You Have the Right Not to be Killed. Murder is a Crime! Unless It Was Done by a Police Man or an Aristocrat

Oh, what a difference almost a year makes. At the beginning of last June, The Pandemic was raging, without any let-up, and a very bad cop killed a man by pressing his knee into the man's neck for over 8 minutes. Can you imagine how horrible that would feel before you finally died? What kind of monster kills a person like that? What kind of monster cop thinks it's his job to be the judge, jury, and executioner of a man who was accused of using a counterfeit 20 dollar bill? Really? If cops are going to kill every person who allegedly commits a petty crime in this country, there won't be too many Americans left. Especially police officers.  And that was just one case. Multiply that by however many other cases of police brutality and murder against people of color just this year, and then multiply that by all of the other cases every other year. It's all so tragic and it has to stop.

 

 

Sooooooo, this year there's a vaccine for Covid. Right now over 50% of all Iowans are vaccinated. I believe we need 75% of Americans to be vaccinated to reach herd mentality. How great would that be? I got my second shot last Friday at one pm. I was totally fine that night and most of Saturday. On Saturday evening I got a little dizzy, and exhausted. That lasted until about one or two on Sunday afternoon. Then I was a little tired, but that was it. It was a lot better than my reaction to the Shingles vaccine. In the last six months I've had 5 vaccine shots. What I haven't had, is the flu, shingles or Covid. Let's hear it for vaccines!

Also, that murderer cop was just pronounced guilty of all charges. When does that ever happen? Hardly ever. I guess we'll see what they actually sentence him to. It's not justice, but hopefully it will put other cops on notice, so they think before they kill.

Also, Happy Earth Day. I hope you find a way to appreciate nature today and every day.

You Can Crush the Flowers, But You Can't Stop the Spring, No Matter What You Say

The weather the last couple of weekends has been all over the place, but I suppose that's typical for April in Iowa.

A couple of weeks ago, it was windy and in the upper 70's both days, and this past weekend we were lucky if it made it to 50 degrees with rain all day Saturday and ridiculous winds on Sunday. It's pretty tough for an old lady to acclimate.

I'm glad we were smart enough to spend that warm weekend riding bikes and playing both days, and not wasting our time getting any of that pesky housework or practical stuff done.

Me trying to hide my Covid gut for the photo.

Altogether, we rode about 127 miles  over that weekend. On Saturday we rode to Kalona and back with our friend, Nick. We haven't been there since last Fall, and it's one of my favorite routes through Amish Country.

On Sunday, it was just John and myself. We rode about 72 miles to Columbus Junction and back. The winds were crazy, but I am so lucky to have a very strong husband, who doesn't mind pulling and shielding me from the wind. I am one lucky so-and-so.

In order to build our strength, we ate Mexican food and drank margaritas at Las Palmas. In order to build our fun quotient, we went to the Swinging Bridge and played and checked out the view. It was as close to a perfect day for me as I could get.

This past weekend was a different story. I woke up with a bad migraine on Saturday which meant I couldn't do much but whine and lie around in the dormer room. I did get some groceries for the week and made a nice dinner, so it wasn't a total loss.

I felt a little better on Sunday, so I played in the garden for most of the day. I cut up my seed potatoes earlier in the week, but then had stupid migraines for most of the rest of the week, and couldn't get them planted. They were starting to get moldy, and I read some articles to see if I could still plant them. Some said yes, and some said no. I planted them anyway. I guess we'll see who's right when the potatoes come up...Or don't.

 I rented a plot in the community gardens across the street this year. I wanted to have more produce, and I wanted to see if I could grow butternut squash without the squirrels getting to most of them. It was only about $15, so I didn't think that was too bad, especially since it's giving me almost twice the garden space. There is a big waiting list, so if they go by your plot and it doesn't look like you're using it, they will refund your money and rent your plot to someone else. I made sure to work in there on Sunday. I planted kale, lettuce greens, and potatoes. I also put a big tarp in the back part of it, to hopefully keep the weeds down before I can plant squash and a few other warmer weather plants.

I really hope we get twice the produce this year for us, and so that I can give some away too. I already got to give people red raspberry bushes and kale seedlings. There was a sign on the gate of the community gardens from the crisis center asking people to donate their extra produce to them. I would be only too happy to be able to do that.

Here's to warm sunny weekends, and gardening, and playing on bikes and eating really good Mexican food outside, and playing on bridges, and whatever else you all might like to do in the Spring.

