Four years ago I recorded my grim pre-election thoughts. Today I'm settling in for a long wait (assuming we will not have a firm outcome for awhile). Rather than a bunch of links, how about some pictures?
Ever since we moved in and I unpacked my flag from storage, each day after sunrise, I have put out my flag. (Val is strict about flag etiquette and makes sure I bring it in at sunset, or turn on the porch light.) It's for all of us, not just people waving it as a symbol of hate.
It's not a HUGE gesture, as our balcony doesn't face the street. (Personal note: that double window to the right, with the tree reflected in it, is open to our sunny dining room, which holds both my office setups. And that horizontal platform is for dogs to lie on.)
But of the three balconies shown here, we're definitely the most political and the least organized-looking (even though the people on the ground floor moved in way after us).
The placard is a more recent addition. I like it because it explains the implications of Black lives mattering. What are specific actions we can take, to start to unravel the way white supremacy is baked into US culture and institutions?
(Baratunde Thurston says a good starting question each of us can ask is, "What does my community need in order to thrive?" and then work on that. Regardless of the election outcomes. More links, too many links, next time. Today only pictures.)
I am fortunate to be able to work from that sunny dining room, so I've been quarantining since the beginning, first so that I wouldn't get sick before my own cancer surgery in March, then so I could safely visit my parents who need some looking after, and now redoubling our family precautions as my wife has either Covid-19 or regular flu and just today took a test for the latter. (Update 48 hours later: the Covid-19 test was negative. Now they think it's bronchitis.) I sent 300 postcards to Arizona through Vote Forward in Chicago (with thanks to them for being so organized) and here are photos of them on mailing day, a week and a half ago.
I got to use some of my hoard of commemorative stamps.
I'll end with a few pictures of dogs, also waiting. First here's Ciarda, on that same balcony, watching the sunset. I'm glad that we had such a dog-friendly apartment complex for our last summer with her.
Ciarda from the front ...
And here's Luna, waiting for Val to come out of the second bedroom (aka office and game room). With more file boxes!
Now Luna from the front. Olympic rings behind her head. Greetings from our pack to yours!
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