Women Speaking Can Change The World

I really wish I had taken a picture of my flower bowl today. Not because I think it's particularly awesome in any way but because I persevered. I took the knowledge I'd acquired from my mistakes last week and I watched the video as I went, and I was slow and careful. I did fuck up one thing entirely but I figured out a work-around and it wasn't a structural issue so that's good. Next week I'll finish a few more things on it and then put it on the shelf to be fired and start something new. After the first firing, I'll be able to glaze it and what I don't now about glaze and glazing would fill a grain silo. This is mostly because I've made so little which even deserved to be glazed. 
But, on we go. 
Class was different today. We have two new ladies in the class and they are the exact opposite of what I've been like with the teacher. I have a very hard time asking for help or asking questions because I'm just weird like that. But these ladies? 
Oh god no. 
They wanted a demonstration on each and every step of the process for the projects they were working on. Our poor teacher. I would not have blamed her for losing her shit. But she was quite patient and answered every question, showed them every technique they wanted to know. Sometimes she had to get their attention as she was demonstrating something because they were talking to each other. It was, in fact, a very, very chatty class. Well, just those two ladies mostly. 
But hey! They are learning and they are all the better for wanting detailed explanations and getting them. 

I had a small political outburst in class myself. I was pretty darn sure that all the folks in the class were definitely not of the MAGA crowd and they jumped right in and agreed with what I'd said but our teacher did gently remind us (me) that class is a politics-free zone because we just do not need to be reminded of the things going on while we are in the studio. 

More about the things going on in a minute. 

After class, Jessie and I met Lily and Lauren at Sahara, the Mediterranean restaurant we love.

God, I love their food. As always, I got the vegetarian platter which comes with falafel, spanakopita, dolmades, Greek salad, hummus, and pita. 
Stand back! I need room to eat! 
Actually, I brought home more than I ate, I think, but that's good. More leftovers, more meals. 

And we talked. We talked and we talked. And we laughed. 
I have to tell you for the one thousandth time that Lily is one of the top funniest people in the world. Part of it is that she'll just say what she's thinking and what she's thinking is generally hysterical. Lauren is far quieter than most of us in the family, but when she speaks, it's worth listening to. For sure. And she makes Lily so happy. 
Damn. I love my kids and the people they love. 

So then. Have you heard that Florida is ending the vaccine mandate for children? Yes! Let us be the first! 
Holy shit. How death-wishy are we? And for our children! 
Our "surgeon general" was appointed by Ron De Santis, one of Trump's cruelest sycophants. He was appointed during Covid at which time he played down the need for masks and vaccines when they became available saying that "growing skepticism of vaccines were reflections of God's light against the darkness of tyranny and oppression." That quote comes from THIS ARTICLE. 

The name of this doctor is Joseph Ladapo. In the press conference he and De Santis gave today he said that vaccine mandates were like "slavery." And also that every state mandate on vaccines will be repealed and this will grant the blessing of God. 

Right. Just what we need. 
So. Here's Florida, boldly leading the nation once again into the dark ages where no one needs to know the cause of plague or how to prevent it or treat it, because god gives such trials to us to bring us closer to him and we must pray, pray, pray. Get on your knees, oh thee of many pustules! 
Oh, and Florida has already mandated that Fluoride must be removed from drinking water. Have you ever seen a kid with black stumps instead of teeth? I have. And here we go again. 
Polio? Welcome back! Measles, mumps, and rubella? 
Hello darkness my old friend! 
And so forth. 

RFK, the brain-worm boy, is working on doing the same at the national level while De Santis and Ladapo have Florida taken care of. 
Praise the Lord and pass the tiny coffin! 
This is not funny and I probably should not be joking but I'm not joking. I'm just telling it like it is and like it's going to be. 

Meanwhile, lawmakers met with victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Guislaine Maxwell on Capitol Hill, to hear some of their stories. Not stories, truth. Finally, finally, the victims are able to speak out and speak up about the horrors they were forced to endure as children and they are being listened to. They are being heard. You want to know who's on the "Epstein list?" Just ask these women who carry the eternal burden of their pain while the U.S. makes the release of all the files a political issue instead of a legal or moral issue. They know who's on this list and as one survivor said in a press conference today, "It goes all the way to the top."
And Trump is losing his mind as these women, braver and more courageous than most of us will ever, ever be are finally able to use their voices for justice. To be heard, to be seen, to be believed.

And so it goes in America, land of the free, home of the brave on September 3, 2025. 

And in Lloyd, Florida?

The marigolds are kicking ass. Finally, they seem to have figured out how to really bloom. 

It's peaceful here this evening. Very quiet and we're still getting a little respite from the heat. Summer will be back, there is no doubt. Hurricanes will most likely begin to form in the warm waters all around us. But for right this second, everything's okay here.
Glen says that they're not seeing any deer in Canada, that it's so warm up there that they are probably just bedding down and when they get hungry, all they have to do is dip their heads into the grass surrounding them. No need to actively walk around. 

I'm not upset. I really don't think he's that upset either. He's in another place, another world, with a different friend, having different experiences in the outdoors. 
Or so I tell myself. 

We keep on living. 
We keep on loving. 

Ms. Moon