Thursday Thoughts - If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine

Season winding down. We've entered August, the storied month where the crowds and our regular rental season wind down. We have two returning guests coming in in September, and a few family and friends coming through also that are not rentals although still have us occupied, but we are in the home stretch of rental season and are really looking forward to that and our great returning guests the next three weeks. Only one unknown to us guest left this summer. And a full list of fall house projects already. 

Happy birthday Evan! Happy to spend time with him, Jenny, and their kids on their vacation week. We made sure all the shades of blue and green were represented the other night.

Back at it. Zumba yesterday with all the 65+ crowd, which is mostly who attends community center classes in this shore town LOL. 

GenX forever. Also Wrestlemania coming to Philly!

Ivana in the grave reel. Have you seen this? It is hilarious in a macabre way, of course. Before anyone is like how is that funny your former grifter cult leader insurrectionist anti-America president buried his ex on a golf course to set himself up for business tax relief. Fuck off out of here. The nickname Don the Con didn't come out of nowhere.

Farmers Market stuff. Plus plums, peaches, cherries, and some amazing pizza from Tony's

My uncle died this week, and I'm still trying to process this. The best way for me to do that is writing, which I did in an IG caption. Continued love and support to my cousins and their families as well as my two aunts who have so much of their lives intertwined with his through shared history and children.

There is.

After work life. 7 pm swims. Coastal grandmother vibes. Soupy, sticky air.

A tale of two hobbies that coexist well. Reading and fishing.

Dog days of summer. 

PACT Act passes to help veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins, no thanks to a bunch of GOP Senators who are allegedly for the troops. Except Rand Paul, who is apparently just outwardly not anymore. He does not support paying for healthcare for vets because they cannot prove where their illnesses come from. It's weird that a man who has the very best healthcare coverage available does not want to pay for healthcare for people that put their lives on the line for this country. He has consistently voted for tax cuts for corporations and the 1%  without care for how much money that would cost us as a nation but draws the line at military veterans possibly gaming the system, just like he voted against sick 9/11 first responders. Hmm. Who is voting for this person and people like him? And why are you doing that?

Abortion. The people of Kansas overwhelmingly voted in favor of keeping abortion rights protected in their state Constitution. Atlanta gets an Abortion Fund. A 19 year old woman raises over $2M in response to disgusting misogynist pedophile underage sex trafficker rep from FL Matt Gaetz's anti-abortion remarks. The vast majority of Americans agree abortion should be legal. Stop electing people that go against majority opinion. That is not democracy when minority rule strangles all of us. Yellow backgrounds collected by DesignMom, periwinkle backgrounds collected by femislay

 
What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Ripple by The Grateful Dead

TWTW - the last one in May

Friday The whole fam went to dog beach around 7:30a, even Mae who hates it and life when she's there. Typical of her she tried to leave with the one other family that was there aside from us. Work, lunch errands, MFD left in the afternoon, exterminator came, electrician came, and I made salad and air fryer chicken breasts for dinner. I closed the night out finishing a book and starting and advanced copy of Megan Miranda's newest. 

Saturday A day to work and putter. I did some spray painting, caulking, cleaning, porch fixing, errands at local small businesses that yielded flowers and a fuck it chair (handmade, and I'm calling it that because you sit in it and then you want to say fuck it to everything), and went to the boardwalk to try the new cherry whip from Aloha. When I got back I did more cleaning up and recovered the table from the big bathroom upstairs for the fifth year. Also threw my back out doing any number of things. Who knows, I'm 43. 

Sunday Nails (OPI Suzi's Slinging Mezcal and Can't Find My Czechbook), Evan and family were down so he did a porch picture of us with the dogs and we all hit the beach, I argued a lot online about looting, and tried to relax at night doing more reading and less arguing. MFD got fried chicken from Boyar's for dinner, and I zoomed with my BFFs and it was very needed.

It's heavy out there today. I'm sick to my stomach. Have you seen this video of Killer Mike's speech in Atlanta? Rioting and violence and looting are the consequences of what happens when basic human needs aren't being met. I have posted about this a lot on Instagram and Facebook and a lot of people took that to mean I am cheering it on. Of course I'm not. But I sure as hell understand the reaction on a visceral level. And I am absolutely in favor of the figurative burning of systems that were designed to benefit white people, specifically white men. The problems are systemic and institutional. If someone does not understand that racism exists in 2020, lose the trash friends and family. For real. This is not a both sides issue. Luvvie hits it home as always on that. 

When people take a knee in peaceful protest and everyone bitches about that action instead of addressing the deep wounds that caused the peaceful action to be taken, when people constantly say just be peaceful and change will come and it never comes, what do we expect? If you were against taking a knee and are against looting, very seriously please ask yourself what way can people protest to ENACT CHANGE (not just to gather and be seen, but action that will move people to act on their behalf to push a major societal shift) that is palatable to you? Is what you really want their silence so things continue on as they've always been, which is hell for black people? And how long should progress take? We've been at this "wait, things are getting better" thing quite a long time. Small tweaks to a system designed to be anti-black are not going to cut it. This is sweeping, destroy the system and start over from scratch change needed. We're well past time here to make progress within the system that stands. This fucked up system has put every first responder and every business owner and citizen in danger and it is time to stop defending it as it is. And that's why there's violence on our doorsteps and innocent people and businesses small and large, black-owned and white-owned and other, are caught in the boil over. We have brought this on ourselves by not standing up for black lives and demanding the government act to eradicate inequality and injustice. And one wrong move by some vigilante under the guise of protecting their neighborhood from "these people" will bring even more. Be heard but be safe but most of all be a damn agent for change for black people. It is the just thing to do. 

Also, if we are white and exhausted by the fear and uncertainty of the past week, imagine the fear and uncertainty of being black in America every day, your whole life. 

Change must come. Maybe now that it's on our doorsteps and interrupting our sleep and work and property and days and we will give a fuck and do something.

Speaking of being heard and agents for change, today is the beginning of Pride month. Pride was also a riot. 

I can't recall any major shift in social advancement/change that came without an uprising. Uprisings are not peaceful. 

Hang in there everyone. 

Happy happy birthday to KVSR today! Love you! 

How was your weekend?