Life of Wry

Peter graduates on Saturday; I’ll write about that then. We are not going, which is heartbreaking. We won’t be able to celebrate him in the traditional way, nor watch him walk across a big stage in front of thousands to receive his well-earned diploma from a dean or a provost in an academic gown.  No tassel flip, no cap toss, no pomp and circumstance. Such a sad state of affairs.

Yet, this graduation will go down in history for exactly that unusualness. Nobody will ever forget the class of 2020.

Insofar as we won’t be there, we made and gathered some items that he can enjoy on Saturday. Our box was to be picked up today and delivered tomorrow, via Wes and Margy, who were going to drive down, rent a house, and be on hand to mark the occasion and be our parental stand-ins, but poor Margy came down with a fever yesterday and they had to cancel their trip. Feel so bad for them, too!

We’d pulled the plug on our plans weeks ago, gave up the house that we’d rented, cancelled the few restaurant reservations I’d made, told everyone not to come.

Anyway, I’ve been so bummed for Peter, for Ray, for all the graduates. Ceremony denied, but we’ll honor him in other Peter-acceptable ways later.

And, as I said, in the meantime, we put together a box, with items.

Champagne, flutes, some cookies and snacky crackers, a mortarboard and tassel since he opted not to get one, sentimental sentiments from Jim and me, and this very neato bronze thing that Jim crafted and engraved to mark the occasion.

I made the baked goods.. cheese crackers and chocolate cookies.  🙂

All decorated up…

Only thing missing is us.

A blue heron is my best guess, anyway.

Here she was last Thursday:

And here she was today:

She was patient, to a point, then was done with it.

What times we are living through. Racial injustice protests, during a pandemic, during a presidential campaign.

A few moving images and memes:

Demonstrations and protests are going on all over the nation this weekend, as they have been for 10 days or so. They started ten days ago in fury and anger which lead to violence and unrest, which then morphed into big time looting and property destruction. In the last week or so, they’ve shifted to become huge gatherings that are still angry but not violent and lawless.  The looters are largely gone, and remaining are huge, diverse, mostly young crowds serious about the direction our country needs to go if we’re ever going to achieve justice. The history books will have all the stats, but, anecdotally, I’m hearing that these are some of, if not the largest collection of demonstrations this country has ever seen (never mind the fact they’ve spread internationally to some of the world’s largest cities).

Washington, D.C. has become one of the epicenters, in particular the area just North of the White House (and just beyond Lafayette Park, since they’ve close that to the public). Almost a week ago, this was the site of numerous security and military forces unleashing flash grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas upon peaceful protesters (I wrote about that here: https://lifeofwry.com/2020/06/01/stupid-is-as-stupid-does/). Since, thousands of protesters have gathered each day and into each night in that same spot.. in front of St. John’s Episcopal church, just beyond new iron fences erected by Trump’s people in order to keep him safe (presumably).

Yesterday, a fabulous thing happened. D.C. Mayor, Muriel Bowser, painted gigantic yellow letters spelling out Black Lives Matter over a two block area and NAMED the intersection of 16th and H Streets Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Trolling the troller-in-chief. Masterful. And yet, also about the most perfect way to honor and validate an important movement. Big hat tip to Mayor Bowser.

~~

Darlene and I decided it’d be worthwhile to participate, in solidarity, in a demonstration in Davis this afternoon.  I made a few signs and when Darlene, her nephew Andy and his friend Oscar showed up, we headed right over to Central Park. There were a few folks hanging out, but no protest, no demonstration. We did spend some time wandering around a makeshift memorial which is impressive and moving:

Talked with a few other confused people with signs, and best we could figure we had the wrong place. So we decided to walk up to Community Park. They’d indeed assembled there, but had already left the park as we were approaching, but no idea what their route was. Long story short, after some more meandering about, we spotted them way down 5th Street, clearly on their way to the Police Station.

Darlene and I headed back to our house, got her car, then made our way to the PD.

We got there in time for the 8:42 minute moment of silence. Quite an emotional experience. And longer than you imagine 9 minutes to be. For everyone who’s participated in this 8:42 minutes of silence in a public setting, it’s something to experience and gets right at the horror that transpired that day.

I’m not sure how what kind of organization went into the event, but it was reasonably well attended (hundreds).

