Wet week.

Credit for today’s photo goes to Chris Anderson, whose beautiful drone-taken shot is of Tobago.  The greens and blues contrast the greys and browns here, and the many gold poui trees just sparkle in the photo.  It continues raining, and I read that several bridges and roads are closed as the rivers are cresting.  I know everyone is concerned about Jerry, and I’m happy to report that he’s back to normal, running around, barking at the wind and jumping up on my lap.  He is still milking his leg sometimes - he came up to me and just looked at me with full puppy-dog eyes, scratched at me, and made me lift him up.  Then he jumped off and hopped up to join Don on the sofa, but he every so often pretends that he needs help.  Don is fine, and is gearing up to watch his team play tonight.  They really need a win, so I’m again banished (they lost last time I was sent out of the room… no further comments 😆 )

Still working on my crochet project; I feel like I’ve been working the same stitch pattern for a lifetime!  It’s not, it’s just that that’s where I’d reached on the last attempt, and I’d miscounted so I had too many stitches, then today I misread the pattern, and I got halfway through rough a row before I realized that I’d made a major error, so I 🐸 and restarted.  Anyway, I’ll move on tonight.  Just giving my fingers a stretch and a break before I resume and end that seemingly endless row!

I don’t know about you, but I’m so tired of hearing of mass shooting events in the USA; I mean, literally every week there’s a new one!  It’s inconceivable to me that lawmakers and law enforcement are unwilling and unable to take action on this.  I’m fed up of hearing that they’re sending “thoughts and prayers to the victims” and a looped repeat of “mental health issues”; “troubled individuals;” (or if the shooter happens to be darker complected) “terrorists, immigrants and thugs.”  Followed by the calls to not regulate guns (honestly, that second amendment argument has been used so often that it’s as clichéd as cold in winter!!) Add in lawmakers who stand up and refuse to do anything… Really, my dear American friends, I’m ashamed of your leaders’ lack of action.  I’m not even touching on the stinking morass that is your healthcare system and what’s been happening with women’s rights… but when I watched the news today and saw that there was the weekly shooting at a health care facility, I was saddened.  You realize that Canada has banned assault weapons (with a definition that’s mostly consistent) and tightened regulations against the acquisition of those guns, and that the Caribbean — you know those tiny countries that your people like to visit— is joining with Mexico to sue gun manufacturers for the damage illegal guns are doing to their citizens.  Your neighbours are so concerned about the failure of your lawmakers to act that they’re preemptively taking action.You really ought to be embarrassed— that drop from “leader of the free world” to “scourge of humanity” (running in a close race with a few others) is steep!  I know, the collective resources are so much less than those wielded by the mighty Uncle Sam that it seems laughable, (very The Mouse That Roared) but it’s not a compliment when a mass shooting in a European country is referred to as “American-style.”  It used to be that American values and the lifestyle were the envy of other countries, but now… Please, do something!  Vote in politicians who are not gun-toting whackos, and who have the courage of their convictions to effect change!

Sorry for the rant; I just couldn’t process yet another shooting, and one in which the shooter is a baby of 13!!  There are just too many; and yes, I know that horrible things happen by the hour, but surely there’s no reason to let them continue?  If I were American, I’d be voting against the gun toting idiots; here, I’m strongly supporting the assault rifle ban, never mind the dog whistles that it “punishes ol’ grampa Joe for having a rifle” (he’s probably safer without it, since he’s probably having sight problems, but that’s an ageist comment and really unworthy of me.)  Meanwhile, Jerry claims that he can’t jump up and needs a lift, so I guess that I’m needed for some very important tummy massaging!  Good night.