Sunday Salon, Still 2020

2020 Christmas season

Weather: Pretty rotten. We took the dog for a walk yesterday during a crease between rainstorms. We didn't walk fast enough and we got quite wet. Later we headed for the hot tub but had to put on the brakes when we noticed it had started raining again.

Family News:

1. Happy days after Christmas! We hosted Christmas Eve this year for our small family which included our married daughter and her family. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of a three-year-old is so fun. Ian wanted to stop and read or play with all his new items. None of this open gifts one right after the other. Christmas day was just the three of us attempting to follow a few traditions like eating crepes for breakfast and playing the Hallelujah Chorus as the sign it is time to come downstairs to begin the festivities of the day. 

2. Midday we Zoomed with my whole family in four different states and three different countries. We chatted for over an hour. At one point we all showed off our pets. That was a funny moment.

3. Carly has taught herself to crochet. Overnight it seems she has turned into an expert which meant we had to make a last minute gift decision to drive to Tacoma to find a store that sells fibers and yarns. After all the clutter was cleared away Christmas day she just wanted to sit down and begin her new creation with the yarn we bought her. 

Carly displaying her crocheted items: Harry Potter and Dobie; a coffee cup cozy holder; a head scarf; neck scarf. All completed in one week from zero skills to quite accomplished.

4. We tried, but failed, to view the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction. Dec. 21st it was terrible cloudy and rainy so there was no hope that night of seeing the heavenly event. The next night was clear but we didn't start looking for it right at sundown and even though we drove to several different sites to attempt a clear view, we missed the conjunction as it slipped below the horizon. This site has some of my favorite images I found on-line: DW. Take a look.

5. Books: I finished High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins. It is our book club selection for January. As a memoir of a woman's addiction I found it to less than credible. Looking at Goodreads reviews, I am not the only one. I bet a lot of gals won't read it or won't finish it for club. We, as a family, read two favorite Christmas books: The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog; and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Every year we read these yet I still laugh and cry my way through them. It's looking like I won't finish Ready, Player Two in 2020. Oh well, reading knows no reading boundaries.

 And this...

1. The truth in black and white. The Kansas City Star newspaper makes a public apology for its years of racist reporting. "For 140 years, it has been one of the most influential forces in shaping Kansas City and the region. And yet for much of its early history — through sins of both commission and omission — it disenfranchised, ignored and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citizens. It reinforced Jim Crow laws and redlining. Decade after early decade it robbed an entire community of opportunity, dignity, justice and recognition."(KSS)

2. The Lt. Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, said he'd pay a reward for evidence of voter fraud. The Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania said he found some: three people who committed fraud for Trump in his state. Now he wants TX Dan Patrick to pay up the $3 M. Ha! Good one! (Houston Chronicle)

3. It feels a little like we are finally getting to the Return of the Jedi episode after enduring The Empire Strikes Back for the past month-and-a-half since the election. Finally the tables are turning. "An election worker at Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Trump, his lawyers and conservative media networks, among others, for spreading false conspiracy theories that he says forced him into hiding." (Axios)

4. The Anne Frank Memorial was vandalized in Idaho with swastikas and the words, "we are everywhere." Within a day, crowd funding raised nearly $20,000 to go toward repairs of the statue and in support of human rights.

In just over a day, we're closing in on 200 people from around the world donating for our crowdfunder to support #HumanRights. Hoping to make it to 1,000! https://t.co/DLsoTET9wB @gofundme

— Russ Stoddard (@rstoddard) December 12, 2020

5. Shelter dogs picking out their Christmas gifts.

Christmas for the shelter dogs.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/QbHxoydDxF

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden_) December 21, 2020

6. Cool, just cool. Watch and be amazed.

Freezing of a soap bubble.. pic.twitter.com/VQs7FSISAl

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden_) December 19, 2020

7.  Merry Christmas from Champ and Major Biden. (Can you tell that I love dogs?) (YouTube)

And then this...funnies that I missed earlier in 2020....

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8. I had to think about this one for a few minutes...

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That's it folks. I hope my blog has brought you a bit of solace in 2020. Now we look forward to a better 2021. See you then!

 

-Anne