Giving Thanks in 2020

First this Thanksgiving morning, my head is bowed in gratefulness for all the people who voted; who helped make the vote possible, past, present, and who will in the future; for all who were there hours, days, weeks counting ballots; for all who husband the ballot through modern and old infrastructure with herculean safety measures; for all who now stand up for integrity, morality, honesty, and our Constitution to guard our precious right to choose the people who will speak for us; for all who embody that spirit; for all who see the freedoms we have are not largesse to please ourselves or our faction, but responsibilities that make it possible to equally enjoin so we might find ways to live together and thrive--every last one of us.

________

So, we are embarking on a very modified holiday season during our COVID times. Here, our beautiful yesterday melded into heavy rain through the night. It is grey and wet. Our campus asked us day-before-yesterday to quarantine ourselves for two weeks if we are with family today (or any day or a medical overnight or ER trip). There is a small outbreak in the independent living Dock Woods section. We're now in just about the same lockdown as before. I will be very careful. 

Much comes to mind to mourn on a grey morning like this. Actually, that is okay. I am human and long years encompass many losses but also innumerable Joys that give unsurpassed worth to have been present for it all.

It's been a very long time since I've had a haircut--February, in fact. I'm contemplating cutting it myself and now even have haircut scissors. Wisps keep floating into my face and the split ends are breaking off all over the place. But the household beckons for attention so I may put off a hair adventure one more time.

This evening immediate family here and I will Zoom with our families out west and southwest. We're sharing some pictures during the session. Keoni, right now, is working on loading the picture contributions for our Zoom visit.

Well, breakfast awaits so I'll wish you the best that Thanksgiving offers and hope you are well and you remain so. We are living through this COVID time together. 

With love for you and a quiet remembrance for all who have passed away these months of 2020.

Thank You, Voters!!! Thank you, Pennsylvania!!!

 Welcome, Joe!!! Welcome, Kamala!!!

We have a President-Elect!!! We have a Vice President-Elect!!!

Above is from one of Keoni's friends down in Philly right now.

Thank you, Philadelphia.

Thank you, all the counters. 

Thank you, Aidan, your music helped my patience this morning.

Thank you, voters, who make a Good Trouble so we can do the hard work that lies ahead.

God bless you.

God bless America.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting: Counting, Counting, Counting

 

Aidan used the quiet church to record a couple pieces for auditioning. There was plenty of room to "distance" so I got to chill with a couple of renditions he played. To any who are anxious during the enormous vote-counting efforts going on four days beyond the election here's a slice of tranquility to saturate consciousness. Please, don't get dizzy from my unintended camera angle...

El Día de los Muertos

Or, All Saint's Day in our own familiar culture. Our family, so many, many families, so very much to remember. 

Twenty-twenty. 

I chose to make an ofrenda, or offering table, to remember Dimetrios' passing this year; to remember another--Kwame--now joined in spirit with him, with others of my loved ones who's images I found, others not found--yet in my mind's eye; to remember those the pandemic has taken; those lost to violence, to wars; to blend the culture that was around me in the Southwest into my present setting; to invite them all into this present day to be loved, cherished, celebrated, remembered.

In the time of COVID-19

COVID TIMES

Waves of thoughts
Ideas
Images
Crowd shores of consciousness
Clamoring
Look at me
Do me
Love me
Tend me
Me, me, me
And shape up
Fly right!
A monotony of
More, more, more.

Where am I?

I don’t know.

Pandemic panic? No

Waves spray into
Light ethers
Recede, return,
Recede, return.
A monotony
Water-symphony
Sprays over Tsunamis
Of catastrophes
At every hand.
Is this the COVID depression onset?

_________

Angst, a mind-wandering, worst-outcomes, beauty-crushed-to-dreadful, drifted over a weeks-long limbo. Half-waking up thoughts, little mattering they're good or beautiful, morph into nightmares. What am I doing! Struggle up and out of bed. Change the mood. Weigh reading e-news consequences, make coffee, start grits, begin sausage slow-browning in a pan. The fresh air, chilly now, comes through the opened window. The Canadian geese fly-over sound overcomes the distant turnpike churn, school buses, work commutes, and Amazon distribution trucks. It's a wet, grey, leaf-littered fall morning.

