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?