Ta-Da! Here you have it. The finished sink. I think it's finished. Glen's mighty proud of that commercial-grade faucet with a sprayer. That'll come in right handy when it's time to wash off potatoes! And beans. And whatever else needs washing from the garden. I can rinse out my compost bucket too.
And that was about the most exciting and positive thing that happened around here today. It's been steel gray and gloomy and almost bizarrely warm and humid. According to my weather widget, it's going to rain here tonight and then the great temperature drop will begin with at least a week of low temps down to the lower twenties.
I will not complain while some of you are in the middle of the one of the worst snow and ice storms in recorded history. I'm not stranded in an airport and I'm not snowed in with no power and I'm not going to be shoveling driveways or sidewalks or waiting for the snowplow and most of all I'm not out in the streets protesting the presence of the murdering ICE, risking my life either from weather or gestapo.
So. Are we going to just become inured to watching videos of people being shot and killed on the streets and in their cars?
Oh boy. There's another one!
We cannot.
And you may notice I didn't even add the descriptor "innocent" before people and that is because no ICE agent is a judge, jury, and executioner as far as I know and also as far as I know, no one who has been shot by these Nazi storm troupers has been a threat at all to anyone, especially to the armed, masked militia.
I cannot tell you how incredibly in awe I am of how the citizens of Minnesota are responding to the presence of ICE and the murders they have committed. If ever there has been an example of people speaking truth to power, that is it. Meanwhile, our so-called government lies and lies and lies and lies calling the murders self-defense and whatever else they cook up, trying desperately to spin what the videos and witnesses say and show without a shadow of a doubt.
Yesterday's murder of a VA ICU nurse who was trying to help direct traffic and then help a woman who had been pushed down and was being pepper-sprayed is too fucked up to even contemplate, as was the murder of Renee Good. Or the kidnapping of a five-year old child. Or any of the shit they are spraying and calling...well, what ARE they calling it today? What in hell does any of this have to do with border control except for the fact that cosplaying miniature Nazi border commander Gregory Bovino is indeed a senior border control officer who is strutting around in his Nazi coat with his Nazi haircut and insisting that the murdered were far from innocent and indeed, a threat to the ICE officers who shot them.
You all know all of this. I won't go on. But these are the things my mind keeps coming back to. Every morning is like waking up after a loved one dies and for just one moment, forgetting that death, thinking life is going on as usual and then realizing and having the grief come rushing back to pummel and destroy any sense of normalcy at all.
There is no end to this terror. There is no end to the astonishment of the cruelty being thrust upon American citizens. And of course the world at large. And at the epicenter of all of this is one man, although I feel certain he has never been in control of the plans and carrying out of them which are now far beyond wreaking havoc and on into absolute and undeniable destruction. However, Trump has been such a fantastic puppet, getting elected on his promises of Making White People Great Again and, oh, I don't know- stopping windmill cancer? Proving that sexual predators have no need to atone for their actions because, oh, you know- women and children. Who cares? Making sure that you can get adequate water pressure in your shower and you can cook on your gas stove?
And since his dementia and failing health have progressed so rapidly, these puppet masters need to get things done in a hurricane hurry before even the least glimmer of sanity and the Constitution begins being defended again.
This is one of those times I feel like I should just delete everything I've written. I am not Heather Cox Richardson or Robert Reich or even Jeff Tiedrich. I am not a constitutional law expert. I am not an expert on anything having to do with politics.
But I am a human being. As such, I have empathy and I have the ability to think logically, and I know evil when I see it and I am seeing it now as is every decent person on this planet.
Remember what the protestors said during the Viet Nam War?
The whole world is watching.
They were. And at that time, even the warmongers had the ability to feel shame for what was being seen. Not done, perhaps, but seen.
And that may be the difference between then and now.
These people have no shame, no decency at all.
I sure don't have any answers except that we must refuse to believe the lies but that goes without saying. If you're not a liar, you see no need to accept anything but the truth. If you're not a pedophile, you see no need to protect one. If you're not a hater of people who have different skin color, religion, gender and/or sexual identities, culture, music, food, or abilities, you do not understand why anyone would judge another on any of those things. And this is not a leftwing conspiracy. This is not some woke bullshit. This is decency and respect for our fellow human beings, our neighbors, our children.
All right. Here are some camellias.
Love...Ms. Moon


Thank you. How many bloggers do I read that will not say a word about what is happening in your country? They are like the three monkeys that see, speak and say no evil. I am Canadian and I have not set foot in the United States since 2016. I am now considering what steps I may have to take to defend my country from America. The United States government is totally corrupt. It has always been corrupt to a degree but now it is as open as a festering sore.
ReplyDeleteIf every decent American spoke out like you, there might be some chance to fix this mess.