A few sentences on the pages of a book preface leap out. About potatoes. Growing potatoes. The departure of the angst is so swift it startles; my chest lightens, the brain fog evaporates, a curious, calm interest in the day ahead touches my shoulders.

__________

...And VOTE, AMERICA!!!...

Sonja and Jeff voting in Utah.

So, all the immediate family, PA, NM & UT have voted. May all our votes make a difference!

Look up any vote info you need to know including tracking your ballots...

Nationwide:

ELECTION INFORMATION from League of Women Voters Education Fund
See the candidates and issues on your ballot anywhere in the US, the office function, the candidates, each ones' answers to their background, why they're running, and their answers to questions on current issues. There's a side-by-side, visual comparison of candidates tool. Each ballot issue is there, stated in succinct, plain-English summaries with both Pro's and Con's supporter views on each one. While you're reviewing the candidates and issues, the interactive lets you check choices, print the list out, or email or text it to yourself so you'll have your own personalized, informed list--no matter your political affiliations! Plus...
   *Check Your Voter Registration
   *Register to Vote
   *Find Your Polling Place
   *Discover Upcoming Debates in Your Area

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
For assistance, accessibility.

The next two links repeat what is also available above in LWV's vote411.org. But I'll include them anyway.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
To see if you are registered.

https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/
To get your absentee ballot.

Election Official Directory & State Voting Requirements & Information
To hand-carry your ballot to your Election Office. If the United States Postal Service is unable to overcome its recent cutbacks and restrictions, this is where to find your district's Election Board office address so you can hand-carry your mail-in/absentee ballot to the office or designated drop boxes to avoid the virus and make sure your vote is counted on time.

In Pennsylvania:

Here's where to hand-carry your ballot in Montgomery County, PA: Voter Services, 1 Montgomery Plaza, 425 Swede St, STE 602, Norristown, PA, 19401

Ballot deliveries must be done in person; no proxies. 

10-27-2020: Still another Republican lawsuit to restrict counting of Pennsylvania ballots asks an expedited Supreme Court review to eliminate Pennsylvania ballots postmarked by election day but received afterward, and further, to be separated from the other ballots so that the Supreme Court also can decide whether Pennsylvania can count those votes at all.

10-19-2020: Here's where to see your ballot status: PA Voter Services Ballot Status

9-18-2020 update: 

The Pennsylvania high court ruled in favor of voters...

1. Extended the deadline for mail ballots to be returned to Friday [5pm] after Election Day.

2. Ruled that voters can use drop boxes to return ballots.

3. Removed the Green Party’s presidential ticket from the ballot.

4. Upheld the requirement that poll watchers only work in the county where they are registered to vote.

In favor of the RNC's suit the court...

1. Prohibited third parties from collecting and returning mail ballots. (So now, if I help a wheel-chaired neighbor by dropping off their ballot at a dropbox or election office, I'd be “ballot harvesting” according to RNC and Administration.)

 2. No "Naked Ballots" will be allowed; ballots that arrive without a separate “secrecy envelope” inside the mailing envelope.

9-16-2020 update: The Philadelphia Inquirer headline on pg B8 today--"Mailed Votes Can't be Tossed Over Signature" per new guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of State.

... and, please, watch out for more last-minute impediments and carry out your voting plan. 

We need you!

Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church shares with us on YouTube: A Prayer for the Election

__________

From the Blogger Desk: Grrrrr! this platform has permanently morphed now. It's been going on for months. It's laborious to upload and distribute photos in blog posts and previously posted videos seem not to work any longer. Current videos are not uploading. Video links behave weirdly. Rats!!! and other expletives.

Yes, I appreciate the platform is free, but don't appreciate this "upgrade" that is a downgrade.

A COVID haircut...

Sent by John. Wendy's become really good at haircuts for the men in her household.  

