I have trouble sleeping as it is, and once I'm awake, I'm awake.
I try to sleep until 8 a.m., but Barky starts—well, Heron said he started before 7 am.
Poor Heron is in that RV, and I'm sure it has little to no insulation, which means all noise is just amplified.
He probably feels like the dog is in the RV with him.
Again, I'm trying not to be a Karen or the neighbor from hell, but holy cow, that dog barks constantly.
And one must remember, Cowboy works until 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m.—and sometimes Heron also works until 2 a.m.
Hopefully he's just pet sitting—or the dog gets used to living here and stops reacting to every little thing.
There isn't much to say about the day, is there ever?
We got to town, got our groceries—menus are going to be a bit off-kilter.
Cowboy knows they've asked him to work over the holiday, but he's not sure which days, and if it's days or nights.
I got my first pumpkin spice coffee of the season, but I got Badger mad, and she added extra espresso, which took out any pumpkin flavor it may have had.
I'll order myself next time.
Of course there'll be a next time.
I mean, what can you say?
Cowboy worked—or is working.
He's a second-shift worker.
Our evenings are pretty predictable.
A lot of TV, a lot of computer time.
We did walk down to the horse church.
Someone was either burning trash or had fired up their woodstove—there was a smoky hint to the air.
It's also a bit nippy outside.
It felt like we were taking a fall walk.
The horses were out, but off to a corner where we couldn't talk to them.
It looked like they are getting ready for a competition or something—where the horses usually stand.
I don't know anything about horses except never stand behind one—and you probably shouldn't stand in front of one either.
We talk to the horses at a safe distance.
Badger loves taking their pictures.
Then it was home and back to the same old same old.
I've asked Cowboy to take me to a yard sale in the morning.
Whether he will or not, I don't know.
It'll break up some of the monotony.
Life is pretty monotonous.
Today is Hippie Aunt's 73rd birthday, her first without her big brother.
Knowing that he never missed sending us a text on our birthdays, I sent her a text.
She's not opened it yet, though.
I'm skirting around the newest school shooting.
Since Columbine in 1999, there have been 428 school shootings.
At least 216 people — including students, educators, and staff — have been killed in K-12 school shootings.
Of those, at least 73 were children.
We as a nation are failing our children.
We need stronger gun laws, better access to mental health care, and safer school environments so our kids can feel secure at school and at home.
Schools need more counselors, clear emergency plans, and programs that help children cope with trauma and bullying.
Families and communities must work together to recognize warning signs and support our children before it’s too late.
It’s time for real action to protect the youngest and most vulnerable among us.
No parent should have to send their child to school and later identify them in a morgue.
Yet, this is the reality for too many families.
We need stronger gun laws, better mental health care, and safer schools to ensure our children can learn, play, and grow without fear.
This one is close to home, a neighborhood I know well. It's affluent and quiet. Sending in the National Guard won't be necessary. What is necessary is asking why non-military people need weapons of war? Is a semiautomatic, which can be converted to an automatic, something the gun crowd actually need for any purpose other than feeling tough? A few short months ago we had a state senator and her husband shot and killed by a demented man with weaponry. Now this. In a few days it will be forgotten until the next one.
ReplyDeleteSandra: I’m so sorry for your loss—it’s a loss for you, for the families, and for everyone who thought of that neighborhood as safe.
ReplyDeleteI hadn’t kept up with the latest news—are they really sending in the National Guard? What’s the reasoning behind that?
I don’t know the solution either. Sometimes I wonder if guns should only ever be in the hands of the military and police. Can we ever truly take them away? People determined to kill will always find a way—maybe not on this scale, but bombs and other horrors still exist. But something has to change. This can’t keep happening.
You’re right—it will be forgotten until the next one. And the next. And the next.
Somehow, some way, there should be a scrolling, never-changing billboard of the faces of all the children lost to school shootings—in every state, on every major highway. Their faces should be the first thing we see in the morning and the last thing we see at night. Don’t let them be forgotten.
I have grandkids in school. This is deeply personal to me, too.
No. I was being sarcastic, although I’m sure the Twin Cities are on the list. There was a ban on automatic weapons until the GW administration. That’s a good start. It would also help if the second amendment was read and interpreted as it was written.
ReplyDeleteSandra: I’ll admit, I’m a bit dense when it comes to catching sarcasm. Honestly, with the way things are these days, I wouldn’t put it past the current administration to actually send in the National Guard.
DeleteI don’t remember the automatic weapons ban — back then, I was knee-deep in diapers and wrangling teen boys! Japan, South Korea, Great Britain, and Australia have either no gun violence or very low gun violence. Maybe we should try modeling our laws after theirs. Australia in particular prohibits automatic and semi-automatic assault rifles — just something to think about.