Yearly Archives: 2020

Gratitude Friday

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1. Morning walks. We went by the river and around the ponds this week, but because of the time change, it was too dark to take any pictures. I keep my headlamp on the whole time, and the sun is only just coming up as we are almost home. Sam is back up to being able to walk four miles in the morning and that makes me so happy.

2. Sam came to live with us 10 years ago this week. We had planned on going to Lifeline Puppy Rescue over the weekend to get a new dog, the same place we got Obi and Dexter, but I was home sick midweek and looking on Craigslist, where I saw a listing for Sam from the woman fostering him and his brother for another local rescue. I emailed Eric and we agreed I’d email the foster mom. As soon as she emailed back, I knew we’d found our new puppy, and Dexter agreed, so we brought him home. They guessed he was about 12 weeks old, but he was probably closer to 8 or 9 and looked like a baby bear.

3. Spring is coming. It seems appropriate that I took this picture of the first crocuses in the dark, using the light of my headlamp. Things are getting so weird, but the birds have returned and flowers are blooming. Life is like that — tender and terrible, beautiful and brutal. Wash your hands and keep your heart open.

4. Practice. More than ever, it’s helping to keep me strong, stable, and sane.

5. My tiny family. There’s no one I’d rather be “stuck at home” with, and I’m so thankful that dogs and seemingly children won’t be seriously impacted by COVID-19.

Bonus joy: a safe and comfortable home to hunker down in, the rational and reasonable approach Colorado is taking to this pandemic, the ability to stay home for long stretches of time, the resources that make staying home for long stretches of time workable, that if/when we do get sick there won’t be much I need to cancel, the internet, good books, good podcasts, good TV, limes, clementines, sweet potatoes, a big glass of cold clean water, getting all the laundry done before lunchtime, hanging out on Zoom with friends, all those working so hard to keep people safe and healthy.

Something Good

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1. Elizabeth Warren Nailed the Drake ‘Flip the Switch’ TikTok Challenge at ‘SNL’: Watch.

2. Yoga for All Bodies: Jessica Rihal is getting people to love their bodies – on and off the mat. In related news, For Black, Southern Women, Practicing Mindfulness Offers Escape.

3. Interview with Alison Brie: ‘The effects of trauma spider-webbed through the whole family.’

4. Black Woman-Owned “The Honey Pot” Attacked Online: Let’s Talk About Intersectional Feminism.

5. How One Man Turned His Backyard Garden Into a Full-Fledged Community Farmers Market.

6. Recipes I want to try: spiced cauliflower and potatoes + more, and 16 Decadent Pasta Dishes That Don’t Contain Dairy, and “Marry Me” Cookies, and Lemon Pound Cake.

7. There’s A Twitter Account That Posts Cow Pics Every Day Just To Make People Smile.

8. The Dixie Chicks Have Released Their First New Song In 14 Years And It’s Incredible.

9. High school student near Seattle builds website to serve as a leading place for coronavirus information.

10. 4 Common HSP Health Challenges (and How to Deal With Them).

11. i don’t know how to make you care about other people.

Like so many others, I’ve spent the week thinking about Democratic politics (exhausting!) and COVID-19 (also exhausting!) As many have noted, America is particularly susceptible to a burgeoning pandemic because of our broken health care system (specifically: the number of people who are un- or under-covered by insurance, and thus will opt not to seek care) and the number of workers who lack paid sick leave. But it also challenges the very American cult of the individual: the idea that you take care of you and yours, but also the idea that if you’re fine, then everything’s fine.

12. A post in which the F-word appears. Repeatedly. from Rita’s Notebook.

13. How to make a zine from a single sheet of paper from Austin Kleon.

14. What I think about COVID-19 this morning (a Google doc), a really helpful overview.

15. Afraid to Retire? What to Do on Day One.

16. Willie Nelson and His Son Lukas Covers “Just Breathe.”