(Note, there no longer is a caption option!) 

A fine reminder made by Valerie in Albuquerque...

In Utah...

Elijah.

A cold day at the Great Salt Lake.

Kingston found this sun on the beach.

Duck feeding

Kingston

This morning Tim sent this image of the snowfall at their home in Albuquerque...

September's NM and UT families' convergence visit in Durango...

Tim and Kingston.

Here in PA some recent photos...

Dock Woods walk.

Next to my building.

A walk at the farm with Aidan, Keoni and Sebastian. Keoni says there is a Japanese word for light coming through trees. 

A different afternoon at the farm.

From Wendy...a recent trip to a Philly sound studio where Aidan recorded for auditioning.

And some recent dog sketches from my Art Desk:

 

And that brings us to the Mask Desk:

MASKS

The virus is airborne, time to get masked
To cover our airways, don’t wear it half-mast
Put it over your mouths
And over your snouths!
Cover them both!!! Don’t be half-assed.

I think we need some cat images...

Nigel in Valerie and Tim's household...

When we started on a walk at the farm Toby was sitting transfixed in the middle of one of the pastures, poised, ready for whatever mouse or vole rustled near him. A half-hour later he was nearly in the same spot, intensely engaged. That happens in between his naps in the barn.

Toby: Field Cat

I VOTED!!! 

And, this missive is coming to you from my brand spanking new laptop which is assuaging my laptop withdrawal since my old one has been on life support for a whole month and likely is terminal.

I hope you've already cast a vote, too, or have a good plan in place to get it done before or during November 3rd. I, also, hold hopes that here in PA the counting will go swiftly with each ballot counted by the Friday after Election Day Tuesday. The RNC won their lawsuits brought against starting to open or count PA's ballots before November 3rd; also they won not extending the count period a few more days after election week Friday. Thus, the vote count will commence on Tuesday, November 3rd, at 7 a.m. and must be finished by Friday, 5 p.m. But the citizens won their court battle with the RNC to keep our drop boxes open. 

What a crazy time!

Rules and adjustments are changing fast; as never before. I hope the links below help you vote your conscience.

Nationwide:

ELECTION INFORMATION from League of Women Voters Education Fund
See the candidates and issues on your ballot anywhere in the US, the office function, the candidates, each ones' answers to their background, why they're running, and their answers to questions on current issues. There's a side-by-side, visual comparison of candidates tool. Each ballot issue is there, stated in succinct, plain-English summaries with both Pro's and Con's supporter views on each one. While you're reviewing the candidates and issues, the interactive lets you check choices, print the list out, or email or text it to yourself so you'll have your own personalized, informed list--no matter your political affiliations! Plus...
   *Check Your Voter Registration
   *Register to Vote
   *Find Your Polling Place
   *Discover Upcoming Debates in Your Area

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
For assistance, accessibility.

The next two links repeat what is also available above in LWV's vote411.org. But I'll include them anyway.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
To see if you are registered.

https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/
To get your absentee ballot.

Election Official Directory & State Voting Requirements & Information
To hand-carry your ballot to your Election Office. If the United States Postal Service is unable to overcome its recent cutbacks and restrictions, this is where to find your district's Election Board office address so you can hand-carry your mail-in/absentee ballot to the office or designated drop boxes to avoid the virus and make sure your vote is counted on time.

In Pennsylvania:

Here's where to hand-carry your ballot in Montgomery County, PA: Voter Services, 1 Montgomery Plaza, 425 Swede St, STE 602, Norristown, PA, 19401

Ballot deliveries must be done in person; no proxies. 

10-19-2020: Here's where to see your ballot status: PA Voter Services Ballot Status

9-18-2020 update: 

The Pennsylvania high court ruled in favor of voters...

1. Extended the deadline for mail ballots to be returned to Friday [5pm] after Election Day.

2. Ruled that voters can use drop boxes to return ballots.

3. Removed the Green Party’s presidential ticket from the ballot.

4. Upheld the requirement that poll watchers only work in the county where they are registered to vote.

In favor of the RNC's suit the court...

