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.
Good Morning
Your words and your thoughts ring so true and I hold them close to my heart.
You are a truth teller.
Take Care, Be safe,
Kaye
Thank you for your support, Kaye. Stay safe.
Yes . And this member of the choir is just fine with a bit of preaching. It’s the Divider in Chief who just needs to step off now.
Exactly. My preference, seeing him dragged off and transported to prison. Thanks, Shanna. Stay safe!
Mine too!!!! The Divider in Chief just had a statement at the White House and did NOT even mention George Floyd at all!!! How does a person do that???
Because he’s a racist and he has no empathy – for anyone. I had to go work on my puzzle to calm down because I was so enraged with him. Stay safe, Wendy!
Thank you for bringing these topics to your blog. I think it is so important that we keep talking about these issues and not put our heads in the sand about the violence and racism in our country. We need to vote these greedy, racist politicians out of office. Keep preaching, Claudia, and I will shout a loud “Amen!” Thanks again!
You are most welcome, Ellen. Thank you for your support. Stay safe.
My heart breaks for the racism that seems to be so rampant in our country right now. I watched the news last night horrified by what I saw that police officer do to Mr. Floyd. For no reason that I could see except he “could”. And probably get away with it. Where are our hearts? Where is our compassion for others?
I agree wholeheartedly with Jill. I just told someone about my brother’s death this morning and her first question was, “did he have underlying conditions?” Well, yes. He had just gotten a pacemaker, that’s why he was in the hospital and rehab where he got Covid. But what does that matter? It doesn’t make him less valuable of a person. Young people are also dying. I hate this virus with my entire being.
Take care Claudia.
Blessings,
Betsy
I can’t believe anyone would ask that question – maybe just to learn more and asked in all innocence, but whether anyone had an underlying condition is not the point. I’m so sorry you have to deal with that, Betsy.
I know of an actor who is 40 with no underlying condition who is on a ventilator and had to have his leg amputated because of this virus.
Stay safe, Betsy.
Claudia, I am assuming you are referring to Nick Cordero. I wondered if you knew him. My heart breaks for him, his wife and little son. What a fighter he is.
My heart breaks for you, Betsy, and everyone and their families dealing with this.
Melanie M
Yes, I’m referring to Nick. I don’t know him personally but I have friends who are very close to him. It’s a simply heartbreaking story and such a mystery. I hope and pray that he comes through this. Thanks, Melanie. Stay safe!
So, my husband is a church organist/ choir director. They have been doing the church services on-line and on a local radio station. Now some members of the congregation want to re-open w/ no caveats. My hubs has said he will leave if that is allowed to happen. People MUST wear masks, no singing, and a max of 10 for the first few services. One high and mighty church goer said that was ridiculous. When someone mentioned that his parents were nearing 90 ~ his response was “they lived good lives. If they go, they go.” Great Christian spirit there. I guess we are blessed with our kids who seriously look out for us and show concern every day. This is all just beyond my comprehension.
So many “Christians” out there whose actions are not at all Christian-like. Good for your husband for standing up for the right actions, the sane actions.
Stay safe, Chris.
I’m so sorry for the loss of your brother, Betsy. You are in my prayers. I lost my brother, too, although it was a long time ago before anybody knew there’d be a Covid. But it’s awful to lose anyone. It’s awful to lose a dear sibling. I miss my brother so much. He was all I had, since I have no other brothers or a sister; it was just the two of us. I can feel your pain thru your words. Anguish. I wish there was something I could say to ease it. Even the miracle of a vaccine can’t bring your brother back. Again, my deepest, most heartfelt sympathy to you.
You have said just what I have been feeling. John Pavlovitz has a new article out today called, How Much is a Black Life Worth? It is well worth the read. I am so tired of all the hate in this country, so tired of the lying orange one and all his greedy lying cronies, just tired…….
