Day 2 of 55

my birthday was yesterday and believe it or not I was thinking I was a year younger.  crazy, I know.  I actually had to get out the calculator and subtract my birth year from calendar year.  I looked at and said...that could not be right.  I did it again and this time I was sure  I did not miss any numbers.  the calculator did not lie.  I was that age.  thank goodness I do not feel it.  the belief that you are as young as you feel is very true. that will be my motto and I am sticking to it.

Reflections on Hate

The last month or so has been a swirling bag of emotions around the tragic murders of the Emanuel 9 #emanuel9 because of the hate that caused it to happen.  The night it happened I followed the news closely on twitter.  I just could not believe it.  Why? 

Why would someone do that…go into a church and kill people during bible study?  There was only one answer…hate.  Being African American you grow up with it. Hate.  It tends to be more subtle these days but you can instantly tell it when you walk into a room or you meet someone.  While I was not raised to hate, I was raised to be careful.  Raised to know what hate looks like.  As a black person you have to know this…to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.  You could end up dead.  Unfortunately, I have had to be sure that my own child knows what hate looks like because it is REAL.  Most of her friends are Caucasian and I have told her she needs to be aware of where she is and what kind of places she goes to with friends.  The local redneck dive bar is not the place for her to go to. 

The nine lost that night were at bible study.  They did not feel the need to be careful.  They were at church.  Why would they need to worry about anything in church?  I was crushed.  I felt like I was kicked in the stomach.  When I learned that someone I had known since high school was one of the victims it mad me numb inside.  It was all so senseless.

When I went to the City Prayer Vigil at the TD Arena, Rabbi Stephanie Alexander said the hate that killed the four  girls in Alabama in church is the same hate that killed the nine at Mother Emanuel, fifty two years later.  She is right.  That hate is old.  It is taught. Today it is still real. 

Look at what is happening now in the city of Charleston.  The KKK is papering neighborhoods with messages of hate.  Black churches on James Island are being shot up.  It has just been luck that no one else has been killed.  Hate groups are trying to instill fear and create chaos. 

I am glad that Charleston came together.  We were not torn apart in hate but brought together in peace and love.  I was one of the fifteen thousand up on the Ravenel Bridge for the Unity Chain.  There was no way I was going to miss that.  I wanted to be  part of the good that occurred after such a tragedy. 

I attended the funeral of Cynthia Hurd. I have know her since high school.  After almost not making it into the church after a two hour wait I was just at the point were the line was stopped and people were told to go to 2nd Presbyterian Church as a viewing center. I made it in...one of the last 25 allowed in.  We were ushered to a side door where we entered the church and were seated in front of two big screen TV's where we could watch the service upstairs.  After watching the screen for awhile, I began to look around and thing back on where the nine were killed.  The news report said in the downstairs basement area. We were in that area. Then it dawned on me.  I was sitting in the location were the tragedy happened.  Where they have bible study.

In front of me was a table with a white cloth on it and lots of flowers.   There were also nine  large standing sprays with a picture of each of the nine lost.  It all came together.  I really was sitting in the area where they were killed.  My heart got really heavy with that realization.  I had read in the paper where the team from MUSC had come in to properly clean the church.  The energy in the room changed for me and I said a little prayer. 

I said a prayer then for those lost and their families and for the wonderful city of Charleston. All the good things that have occurred since the tragedy have given me hope.  Hope that one day people of color will not have hate to deal with.

Good has and will come out of this tragedy.  Hate has been beaten back for now.  We just have to be sure that we don’t lose sight of the grace that God have given all of us.  With unity and love we can all come together and give hate a backseat, but it will require constant vigilance.  I still have hope for the future and of future generations.

 

 

 

Note To Self

They ARE Already Here

I never get tired of watching War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise.  Why? I never get tired of it because the aliens are already here.  In that movie everyone is just going about their daily lives, jobs and whatever and the aliens just finally reveal themselves.  It is going to be just like that.  We will all be rolling along and BOOM!  The world as we know it will change.  I just hope I am close enough to my family to be able to be with them.  You may think I am crazy but I am not.  There is an AREA 51 and the government does have alien bodies and encountered them long ago. 

I was talking with a coworker who is into scifi like I am and she too believes aliens have been here for  very long time.  She thinks that the fact that there are lots of alien movies has really been a part of a government program to desensitize us to the "thought" of aliens...that they can be real.  Via the power of Hollywood movies and TV series, we have all been exposed to the thought of aliens here on earth among us.  Unfortunately it is not a good encounter.  There is death and  mass destruction.  I do think that will occur as well.