1. Prohibited third parties from collecting and returning mail ballots. (So now, if I help a wheel-chaired neighbor by dropping off their ballot at a dropbox or election office, I'd be “ballot harvesting” according to RNC and Administration.)

 2. No "Naked Ballots" will be allowed; ballots that arrive without a separate “secrecy envelope” inside the mailing envelope.

9-16-2020 update: The Philadelphia Inquirer headline on pg B8 today--"Mailed Votes Can't be Tossed Over Signature" per new guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of State.

***

There's so much to catch up on now that I have a new trusty workhorse at my fingertips. It's another beautiful fall day. Yesterday was sunny but I'll take today's weather and temps, too. There were some photos and sharings to post but that'll be when I navigate the Photos file that is still updating itself as I type. It has a lot of work it's doing with so many images and videos to sort.

Hasta la vista, amigos.

In Honor of RBG--Plan Your Vote--Voter Win in PA

Rest in Peace RBG

Excellence, understanding, clarity, and grit Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg brought to the bench and throughout her life. Her contributions are a full-measured gift to our nation and encompass important, pivotal changes in ways we perceive and treat women and all our citizens in our laws, society, and culture. She leaves us a legacy of inspiration. 

Very, very well done, Notorious RBG. Thank you.

My hat from the 2nd Women's March. 
The RBG pin is from Keoni.

From January 20, 2018 archive...the 2nd Women's March in Philadelphia...

Plan Your Vote 

Information And Updates

Nationwide information so you can... Plan Your Vote.

Repeating from the last posting with updates...

VOTE!!!

******

John Lewis gave his all to gain voting rights. Through November 3rd, 2020, I will include the reliable links (below) to voting information. We know now, ever more acutely, solutions to many, many, deep down, life-changing problems are needed. The remedy lies in a ballot box. Each vote is a vaccine. 

ELECTION INFORMATION from League of Women Voters Education Fund
See the candidates and issues on your ballot anywhere in the US, the office function, the candidates, each ones' answers to their background, why they're running, and their answers to questions on current issues. There's a side-by-side, visual comparison of candidates tool. Each ballot issue is there, stated in succinct, plain-English summaries with both Pro's and Con's supporter views on each one. While you're reviewing the candidates and issues, the interactive lets you check choices, print the list out, or email or text it to yourself so you'll have your own personalized, informed list--no matter your political affiliations! Plus...
   *Check Your Voter Registration
   *Register to Vote
   *Find Your Polling Place
   *Discover Upcoming Debates in Your Area

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
For assistance, accessibility.

Election Official Directory & State Voting Requirements & Information
If the United States Postal Service is unable to overcome its recent cutbacks and restrictions, this is where to find your district's Election Board office address so you can hand-carry your mail-in/absentee ballot to the office or designated drop boxes to avoid the virus and make sure your vote is counted on time.

9-4-2020 update: Here's where to hand-carry your ballot in Montgomery County, PA: Voter Services, 1 Montgomery Plaza, 425 Swede St, STE 602, Norristown, PA, 19401

[Most] ballot deliveries must be done in person; no proxies. Call them for the current status. (In PA, lawsuits were brought in June to block our drop boxes--a stay by the court blocked the maneuver, more lawsuits, outcome pending.)

See the 9/18/20 update below. 

Here's the latest...

9-18-2020 update: 

The Pennsylvania high court ruled in favor of voters...

1. Extended the deadline for mail ballots to be returned to Friday [5pm] after Election Day.

2. Ruled that voters can use drop boxes to return ballots.

3. Removed the Green Party’s presidential ticket from the ballot.

4. Upheld the requirement that poll watchers only work in the county where they are registered to vote.

In favor of the RNC's suit the court...

1. Prohibited third parties from collecting and returning mail ballots. (So now, if I help a wheel-chaired neighbor by dropping off their ballot at a dropbox or election office, I'd be “ballot harvesting” according to RNC and Administration.)

