August | 2019 | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. Morning walks. This morning on his walk with the dogs, Eric saw some of this year’s baby deer playing in the sprinklers at the park.

2. End of summer harvest. It’s zucchini, tomato, peach, and watermelon season right now. Yum. I made more zucchini bread, and this time I remembered the toasted walnuts.

3. Practice. While I was meditating this morning, Sam got up on the futon behind me and took a nap. I feel so much more relaxed with him there.

4. Being able to rest, do what I want. I am still amazed how much recovery is necessary, how lucky I am to be able to read a book or take a long nap or try a new recipe, until I remind myself I’ve been going nonstop for the past 40 years.

5. My tiny family. Last on the list, but not least.

His legs are SO long

Bonus joy: being able to say “no” to something that doesn’t feel quite right, getting all the laundry done and put away, clean beds for the dogs, that Ringo is finally grown up enough to just hang out most of the day instead of needing to be entertained constantly, hanging out with Mikalina, good movies (we watched Arctic last night), good TV (I needed something easy, so I started watching Jane the Virgin), reading in bed at night while my three boys sleep, cooler weather, pay day, aqua aerobics, yoga, Pilates, the house smelling like something yummy after I’ve cooked.

Image by Eric

1. 127 Morning Rituals – The Ultimate List For Your Morning Routine.

2. So You Want To Write? How Introverts Can Cultivate A Writing Practice.

3. 5 Superpowers Of The INFJ.

4. Austin Kleon’s collage archives. This is a practice I want to start up again.

5. Ethical Chocolate Companies, “a list of chocolate companies that only use ethically grown cocoa. Find out how you can tell if the chocolate you are eating is connected to child slavery.”

6. CSU professor’s poem in New York Times Magazine reflects on 1963 KKK church bombing. In related news, Conservatives rail against New York Times project on America’s sordid slave past, and Reading Guide: Quotes, Key Terms, and Questions for The 1619 Project.

7. 300 dancers showed up for ballet class this morning in Times Square in front of Good Morning America. (video) “This is what happens when you joke on TV about Male dancers. 300 dancers show up for a ballet class in Times Square NYC to show their support of our amazing male dancers.”

8. Amazon Fires: How Can You Help? In related news, Why the Amazon Rainforest Fires Are Absolutely Devastating, and How to help the Amazon rainforest: 9 things you can do during the fires and beyond.

9. This Woman Set Up A Photo Booth For Birds In Her Yard, And The Results Are Extraordinary.

10. 5 Questions for Thin People with Health at Every Size and Intuitive Eating Brands.

11. Top 146 Recommended African-American Children’s Books.

12. The most effective ways to curb climate change might surprise you.

13. The Shaun King We’re Not Talking About. “When Clarissa Brooks questioned Shaun King about recent fundraising, King publicly threatened Brooks with legal action. However, Brooks is far from the first person to publicly question Shaun King, and she’s not the first Black woman to be disrespected by him either.”

14. Three migrant children die of flu in detention with US authorities refusing to give vaccines, as reports of child molesting emerge.

15. Sole Black Woman To Speak At Abortion Bill Hearing Has Mic Cut Off And Is Asked To Leave.

16. Flint Water Crisis Worsens, City Spills 2 Million Gallons of Sewage Into Flint River.

17. Energetic Southern White Rhino Calf “Charges” Around Safari Park.

18. Going against the decluttering craze: the book hoarders who defy Marie Kondo.

19. This 3-year-old sells lemonade to help buy diapers for moms in need. (video)

20. First-grader pointed loaded gun at student in school office. The gun belonged to the district’s transportation director. “Nelson was allowed to carry the weapon as part of the district’s concealed-carry plan adopted last year to arm administrators and select staff members to protect students from potential gun violence.” Guns In schools. What could possibly go wrong?

21. Variety to Forgo Annual Emmy Party for Donation to Planned Parenthood. This is what resistance looks like. In related news, Planned Parenthood Withdraws From Title X Program Over Trump Abortion Rule.

22. Daniel Pantaleo, Officer Who Held Eric Garner in Chokehold, Is Fired. on The New York Times. He should be in prison for murder, but this is a start.

23. WW Is Priming Our Kids To Become Lifelong Customers.

24. Virginia Boy Scout Recruits His Troop To Help Maintain The Legacy Of A Historically Black Cemetery.

25. We Fled the Gangs in Honduras. Then the U.S. Government Took My Baby. on The New York Times.