October 12, 2020

10:55 a.m.

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!

I never liked "Columbus Day". It never made sense to me that there was this huge celebration of the so-called discovery of a place where my ancestors had been living for hundreds of years. As I once said to my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Fox, if there were people already here, how can they claim discovery?

Her answer was not acceptable, no matter how reasonable she tried to make it seem. The discovery was by "civilized" people, she explained. 

I liked Mrs. Fox, so I kept my smart-ass 7-year-old mouth shut. It never paid to argue with old women who weren't related to you. Well, it didn't pay to argue with the ones who were related, either, but they had to continue to like you, because you were family. 

I wanted Mrs. Fox to keep liking me. She was my teacher, but she was also my friend.

My argument would have been that the people who came to this land were not civilized. They were the savages. They ravaged the land, raped and pillaged and destroyed. 

I haven't acknowledged the day since I was a child, and that was long before I knew I was an actual Native of this land. I had anecdotal knowledge, but it has since been verified by DNA. 

Oddly, I was often that person who held her tongue to avoid arguments that couldn't be won, but the older I get, the less inclined I am to keep my mouth shut.

I like that it has finally been addressed and there's been a name change for the day. I just wish it would be accepted in all circles once and for all. 

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11:34 a.m.

I feel like I should address the five months that passed by since my last post here. 

I have another blog at Penz-O-Paula where I post mostly short fiction stories, and it has kept me occupied and distracted through the most horrible of years. 

Reality in 2020 is worse than the horror stories, worse than the apocalyptic tales. Definitely stranger than fiction. 

Starting in May, it became a nightmare around here. I'm still not ready to talk about it much. Suffice to say that things which were bad enough already were made so VERY much worse by this pandemic, and knowing that things never had to get to this point makes me even more upset than I would have been in normal circumstances.  

I was finishing up a book in the early part of the year, and the manuscript is currently sitting there, curser blinking, waiting for me to get back to it. I will; it might take me a while, though. It was all sort of wrapped up with Dad. We talked a bit about it, and although he never remembered it, when we were in the middle of a talk, he had interesting things to add to it. So...it's hard. But I will finish!

(Now I have to!)

The fiction blog gets a lot of attention these days, because it is easier for me to deal with make-believe than reality. 

At some point, I will catch everyone up on the events of the last few months. There's a lot to unpack. 

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This afternoon we're headed to get Mom's hearing checked. I reckon they will turn up the volume in her hearing aides. 

I should get mine checked. Seriously, though, I only suffer from "selective" hearing. 

However, I am not as good as I used to be about blocking noise out. I have lost my "kids are noisy but not hurt so ignore it" mom filter. Dang. That was dead useful, and now it's broken. I have to restrain myself when I want to say "Shhhhhh! Old lady in the room!" Ha ha!

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It's October, so I have planned to go on a ghost hunt at the local haunted library. I want to see a ghost. My sister doesn't. So this should be FUN!

Trick or Treating will be an interesting prospect this year.

I am so tired of this pandemic. I want to go out and do things. People are, but I have my mother to think about, and I won't risk her health. Besides, my own health history means I am high risk, too. Doggone it. 

I have a lot to say about this subject, but I think I will skip it for now. No more negativity today. 

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Take a minute today to tell people you love them. Wash your hands. Wear your mask. Social Distance.

And have a great day!