Late last night, I closed the comments on yesterday’s post. The whole point of being pro-choice is just that. My choice as to what I can do with my body. Your choice, as well. One comment was judgmental and, in a moment in time when emotions are understandably running high, we don’t need that. I do my best to make this a safe place.
Anyway – years ago I gave up debating this subject with anyone who holds an opposing view. It’s fruitless. While I respect those views, I draw the line at someone imposing them on me, and I really draw the line at the government/courts legislating what should be a personal choice.
Really? We can’t tell you to wear a mask but you can tell me what I can and can’t do with my body? Shove it.
So we won’t debate this here. I am not going to get into it other than what I just wrote, as I spent most of the day yesterday working outside for hours in order to fight off the anxiety I was feeling. And yes, the rage, which I had to work through during the course of the day.
That’s why I had her by my side in the morning:
I went to the nursery and purchased some more plants for my pots, then came back home and potted for hours, walking back and forth with plants and heavy pots, lugging a heavy bag of potting soil, sweeping the porch and the shed floor. Then Don and I mowed the front lawn because it had grown by leaps and bounds and we have rain today and Friday. It would have been that much harder to mow later in the week. By the end of the day, I’d worked up a sweat and had a lot of exercise. I’d flushed out the emotional toxins. Then I took a nap.
I’m also using the Calm app, by the way. I’ve been using it daily for about two weeks and it really helps me meditate. That helped enormously.
By the way, we spoke to our neighbor while we were mowing. Mr. Pickens, the rooster, just fell over one day and died. She doesn’t know if it was a heart attack or something he ate, but he died of natural causes and not from the attack of a predator. We miss his loony call, unlike any other rooster I’ve ever heard. He really protected the other chickens. We were very fond of him.
Rest in Peace, Mr. P.
We’re taking it easy today.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
When you have had a rest, I would love to see what plants you have potted. I love your porch and all the things you have there! š
I’ll wait a bit until they get a big bigger, but I will definitely take pictures.
Stay safe, Janet.
Hear, hear Claudia. Those of us of a certain generation worked so hard to have this generation just toss it aside. You reap what you sow. I too find gardening a balm in the storm. Hang in and smell the spring air and rains. Always works for me.
Yes, getting outside and working is the key for me.
Thanks so much, Cindy.
Stay safe.
I literally thought (and said!) the exact same thing last year in total exasperation re the masking/vaccine āissueā vs anti-choice.
Love the pic of you by the taco truck.
Thank goodness for our loved ones and a dose of fresh spring air!
Stay well.
Thank goodness!
Stay safe, Naomi.
So many years of hard work to get the rights we have now; we have to stay strong to keep them! I am glad it is spring and I can depend on nature to keep me occupied. The Calm app is great!
It really is. I held off for a while, but my anxiety was taking hold, so I went for it.
Stay safe, Linda.
Thank you for always articulating what I feel. I don’t comment on your blog very often, but I feel like it is a place of peace, enjoyment and when necessary a place where you are saying what I can’t get out because the feelings are too strong.
Thank you so much for those kind words, Mab. I truly appreciate them.
Stay safe.
I was so upset yesterday, I forgot to read your blog! Thatās a first.
1. Why was this leaked when mother is ever leaked by the court.
2. I canāt believe that I may see a womanās right bill that came about when I was in high school be revoked. Makes me sick.
Love your mask comparison.
I think I need to get the Calm app. I am fried between this horror, the Ohio primary, Covid, friends with cancer, the dog not feeling well and my husband having a knee replacement in a couple weeks and work being crazy.
All shall be wellā¦
They are taking away our constitutional rights. They will pay for that in November.
You can try the Calm app for free for 7 days, Betsy. It’s worth investigating.
Stay safe, my friend.
Iām glad to hear you are using the Calm app, and that itās helping you. Iām going into my second year of using the guided meditations on a daily basis, and find them beneficial for reducing anxiety and also for falling asleep and returning to sleep when Iām awake in the middle of the night.
The meditations are really well done and so helpful.
Stay safe, Denise.
Enjoy outsideā¦beliefs aside, a person should be in control of his/her body. This is like masks on planesā¦āagainst our rightsā. Oops better seatbelt on that planeā¦oops put your bags aside and turn off electronicsā¦it is amazing how people like to judge othersā¦
This is your blogā¦your opinionā¦if others disagree quit reading.
Thank you, Brenda.
Stay safe.
I am very angry at the prospect of the ” high court’s ” impending decision. As an organizer/activist however, I am heartened in the belief that this decision will certainly increase voter turnout for the midterms. When Dems turn out, Dems win!