Many Americans are doing far more than speaking out. These people are the ones who are getting things done.
DeleteWell said, Ms. Moon. It’s so hard to fathom how cruel people can be and then the kindness of Alex Pretti which cost him his life. I have good days and bad days. I keep hoping the good days win. I wish that for all of us. Actually, i wish that for all of us on the right side of justice. I wish a life of HELL for everyone who brought this shit on! (And that includes my sisters!)
ReplyDeleteIt is incredibly hard to not have very negative thoughts about the people who voted for that man who had absolutely told us exactly what he was going to do if elected.
DeleteI wish I could be a bigger person and not have these thoughts but I'm not, obviously. For the people who voted for him and who are now saying, "We didn't know it would be like THIS!" I can only say, "Well what the fuck did you think it was going to be like?"
Thank you, thank you, thank you for mentioning what is going on. I protested today, even though it's freezing here in WI. You do what you can. I am shocked by comments on other blogs about Minnesotans "politicizing ICE" or believing FoX news lies about Alex Pretti being armed. I am angry. We must not collaborate or cower behind curtains. Thank you for your honesty.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Celie and thank you! I just watched a bit of an interview on Fox news where the interviewer was actually pushing back a little bit on Christi Noem. My god that woman can lie. As can everyone in the administration. In fact, that seems to be their number one qualification.
DeleteDo NOT delete this Ms Moon, we all need to remember this f**king horror show and who the perpetrators were, from the useful idiot at the top down through Puppy Killer, that poison dwarf Nazi shrimp Bovino, the those incel thugs like Jonathon Ross that murdered Renee Good and those animals that shot Alex Pretti 10 damn times. My wife blogs about these horrors almost daily so we will have a record of how bad trump's America has become. Tell Mr Moon that the bench is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jim. I think history will remember these people without my help but I simply have to speak out sometimes, and I'm glad your wife does too.
DeleteThe bench is lovely, isn't it?
DO NOT DELETE THIS POST!
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't change a thing in this world if I did but I'm leaving it up.
DeleteI sometime look at people like Bovino and think how could any woman (or man) be married to a person like that with his beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI would bet money that man is cruel to his family. If indeed he has one. There seems to be little to no information on that online.
DeleteThere will be an end to this terror. We all have to do things, call, text, email the people housing ICE, support businesses refusing ICE food and bathrooms, donate where we can, take care of the hungry in our own communities. We can do a lot. And we can still find fun somewhere, because if we can't do that, what are we fighting for?
ReplyDeleteSome days are easier than others to see and feel joy, to have fun. Some days it seems impossible. And yet, we go on, hoping for the light.
DeleteYou said it well and truly, Mary Moon, let it stand. Margaret
ReplyDeleteWell, it will.
DeleteICE agents are the terrorists and Minneapolis is their killing ground. Nazi thugs from the top of the country on down.
ReplyDeleteScary how easy it appears to be to quickly gather up and weaponize a very large number of cruel and hateful men, isn't it?
DeleteAt what point do Representatives/Senators who don't vote to stop ICE become accessories to ICE crimes?
ReplyDeleteCP
I believe that point has been passed.
DeleteAt some time today, I figured out that I am just numb - it's like my mind just cannot comprehend any more of the horribleness of things. When I stir in my bed in the morning before I open my eyes, in my mind I am seeing what I saw yesterday, unbelieving, except that it is true!! Maybe it is because I haven't been out of the house since Wednesday because of the weather, so depression is closing in, or that I haven't seen my daughter since the Friday after Christmas and my son since December 16th. It all seems to zero in on the repetitive replaying of the films showing over and over on Facebook and on all the news programs. I just want OUT of this miasma of gloom and hate and death. No, I am not suicidal - I just need some GOOD things to happen for a change - some happy things like your camellias. And your new green sink - -such a lovely sink.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are the least happy already, whether because of the cold and darkness or of missing our families or of chemical nature or of all of this and a lot more, our minds cannot seem to help but go to these horrors over and over like a constantly running tape loop.
DeleteI am in despair over all the wrongs that are allowed to keep happening in your country.
ReplyDeleteAnd the damn thing is- we HAVE things in place to prevent this sort of take-over and yet, none of them are being utilized by the cowardly House and Senate who meekly seem to be completely unable to find any courage or decency whatsoever.
DeleteI grew up wondering how Germans allowed it to happen. How they stood by while there neighbors were pulled from there homes and murdered. And now I protest but its not enough. How could I be letting this happen in my country. How can I leave this horror to my children and grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteClaudia, I think we all grew up wondering that same question and thinking, "Well, that could never happen now."
DeleteHow foolish we were.
