04 June 2020

May You Live in Interesting Times

That is (supposedly) an old Chinese proverb.  And if it is, well, this week alone has fulfilled the "interesting" part, even if not in the way we might all want "interesting" to be.  Since today is Three on Thursday, I thought I'd share some recent things (two international, one local) that have meant that life is way more interesting than it ever needed to be.  EVER.

1.  There we all were, going along, living with the stay-at-home orders due to the Covid-19 virus.  Fortunately, it seemed that in a lot of places (including Pennsylvania), things were on the downward turn as far as the infamous curve was concerned.  Even Philadelphia is/was supposed to get to the Yellow Level of reopening starting tomorrow.  "Interesting," right?

2.  And then in Minneapolis, a black man named George Floyd was murdered by a human POS who was on the police force (along with three of his colleagues), who felt that it made him look powerful, forceful, macho and who knows what else.  And that was the last straw in a series of incredibly more frequent and awful events.  A peaceful protest here took an extremely sideways turn, resulting in looting, fires, and vandalism.  There have been/are subsequent protests, which have been mostly peaceful - well at least the protesters were peaceful - except for one with tear gas (grrrrr) and one where some white nationalists showed up in one neighborhood with bats to use against protesters.  Most places of business in the neighborhood are still boarded up and closed,  and curfew is still happening.  "Interesting" but for all the worst reasons.  Though hopefully this version of the word will lead to actual, humane change.  Here in Philadephia, one symbol of police brutality and racism has already been removed, and we have been working for that for years, so at least there a small glimmer. 

3.  Next up - this:


This is a photo that a local viewer sent to a TV station showing the approach of a derecho yesterday afternoon.  This thing was brutal.  At our house alone, we lost a tree, a huge chunk of ivy was ripped off the side of the house, and power went out briefly (some are still stuck with that last part - fortunately, in the city, it came back on within 5 minutes).  Upon closer inspection, the chunk of ivy that fell landed on top of our viburnum bush and the flowers I'd planted in the garden.  So, RIP to those.  I'm glad we'll be able to get rid the ivy (once The Tim gets the small chainsaw he ordered), but sad that the sweet-smelling bush and my flowers are gone.  Especially since everything had been doing so well this year.  But WAIT - that's not enough!  Last night we had a tornado-force storm and were told to take shelter.  Fortunately, nothing worse happened and it moved along pretty quickly.  But between the two storms, our neighborhood looks pretty darn sad.  How "interesting."

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go back to dull and boring.

9 comments:

Nance said...

What an impressive photo of that storm! I'm sorry for the loss of your landscaping and all the effort it took.

Interesting is not the word for these Times. Even Turbulent understates it.

Vera said...

Crazy storms, huh? Still now power at my office and the surrounding areas!!

KSD said...

To dull, boring, and people who care about safety.

Dee said...

Dull and boring sounds good to me too.

I've never heard the term "derecho". I will have to look that one up.

All I know is the last time I saw "sideways" rain was back in Florida.

Glad things were not worse. Also glad a certain someone has been removed from the MSB. He never should have been there in the first place (and I'm saying that as someone who actually knew the man).

WendyKnits said...

I too am voting for dull and boring.

Yesterday I watched a webinar put on by Microsoft and sponsored by the Federal Communications Network called "19 lessons for communicating during COVID-19" - speaker was VP of communications at Microsoft. My favorite question from one of the attendees:

How do you communicate in a crisis when your leadership is erratic and working at odds against your efforts?

Too bad there is no easy answer.

steph said...

I guess I would love to see dull and boring, too, but sadly...dull and boring hasn't brought about the change this society so desperately needs. As a flower child of the 60s we thought we were bringing about change, and while some change actually happened, obviously not enough or we wouldn't be going through this all again. Maybe this time we(as a society...not you and me!!!!!) can get it right. Let's make sure everyone gets out and VOTES this year!!!!

Araignee said...

I am so over "interesting" times. I was on the phone with my 82 year old aunt to do a Covid check on her and she said in all her years she's never seen anything like the times we live in. She was happy that her recently departed husband didn't live to see this mess and that she's ready to move on herself rather than see things get worse.

Helen said...

I believe that isn't a Chinese Proverb, but a Chinese curse. At least that is what I've always been told. And as you can see from current events it does indeed seem more like a curse. :)

Jeannie Gray Knits said...

Wow! That is a crazy looking storm. Glad you didn't suffer any major property damage and that your lights came back on quickly.