pets

here are my pets:

left to right: gladys, monster

gladys is a vinegar mother. monster is a sourdough starter. i care fro them, i feed them, and they're living things. they don't make a lot of demands, they don't chew the furniture, and they'll never jump up on company.

HA. like i have company.

memorial day in west bolton

there's an organization called taps for veterans, and their thing is to get live buglers to play taps for the funerals of veterans, because apparently that's a thing the government decided to cut back on.

all the money in the world for tanks or planes we don't particularly need but not an awful lot of money for the benefits of the actual service people.

and that is not OK, because regardless of how one feels about the wars,  we as a society made promises to those service people. we OWE them what we promised them, and better.

the military honors they are entitled to are perhaps a small thing, but every last one of them who wants those honors should get them.

anyway, this year they had an initiative in which people from all over stood to play taps at 3PM local time on memorial day. so i went up to the west bolton cemetery and played there. i met a gentleman there who was paying respects to his dead, including he great grandfather, who enlisted twice in the civil war.

here's the story from CBS news:




and here's me:

i write a lot. just not here.

ok, so i write every day. it is a wild sign of the times that a number of people who are interested in history saw this pandemic get going and thought: i should be keeping track. people are going to want PRIMARY SOURCES"

and i started keeping a covid journal, in which i chronicle my daily goings on and the numbers. it will also serve as a contact journal in case i get sick.

and yanno, i was some weeks into that puppy when the vermont historical society sent out a request for people to do exactly that. keep an journal.

also i'm working on material for my girl scout channel, because the girl scouts are having to figure out how to do alternate program and by the time i get done that and my inat indentifications and my field studies, i'm just TIRED.

charon share alike

count them up.

i keep saying that the choices we make now will decide whether we all know someone who knows someone who dies, or whether we will all know someone who dies.

here's my covid timeline:

a friend had it. she is mostly better but still feels tired and achy.
a friend of a friend died.
a friend of a friend died.
a friend of a friend had it and had to be put in a coma, but is recovering.
a friend did not get married this week.
a relative of a friend has it and may recover.
a relative of a friend died.
a friend has it and will probably die this week.

the choices you make now will determine the death count.

and not just death; survivors may have lifelong health consequences.

make good choices please. help your friends make good choices.