Thursday Thoughts: We were standing on the edge with the sand under our feet

Feels like summer. Do do do do do do do do

I have seen my BFF Kim and her family nearly every day this week and loved it. A sweaty as F Farmer's Market outing Wednesday. 

Brown's donuts are delightful even if they arrive mangled. The combination of a hot off the press and long walk doesn't make for pretty, but their recipe is always delicious. As is Steve's breakfast. 

Lots of time on the boards this week - storm rolled in on Tuesday.

Libby and I met up with Amanda, Eva, and Donna on Wednesday. Then I had a glass of wine with Kim & Steve on the deck. Solid Wednesday night, they are rarely that good. 

Glimpses of nice evening skies, but no super moon on Wednesday. There was a shelf of clouds just off-shore. 

Nail talk. I got gel polish at the nail salon before we went on our road trip vacation. The last time I got gel polish was before I went to Ireland in 2016. I absolutely hate my nails after and that's what I'm going through now. That shit under the lights absolutely weakens your nails and they are bending and chipping and annoying AF right now. And I say that as someone who has almost superhuman strong nails. 

The first month without Show Us Your Books linkup since October 2014. It would have been Tuesday. It still feels like freedom. I'll be posting a what I've been reading post at the end of July. 

My black and white animals frequently conspire.

My Ben and Bruce are much nicer. Bruce, much lazier.

I watched snippets of the Uvalde school shooting video yesterday. This wrecked me for the day. To see police standing lackadaisically in the hallway, getting hand sanitizer. Looking at the freaking punisher screen saver on the phone in their hand instead of rescuing children who were getting shot. The shots are heard clearly in the video. The screams of the children were edited out. Not for those police standing in the hallway though. They heard the screams. And did nothing. So much for the good guys with the guns counteracting mass shooter theories, huh? Hero worship, near blanket immunity from prosecution, a ruling of the supreme court in 2005 that police do not have a constitutional duty to protect people from harm, and back the blue flags have led to this. It is not fixable within the current system. It is not fixable when governors like Greg Abbott fight to not release the videos. And when the Mayor instead of criticizing the lack of response criticizes the media for releasing them. Is this not clear to people, still? 

Local to me abortion supporters: I hope you have followed abortionfunds and signed up for more info - if you have, and you are near me, you should have gotten an email from Abortion Liberation Fund of PA. Please follow them on IG, access/read/share their Post-Roe Tool Kit, and consider making a one time - and, ideally, monthly donation if you are financially able to, and if not share their organization. They were formerly Women's Medical Fund and have been operating in Philly since 1985, and in a post-Roe world protecting and expanding abortion access through direct service and community organizing. With PA state senate having begun the process through the passage of SB 956 to add an amendment to the state constitution that would criminalize abortion and other critical reproductive healthcare - denying the right to abortion care in Pennsylvania even in cases of rape, incest, or life threatening conditions AND pre-empt any state court from protecting abortion care in the absence of federal protections...which is weird since people have been shrugging their shoulders and saying it's not illegal, it's just back to the states...then GOP state senators are passing bills like this out of committee at 11:45 at night, past curfew, and without input from the citizens they represent; federal GOP going after abortion access everywhere for the last 50 years, and democrats not being aggressive enough, we are responsible at the community level to keep each other safe and rely on the networks established abortion funds have built over years. At this time, that mostly means talking about abortion, sharing resources like these, and donating as much as you can. Sharpen your teeth and protect each other.

In the background of everything, an attempted presidential coup it is quite clear the majority of elected GOP officials knew was happening with a false claim of a stolen election and they did absolutely nothing about it. So the attempted coup, then, is not just presidential, but Republican, and now there is a judicial coup in process while republican legislatures in states attempt to limit voting rights and criminalize abortion so that people convicted lose their voting rights. Fascism isn't coming, it's here. What are you going to do now? Nothing, like the DOJ is doing to people who will not comply with subpoenas? Nothing, like the DOJ is doing with the former White House squatter who is attempting to contact witnesses that have not yet testified against him?

