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Monthly Archives: July 2020
People Talk
People Talk
“Precocious,” said the neighbor lady, talking about me.
And so I grabbed the dictionary, perched it on my knee,
intent upon my purpose, concentrating on my need
to know the meaning of the word, although I couldn’t read.
At three years old, another neighbor said that I was sweet.
I licked my arm, thinking that I might be good to eat,
but I tasted of my modeling clay, and I began to choke.
I figured out his comment was something of a joke.
My crazy older brother used to call me “out of sight”
when at the dinner table—in daylight, not at night.
The space between us was not much. Why couldn’t he see
this person in her rightful place was obviously me?
At four years old, I know a lot: numbers, letters, words.
What to call the insects. The names for all the birds.
I listen when they talk to me from grass or tree or fence.
It’s only human animals that often don’t make sense!
Prompt words for today are space, precocious, sweet, rightful and purpose.
Hibiscus: FOTD, July 23, 2020
I can’t remember ever seeing this lovely little white hibiscus with a blushing throat before, but there are two of them growing among the brighter coral ones on the wall between me and my neighbors. I’m wondering if I bought a new one and planted it there or is it just because I’m spending so much more time in my studio and hammock and so I’m noticing some things that have been there all along? I took this photo from the hammock. It is so different from the showier and larger varieties but I love it’s simple fragile beauty.
For Cee’s FOTD
What Is Going on in Portland
As told by Christine Henderson at the Justice Center in Portland:
Everything you are seeing on the news about Portland is a lie.
The first thing you notice down on 3rd in front of the justice center is how clean and untouched almost everything is. The Elk statue is down, but only one bldg is sprayed with graffitti. Just one. The streets are clean, Lounsdale park and Chapman square are clean. Mark Hatfield square is untouched and so is city hall. Where the elk was is now a mound of dirt. I understand why it was set fire now, but I’ll explain that in another post.
The second thing you notice is how it smells – the marine air in a summer breeze, wafting along with the scents of burning sage, pot smoke and bbq ribs. It smelled like a summer picnic in Portland and that was the general atmosphere tonight too.
People were waiting, milling around chanting, and then they came, marching from the Salmon St Springs – the yellow wall of moms. A roar of respect from the crowd went up. Everyone applauded. The moms marched up 3rd and took position in a line in front of the justice center. More people came and now a crowd was formed in front of that building too.
Two small blocks, two small parks. That is the sum total of where everything is happening. The city isn’t trashed, isn’t on fire and it didn’t feel like a war zone tonight.
There were a few hundred people when we arrived, and a couple thousand when we left:
Someone had balloons, some people carried signs, a few drummers drummed, a guy on a skateboard was handing out squeaky pink rubber pigs he carried over his shoulder in a fishing net. There were medics and water stations. Some people were waiting for bbq.
The line of moms and the crowd by them were louder and their chanting seemed more organized. At the N graffitied bldg it was quieter, less people and the mood seemed more resigned to whatever the later night might bring. Some first nations people were kneeling there chanting and burning sage. A line of young people with plywood shields knelt, waiting patiently for god knows what. A black guy walked up and down reminding people to be calm, not to riot, and not provoke the feds we knew were inside waiting to come roaring out. People, including me, walked in and out of the pilars looking at the graffitti. I went to the doors and quietly told them to get out of our town. I could feel their eyes watching me behind their plywood barricade. I am sure they heard me and if they did, I’m glad.
The graffiti is beautiful btw. It needs to stay: as a reminder of what civil disobedience looks like.
The last thing I noticed was the absence of the ppd. There were no police barricades and no police lined up for kettling the protesters.
It all felt a bit surreal, but this whole year feels surreal.
We left at 11pm out of prudence.
I am getting too old to get my head bashed in, and we did not know what the later night might bring. More people were arriving as we left, but as of this writing at 1am I still have heard no flashbangs echoing up the hills to my house.
So if you have imagined Portland is in chaos, trashed and burnt to a crisp, stop. It is nothing of the kind. One building has spray paint on it. That is all. And that certainly does not warrant an invasion of hired nazi fed goons. They need to leave..now.
