A Few Things

Hello, Friends. How are you? How was your week? Are things beginning to open up where you are? Or do you still have strict shelter-in-place guidelines?

We’re looking forward to working on some projects over at the Tall House this weekend. We’ve got some more demolition in the attic, and we’re trying to make some progress on cleaning a really dirty plaster wall up there. We’d love to go walking in the countryside too! The weather has been lovely.

Memorial Day is on Monday — will you get to visit any gravesites? Or do something special to mark the day? We will miss taking part in the U.S. Pampanito memorial service with Oscar’s scout troupe (though I assume it’s not happening this year).

When we lived in France before, we would go to the American Military Cemetery at the D-Day beaches. Visits to that sacred place are always worthwhile (and emotional). I don’t even know if it’s open during quarantine, but if it is, I hope we can visit this weekend.

How about you? Any plans for the “long weekend” or will it look the same as every other shelter-at-home weekend?

I’ve got some terrific links for you this week. Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share:

-Why we need a large-scale contact isolation program and how it would work.

Is Pier One really over? I remember my mom introducing me to it when I was a kid. They had a small selection of clothes back then!

-American billionaires got $434 billion richer during the pandemic.

-The French villages that rescued thousands during WWII continue to welcome refugees.

-Trump has decided to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, negotiated three decades ago, to allow nations to fly over each other’s territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure they are not preparing for military action. #putinspuppet

-Federal prosecutors are demanding an ancient tablet be returned to Iraq after it was “stolen” and put on display at the Museum of the Bible, which is funded by Hobby Lobby.

-Last week, The Indigo Girls got together (6 feet apart) and played Rites of Passage in its entirety.

-DJT is recalling our National Guard after 89 days. 1 day short of the 90 days they needed for their benefits to kick in.

-Wait. What? A 49-year-old man has fallen out of a sixth-floor window of a Moscow hospital for coronavirus patients and died, Russian media reports. Three Russian doctors treating coronavirus patients also fell out of windows in recent weeks.

-What city would you say wins best weather?

-The pandemic is exposing the severe disparities in how Japanese couples divide housework. One man who thought he was doing his share gave his wife a list of the 21 tasks he does. A spreadsheet of her task list was 10 times as long. (How would American couples compare?)

-When we lived here before, I would buy a pair of Superga sneakers each summer (usually navy). To no one’s surprise, I’m craving a pair again. : )

Here are some tweets I saved for you:

Maybe nothing will change?

-Hah. Do you have skills? Entertaining responses.

https://twitter.com/mims/status/1262110348083159043

-The billionaires aren’t going to do the right thing. So let’s tax them appropriately instead of crossing our fingers they’ll be good.

-I haven’t even clicked through to read the article because the headline made me too sad.

Are offices over? I hear Twitter is doing something similar.

-“I can never unexperience it.”

-What it’s like when SpaceX moves to your town.

-Everything he accuses someone of, is something he’s doing himself.

-A thread about Sarah Palin. Do you agree?

-“Forced commodification or utter construction of trauma.”

https://twitter.com/aoifeamcgowan/status/1262650110820995072

-How’s the recovery going?

-A layman’s guide to some of the crimes.

-Hah! Made me laugh.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll meet you back here next week. I miss you already.

kisses,
Gabrielle

5 thoughts on “A Few Things”

  1. Russia’s doctors. Woah! That is super scary. “Accidentally falling to their deaths.” That’s pretty telling.

    1. That thread about Sarah Palin is fascinating. My former MIL dressed up as her for Halloween. On purpose. Not to be funny.
      Yikes.

  2. Regarding the idea that companies may not return to their common work place/office – eek and wow, on so many levels. I had a call yesterday at work (I own a print shop in an essential industry, construction) and the lady said her employer was moving towards not returning to their office, to keep everyone working remotely, and how they needed a print shop to use since they wouldn’t have their office anymore. Hey, great for me – but a crazy thing to think about if a lot of companies do this. What will happen to commercial real estate – it may collapse! And what about the socialization aspect – I really don’t think that should be disregarded. There WILL come a time when it’s “safe” to be around people again, and we inherently need that social interaction.

    While here in San Diego we are still practicing social distancing, they just opened up restaurants and stores late this past week; masks are required in public. I’m not sure how I feel about this new phase, and my husband and I have no plans to take our family out to eat anytime soon. But we do need to get our girls out and about a little bit – so yesterday we took our girls to an outdoor nursery, to look at plants – while it was great to be outside walking around aisles of gorgeous plants (it was all outdoors), it was very uncomfortable wearing masks. Kinda made me realize the experience of “going out” is weird and abnormal – maybe not even worth it. (Or maybe b/c I was the only one really into all the plants, and everyone else was just dragging behind me – haha!)

    And if we don’t support all these businesses around us, they will close. And then, then our lives will be this and only this: the grocery store and Amazon. That’s all that will be left. And with that fearful thought I have to push it aside, remind myself it’s Saturday and we’re not there yet, and to take a deep breath. One day at a time. One day at a time.

  3. I think masks will be like seat belts. Annoying and noticeable and uncomfortable at first but then you will feel naked and unsafe if you don’t have one.

    I still am not used to them but I would much rather wear one and go out.

  4. My husband showed me a meme pointing out that the people who won’t wear a mask because it impinges upon their liberty are the same ones who, to keep their liberty to own weapons of war in a civilian society, are willing to impose the following on school kids: metal detectors, bulletproof backpacks, active shooter drills, armed guards, armed teachers…

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