Hello, Friends. How was your week? To me, this year felt like it was inching along, and then suddenly it seems to be in high gear. I can not believe we’re halfway through October.
Our kids have a two-week school break starting today, and we are all looking forward to the non-school-day morning routines. Last year for the October break, we went to Prague, but this year, we haven’t made any travel plans at all.
The thing that is exciting us the most is progress on the renovation. Bathroom wall tiles started going up today and they look incredible! We’re thinking that a fun weekend project would be to plant a tree in the garden — and maybe some strawberries for next spring. What about you? Any weekend plans you’re looking forward to?
In the mood for some good links? Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:
-Almost all of the US kids and teens who’ve died from COVID-19 were Hispanic or Black.
-“Bigotry should have a social cost.”
-After the Great Depression, FDR put 250,000 young unemployed men back to work through the newly-created Civilian Conservation Corps. Will national service be part of our COVID-19 recovery?
-“Trump dropped $10M into his campaign in the final days of 2016…and it looks like foreign money. A bribe. From Egypt. It is simply unbelievable that investigators were too chicken sh*t to subpoena his finances.”
-“A person who is looking for a full-time job that pays a living wage — but who can’t find one — is unemployed. If you accept that definition, the true unemployment rate in the U.S. is a stunning 26.1%“
-A post about getting visas to move to another country.
-Hah. How to Throw Yourself a Middle-Age-Reveal Party.
-Americans Are Dying In The Pandemic At Rates Far Higher Than In Other Countries.
-I picked up a dwarf kumquat tree at a local shop the other day. I want to create a little citrus plant collection to bring some cheer thought the winter.
Here are some tweets I saved for you:
–A thread with 3 steps to get back to almost “normal”.
–Building bridges in the Middle Ages.
-Have you followed this side story at all?
-Here’s a quick summary thread on the nonsense-bizarro-story from the NY Post.
-I’m done with the mainstream-press-is-left-leaning baloney.
-If our government hadn’t messed this up so badly, we wouldn’t have had to shut down entire industries.
–A thoughtful, compassionate response by Pete Buttigieg about “late term abortions”.
-I love that people are talking about this.
-Barrett’s non-answers were answers too.
-“It’s fraud and you will for sure go to jail.”
I hope you have a lovely weekend. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.
kisses,
Gabrielle
Longtime reader here, who has possibly never commented — I just wanted to say thank you for doing all the work to search out and post all these cool links every week. I look forward to them every Friday!
Ditto!
My heart lit up when I looked up that Kumquat tree. It’s so darling. I’m one of those people that has slowly been amassing houseplants during this pandemic, and the idea of growing that…gosh. I live in the midwest, and well…winter is coming and Seasonal Depression hits me hard. So a citrus plant is wildly attractive to me. Does it require a lot of sunlight/attention? Have you grown one before?! Say more!
My son is going through a Traumaversary (it’s what it sounds like: the anniversary of trauma. It’s rather common in adoptive circles that children will experience mental health problems that manifest as really hard behaviors and regressions as a response to conscious or subconscious traumatic events), and it’s particularly difficult to help him through it this year because we’re all running on such fumes from the anxiety that accompanies pandemic fear. E-learning is wearing out its welcome, but it’s not going anywhere. My 37th birthday is next week and because of the stress of everything going on…it just doesn’t matter to me in the way it usually would. this past year is nothing like I had hoped when I had my face above the candles last year. It’s all so despairing and disappointing.
But. we’re doing pumpkins tomorrow, perhaps. And I’m going to surprise my husband with a mini cherry pie from scratch in honor of Sweetest day. And I just got a text from a bandmate of mine who has Covid and she seems way more herself than she has in a week. And in a little while I am driving home from my job to the greeting of a 12 year old Westie terrier who lights up like the fourth of july the moment any of his humans return home. These things matter. Small victories, eh, Gabby?
We have been trying to get visas to Portugal since July and I go back to your post on days when I’m feeling discouraged jumping through the ever changing Covid hoops. Thanks for the inspiration to keep trying!
We are looking into doing this. Oh man, since July? Yikes! Maybe we need to add more room (a lot more) in our timeline.
The thing about birth control, is that a lot of women I know don’t realize that it’s birth control that’s messing them up. And why would they? When I asked my doctor about birth control, she said “ok, I’ll call in a prescription” and that was it. No discussion about options, side effects, health risks, nothing even about proper usage to make sure it even works.
I feel so baffled by the side effects that just come along with birth control, and that I have been on some form of it for twenty five years! They have all been so different from each other and some have made me feel really bad with symptoms ranging from depression to mimicking morning sickness. I decided the other day I may just have a party when I start menopause. I hope it gets better in the future so my daughter does not have to suffer to this extent to find a method that works for her body.
We have one. Condoms.
Well two really. A vasectomy by her chosen would work too.
Very excited to see how the renovation comes out, especially the tile work! One of my close friends is moving and we’re going on a local adventure to celebrate her last birthday in the Bay Area. The plan is to start at Ruth Bancroft gardens and then find a nice outdoor dining option for a leisurely lunch.
Thanks for bringing attention to the “Real” unemployment rate! I know so many people that have “settled” for part time employment but are still looking for something full time. Until this number goes down, we are in trouble!
In our national statistics we get reports on “under employment” accounting for those who are in part time work but want full time employment.
(We were once part of the long term data collection program for these numbers and each week you are asked if you are employed, and if you are looking for more work vs happy with the amount of work you have.)
Useful data to see beyond a simple unemployed figure to gain a more complete and complex understanding.
Such great links every week, but i loved all of these! Thank you!!!
Regular reader here, and I especially appreciate these Friday posts. Thanks for sprinkling in some non-jaw-dropping/our-country-is-F-ed-right now pieces. Everything is messed up and upside down/inside out, but we can’t let it be our everything. As another commenter noted: “little victories”, and I’ll add “little smiles”.
My dad left home at 13 to join the CCC and be able to send money home to his widowed mother trying to keep up the farm and 3 children. Years later our family took a vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota and visit the bridges, walkways and picnic areas he was a part of constructing.
Thank you for sharing this lovely personal story. I’ve always been excited to encounter anything built by the CCC. Just makes me feel proud, though I have no direct connection. I’d love to see national service programs funded and expanded.
I think national service could be more than just economic recovery. By bringing together young adults from different backgrounds and parts of the country, it could be the first step towards healing some of the partisan divisions in our country. It wouldn’t solve the problem, but a shared experience would go a long way right now.