 2. No "Naked Ballots" will be allowed; ballots that arrive without a separate “secrecy envelope” inside the mailing envelope.

9-16-2020 update: The Philadelphia Inquirer headline on pg B8 today--"Mailed Votes Can't be Tossed Over Signature" per new guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of State.

The next two links repeat what is also available in LWV's vote411.org. But I'll include them anyway.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
To see if you are registered.

https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/
To get your absentee ballot.

Rules and adjustments are changing fast, as never before. I hope these links help you vote your conscience.

What Can You Do?

Since door-to-door campaigning is out this election some of us are preparing letters to help get out the vote. Here are two links friends have shared... 

Vote Forward.org

and

Sierra Club Independent Action.org

Let us work hard and find our way to attain and sustain Peace through justice, fairness, and wise action.

******

******

Sent from Paula & Carl's Tucson backyard to remind us of using wisdom...

Art from Plan Your Vote

DON'T BE SCARED. We'll get into Good Trouble and get this VOTE thing done.

***V*O*T*E*** & UPDATES

VOTE!!!

******

John Lewis gave his all to gain voting rights. Through November 3rd, 2020, I will include the reliable links (below) to voting information. We know now, ever more acutely, solutions to many, many, deep down, life-changing problems are needed. The remedy lies in a ballot box. Each vote is a vaccine. 

ELECTION INFORMATION from League of Women Voters Education Fund
See the candidates and issues on your ballot anywhere in the US, the office function, the candidates, each ones' answers to their background, why they're running, and their answers to questions on current issues. There's a side-by-side, visual comparison of candidates tool. Each ballot issue is there, stated in succinct, plain-English summaries with both Pro's and Con's supporter views on each one. While you're reviewing the candidates and issues, the interactive lets you check choices, print the list out, or email or text it to yourself so you'll have your own personalized, informed list--no matter your political affiliations! Plus...
   *Check Your Voter Registration
   *Register to Vote
   *Find Your Polling Place
   *Discover Upcoming Debates in Your Area

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
For assistance, accessibility.

Election Official Directory & State Voting Requirements & Information
If the United States Postal Service is unable to overcome its recent cutbacks and restrictions, this is where to find your district's Election Board office address so you can hand-carry your mail-in/absentee ballot to the office or designated drop boxes to avoid the virus and make sure your vote is counted on time. [Most] ballot deliveries must be done in person; no proxies. Call them for the current status. (In PA, lawsuits were brought in June to block our drop boxes--a stay by the court blocked the maneuver, more lawsuits, outcome pending.)

9-4-2020 update: Here's where to hand-carry your ballot in Montgomery County, PA: Voter Services, 1 Montgomery Plaza, 425 Swede St, STE 602, Norristown, PA, 19401

9-16-2020 update: The Philadelphia Inquirer headline on pg B8 today--"Mailed Votes Can't be Tossed Over Signature" per new guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of State.

The next two links repeat what is also available in LWV's vote411.org. But I'll include them anyway.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
To see if you are registered.

https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/
To get your absentee ballot.

Rules and adjustments are changing fast, as never before. I hope these links help you vote your conscience.

******

******

I voted in 1960 for the first time. I was 21 years old--then, voting age in Missouri. I can scarcely believe that 60 years later, for the first time, I'm experiencing direct efforts to impede my vote or make it too difficult or health-threatening for me to cast. It's shocking. It's personal. What is happening to us?

A shoutout to my Black friends and family, citizens of color, LGBTQs, women, special needs persons, sisters and brothers who've lived the degradations and ravages of discrimination: That my ballot might not be counted is my own small taste of what you have felt and are feeling about voting--and feel on much larger scales plenty of other misbegotten travesties endured over great blocks of your lives and our national history. Votes count. Votes matter! You count! You Matter!

Be strong! We can get to a better place together!

******

******

While we get this voting done, I'll close with a reminder of fall's approach...

I was finishing sewing up the new batch of masks...

...when I received some art work in the mail from young Kingston.

From the Art Desk:

Sonja says that Kingston liked the cards I sent with Toby's picture on them.

