Do we have to keep talking about racism? Yes. Do we have to keep bringing up the murdering of black people at the hands of state-sanctioned police?  Do we have to keep interrupting your regular life with your regular news and your regular roads to talk about the different treatment of folks in this country, in this state, in this city, based on the color of our skin? Yes. Let's talk about it. Let's eradicate the injustice from our daily lives by talking about it. Let's come together with a spirit of inquiry and learning with the idea that maybe, we don't know everything from reading one news story or watching a few videos, and maybe - we need to keep learning, every day, every moment and realize we have a lot to learn. The U.S. will not be the land of the free until each person actually has access to the quality of life depicted in the "American Dream". 

Image credit: Ivan Tamas on Pixabay

The vision I have for our society is a society where the color of your skin does not have any bearing on the statistical likelihood of the outcomes of a successful life. Your education, your career, where you live, your wealth, your health, how you interact with the law, how you move through the world, none of it would be impacted by the melanin in your skin. To move toward this vision, these are the actions I am starting with:

Are you looking? Or are you thinking how you were taught to think, that property is first? Just start asking. Here's a couple articles you could read: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hidden-motives/201108/understanding-why-people-riot and https://newint.org/sections/argument/2014/06/01/are-riots-good-for-democracy/. 

Image credit: Betty Martin on Pixabay

May all your bombshells be blooms.

Image credit: Gaimard on Pixabay

If you stop listening to the voices around you, you might hear the voice of your conscience telling you the next step to take. 

Write your legislators. Write your legislators. Write your legislators. Vote. Vote. Vote. Talk to each other. Explain why his death was wrong. Read a book to learn why his death was wrong. Read a book about whiteness. Watch a webinar about anti-racism. Listen to a podcast about racism. Talk to each other. Write your legislators. Vote. Vote. Vote. I will too. 

If 2020 was a normal year, and normal plans were happening, then right now I'd be a normal woman, on a normal beach,  dipping my normal toes in the sea somewhere near Barcelona, Spain. So, I took an imaginary trip to the sea. 

Image credit: Pexels on Pixabay

It's my mother-in-law's birthday and she is a wonderfully caring individual who deserves a fantastic day no matter the current events. I wrote this collom lune for you, Maza. HBD!

Some chores I just loved on the farm. 

Image credit: Pezibear on pixabay

Obviously, I have something in my eye. 

 Some imagery today.

Photo credit: Pexels on Pixabay

Inspiration. 

I've decided to abstain from coffee for a month and it's very challenging. I think about coffee a lot. 

There can be lessons in everything. 

It's a crazy time to be moving forward and I want to share in applauding this year's graduates. 

Image credit: Pexels on pixabay

Growing up on the farm, there were many different things to climb in all different ways; trees, silos, rafters, rooftops, machinery, piles of hay, round bales, etc. I never realized I grew up "bouldering" on round bales until I heard a friend describe a session where she paid money to go jump on boulders in an enclosed, fabricated environment. I've since realized that paying money to climb things is a very normal thing to do and I might just pay money to climb something some day too. 

Image credit: Public Domain Pictures on Pixabay

A quick poem tonight. 

Learning. 

On December 14, 2019 I posted an inspirational poem for 2020 that was meant to anchoring me in my new direction. I was about to embark on my new MBA program and had big dreams for the year ahead with travel, house projects, and more. It was a poem reminding me to focus, to listen to my intuition, to hunker down and put the time in to the things that matter. Who knew that 2020 was going to allow me to "focus", and "hunker", and listen to my intuition like never before. We cancelled our planned Mediterranean cruise in February, weeks before action would be taken by our governments.  So I'm writing this poem in response to that poem (you can read it by clicking here). 

If anyone needs to hear it, let it go!

Here's a yoga shadorma. 

I must have subconsciously enjoyed the challenge of a pentina poem because I wrote one again today. This one goes out to the one, the only, Debra Ann. The one who sat patiently and bemused when I said "I don't like my mom." Insert huge pause>>> "I love her!!!" She knew what was coming, deep down, she knew. 

Image credit: Oldiefan on pixabay

This is called a pentina. You can learn about it here. It took a very long time to write. I like how it turned out. Do you?

I used to play in one when I was a kid (kind of like a troll) and I used to love food from Culver's which is very similar. Seriously though, read up on culverts sometime - their modern engineering wonders. 

 I've been loving gardening this week and was so lucky to be outside tonight at dusk with an enchanting sunset and a brisk wind as I covered my new plantings with sheets to stave off the dangers of the late frost. After Chelsea Coreen. 

Photo credit: Public Domain Pictures