I've shared that story on here already. But my cold is keeping me from caring enough to go back and look.

Anyway, the point is that I had to tell you the spaghetti and cough drop story. Because, Woman of Mystery? Is not me.

Hmmm - you know what I'm really craving for dinner tonight?

The Rapture (Wherein the Bug Dips Her Toe Into Controversy)

I'm not afraid to state my opinion - really. I like people to know where I stand on things important to me, like how to hang the toilet paper roll (over!!) and whether everyone should have affordable healthcare (duh!!).

But I don't really like controversy. I pretty much cringe from it & bury myself in a tube of chocolate chip cookie dough. Sigh.

I don't usually do things like this on my blog, but, controversy or not, I couldn't let a recent article I read go without some sort of commentary. The article mentioned a service that will take care of your pets after the Rapture*. My first reaction was "wha?" But after spending 30 seconds with my Yahoo search engine I realized that this is something that people are seriously very concerned about. I found this site (After the Rapture Pet Care) where you can register your pet to be cared for by atheists or people of other non-Christian religions after the Rapture occurs. If you are that worried about your pet’s care, wouldn’t you want the pet to be cared for by someone with your belief system? I guess that’s not an option if you’ve all been Raptured… This one is a free service, but there are ones where you can pay (up front, of course).

This site (Post Rapture Pets) mentions helpful tips about planning for your pets after the Rapture. For example: You should have multiple back up pet sitters available in case your primary sitter is taken up in the Rapture. Or, regarding a pet food dispenser: The Rapture and Tribulation times will be very chaotic, so something with a battery backup may be a good idea. And, finally: You'll need some way to let people know you are no longer around. Presumably, everyone will know that the Rapture has occurred, but just in case, here is a site that should help, http://www.raptureletters.com/.

I really have no words that don’t sound like I’m mocking the concept of needing to provide for your pets in the eventuality of the Rapture. I’m trying to be non-controversial while I’m just squirming inside – you know, like when you’re in church & something strikes you as funny & you’re trying so hard not to laugh. That’s where I am right now.

If you believe in the rapture and you’re concerned about your pets, then these sites may be of use to you. I’m just going to go stick my head under some cold running water so I can calm down. And maybe I’ll eat some cookie dough.

*From Wikipedia: The Rapture is the gathering together of all Christians on earth at the time of the return of Jesus Christ. Belief in the rapture as a prophesied future event is found primarily among Conservative Protestant groups. The primary passage used to support this idea is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, in which Paul cites "the word of the Lord" about the return of Jesus to gather his saints.

...and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.