Finger People

When Bun Bun was a toddler, she was shown how to pretend and use her little fingers as legs of a person.  I'd call them her finger people.  She walked them up and down hand rails or when she wanted to stall time.  She'd use them in doll houses or any tiny architecture structures fit for finger people.  When we doubted her imaginary play, we would remember her finger people.

Today, her finger person got a pair of shoes.  These shoes belonged to Ken of Ken and Barbie.  Bun Bun inherited a set of Bride Barbie and Groom Ken dolls recently.  Ken's shoes were lost and recovered a couple of days ago.  So, there you have it...

Books

 Adding these to my book list since April:

• Educated, Tara Westover (Memoir of a scholar, homeschooled in rural Idaho with her survivalist family, bullied by her brother, but determined to seek higher education)
• Yellow House, Sarah M Broom (Memoir of a writer growing up in urban New Orleans)
• Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson (Excellent account of the justice system favoring those who are guilty and  rich over those who are poor and innocent)
• Maid, Stephanie Land (Single mom making ends meet as a maid to support herself and her daughter)
• Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama 
• A Promised Land, Barack Obama (Account of the former president's first term)
• Endurance, Scott Kelly (Astronaut's year-long expedition aboard the ISS)
• Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake (The wood wide web of fungi connecting root systems of trees and plants)

New Year

Happy New Year...

Yes, it is a happy new year.  Proceed with caution.

I think we can all agree that 2020 was a horrible year: SARS-CoV2 pandemic, the world shut down/put on pause, protests, BLM protests, counter-protests, angry voters, angry politicians, defiant politicians...

Are there silver linings?  There are always silver linings.  It's not hard to see them.

I got to spend a lot of quality time with family, watching TV shows & movies, strolling through parks, throwing rocks in the creek at the park, savoring every second of Bun Bun blossoming into a young girl, and baking a lot of bread.

Yes, bread.  Some loaves have been more successful than others.  My latest trials and tribulations have been with sourdough bread.  I'm still getting large air pockets and will need to figure out ways to make airy bubbles more even throughout.  It's tasty nonetheless.  Bun Bun and I smear sweet Nutella on it for breakfast.  Daddy puts his own spin with cream cheese.

Since late spring, people in the US and around the world are starting to reckon with the ugliness of racial and social inequalities, amplified by police brutalities, compounded by irate people already edgy from the pandemic, and the racist rhetorics of the outgoing DC administration.  None of this is new, although I never fully understood it until recently.  Dare I be hopeful that people gaining awareness, speaking out, participating in marches will lead to change for the better.

Barely one week into 2021, the most horrific event in recent American history unveils before the whole world.  Egged on by a defiant president who did not win re-election, his angry followers who believe his lies stormed the Capitol building as Senators and Representations certify the electoral votes and formally name the next President.  What a sad and embarrassing site captured by journalists and rioters' own mobile devices.  Now, there's a call for a second impeachment.  So, for those who have chosen to see, hear, and speak no evil over the last FIVE years, this is the final straw?