As for Jill, I agree wholeheartedly with her. We buried my cousin just last week. She was in a long term care facility and yes, she did have underlying conditions. I don’t really know of very many people who does not have some kind of underlying condition. But, even so, she was doing well and was enjoying life. At 77 and in a nursing home, there can still be life to be lived and enjoyed. She became ill with pneumonia and tested positive with Covid-19. She was put in the hospital and died in just a few days. We have lost friends and acquaintances from this disease and we are doing everything we can to avoid it ourselves. My husband is 72 with some heart problems and I just turned 68 two days ago with asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure. Our daughter, who is a registered nurse and works directly on a unit with Covid patients, has told us to stay home. With our health issues (and both of us are doing fine with our health issues being very well controlled), she said we might not be able to survive it. We’ve been doing zoom church meetings, virtual doctor’s visits, pick-up groceries or ordering online….anything we can to stay safe. And yes……we do wear our masks even if we just go to pick up an order. There are some who think we may be going overboard on this and maybe they’re right. But, if we are going to make an error on this, let it be on the side of safety.
Anyway, sorry for the rant but I have just about had it…..and the murder of George Floyd after all the other killings that has gone on, was just the last straw. I am right there with Ellen D…….keep preaching, Claudia and I will be there shouting a loud Amen too!
Oh, Lorinda, I am so sorry for your loss. Please know we are holding you in our thoughts and prayers.
And you’re not ranting you’re expressing your feelings and that’s okay.
Stay safe.
Lorinda, if I can chime in as a reader, you are NOT going overboard on your safety. My husband and I are in the same boat. We with the co-morbidities MUST use extreme care with this virus. My condolences to you on the loss of your cousin and acquaintances. It’s such a terrible time. I’m so sorry for your multiple losses.
I was up with a sick puppy last night and consequently followed the news. I saw the CNN reporter getting arrested for politely doing his job while the camera was recording the whole thing. It was the last straw in a series of many of the horrible things you just mentioned along with That Man’s tweet. I don’t know what this country is coming to! And I had so much hope just 5 years ago when I thought we might finally be in the right track. So this morning I was in a horrible mood! Anyway, I hope to fill the rest of the day with some positive things. The sun is finally out ( It has been raining here inNC for a very long time!) and maybe I will take the dogs for a walk before the rains come back. Take care!
I hope the rest of your day was positive, Jane. Stay safe!
I wear a mask to stay safe and almost as a political statement. It says I CARE for you. I am trying to help.
Exactly, and good for you! Thank you. Stay safe!
Thank you. I remember crying as my mom and I watched televised coverage of the marches and riots. I was too young to understand. I told my mom Dr. King was getting our people hurt and killed. Back then being jailed was shameful so seeing a man of his stature behind bars made me question King’s character. See why it is important to explain things to children?
I hear people cast aspersions against people who riot and burn their neighborhoods. Most of them needed burning. Out of the ashes come new life, only many of those ‘hoods were simply abandoned. I’d never heard the quote that explains the why of riots. I do own a tome of Dr. King’s speeches. It is time to revisit it.
Again. Thank you.
I’m not sure if it was in a speech or in an interview – maybe with Mike Wallace?- but it says so much. Thank you, Bobbie Jean. Stay safe.
i, too, shout “amen!”, in agreement with you, others gathered here and elsewhere in the world, dr. martin luther king, jr. ….
i used to live in minneapolis (a couple miles from where george floyd was murdered and a block off lake street), had friends in that area, shopped at that target store and other businesses in the neighborhood …. i loved and still love that city … and i hate the ugly, needless racism, pain, fear and complete disregard for human life that four police officers put upon george floyd and who brutally ended his life. may he rest in peace. may mr. floyd’s family find legal justice for him so they have some peace, too.
i agree with jill … older age (among other things) doesn’t mean there’s no wish or right to live, that there’s no hope or enjoyment available any more, that there’s no one who loves them …. i hope jill, her clients and co-workers are safe and stay that way. may you all stay safe.
i had another swab test today and should get results sunday. if it’s negative and i have no fever for three days in a row, i go back to work early next week. full precautions will be taken for a long, long time!
hope you all have an easy weekend.
kathy in iowa
ps … that puzzle looks pretty. good start!
Don’t go back until you’re absolutely sure you should go back, Kathy. Are you feeling better? Stay safe, my friend.
