Giants (Matt Maeson)

[The Wildlife Exhibit at Flamingo Gardens... :-) ]

What?  It's Thursday?  Where did Wednesday go?!?  From having a totally-decimated social calendar, my life seems to have gotten super-busy again, lots of little things that have then added up to full days.  Chiropractor appointments three times a week.  Walking with Rob three times a week.  Various online concerts, most recently Eliza Gilkyson (her 70th birthday celebration!), Friction Farm, Tracy Grammer, Grant Peeples.  Weekly Zoom calls with friends and, most recently, helping clear out Reba's apartment, as she has decided to give up her snowbird status (not ready to face this one emotionally yet).  Family park meet-ups.  Helping with Colin transportation.  

Speaking of Colin, Sarah invited me to join them at Flamingo Gardens a few Sundays ago, and we had a blast.  Sarah was able to keep him in the stroller for the first 10 minutes, and then she let him out to run around.  Who ran around?  We did!  Wish I could get an energy transfusion from that little guy.  We saw turtles/tortoises, otters (my other spirit animal, in addition to the dragonfly), butterflies, flamingos (of course!), various other birds, so many peacocks, as well as flowering plants, fruit trees, etc... plus there was an exhibit of Lego sculptures throughout the park (there until September 13).  We also went on a tram ride which was about five minutes too long for a toddler.  It was hot, so we ended the day with watermelon icees to lower our body temperatures.  We're thinking of getting season passes next year, as he'll enjoy it more the older it gets.

I am a positive person, and always try to be "for" rather than "against" policies/procedures/philosophies.  I said in a previous blog post that I was choosing not to watch even a minute of the Republican National Convention, exactly for the reason(s) Stephen Colbert states below (full monologue here).  With all this talk of the next four years, we also need to remember the years and decades after that... for our children, and our grandchildren.  Vote for your own needs and wishes for this country, but cast your ballot for the next generation.  As Michelle Obama spoke last week during the DNC:  ""If you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can, and they will if we don't make a change in this election.  If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it."

Because they do!


SONG:  Giants by Matt Maeson (thanks to Sarah for the heads-up to this wonderful singer-songwriter who was new to me until recently.  Now I'm obsessed!).

BOOK:  Vote for Our Future! by Margaret McNamara, Micah Player (Illustrator)

POEM:  One Vote by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

After reading a letter from his mother, Harry T. Burn cast the deciding vote to ratify the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution

My parents are from countries
where mangoes grow wild and bold
and eagles cry the sky in arcs and dips.
America loved this bird too and made

it clutch olives and arrows. Some think
if an eaglet falls, the mother will swoop
down to catch it. It won’t. The eagle must fly
on its own accord by first testing the air-slide

over each pinfeather. Even in a letter of wind,
a mother holds so much power. After the pipping
of the egg, after the branching—an eagle is on
its own. Must make the choice on its own

no matter what its been taught. Some forget
that pound for pound, eagle feathers are stronger
than an airplane wing. And even one letter, one
vote can make the difference for every bright thing.

QUOTE:  “Now, I know by not watching the R.N.C., I didn’t do my job tonight. I just want to say, I feel great about it. Why should we pay attention to what they’re saying if none of what they’re saying tonight is about what’s happening in America right now? Why should we watch their reality show if it doesn’t reflect our reality? Why subject ourselves to their lies that stick to your soul like hot tar? Lies like ‘Donald Trump cares whether you live or die.’” ~ Stephen Colbert