Unbelievable Ugliness.
Do we remember what this lady stands for? What low have we sunk? . Don’t let it happen for another four years:
From David Leonhardt, OpEd Columnist, NY Times:
Last night, the president of the United States stood in front of his supporters while they chanted about expelling a Muslim-American member of Congress from the United States: “Send her back! Send her back! Send her back …”
It was an ugly, lawless, racist sentiment, and President Trump loved it. He had worked the crowd into a frenzy by denouncing the congresswoman, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and three other House Democrats — all women of color, as well.
“No safe, sane, decent country or leader should ever speak of its own citizens this way,” Jill Filipovic said on Twitter. “And it’s difficult to put into words how profoundly sad this makes me. Is this who we are? Is it who we want to be?”
The Atlantic’s Ronald Brownstein offered a good way of thinking about it, by posing a question to corporate executives: “If workers in your companies chanted ‘send her back’ at a colleague of color they disagreed with would they retain their jobs? Is this now the standard you’ll accept for how your workers interact in a diversifying country?”
Joe Walsh, a former congressman, said: “It saddens me beyond belief that the standard-bearer for the Republican Party, my Party, is making ‘Send her back’ his re-election rallying cry. It’s so ugly. It’s so un-American. It just saddens me beyond belief.”
And yet elected Republicans — those with power — continue to do nothing about Trump’s behavior. Some bless it. Some are quiet. And some mumble modest regret. But virtually none would even vote for a symbolic resolution this week decrying his racism.
“Thank you, @realDonaldTrump, for visiting the great state of North Carolina today,” Senator Thom Tillis, who represents the state, said on Twitter. “I know you are working hard to Keep America Great!”
The Republican Party’s 2020 election strategy seems to be hatefulness.
Report by Alyssa Michele on Covid
This is a picture of my husband. He is an infectious disease physician in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has not had a single day off since June 28th (including working on my birthday) and is seeing up to 22 patients per day. He was presented with the opportunity to see COVID patients virtually in order to reduce his direct exposure risk since there are only a handful of ID physicians in the county. However, he said that he would never expect the nursing staff to take a risk that he wouldn’t do himself, and he didn’t want the nurses to feel that their lives were expendable. When the hospital told them that there was a PPE shortage, he purchased extra face coverings out of his own pocket for the entire team so they could feel more confident and protected in the room. He also said that when he sees COVID patients in-person, he is able to provide better clinical care for them, and it helps their morale to see his willingness to be present with them in the same room. My husband is truly baffled how COVID has been politicized and undermined by this administration, and how they are gambling with peoples’ lives to carelessly reopen without mandating masks. In his limited spare time, he writes postcards and does phone banking so that he can make a broader impact for the upcoming election.
**edited to add: I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the support and comments! He has no idea that I even posted this, as he is pretty private and doesn’t have a Facebook account. I am excited to relay this to him when he gets back from work today**
***edited again. Alex was surprised, humbled, and completely blown away by the lovely comments. He is reading through all of them now. I have posted this on my personal page for those who have asked to make it shareable. Thank you all for making his day with your statements of gratitude!***
State of the Nation
State of the Nation
Faith is growing cynical. Grace is wearing out.
Happiness is in the doldrums. Patience wears a pout.
Our country that connoted fairness and liberty
now holds us in its fist. We are anything but free.
Its silver saber tarnished, we’re falling to its blade.
So much for all those plans our founding fathers made.
Prompt words for the day are cynical, grace, connote and silver. First image from Unsplash used with permission.
Nefelibadas
Nefelibata – A creative person who lives in the clouds of her own imagination or dreams. An eccentric, unorthodox person who doesn’t abide by the rules of society, literature or art.
Click on photos to enlarge.
1950
For Ragtag’s nefelibada.
Nefelibata – A creative person who lives in the clouds of her own imagination or dreams. An eccentric, unorthodox person who doesn’t abide by the rules of society, literature or art.
Hibiscus: FOTD July 22, 2020
For Cee’s FOTD
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 