As Claudia said, kathy, please don’t go back if you aren’t at 100%. Feeling good doesn’t mean you have the strength to do a full day of work. And if your strength isn’t back, you can go backwards very quickly. Be sure everyone you work for realizes how horrific this disease is and you don’t just bounce back like you do following a cold or the flu. Take your time, please!!!!!!!!!!! The test may say you are recovered, but your body may not quite agree yet.
Yes, please Kathy, don’t go back too soon. The actions of your boss, though well-meaning, are the reason you are now battling the virus. You don’t owe her a thing.
Jill is spot on. And so are you, re: Minneapolis. This has got to stop.
That’s the puzzle I’ve been considering. Can’t wait to see how it shapes up!
Have a great weekend.
It’s lovely to work on, Jeanie. Stay safe!
The mask is an easy thing to do. Why can’t people look at it as empowering in the face of an enemy? A best defense! I think it’s personally in MY life for likely years to come. So get used to it. Things change; stuff happens. DEAL with it. How on earth did wearing a mask become political, when we’re all just trying to keep ourselves and others from DYING.
Another sad (and horrifying) subject: I watched unfold on TV in the wee hours here in SoCalif, because I hadn’t been feeling well and was up in the night, the state police descend on Minneapolis at daybreak today; fires still burning. It was riveting, because long lines of a police presence like that feels unusual and very intimidating/sobering. Literally forming a human barrier on a street or block; a wall of uniformed officers, clubs in hand. I don’t want this to be my reality. And then I watched them arrest the intelligent and polite CNN reporter and his crew, for what reason was not discernible. My mouth was agape. It almost felt like I was watching a movie, but this was no fantasy; this was real. In real time. The camera still filming for the duration, even after the CNN employee put it on the ground as he was being cuffed. They arrested the reporter, his cameraman AND his producer, on the spot. (Too close to home for me; in another life, my husband was that cameraman; we’ve both worked for television stations in our distant past. ) And this was after the night/darkness, when crowds had mostly dispersed; it seemed eerily quiet at dawn, the sky going pale except for the smoke; flashing lights of emergency vehicles; devoid of the crowd chaos from hours earlier. So, to the viewer and I’m sure the TV crew for sure, this arrest seemed odd; although of course there’s two sides to every story and it’s a time of serious emergency with civil unrest. (I feel the word ‘surreal’ is overused but it applies in this instance; that overall scene and those ‘live’ TV moments.) Anyway, I’m just so (as we all are) afraid tonight that people are going to get maimed and killed (on both sides) as protest continues; I dread turning on the television. Sick at heart. Just sick in my soul, like everybody; as if the pandemic wasn’t enough…
…with my husband grocery shopping this morning (was his decision; I felt we could get by with what was already in the house), where he leaves at the usual 5:30am in order to get to the cleaner/better-stocked store out of town for senior hours, knowing each time we do this, there’s always a chance we could pick up Covid-19 despite precautions of gloves, mask, disinfecting/sanitizing, etc. And of course after he was home and got the grocery items cleaned up and in the house, off with the clothes and him into the shower, after which maybe it’s safe to ‘breathe’ inside the safety of our home, and try to come down off that stressful adrenaline. But I feel rattled. Like the whole world’s on edge, when what we need is peace to help us cope.
The woman in the park; I can’t even …
And what was up with how she was treating her dog and making it yelp with the constant yanking on its neck? What was her resistance to a leash? Are you kidding me? She was so in the wrong on every level of that entire incident. Did you read she voluntarily surrendered the dog to the rescue organization from whom she got him after what I’m sure must have been a severe backlash from that viral video on how NOT to treat a pet (and of course another human being [don’t distract from the main issue]). Good. Let somebody else adopt the dog who won’t damage his trachea.
I wonder if I’ve ever shed tears as much as I have in the past 3 months except for when I was grieving the loss of my own personal relationships, such as death of loved ones. But you can’t help but cry for our nation, wondering what’s to come of us. Why can’t we be better than this? These racial injustices; the botched handling of a national epidemic; a sinking economy; the lack of leadership. A list too long. We need healing. We need…10,000 things.