Mendocino, Mondocino, Where Life's Such a Groove

Well, kids. I get my second Pfizer shot against Covid this Friday. Two weeks later I should be pretty much fully protected against this deadly, stupid virus. The scary thing it does, besides killing you, is leave all of these other awful problems after it's gone. My daughter works with a 16 year old girl who will have heart problems for the rest of her life after stupid Covid, and my daughter's boyfriend, who has always had some anxiety, now has paralyzing anxiety where he can barely leave the house, after Covid. It's some bad shit.

So, as you can guess, I'm extremely excited about getting my second shot. At this point I'm about 80% protected against the disease, and that gives me some peace of mind. After I get the second shot, like my youngest daughter said, "I'm not going to be an A-hole". I'm still going to mask up, and socially distance, and not hang out indoors with a bunch of people I don't live with, until they find out for certain that I can't pass the disease off to other people, or there is finally some herd immunity.

What I do feel comfortable doing, is going on a trip this Summer. Yea! We've decided to go to Northern California. I get to take John to see all of the places, and then some where I lived and worked, and played in the mid-1980's.

I'm taking John to San Francisco for a couple of days first. We'll be staying in Twin Peaks, which isn't too far from Noe Valley where I lived and worked, and the Mission where I lived. We'll spend some time in that area, and then we'll do Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39, and walk up to Chinatown to eat one day, then do North Beach, and the Golden Gate Bridge area another day. I REALLY want to ride my bike over the Golden Gate Bridge one of those days.

Next we'll stay one day at Piedmont. One of the friends we're going with has a sister who has a house there and a house in Mendocino. We're meeting our friends in Piedmont, hanging out on the East Bay for about a day, and then going to Inverness and playing in Point Reyes. We went to Point Reyes once when I was in 7th grade and we were visiting our Uncle Terry. I thought it was so cool, and have wanted to go back and spend more time there ever since. We're bringing mountain and road bikes, and we plan on hiking, riding, kayaking, and eating lots of cheese. What more could a girl want? https://californiatravelmedia.com/things-to-do-at-point-reyes-national-seashore/, https://cowgirlcreamery.com/.

On my birthday, we will be driving up to Mendocino. I want to stop in Petaluma on my way up. It's where my grandma's family lived, and there is a street there called Coady Court because my grandpa built all of the houses there. We will also go to the Washoe House (https://www.washoe.house/full-story) it's a restaurant/bar/live music venue now, but when my great great grandpa built it in the 1800's, it was a Pony Express stop. I think it would be fitting for us to go there on my birthday - a good way to follow my roots.

 In Mendocino, we'll be staying at our friend's sister's other house, right on the beach. I lived in Northern Mendocino County, but I didn't know how to drive or have a car, so I never got to explore Southern Mendocino County. I'm excited to go to Glass Beach, and hike and mountain bike, and kayak some more. This time in the heart of the Redwoods.

The last part of our trip will be spent in Humboldt County, in the college town of Arcata, not far from Eureka. On the way there, we will stop in Leggett, where I used to live (https://line.17qq.com/articles/qwwsgnhgsy.html).

So, here's hoping enough people are smart enough to get vaccinated, so we can get herd immunity, and that there aren't any crazy Covid variants that can fight against the vaccine, and we can all go back to doing the things we love, like travel and eat inside in restaurants, and go see live music. Woo hoo!

Look Out Honey, 'Cause I'm Using Technology, Ain't Got Time to Make No Apology

Holy cow! I never write, I never call. What the hell is wrong with me? Let me count the ways...

I have been so bad about writing in this here blog. First off, I bought the above puzzle, and I am one of those ADHD people who has about twenty tabs open in my head and I can never concentrate on any one thing...Until I obsess over one thing, oh, say, like a bird puzzle, and then I can't do anything else. Except for work, I did very little else but this puzzle for almost a week. I had a few white pieces left when Gus jumped up on the table, put a piece in his mouth and snuck over to his little corner. At first, I thought he was just going to play with it, but damn if he didn't eat the thing. What a bizarre little kitten. How could a puzzle piece even taste good to him? Since John cleans the litter boxes, I wasn't able to see if Gus made a jigsaw shaped poop the next day. Weirdo.

 The next excuse I have for not writing is, you guessed it, A week long migraine. I even had to take a sick day with it. I really hope these things calm down when I finally get into menopause.

This past week has been so lovely. We were able to ride bikes and I got to play in the garden, and all of that outdoor heavenliness has REALLY taken away from my writing.

Now that I've gotten all of the excuses out of the way, I hope to get back into writing on a more regular basis. I hope you are all able to play outside more as it gets warm out...And get vaccinated.