To think about, as collected by We the Urban:

Endlessly becoming. I don't know why anyone ever thinks they are done becoming in this life. We are becoming constantly. Done means dead to me. I love this poem by Lucille Clifton. I mean... a changed changer, I continue to continue. How can you not think about that at pop up points always after first reading it 20+ years ago? It is amazing writing.

I'm off tomorrow. Hallelujah & amen

What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Feels Like Summer by Samuel Jacks

Snippets of the weekend 7.11.2022

Tremendous skies Saturday and Sunday nights. Neon lights on amusement piers. Friday early evening in the North End with MFD. Quality time with Kim, Libby, and Steve Saturday and Sunday. Hydrangeas peaking. Sea glass Sunday after Saturday night's passing rain shower. 

Easy turnover on Saturday, returning guests checking in. Sign back in to the zillion streaming services. Replace broken lamp. Iced coffee making disaster due to coffee pot not on correctly resulting in coffee allover the table, shelves, boxes, under couch...bumping into Sunday morning alone time serenity. The only way to make hard boiled eggs for eternity now is in the air fryer, Preheat for 5 at 400, cook for 16 at 260.

Ice cream season. Sandwich season. Walk to the corner store for grocery shopping season.

Dogs off to Philly with MFD Saturday afternoon for a few days while he has work stuff. Shifty cat left with me.

Feeling very Friday today

I'm feeling very Friday today. You? Coffee on the porch far too early this morning in my new mug from Lori.

Backyard vistas. I am crazy for solar lights.

Hates couch protectors. Ben is my interior decorator dog - he moves dog beds all over and removes as much of the couch covers as he can immediately.

I didn't make it to Thursday Thoughts yesterday, but I did get all my work work done, finally finish the 230498304 loads of laundry from the shore and home, returned two dresses, packed clothes and house laundry and food  and work stuff up to come back to the shore, picked up some of the shore shit I needed to replace in the house (and a polish, who can resist). Earlier in the week I completed the bloodwork for my physical, which I tend to put off. I'm feeling good about this week personally.

I'm back at the shore to stay for the first time since the beginning of June. I've been down and back three times since then to do turnovers, but I've missed being here. This will be a longer stretch for me and I get to see some of my favorites while here. 

I bought my stamps for holiday cards today because they're going up in two days. Thanks to Cory on Instagram for the tip off. 

Bruce is the laziest dog I have ever had.

Joy is in the smallest things. This week it's been dishtowels, getting back on the good book foot, finding that new lovely polish, not much traffic on the way to the shore. It is not in a clean oven. If you have any care about anything outside of yourself, it is so fucking hard to keep yourself on an even keel right now because you can do all the therapy, wellness work, personal inventory, boundaries, actual self care, etc., but the far reaching social issues that arise from massive structural inequality across every system in this country impact all of us and our mental and emotional health. Fight for yourselves and each other. We all deserve more ease in this life. 

And stickers. Since childhood and forever, always stickers. 

It's guns and...a lot of very American things tied up in toxic masculinity and white nationalism with a side of shitty social safety nets follow Amanda Faun on IG

Reminder: no one owes you a reason or a story for why abortion must be available to all pregnant people. People who are pregnant need abortions for medical reasons but also because they cannot or do not want to care for a child in the circumstance they are in, and before you go on about birth control or abstinence I will ask you what in the fuck you have said about men in regards to birth control and abstinence and the answer will be nothing so you can STFU about women and forcing birth on pregnant people and pivot yourself to responsible ejaculation. This country has zero social safety nets for unwanted children that are operating at the appropriate capacity and zero social safety nets for wanted children that people cannot afford to raise here that are operating at the appropriate capacity. This is about white men staying in control and THAT IS IT. 

