24 May 2020: Daily

If you are remotely prone to worry, catastrophic thinking, or are one millimeter beyond rather than shy of complete terror over the state of America now and as relates to this fall’s election, I cannot in good faith advise you to watch The Plot Against America, the six-part series based on Philip Roth’s eponymous novel. The book was published in 2004. It could almost literally be about our current march to the November 2020 election. Gripping, tense, terrifying, and everything is on the line.

I’m sure you saw the swarms at the Lake of the Ozarks water park from this weekend in Missouri. Perhaps you’ve also read about the surge in cases of Covid-19 since Texas reopened. Or seen the news that more than 40% of Republicans think Bill Gates will use a Covid-19 vaccine to implant a location-tracker in recipients. THAT is all the real plot against America. Grotesque ignorance perpetrated by a horribly anti-Democratic, venal, corrupt “government.”

Do these same people care about the front page of today’s NYTimes? U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, An Incalculable Loss.

Do those Republicans, those crowing “pro-lifers” care at all?

Hillary was right. About pretty much everything.

And Trump golfs. At your expense. At our expense.

I feel like I have failed in some fashion as I’ve let all activism go since starting to shelter in place on March 13. Suddenly, my world feels so small, so constricted. It seems all I can do to feed and parent and tend my three boys each day, every day, much less myself, and my closest friends and family. But please know that if we don’t protect our right to vote, freely and securely, we will lose this country in November. I will do everything I can. I hope you will too.

In the meantime, Tom and I celebrated our 16th anniversary on Friday, today we re-roofed our shed, the one we’ve been refurbishing, and the boys and I helped a neighbor set up her new raised bed (they dumped 30 bags of soil and compost in the frame!). Then we did expressive art with old fence posts: how do each of us feel during this pandemic?

Jack’s “Czech hedgehog” which was incredibly well conceived and explained.

Mine

And some pretties, for some zen: fresh collards from my garden; an Eden rose; a coming Calla lily.

17 May 2020: Daily Tale + Humor

Funny!

Has there ever been a time in our country where THIS felt more plausible?

LMAO.

Yesterday, a lovely neighbor mentioned that he’d overestimated the amount of lumber he needed for his new fence and would we like the excess plus the extra nails for his nail gun?

Can I hear a HELL YES?!

Initially, Tom intended to replace egregiously ugly old slats and then decided to build a new fence door because ours was both egregiously ugly and broken. Then, it occurred to me that A) the boys and I wanted to learn how to use both a nail gun and the circular saw, B) much of our fence was egregiously ugly, C) it was a gorgeous day, and D) what a great family project building a new fence could be. And so, while Tom worked on the new door, the kids and I got to work tearing down the old slats and cutting/sizing/nailing up new ones. We decided to go with a more modern look, and I plan to stain this once it ages sufficiently.

As we built, Oliver repeatedly sang, “I’m so happy! It’s a perfect day! Perfect temperature! I woke up in a box fort! Now I’m building!” We had so much fun, and honestly, doesn’t this look terrific? Plus, life skills, people!

We did it all without hurting the lilies!

12 May 2020: Daily

Hi Friends, At nearly 9 weeks in, more to go, and more than 82,000 Americans dead, I am wondering if the coronovirus comedy stretch has reached its max. Though I have largely stopped reading parenting articles, and I have fully stopped reading parenting books, a friend sent me this tonight, and damn if it wasn’t as if this woman crawled in my head and wrote out so many, most, of my thoughts and feelings. Per the usual, don’t read the comments.

The author knows she is privileged. So do I. I feel grateful every day; that doesn’t make any of this easy.

This evening, while cooking dinner and after virtually cocktailing with my friend, L, with whom I virtually cocktail every Tuesday, thank you lord, I watched a Politics and Prose Live! event with Barbara Ehrenreich and Jia Tolentino, two of my favorite writers, activists, thinkers, and critics. They discussed economic inequality in times of crisis, specifically during the coronavirus pandemic. I cooked, fist-pumped, and commented my way through, and should you wish to watch the conversation, you may do so here.

It is starting to seem unlikely that the boys will return to school in person this fall, an idea made tougher by the fact that Jack has chosen to attend a new school for high school, and we still don’t know the yay/nay regarding camp this summer.

For now I guess I’ll just keep the damn tomatoes wrapped until we finally get warm weather, keep my fingers crossed for the little advancements, and laugh when the moments present themselves as one did yesterday morning when Oliver got in bed with me to snuggle before school, I quickly went to the bathroom, and when i returned he pulled up landwatch.com and a plot of land he wanted to buy in Baltimore County.

Wut?

Yes, Oliver is angling to buy some space where he can “dig and build.” Bless his heart. I wish I could provide him a parcel. He sent this treasure to all of his friends.

Jack snorted and said, “they misspelled sweet equity.”

I nearly perished. It’s the little things.