When he's not engaged in the house, he is learning basketball moves from his big brother Elijah...

Elijah, Kingston and parents do something together on the weekends. This time, it was at the lake...

Good water and flotation devices.

Sonja shared a photo of a different visit to the lake when Dimetrios was still with them...

And, one of Dimetrios' teachers recently came by their home to give Sonja his last school ID card...

*

Keoni and Wendy drove to Keoni's apartment in NYC to gather his belongings since he'll continue virtually through the fall...

They moved fast and got it all into the truck from the multi-story walk-up. 

Keoni sorted his things out in the barn and stored them in the house.

Now he and his friend Michael are visiting their friend Tiana in Michigan. They drove straight through with minimal stopping and are distancing from others, except, of course, Tiana. We have a view of them all still healthy (all praises) and smiling at the edge of Lake Michigan...

Michael, Tiana and Keoni.

*

From the Weather Desk: Hurricane Isaias was here...

The weather broke and I drove to the farm to walk. There, the whole family was busy shoveling and removing soaked bedding from the stalls. The gutter drain had come apart in the wind and deluge.

Walks at the farm are still one of my mainstays in this time of altered existence...

It's always great to see Wendy for a couple of distance minutes.

V & W from this spring are now almost fully grown.

It's interesting that the goats eat nearly anything that grows out of the ground, except the Queen Anne's Lace.

Here are two of Paula and Carl's photos of the "pink cactus" blooms this summer. They're from the original plants that were becoming dinner for the herd of urban Javelina where I lived at the condos in Tucson...

...they were blooming at the same time as those that Gloria had from the pups of the original plant I got at a farmer's market in Oro Valley.

*

From the Vote Desk:

John Lewis gave his all to gain voting rights. Through the days ahead until November 3rd, I will include reliable links to voting information. We know now, ever more acutely, deep down remedies of many, many kinds are needed. Remedy lies in a ballot box. Each vote is a vaccine. 

ELECTION INFORMATION from League of Women Voters Education Fund
See what's on your ballot anywhere in the US, the office function, the candidates, each ones' answers to their background, why they're running, and answers to questions on current issues. There's a side-by-side, visual comparison of candidates tool. Plus, each ballot issue is there, stated in succinct, plain-English summaries with both Pro's and Con's supporter views on each one. While you're reviewing the candidates and issues, the interactive lets you check choices, print the list out or email or text it to yourself so you'll have your own personalized, informed list--no matter your political affiliations! no matter where you live! Plus...
   *Check Your Voter Registration
   *Register to Vote
   *Find Your Polling Place
   *Discover Upcoming Debates in Your Area

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
For assistance, accessibility.

Election Official Directory & State Voting Requirements & Information
If the United States Postal Service is unable to overcome its recent cutbacks and restrictions, this is where to find where your district's Election Board offices are so you can hand carry your mail-in/absentee ballot to the office or designated drop boxes to avoid the virus and make sure your vote is counted on time. [Most] ballot deliveries must be done in person; no proxies. Call them for the current status. (In PA, lawsuits were brought in June to block drop boxes--outcome pending.)

              Go USPS !!!

The next two repeat what is also available in LWV's vote411.org. But I'll include them anyway.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
To see if you are registered.

https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/
To get your absentee ballot.

Rules and adjustments are changing fast, as never before. I hope these links help you vote your conscience.

_____

I voted in 1960 for the first time. I was 21 years old--voting age then in Missouri. I can scarcely believe that 60 years later, for the first time, I'm experiencing direct efforts to impede my vote, or make it too difficult or health-threatening for me to cast. It's shocking. It's personal. What is happening to us?

A shoutout to my Black friends and family, citizens of color, LGBTQs, women everywhere: That my ballot might not be counted is my own small taste of what you have felt and are feeling about voting, and, feeling on a much larger scale, plenty of other misbegotten travesties endured over great blocks of your lives and our national history. Votes count. Votes matter! You count! You Matter!

Be strong! We can get to a better place together. Power to the People!