Dept. of the Weekend
Saturday, 6 July 2024 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaffy_rSaturday, and the Sun is Shining
I'm temporarily camped in my livingroom, because the chair I have in the office seems apt to bother my back. (I have to figure out how to make it a pain free sit-down, because Bob mentioned last night that he misses me being there. He said that I should stay where I'm most comfortable, but I don't want him to be lonely, and I miss him. But I digress.)
Being out here, with a temporary office set up on the livingroom table allows me to see the building's courtyard, which one of our residents has turned into a flower-filled vision, with some help from a couple of the other residents. It's really gorgeous, plus I can see some of the cats in other units as they observe the world outside their windows.
*** *** ***
The SCOTUS decisions of the past week made it hard for me to put pen to paper; desolation does that. But desolation isn't the proper response. I reminded myself that I have postcards that I'm going to be mailing to potential Democratic voters in swing states, so I'm not completely inert in this fight for democracy.
The UK election, despite showing an unnerving uptick in Reform votes, did overwhelmingly kick the Tories out. Starmer, despite having some disconcerting resemblance to Tony Blair, and despite the mountains he's going to have to usher his party and his country over, has a chance to heal some of the near-fatal wounds the Conservatives delivered to the UK's infrastructure. Good on him, and all the luck in the world to doing that job.
I spent Independence Day with two friends, who are living in a long-term house rental while their own house is repaired from a fire. Bob wasn't able to come because his bad tooth and sinus was acting up. The three of us went to see the fireworks in neighboring Skokie. We had to park a fair sight from the actual fireworks site, but once one of my friends got over her annoyance at that, it was a ... I was going to say a lovely experience, but it wasn't quite. I loved seeing so any Muslim-Americans there to celebrate in a country where too damned many of their fellow citizens and neighbors hate them. A lot of smiles back and forth.
But something happened to me half-way through the fireworks. I love fireworks. I love their percussive whump, and the cobalt blues, Emerald City greens, golden chrysanthemum explosions - but over the past couple of years I've become more aware of how awfully fireworks treat people with PTSD or other conditions; how horribly they affect pets, and this July 4th, I suddenly was close to tears as I heard a night bird, and saw it flying as fast as it could away from the area. When a tiny firefly with its frail green light flew close to my face, so fragile - yeah, I had to swallow those tears.
I don't know if I can allow myself to attend fireworks next year.
Today, I have to go and get some groceries in order to make some chili for tonight. And then I'm going to complete my current 9,000+ crossover fic. Swear to god I will.
What's everyone else doing?
I'm temporarily camped in my livingroom, because the chair I have in the office seems apt to bother my back. (I have to figure out how to make it a pain free sit-down, because Bob mentioned last night that he misses me being there. He said that I should stay where I'm most comfortable, but I don't want him to be lonely, and I miss him. But I digress.)
Being out here, with a temporary office set up on the livingroom table allows me to see the building's courtyard, which one of our residents has turned into a flower-filled vision, with some help from a couple of the other residents. It's really gorgeous, plus I can see some of the cats in other units as they observe the world outside their windows.
*** *** ***
The SCOTUS decisions of the past week made it hard for me to put pen to paper; desolation does that. But desolation isn't the proper response. I reminded myself that I have postcards that I'm going to be mailing to potential Democratic voters in swing states, so I'm not completely inert in this fight for democracy.
The UK election, despite showing an unnerving uptick in Reform votes, did overwhelmingly kick the Tories out. Starmer, despite having some disconcerting resemblance to Tony Blair, and despite the mountains he's going to have to usher his party and his country over, has a chance to heal some of the near-fatal wounds the Conservatives delivered to the UK's infrastructure. Good on him, and all the luck in the world to doing that job.
I spent Independence Day with two friends, who are living in a long-term house rental while their own house is repaired from a fire. Bob wasn't able to come because his bad tooth and sinus was acting up. The three of us went to see the fireworks in neighboring Skokie. We had to park a fair sight from the actual fireworks site, but once one of my friends got over her annoyance at that, it was a ... I was going to say a lovely experience, but it wasn't quite. I loved seeing so any Muslim-Americans there to celebrate in a country where too damned many of their fellow citizens and neighbors hate them. A lot of smiles back and forth.
But something happened to me half-way through the fireworks. I love fireworks. I love their percussive whump, and the cobalt blues, Emerald City greens, golden chrysanthemum explosions - but over the past couple of years I've become more aware of how awfully fireworks treat people with PTSD or other conditions; how horribly they affect pets, and this July 4th, I suddenly was close to tears as I heard a night bird, and saw it flying as fast as it could away from the area. When a tiny firefly with its frail green light flew close to my face, so fragile - yeah, I had to swallow those tears.
I don't know if I can allow myself to attend fireworks next year.
Today, I have to go and get some groceries in order to make some chili for tonight. And then I'm going to complete my current 9,000+ crossover fic. Swear to god I will.
What's everyone else doing?
no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 July 2024 02:07 pm (UTC)And I hope you've caught up on your sleep!