I agree. I aim to work to make sure that happens, Carolyn Marie.
Stay safe.
On everything you said, “You got that right!” My body, my decision.
Thank you, Tana.
Stay safe.
So sad about Mr. P.
Gracious, you got a lot of work done yesterday, but what a great way to exorcise a lot of negativity thrust on us.
Today, I’m trying to neutralize the bitterness I feel. I have to somehow keep searching for the sweetness of life as I’ve known it (and what is healthier).
I’ve spent a half day (I will not say it was wasted time) pouring over vintage recipes (me, who doesn’t cook); little discoveries which bring me back to my mom’s cooking. Warmth and comfort. It was just another way Mom healed us when we needed it.
(It’s wonderful, how people have created their sites online to showcase old-fashioned recipes handed down from their great-grandmothers, grandmas, aunts, moms. It’s food history.)
I say 100 times, Claudia; thank you for your blog. You are the best blog owner ever, and I mean it. Thank you for being a good guardian over your blog and your readers.
Comfort: listening to songs that my parents and I loved, gardening, thinking about my parents and brother, etc. Don is watching old TV shows on YouTube. We take comfort where we can find it.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Vicki.
Stay safe.
As other readers of this blog, my first reaction to the leaked draft SCOTUS opinion was emotion-based… immediate outrage and dismay.
After a day or so of following links and in-depth reading and thinking, I realize that since before Roe v Wade there have been people and organizations who have been working for decades to support abortion access. Extraordinary infrastructure exists and we who support reproductive autonomy and abortion access do not need to start new efforts.
Here are a couple of links.
https://cupofjo.com/2022/05/abortion-rights/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQr3A9Xm603rBcrz91vm3JcYX5vIs1vNks6wUgkgE1D69qZfHchaYCvDDebibJDeT3CElNvhl5jG463/pub#id.d549l1pyw78j
Stay safe everyone!
Thank you so much for supplying these links, Amy.
Much appreciated.
Stay safe.
Between multiple auto-immune illnesses, scrambling fruitlessly for months before getting Evusheld, a Covid prophylactic for people like me, and dealing with the continued negativity, my BP started going up. My cardiologist put me on a succession of four different medications, each with worse side effects than the previous one. I got off the last one and decided to try meditation. It’s helping tremendously. I think many more of us will emerge with strong meditation or prayer practices. However, I’m not yet practiced enough to deal with the two shocks I received this week, one being Monday’s announcement. Tuesday, I made choices about how to most effectively divvy up my limited funds this month for donation to political candidates and did that. Yesterday, I traveled almost 180 miles round trip for my infusion with my rheumatologist, returned home and two hours later signed into a Zoom conference with a young adult person from Ukraine who is in the US, but coordinating person-to-person help to people attempting to flee Ukraine and now also Moldova, or needing food or medical supplies if staying. I can’t even give any more details because this person still has family in Ukraine who could be targeted because of these efforts. This person’s courage and that of the on-the-ground volunteers in Ukraine and Europe who put themselves at risk was uplifting. Because of those details I can’t reveal, I trust the information. I’ll be donating to the organizations this person culled and put together, but also directly to this person, too. Because of the toll autoimmune illnesses have taken, I won’t be marching with other women and men as I have done in the past, but you can bet I (and others, too) began right away looking for ways to help. My red state engaged in some creative redistricting this last cycle–and I understand that both sides can be culpable of this–so there’s little hope my vote will matter much, but I have already voted twice this spring. (We had two different ballots at different times, for different things. I did not vote twice on the same ballot.)
I applaud you, Linda. Bless your efforts to help others as you deal with your health problems. You are a very good person.
Stay safe.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Claudia. Or as you said above: “While I respect those views, I draw the line at someone imposing them on me, and I really draw the line at the government/courts legislating what should be a personal choice.”
Well, I’m glad Mr. Pickens didn’t meet the mouth of a predator but that’s rather sad. He sounds like as roosters go, he was a good guy.
Got my second booster Tuesday; yesterday was a lost cause and today moving slowly, probably more to due sinus head than booster. I managed to get laundry in the washer, a baby present mailed (I hope it still fits the kid or that he was a small baby!) and a couple of birthday cards. Yesterday I was able to spend time at my friend Kate’s painting, although it was a bit more of a slow go than usual, but good to get out of the house and myself. Here’s to a good rest of the week. We need a nice bounce.
Hope you’re feeling a bit better today, Jeanie. So glad you got your second booster.
I am desperately trying to motivate myself to paint. Nothing, so far.
Stay safe.