This past week Stephen Hawking offer $100 million dollars to someone who can discover alien life.  Why, I am not sure.  They are already here, have been here for a long time. They just need to reveal.  I personally do not want a reveal. It will not be good.  Compared to alien life forms we are like ants.  We are not advanced in the way they are....so we are at the bottom of the totem pole of life in this vast universe. With all that space out there, there is no way we can be the only humans out there or life out there for that matter. 

Many years ago I came to this belief because I saw a ship. An alien ship and I think it saw me. Trust me when I say I never want to see that again.  It was terrifying and still very unsettling today.  We do not need to go looking for aliens.  They are already here and some are even living among us.

Dolphins

It is always a good day when you see dolphins!


Dolphins at the Waterfront Park from Matrixity on Vimeo.

Bruce Jenner and His Transformation

Bruce Jenner!  What can I say. I believe that he has been trapped in the wrong body for a long time but did it have to take multiple wives to find that out?  I watched the tv interview on and off and he looks weird!  A hot mess.  to each his own. 
The annoying thing is that I cannot figure out why he will now get a reality show about his transformation. REALLY?  Is that even necessary?  Chaz Bono and others who transformed did not get a show.  Will anyone really watch it or will it be so strange that people cannot look away?
I do not think he needs anymore publicity or trends on social media.  There  are far more important things that the world needs to focus on with now.  People are suffering and dying in the world and they are not getting the press that they need.  A sex change on a washed up celebrity athlete is more news! Sad!
Nepal just had an earthquake, human trafficking seems to be at an all time high and #blacklivesmatter doesn't really matter.  There are bigger fish to fry and far more important issues than a sex change.  The world is a messed up place and this just proves it.

3 Cuppa Day

So far is has been a three cuppa day.  I went to the beach this morning before dawn and even though I was wrapped up I still got a chill.  Even now I have that same chill and I left and got home about 9AM.  Its 2:30 pm now.  I arrived there around 7ish this morning and it was cold.  Cold and the wind was blowing.  I wore a dress.  My legs were fine. It was my upper body that eventually got the chill. I did also walk in the water.  I took off my shoes and braved a cold tidal pool to collect a starfish. 

A few weeks ago it was on the news that starfish had been blown in our direction by the wind.  Since then, they have been found on our beaches.  The first week there were starfish by the thousands.  The ebb of them have subsided.  I went hoping that I would find one but did not think I would.  It was kind of crazy because there was a family walking ahead of me on the edge of the tidal pool and all of a sudden the father bent down and just plucked a starfish from the ground!  Really? I had been walking the other side of the beach for an hour before that happened.  Well, then I decided I had better look for one.  There was not one at all on the side were all walking on. 

I then decided to look across the tidal pool and see if I could see any there.  No one was on that side walking. About 5 minutes later I saw one!  Excitement!  The immediate problem was how to get it.  For me to get around to the other side of the pool I would have to walk quite a ways and come back to it.  I looked behind me and another beach comber was approaching me where I was.  I looked down at my shoes. I did not have on the right pair.  Coming to the beach this morning was a whim.  I had not planned it.  I had on my black, suede clogs.  Those  are not beach shoes.

The lady behind me was coming with her plastic bag full of things she had already found.  It was decision time.  Off came the shoes and I waded about 6 feet through icy cold water to get the starfish on the bottom of the tide pool.  Score!  I waded back and of course my feet were wet and sandy.  Well...no choice.  I put the shoes back on. 

I debated whether to put the starfish back but, in the end I decided to keep it.  I did walk  the beach for another hour and then headed home.  I've been drinking hot cuppas and been wrapped up in a blanket ever since. Three cups of earl grey. I think I will go put on a sweater in a bit. I might just have to heat up the German mulled wine that you drink warm.  I got two bottles of that for Christmas.  Today will be the day to break the seal. 

Out to run a few errands then back.  Movies, mulled wine and a blanket.  That will be the rest of my day. 

The Nile Monitor is Invading Florida

I was reading the news this weekend and came across this article about the monitor lizards that are invading Florida.  Sad!  I had an exotic pet that I bought from the pet store because it was mislabeled.  You know..that albino frog!  I knew that I could not get rid of it or turn it loose anywhere.  I kept that frog until it died.

It really bugs me that people just turn these exotic pets loose.  They are not thinking at all of the impact to the environment.  Look at the pythons!  They have taken over Florida and are eating everything in site.  The fact that the monitor is here is scary.  They have been known to attack humans.  I will have to do research but are not they deadly to us.  Venomous?  Apparently they are not eating pets..cats in particular. 

Hard to believe because cats are hard to catch.  It will be time to move when you see these roaming freely in your back yard or in the woods.