They had a bullhorn available for folks to share thoughts:

And just a small cluster of police officers (that I noticed) letting things happen as they would. I think that’s police chief Pytel on the far left.

At one point a guy shouted out a memory to Natalie Corona, the young police officer killed a year and a half ago, then punctuated that with a loud, angry “Blue Lives Matter,” which stirred the crowd, not in a good way. A woman yelled out “fuck you,” which started a lot more stirring, at which point Darlene bolted from our location and seconds later was in this young woman’s face, arms in a full spread eagle, keeping her from advancing on the man who yelled. She did not like this one bit and tried to get Darlene to back off. One police officer guided the Blue Lives Matter guy out of the crowd, and Darlene came back to our spot.

The woman went on for a full 5 minutes screaming at the other two officers and railing about police brutality and departments in general. People were largely in support of her sentiments, if perhaps uncomfortable with her confronting the un-uniformed cops standing quietly off to the side. I felt squirmy, anyway.  Soon thereafter, things broke up.

I’m in total agreement that there are fundamental, systemic issues with policing that need addressing NOW. They’re old issues, in an entrenched culture and I’m glad it’s all finally coming to a head in a mainstream way. I have some hope that we’ll see some movement. Not under Trump, per se, but the wheels are finally turning, enough people are aware and making the right noises, and we’re not going to move forward without change.  The NFL, of all organizations, just admitted they were wrong to silence player protests against police brutality. That’s some uber mainstream movement in the right direction.

There is a lot of light shining on some pretty horrific police practices. Nobody will be able to look away anymore.

Hopeful.

A friend asked her social media community tonight, Hey activists, what are you doing for self care? I’m not meditating, exercising, showering, eating..

I would say I’m finding a better balance, but I’m not doing as much as she’s doing in the activist realm (hard to believe, given how much time I do spend on Sister District, Indivisible Yolo, and Kelly’s campaign every day, which feels like at least a half-time job).

Anyway.. one of the things I do is cook. (Well, assemble dishes according to a recipe, anyway.)

Here are some from this week.

Tuesday I made One-pot Turmeric Coconut Rice with Greens. Says the NYT person, “No matter how you modify this one-pot rice, it can’t help but simultaneously comfort and enliven.” It’s got coconut flakes, coconut oil, coconut milk, turmeric, saffron, spinach, lime zest (I used lemon), scallions, sesame seeds.. and was fantastic.

What made this dish was the topping.. crunchy toasted coconut and sesame seeds, with zest, scallion tops, salt and pep. It was so, so good. Earned 4 stars from both of us (out of 4).

Wednesday, I made this amazing thing:

This is just before it goes into the oven. It’s salt and peppered bone-in thighs, surrounded by sliced red onion, tomatoes (should have been cherry toms, but had to use canned diced), five smashed garlic cloves. rosemary and oregano sprigs tossed in olive oil.  Then pour wine and chicken broth over the veg mixture.

It goes in for about 30 mins, til chicken’s done. The pan goes right on the stove, set the chicken aside while you simmer/reduce the sauce.  Then you add lemon and a bunch of chopped oregano. It gets so deep and rich and tangy with flavor I could hardly believe it.  It was my first Chris Kimball recipe (Milk Street). We both gave it 4 stars.

Voila, Roasted Chicken with herbs and tomatoes:

(Doesn’t necessarily go with coconut turmeric rice, but that’s what we served it with anyway.. beauty of leftovers.)

And then tonight I made this.. Takeout-Style Sesame Noodles..

This was the description that sold me on making it: Soft and luxurious, bathed in a emulsified mixture of sesame paste and peanut butter, rendered vivid and fiery by chili oil and sweetened by sugar, then cut by vinegar, this version brings home what used to be classic New York takeout. “The art is in the balance….between the salt and sweet, the sweet and the fire, and the fire and the acidity.”

Also, sesame noodles. Yum. Easiest darn thing to shovel right in.. perfect texture, loaded with flavor.. so smooth.

Super easy, too, once you assemble all the ingredients… sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame paste, peanut butter, sugar, minced ginger (forgot), chili-garlic paste (didn’t have).

Didn’t have tahini, so made my own.. toasted sesame seeds, ground them up, added a bit of oil and kosher salt… omg, I could make a meal of that alone. Insane.

Made the dish with angel hair, topped with thinly julienned cucumbers and chopped peanuts. Want some now.