Thank you, Ms. Moon. Do not delete this. You have a strong and powerful way with words. Bear witness.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, that garden sink is simply fabulous and thank goodness for camellias. Chris from Boise
I'm not deleting it although as I said in a response to a comment above, I don't think it would change a thing in this world if I did.
DeleteWhy is he still president? I ask with genuine curiosity and a struggle to understand the American political system (and gratitude that I live under a Westminster system which has it's flaws but we don't have a supreme leader - ours can and have been ditched during a term).
ReplyDeleteI am also very envious of the green bench. I would have that in my kitchen - too good for a garden!!! You are a lucky duck.
Why IS he still president? What does the man have on these people whose job it is to make sure that things like this do not happen and that any president in power who is not only allowing these things to happen but is actually encouraging and causing them to do so is being allowed to continue on? Even the richest of the rich whom he seems to have sewn up in his pockets in order to keep lining their pockets should have, by now, realized where this is all headed and should be doing what they can to stop him. Or at least stop supporting him! What are they afraid of?
DeleteI wake up every morning stressed by this person and I don't live in America but things in the UK seem to follow after you and I'm afraid. We have our mini Trump in Reform and they are gaining support with just the kind of people who are Maga and I'm afraid the poison is spreading and all we can do is fight on. Jessica in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteHe is tainting the entire world. Even as his dementia and idiocy are more and more recognized and noted, he continues to have influence. I am sorry.
DeleteThe sink is a work of art.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest, you are an exceptional writer (and thinker). I have nothing to add.
And there are some camellias.
The sink IS a work of art. I am always amazed at the workmanship of Glen's projects.
DeleteThank you, Mitchell.
I'm glad you said it all, it all needs to be said. Decency doesn't and shouldn't need a Defense, it should be a way of Being Naturally, yet, for some, it seems they cannot muster that, it's just not IN them to be Decent. That Sink is fabulous and Camellias are Lovely, we must find the Beauty where we just still can.
ReplyDeleteSince the Maga wave first began, and then the man was elected twice, I have been astounded at how much INdecency surrounds us.
DeleteThe lies they use to excuse the depravity the chill me to my core. Controlling the narrative is more important than telling the truth. They dare us to believe what we see with our own eyes. History does not look kindly upon those who justify cruelty in the name of policy. Policy is eventually forgotten. Cruelty never is.
ReplyDeleteYour last two sentences are as true and plain as anything could be.
DeleteI feel EXACTLY the same way as you do. You put into words my frustrations and fears. I wake up every morning with a pit in my gut and I feel so out of sorts. It is like we are living in Nazi 2.0.
ReplyDeleteNazi 2.0. Exactly. And the Nazi 1.0 so graciously left us the handbook.
DeleteIce 'agents' are no more than brutal goons encouraged and supported by a cruel and degenerate administration led by a psychopathic madman. DO NOT DELETE THIS POST and all of our comments! Blog on! ms Moon. Blog on! Kris in Ohio. PS over 12" of snow, now bitter temps to follow. Envy you the new sink!
ReplyDeleteHow short is the required "training" for ice agents now? Something like 6-8 weeks. And then they give them guns. It's a sadistic incel's wet dream.
DeletePlease stay warm and safe.
You have said it well, Mary, and I agree with all of your words.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellen.
DeleteExactly right. I didn't write about it all yesterday, I didn't write at all. Instead I finished my daughter's name blanket to focus on something good. I supposed I'll write about it today but you said it all. This shit happening in Minnesota is not about undocumented residents at all, it's nothing but punishment because the governor won't hand over the voter rolls. Puppy killer Noem said as much when she told him all this would stop if they would just comply.
ReplyDeleteNot Noem, Bondi.
DeleteDid you see what Walz's response to Bondi's demand for the voter rolls was?
DeleteBondi, Noem. Both plastic faced congenital liars who have no qualms at all saying or doing anything that will make the way of their president easier.
I have been wondering why Minneapolis was being targeted to harshly, and it's just because of voter rolls?
DeleteRiver - Also I think because Walz ran against him and has been defient from the get go.
Deletewonderful writing here, Ms. Moon. Having proudly protested peacefully against the Vietnam War back in my late teens, yes..the whole world WAS watching then and we were all so angry and broken hearted...THIS feels much worse to me now. Much worse. Not to ever condone or rationalize war....but this is not a war, it is cold blooded and cruel murder plain and simple and the whole world IS watching all of it in horror, as are we.
ReplyDeleteSusan M
The Viet Nam war did also involve a lot of cold-blooded, cruel, and also senseless murder. Just ask any veteran who was there. History has proven it.
DeleteBut as I asked- where is the shame now on the part of those who were and are caught with their hands on the gasoline can, the lighted match?
Nowhere in sight.