How to help within the system we are currently operating in - carrying this over from last week for the resource links We must first take care of each other - fund abortion. Do not try to be a rogue actor because you feel the need to do something - I get the desire to be part of a "camping" crew but we must use the well established and networked organizations to safely help people. The best thing to do if you are able is open your wallet. Every organization below will take donations right now. If you are unable to donate, share these resources in your networks and encourage others to donate. Links:

Donate to abortion funds: National Network of Abortion Funds

Donate to organizations that provide travel to those seeking abortions: The Brigid Alliance

Know your digital security rights: Digital Defense Fund

Know your options: INeedanA.com, Plan C, Hey Jane

Support independent clinics: Keep Our Clinics

Support during or after a miscarriage or abortion: M+A Hotline, 1-833-246-2632 (call or text)

Legal advice: IfwhenHow - lawyering for reproductive justice

Take care of each other out there.

are you doing everything to keep your dog healthy?

If you’re going to have a dog, you need to make sure that you can take care of it. A dog is not just for Christmas or for your birthday, a dog is for the rest of its life. They become part of the family, and they love you unconditionally once it bonds with you. It’s down to you to take care of the little furry friend that loves you more than anything else, and we’re going to be looking at how to do this in this article. Keep reading if you would like to find out more.

Image Location - CC0 License

Correct Exercise

First, you need to make sure that they are getting the correct exercise. The bigger the dog, the more exercise they are going to need, so make sure you’re looking up a guide online that tells you what they need. Or, let them take the lead as they will let you know when they have had enough and when they want more. Most people choose to take their dogs on two walks a day with one being in the morning and one in the evening. We imagine this is popular because people work during the day, so they are making up for being gone when they are there.

It’s also worth noting that if you have a garden, your dog can get a lot of exercise in there. This is not to say that you no longer need to go on walks with them, but it’s another option.

Best Food

You should also be looking into the best food for your dog. Now, this is going to look completely different to another dog, so don’t worry about what other people are doing. Of course, you need to try different foods to find the one that they like above the others, and make sure that there is nothing in there that your dog is allergic to. You need to be doing the same when it comes to treats as well, checking again that it’s suitable for your dog. It might be the case that your dog is allergic to grain for example, and for this you’re going to need to look into grain free dog treats, which means checking the packet extra carefully.

Love And Affection

The final thing that we are going to say is that if you want to keep your dog healthy, you’re going to have to give them plenty of love and affection. As we said above, your dog will love you unconditionally, and you become their entire world. As such, they need a lot of love from you, and this can come in the form of a cuddle, sitting with them and stroking their fur, playing with them and so much more.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you need to be doing in order to keep your dog healthy. It’s important that you are keeping your little furry friend in the best possible health so that they can live a long and happy life by your side. We wish you the very best of luck!

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This post was written with the Life According to Steph audience in mind

Snippets of the weekend 7.5.2022

Salad, pet store, finishing a book in the dark. To the shore Saturday morning for turnover - all the bedding and laundry, mirror fixed. Watermelon bedspreads make me happy, like notes from fam.

Back to Philly to shower and pack up and head upstate to the peace of the lake at Lori's - a solid six hours in the car on Saturday but worth it to do turnover in person and make it to the lake.

Reflections. Super low dew point. Sunshine. Nice skies. Signature purple. Lots of books, some good, some passed on. Porch time. Relaxing. Relaxing. Relaxing. Watching new boat drivers. Laughter. 

Dog heaven. Dirt rolling, swimming, panting, sunning, snoozing, eating.

Blue skies, sun dappled everything, breakfast hotdogs, Montrose, vendors on the green, flowers, dips, pickle hummus, fireworks, time with one of my most cherished people. The promise of America and the reality of America chafing with several mass shootings on July 4 and many white women feeling for the first time an infringement on their rights that Black, Native, and marginalized people in general and women in particular have felt for centuries. 

And, lest I forget ever, a shore hot water heater that gave up the ghost on July 4, 2022. Emergency service, expensive AF repair. Thankfully MFD had not yet left for Monday parades and could stay down and be the man on the scene.