We both also gave this one four stars. So that was a home run week of dishes. I’m thinking of making a little photo album of all the pandemic dishes I’ve tried, or maybe the just four-stars. It’s been a good time to get back into cooking (recipe following for me.. Jim’s the cook in the house). And an excellent focus during this time of isolation (day #84 today, by the way).

Self care indeed.

Mags and Riv…

I couldn’t figure out what to write about and I’m pooped and want to call it a day.. so I decided to look for a photo from this day in a past year.. any year.. as long as it was taken on June 3rd and was reasonably interesting. I found plenty that weren’t.

Seriously, there is so much going on.. no shortage of things happening this week, this month, this year that will, without a doubt, make the history books. More than that.. whole books will be written about this time. We are living historical moments — it is astonishing .. each and every day. So, yes, there are things to think and write about.

But I’m bleary and weary at this moment. If I was anymore awake, I’d like nothing better than one of my fall back escapes… plug into some music, swing in the hammock and play Spider.. but I’m about to fall over.

So.. I found a photo from June 3, 2011 (random, I know). It’s on a day we were doing some work in the front yard. I chose it because it’s such a huge contrast to what our front yard looks like now.. which is leveled — a blank slate — as we ready it for a whole new front yard. And, as of a few days ago, our back yard has been leveled, too. It’s startling, but exciting.

Anyway… June 3rd nine years ago…

And June 3rd today….

The two signs are sitting on what once was a stone path.. the path you see in the photo from 2011.

Everything has changed… including the signs. The one thing that is in both pictures, besides Peter’s sycamore tree, is the boulder wall. And that will remain in the next iteration of the yard.

For better or for worse–and I honestly have no feeling for which way this goes–things are opening up in Davis. I trust the Yolo County Health Dept, which gets its directives from Gov Newsom, adapted for the data points in our area.

I sense that it’s best for the region (and the state, and the country) at large if we open up, all things considered. The people in charge have way more factors to consider than we individuals… they’re balancing all interests (including economic).  Prolly best for the whole, even as it’s potentially not great for those who get it. It’s potentially as brutal for Jim or me today as it was two months ago. No change whatsoever.. if you get it. So, while it’s still a risky proposition to get the virus (for some), our health systems will be able to deal better with the people who do get sick. And by and large, because of masks and distancing, hand sanitizers and/or handwashing, transmission rates are lower. We’ve also figured out some facts about transmission.. like if you’re outside where the virus can disburse more easily, or if the total time of your interaction with another person is limited (turns out you need to be exposed to somebody else’s air for a long time, like 10-15 minutes in order to transmit a critical volume of the virus) then your chances of the virus taking hold is far less.

So if they say it’s okay to open things up a bit.. okay. Sorta. I’ll still play by most of the rules.. but will roll the dice a teeny, tiny bit–sit at a table somebody else sat at earlier or touch something somebody else with the virus may have touched. Chances of transmission are pretty low, though.

It was startling to walk past Burgers and Brew this afternoon and see restaurant patrons sitting at tables on the sidewalk.  And cars. And homeless people are back.

With that, I’ve spent a few hours over the last two days actually sitting at a sidewalk table outside Mishka’s, actually drinking an au lait and eating a poppyseed muff. In public. How normal is that? Extra enjoyable, too. Like, who knew that sitting outside Mishka’s drinking coffee, listening to music and playing Spider could be THAT MUCH FUN?

I’ll be brief.

