This post is a bit of a mishmash of my thoughts lately.

I just started work on the puzzle yesterday afternoon. I had to move to another chair as the a/c was blowing directly on me.

This is the puzzle I am currently working on:

It’s stunning.

In addition to our crazy day the other day, I’ve been immersed in and enraged by the horrific murder of George Floyd by a police officer. And the woman in Central Park who called 911 on a black man who is a birder because he politely asked her to leash her dog. And Ahmaud Arbery who was stalked and murdered by two white men while he was jogging. And the murder of Brionna Taylor, innocent victim of a no-knock warrant, shot by the police, who, it turns out were searching for someone who was already in custody.

Now there are protests throughout the country. I don’t condone violence, but I see the truth in this quote of Martin Luther King, Jr: “A riot is the language of the unheard.”  He went on to ask, “What is it America has failed to hear?”

I think we know the answer to that.

Armed white men are allowed to storm the capital of Michigan with no police response. Those protesting against the murder of George Floyd are hit with tear gas. What’s wrong with this picture?

If anything, America has regressed. Either that, or it’s always been this way and we were fooled into thinking otherwise.

And, finally, I want to share this message from my longtime online friend Jill (we met through our love of miniatures) about her work in a facility in California during COVID-19. She works in rehab with elderly patients. She was responding to my post in Stories about wearing a mask.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I thought Jill’s perspective, what she has seen, was worth noting. Most of the staff at this excellently rated facility tested positive because of one employee who attended a party right at the beginning of all of this before we knew as much as we do now and before masks had been mandated. By the time her symptoms appeared, she had already infected others. Jill did not test positive. But she’s been off work since April 6th, when the Rehab department closed, and will be returning next week.

Keep wearing your masks. Don and I have discussed this as recently as this morning. We are not relaxing our vigilance in this matter. Stay strong. Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

The next few days are going to be in the eighties with nighttime temps on the warmish side, so we may bite the bullet and put in the A/C units today. We both did a lot of work outside yesterday and I plan on doing some more today, but I also woke up at 4:15 because it was too warm in our bedroom, so air conditioning is a must.

It’s beautiful around here, I have to say. Lush green, everything growing by leaps and bounds, and the catalpa is finally starting to leaf out.

As I headed toward the finish line yesterday, I munched on potato chips and drank lots of water. At this point, I felt I would never conquer this sucker, but of course, I reached a point where everything fell into place rather easily and here is the finished puzzle:

No missing pieces, even though I always insist something is missing. It’s really lovely, this puzzle. It’s part of the Museum Collection by Clementoni, a manufacturer in Italy. I love this kind of puzzle because I love art, of course, but also because I learn so much about the brush strokes and style and observe so much more of the detail than I would if I was looking at it in a museum. And my goodness, do I love Van Gogh.

I have another one by the artist Alphonse Mucha that I’m going to start later today. It’s in the Art Nouveau style and it’s gorgeous.

Still reading A Room of One’s Own  by Virginia Woolf. Extraordinary. I read every day but have less time for it because I work outdoors so much.

Okay. Have to run and get started on my chores.

Before I close, Betsy, a reader of this blog, lost her brother to the coronavirus a couple of days ago. She is, understandably, heartbroken. She shared this news in the comments on yesterday’s post. Send her some light and love and prayers.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.