Sunday Salon...'Things are changing fast' edition

'4th of July' climbing rose.

Weather: Who can tell? We had muggy weather last week, Saturday it was windy and overcast. Will we see the sun today?

Books (I thought I'd better add my book notes earlier in my blog-post, since these notes tend to get lost at the bottom of it otherwise):

• Completed this past week:
• Citizen: An American Lyric by Laudia Rankine. A poetry book about racism. Of everything I have read so far, this book has impacted me the most at an emotional level. Please read my review by clicking on the hyperlink. Highly recommend. E-book checked out from the public library.
• Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult. My sister recommended this book about elephants and those people who care for them and study them. Has a typical Picoult plot twist near the end that I didn't see coming. E-audiobook checked out from the library.

• Currently reading:  (Yes I know, this is a ridiculous number of books to be reading at one time!)
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. The prequel to the Hunger Games series. The book is long, at 520 pages, and I've lost interest but I will finish it. 80%, print.
• Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything by B.J. Fogg. I bought this book months ago, placed it on the bookshelf and forgot about it. It is probably one that should have stayed there for a few more months as I work through other books, but I have started it and I'm interested in how to make these tiny changes of habit, so I read on. 18%, print.
• Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation by LaTasha Morrison. Don and I are participating in a book study on racial reconciliation through our church. Our small group meets once a week in a Zoom meeting. Last week was our first meeting. The end of each chapter has four to seven discussion questions. 22%, e-book.
• This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons On How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell. This book is targeted at a YA audience. At the end of each short chapter the reader is instructed to journal or create a list on the topic. 39%, print.  
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad. This is our book club selection for July. The library, which isn't opened yet, offered this book for unlimited e-book checkouts so that all the gals can read it at the same time and not have to wait until a copy comes available. This is another project book requiring journaling and reflection. I am liking this best of three I am currently reading on the similar topic. 18%, e-book.
• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Mortimer. The blogosphere has been buzzing about this books. So far I am not sure if it is for me but I haven't gotten far. 23%, audiobook.
• This Train Is Being Held by Ismee Amiel Williams. A YA book which is getting a lot of love these days from reviewers. 7%, e-book.

This week: Don and I celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary by ordering 'fancy' food from a favorite restaurant and taking a long drive in our convertible. We gave ourselves ceiling fans, one to replace the broken one in the bedroom and the other a new one for the covered deck. Simple pleasures!

Things are changing fast. Black Lives Matter protests are reaping actions faster than some may have thought possible.

• House passes sweeping Democrat-led police reform bill. (NBC)
• NASCAR: When they banned confederate flags at their events last week, some fans got pissy. After a noose was found in the garage of the only black driver, Bubba Watson, all the drivers and their teams, along with 82-year-old Richard Petty, escorted Watson and pushed his car to the lead of pit road before the opening of the Talladega Race on Monday. (NASCAR)
• Mississippi is considering changing their state flag, the only flag to contain the confederate flag within it. I suspect it will make this change with pressure from the SEC (Southeastern Conference) which is a powerhouse in college football, and football is king down South. What the SEC wants, the SEC gets.

Statement from @SEC Commissioner @GregSankey on State of Mississippi flag pic.twitter.com/BR5Ei1l17X

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) June 18, 2020

• The Chicks, once the 'Dixie Chicks', are back and their new video is worth the time you took to visit my blog. It is so now and so important.

 

• And this...it might seem like just a gesture but it is about time that smart black women are rewarded:

NASA is renaming its headquarters after Mary W. Jackson, the agency's first African American female engineer who helped
NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space. https://t.co/6zuoSKwPxE

— Robert Cooper 🌊 (@RobertCooper58) June 25, 2020

• The US Senate, with bipartisan support, voted to pass The Great American Outdoors Act. It will fund much needed maintenance and repairs on National Parks. (GNN)
• In a survey, 40% of men said that the COVID-19 lock-down has improved their relationship with their kids, and 60% feel closer to them. (GNN)
• The House of Representatives passes a bill to approve statehood for D.C. (DailyKos) 
• Don't be afraid to 'Virtue Signal', it can be a powerful tool to change people's minds. The whole article is very interesting. I recommend you read it. (Time) In case you don't want to, here is the concluding paragraph:
• "This clarifies why signaling is so important. Not every person tweeting their support of a righteous cause will follow through. But no matter their motives, when many people speak out, their voices have a powerful effect on receivers. The last few weeks have made it clear that anyone opposed to racial justice is indeed in the minority, and that people who believe Black Lives Matter have plenty of company. Collective outrage has become a social norm; coupled with the leadership of local organizers, it has yielded a phenomenal groundswell of action."

A bit of humor to lighten things up:

Maybe with humor we can finally get people to lighten up and wear masks when they are out in public...

The dust storm is real and a bummer.  

How I am feeling these days:

The required cat photo of the week. 

Where is George? Can you find him?

And finally this week I end my post with a video of the Squirrel Ninja Obstacle Course. The video is 20 minutes long but I loved every minute of it, often laughing out loud. Treat yourself to some coronavirus stay-at-home/stuck-at-home fun and watch the whole thing. I promise you, it is worth the time. Enjoy.

 
 -Anne