Each Week is Worse Than the Last

Where to begin? You all have probably seen the 9-minute video of George Floyd being murdered on the street, in full view, by four policemen. That has haunted me all week, especially with all of the destruction that followed, though I can understand the anger and sadness that his death caused.  It is just incomprehensible that institutionalized racism continues to beleaguer our country. And I mourn for communities of color that have suffered and been held back for so long. I am happy to report that Savannah had a large gathering yesterday and it was peaceful. Our little community had a car procession in support of Black Lives Matter and justice for George Floyd. As Rosie and I were in the procession, I realized how creative the idea was - it minimized the possibility of violence and allowed for social distancing. Cars were decorated with slogans and signs of support and one estimate was there were about 150 cars. That's a large turnout for this area. As we drove along, people on the streets cheered us, people came out of their house to wave, etc. It was very uplifting. I had signs on most windows of the car and wondered about the reaction of my neighborhood as I drive through. As luck would have it, my neighbor's grandkids (the girls who love Rosie) were walking down to my house to show me their new puppy. So, I pulled over and chatted for a minute, also explaining the signs on the car. This morning, the grandmother was out riding her bike and asked how it went. We had a nice chat about it and the general situation. So, overall, I consider it a positive experience and I'm glad to see the diverse elements of the community coming together for something like this. 

One interesting thing I've been doing lately is text banking for Jaime Harrison (running against Lindsey Graham) and some voting issues. This was an informative process that is so well organized. You have to set up an account on something called ThruText and then they will let you know when they are going to do a texting campaign. So, you sign on and are given a list of names and cell phone numbers. There is also one of those pre-set statements like "Hi, I'm Donna with the Jaime Harrison campaign. Blah, blah, blah". You send that message to everyone on the list. Eventually, people begin to reply. To make it even easier, there are pre-set replies to their questions or comments. You may occasionally have to reply personally or edit a pre-set reply, but it is so well thought out and intuitive. I've enjoyed it. And my guess is that cell phone contact may be the way to reach a lot of people.

I'm also an alternate delegate to our Democratic state convention, which is going to be virtual this year. The unexpected thing about that is that I'm receiving robocalls, postcards, etc. from those running for Democratic National Convention Delegates and Executive Committee members. Voting begins today and will be complete by the end of the week. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Last week, I finally ventured out to have my hair cut. It's one of the few "risky" things I've done as I continue to order groceries online and pick them up.....and keep a low profile. Kelly works in a salon with lots of other stylists but she has her own little room, which made me feel a bit better. She also had a full face shield and is conscientious about cleaning because she goes home to a compromised mother. Everyone HAS to wear a mask (and she had received grief from some!) and they keep the door locked. No one can enter until someone comes out to get you.  Kelly and I were talking about being sequestered, being bored (not me), eating too much (me), and that kind of thing. She said she was going to call it the Corona-15 - the 15 pounds put on between mid-March and the end of May!

Other than that, not much is happening. I've almost completed another puzzle. Chris, Lynn, Tom, Bogey, and I continue our little Friday afternoon "social bubble", which gives us a chance to hash out the trauma of the week. Tippy and I get together as we can, and Drinking Liberally is going to try our first live meeting in a while. We will order food from Juan, our favorite restaurateur whom we're trying to support through these difficult times, and then tailgate in a nearby parking lot. We'll see how that goes.

That reminds me that Tippy and I will be teaching a class on our second Africa trip - Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Cape Town, SA. It will be done through OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), which is nationwide. Since they have been unable to run live classes on campus, they want us to do a Zoom class and open it up to all OLLI groups nationwide!!  No doubt we will miss the personal contact, but this is the trip that has all of the unexpected stories (elephant flatulence, unexpected storm, Black magic woman, etc.). It should be fun and in preparation, I'm taking an online Zoom class this Thursday.

And last, but not least, I think we have a definitive answer on the mystery bush. Mary commented on my last post that it is ligustrum, one of her mother's favorites. After checking it out online, I am in agreement. The small blooms of the jasmine that I found online didn't seem to form the cone-shaped flower shown to the left. Sadly, they have bloomed out and we are without that wonderful scent, but I am glad to know what it is. Thanks, Mary.

I hope this finds everyone doing well but still taking necessary precautions. I'm not sure the coronavirus has finished with us yet. It has also been predicted that it will be an active hurricane season, which I don't even want to think about it. The only things left are locusts and zombies, and the way 2020 has going so far, nothing would surprise me!