I hesitate to even write about this, I really do.. it’s a waste of time and blog space.. so I’m just going to put it down, and move on. But here it is:  As we have observed, the president* has been pretty conflicted about all that’s happened this past week… conflicted because he’s the president and people look to the president in times of national crisis, but racial disparity, social injustice and the repeated killing of innocent black men at the hands of police officers are not big issues for his supporters (or him, let’s be honest).  It’s no wonder he’d not said anything about the murder of George Floyd nor offered any compassion for the pain and anger people have been feeling. He doesn’t really care. And he certainly couldn’t offer much about how to deal with the growing unrest or even begin to address some of the underlying, systemic problems leading to same. But he should, I mean he’s the president, and he probably knows that on some level…that he has some moral role to play here. But again, caring, unifying, calming … not in his wheelhouse. Things got a lot easier for him, however, when all the looting and rioting began. He could shift the nation’s focus (or at least FOX’s) to what all those very bad people were doing; he could make THAT the story and not have to deal with all the other. The out-of-control looting, arson and property destruction became the perfect vehicle for him to be a super tough guy and roll out some macho law & order stuff. He would be off the hook for dealing with racial issues and could shift to tough talk about all the THUGS. He’d already been tweeting about some of this earlier in the week — “they loot, we shoot” and some super great ideas about releasing vicious dogs on protesters who get too close to the White House.. oh, and imposing ten-year prison sentences for all these thugs, too. So today, he decided it was finally time (safe) to go before the American people with a statement. End his silence. People have been waiting for this all week (not me, I’d love his continued silence now and forever).  Plus, being visible and talking tough would be a good strategy because he’s been getting quite a bit of flack this week for hiding out in the bunker (literally a bunker!) beneath the White House when the D.C. protesters got particularly raucous and too-close-for-comfort to the White House. (And, gosh, there was Joe Biden out there walking among, and talking to, protesters and asking them to share their concerns and actually listening to their answers… all the while wearing a weak-guy mask… but still). So..  bunker guy staged (hastily) a Rose Garden briefing this afternoon. He planned to announce all kinds of things, like how he’s going to dispatch the military to cities all over the country to fight and/or round up the protesters. He’d said in an earlier meeting with governors that they were all weenies (well, the governors of Blue States, anyway) and that the whole world was laughing at the U.S. and that the governors (well, the governors of Blue States) would have to dominate–a word he repeated a lot during what was reported to be a very contentious meeting–the streets of their cities. DOMINATE. Then, just before he was to appear in the Rose Garden, he had rows and rows of I-don’t-know-how-many branches of security and police forces, including the guys on horses–everyone in full on riot gear–enter Lafayette Park (just to the North of the White House and within earshot of the Rose Garden) and line up in formation, squaring off with protesters. These, by the way, were peaceful protesters, mostly young, a mix of black and white (by some accounts mostly white). They’d been there all day, chanting, singing, rallying one another around some pretty heavy issues of justice and civil rights. (As Mayor Cuomo said later this evening, this is exactly what you hope young people might do… you want them to  think and care about how to make this nation better.) So just as the president* is getting ready to make his remarks, the rows of security forces move right in on the protesters and begin shooting rubber bullets, firing flash bangs, and releasing tear gas into the crowd. They successfully remove every last one from the area. This is audible from the Rose Garden as the president* begins to speak and drones on about how he is going to bring order to our cities and end the looting. So yes, his whole speech was about looting and not about a dead black man. Not one word about that (except a couple of obligatory comments at the beginning). And yeah.. he used our own military against our own people. Peacefully protesting, mostly young people.

Breathe.

Then, he concluded his remarks with something like, “now I’m going to visit a very special place” and walks off. At this point, reporters have no idea what this means, but very soon put it all together. He’d cleared the streets behind the WH so he could walk over to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been vandalized a couple of nights before and was boarded up. He, and an odd little entourage of staffers (plus daughter and son-in-law) and a ton of secret service folks, walked right up to the front of the church, whereupon the president* pulls out a bible and holds it up in the air while cameras flashed. He said something about how the economy’s going to come back (I forget, but it was odd and inconsequential.. the remarks were mostly muttered and seemed completely random and unscripted), and then his guys, plus his new press secretary Kayleigh McEneny, stood for a group photo op, then they turned around and went back to the WH. The whole thing took just minutes.

Whereupon…

Reporters and commentators went through the usual “I’ve never seen anything so bizarre” and many laughed (though admitted it was nothing to laugh about) at how ridiculous it was. The bishop for St. John’s was appalled, insulted, infuriated and minced no words. Analysts talked about the limits of his authority and the limitlessness of his gall. Shameful was the consensus. They also spoke of how his approval rating with evangelicals was plunging, which explains his hoisting of a bible.  Sooo…. between the round up all the looters and restore order tough guy announcement, and the I’m not holed up in a bunker (!) walk to the church and back (with nobody but secret service and WH insiders as far as the eye could see), and the I take my bible everywhere I go nod to the evangelicals, he checked a lot of boxes today!

Loathe as I am to include a picture of him.. here he is posing with bible (“a” bible, he had to clarify for a reporter, not his bible) in front of the church for his photo op.

Nothing awkward about this.