It’s not to put my head in the sand, but I’m going to try today (for sanity; for equilibrium) to again remember all what’s good; the front-line workers who continue, day after day, to help people, putting their own lives in jeopardy. That heroism. That selflessness. Look at how long they’ve been at it now (I think that I-Vicki am stressed ..?.. but what about THEM!). I’m in a state that’s a hot zone for the virus, and our cases are rising. (Reopen, okay, I get it. But we’ll all make our own choices of how much we go out, and when.) I understand the hospitals in San Diego county are starting to get close to capacity; at least that’s the home port of the hospital ship, so they’ve got some overflow of beds (hope that’s the case). Just consider what those healthcare workers are going through, because San Diego county isn’t as big as L.A. county, but it’s still the state’s second-largest county, so that’s potentially A LOT of sick people.
I think about MHC reader kathy from iowa, who continued to do her job at risk of her own health, and now she’s contracted the virus; thank God she is healing. Your friend, Jill. Thank you for reprinting what she said (that I matter, too, despite my age and underlying health issues, which I do indeed try desperately to manage on a daily basis with the help of my doctors – – just don’t count me off or out [as already being sick and old, therefore expendable]; that I matter less … because I don’t; every life matters).
We are living in an insane country. Broken. The ugly stench of racism and intolerance and ignorance everywhere. I am sickened by it. But we have to remember, as you said, all of the good that is out there. And this rage and anger felt by so many may start to move us away from the white supremacy espoused by the man in the Oval Office. There are far more of us than them. Far more.
Stay safe.
Claudia, my heart is with you. The violence against people of color is played out in so many ways here in the US–from poor health care, job discrimination, the prison system, more ways than I can imagine. I understand the urge of the people in Minneapolis to burn and loot. What I don’t understand is why this gets so much condemnation when a systematic culture of police vs. young unarmed black men and women doesn’t bat an eyelash. I worry about the peaceful and violent protestors in the midst of a pandemic. I worry about reporters of color who can be literally dragged off the street in the middle of a broadcast. What did he do to warrant an arrest? What happens to people of color every single day was played out in front of our eyes. And we have a leader who condones it, tells police “don’t be so gentle” when putting prisoners into police cars, and “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” and calling heavily armed white groups who invade the state capital fine people, or however he positively classified them–he encouraged them by calling for a liberation of Minnesota. WTF? So now in the midst of a pandemic, an economic crisis, and a cruel, racist, bullying President, we will now have to deal with race riots. Who will be hurt? Not the white supremacists or bad cops, but the people of color. For me, all the books, all the music, all the watercolor, movies, and ice cream in the world cannot distract me enough to be OK with what is going on. My friends tell me to meditate. I want to be throwing Molotov cocktails but I’m too old, fat, and out of shape to be on the streets. It’s one assault after another in the past 4 years. I think it’s always been like this, but now that the Republican administration is in power, all the slime has crawled out from under the rocks that used to hide them. The core of our country has been exposed, and it’s one ugly piece of crap. Thanks for letting me vent. Feel free to delete me or this post if I’ve gone farther than you want on your blog. My anger is, by all accounts, out of control. I hope you and Don stay safe–I’ll be masked and socially distancing for the next couple of years I suspect.
I agree with everything you said, Nora. I am angry, as well. But I have to – and I urge you to, as well – find some way to not sign over my life to him. I cannot let him take control. So I do whatever I can to express my rage and then find pockets of peace.
No reason to delete this. We all feel the same way, my friend. And you know I feel that writing out how you feel is therapeutic. Thank you. Stay safe.
At my age 77, I am frightened. I was always the brave one, the New England kid who skated on thin ice, who jumped into an icy brook & jumping down rocky paths….who retired at 68. ..after working 50 years… no more, here in Southern California watching the news of thieves and bullies taking over cities, our governor calling in the National Guard for assistance, and so many businesses being destroyed….the news across this nation is frightening. The “rich” spoiled old man on twitter and all his nonsense about wearing a mask…..our world is going to hell in a handbasket said my grandmother long ago, now I have repeated her sentiments & believe it.
I never thought it would be this way. The combination of that man and his administration and the virus and racial inequality is a lethal one. Stay safe, Marcy Ray.
Thank you for the comments on racism. We white people have to find a way to speak up. I am not sure how to be effective.
I have three young black people in my life. I see how they are treated differently and I fear for them.
I understand your fear, Kay. xo