History will prove all of this too, to be true.
yes, the VN war DID involve what you say..... but now...there is NO shame, or accounting for the senseless murders..... it is heart wrenching
DeleteSusan M
Table and sink, a grand accomplishment !
ReplyDeleteYou're right.
DeleteThank you for posting your wise words. I live in Canada, and I'm SO glad that I chose to live here. I'm scared to visit the USA now. It seems like a civil war is about to break out. I'm watching with horror and trepidation. And not just fear of what's going on in USA, fear for the whole world. All because of one person.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't visit the US here if I lived elsewhere. No damn way. And the whole world should be afraid. The evil knowns no boundaries.
DeleteI agree with everything you posted !! I love the sink....!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anonymous.
DeleteOh my gosh, you said all of this so well. So much better than I have been able to. The whole spectacle is horrifying, and it's sad that it's become a cliche to say, "What has happened to the America I know?" But that's how it feels. I can only hope the senseless deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good wake people up. I think the tide is shifting, I really do. Even Trump knows it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what we do with "news" outlets (FOX) that continue to trumpet the falsehoods being put forth by Noem and her henchmen. On the one hand, yeah, freedom of speech. But at what point does lying become so harmful that something needs to be done? That it endangers society? I'm all for freedom of speech but I think we need reinstatement of the fairness doctrine, to require broadcasters to present both sides (or all sides) of the news.
I think the tide is shifting too. No one can possibly deny the truth of what these videos are showing. There are too many of them and too many witness accounts for the lies Noem and Patel and Bovino and Trump are trying to spread to convince anyone with a pair of eyes or half a brain.
DeleteUnfortunately, that is not an apt description for a large segment of the population anymore.
I think you are asking some valid questions. It's like freedom of speech does not allow someone to shout "fire!" in a crowded theater. When lives become endangered, that should be the end of the lies. And yet...here we are.
Great post MM. Your summation is spot on.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the people of Minnesota and Maine are uniting and protesting in great numbers. We need to support the protesters in any way we can.
People in Minnesota and Maine are working together to protect their neighbors. The community is strong.
This is a long game and those that tire first will lose. The protesters know this. United voices are important.
Your garden sink is fantastic. Will you put some plantings on either side? A few patio stones across the front would give you a smooth surface for working at your sink. You could also consider adding a market umbrella for shade. The sink is a very useful garden feature.
The people of Minnesota are absolutely heroes, every one of them now standing up and/or marching for truth, and organizing to help each other during these horrible times. And you're right- this is a long game. I agree.
DeleteI don't know what I'll be doing, if anything, to fancy up the sink. Glen laid pine straw all under and around it this afternoon. I don't think I'll be working at it so long that I'll need shade but get back to me about that come July.
Thank you for this message from your heart. I am sending my representatives daily messages from mine - at least their staff people will be reporting contact numbers to them and I noticed today that one rep (thankfully not from my state) who voted last week to fund ICE has said he is sorry (!) and cited constituent feedback as being one of the things that woke him up.
ReplyDeleteAnd the sink is fantastic.
Ceci
Excellent, Ceci. The lawmakers cannot ignore their constituents when they are speaking up in such large numbers. Or, if they do, they are doing so at their own risk.
DeleteYes to all you've said, and more! So glad to see camellias, and I think in a flower bowl you made as well! Political mess and people power...things are escalating and becoming more violent. It's hard for ordinary people there and even everywhere else to keep up. We will win!
ReplyDeleteOh, I put the vase into the bowl I made.
DeleteThings are escalating and becoming more violent. And that is frightening too. People should not have to risk their lives to peacefully protest.
I’m impressed xxx
ReplyDeleteWith the sink and your writing
DeleteOh John. Thank you.
DeleteIf Gregory Bovino spotted your lovely camellias, he would crush them with his jackboots. So often you have kept your political thoughts under wraps in this blog, preferring to focus on domestic matters, your family and self-analysis but there comes a time to speak up about the darkness.
ReplyDeleteI am quite surprised that anyone thinks I keep my political thoughts under wraps. I thought I was quite open about how I feel. I don't post about them every day, by any means. Repeating what everyone already knows about what's going on isn't really that helpful but now and then, I just have to add my two cents to the matter. I am a radical leftist who could not be more horrified by what's going on in my country. Who is ashamed and sorrowful that so many people here voted for such a horrible, racist, fascist, cruel, crude, ignorant man.
DeleteObviously, I need to do better.
DeleteThe real person in charge is Putin. He worked his magic for years to get trump elected as his puppet. Putin is smart, trump is as dumb as a plank and so easily manipulated. Unless some politicians get some balls, you will not have to vote in midterms because there won’t be any.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about the midterms, but sadly, I think you're right about Putin. I think his minions are pulling a lot of strings to interfere in our civil society.
Delete