I don't know what to say to you, Gud. Thank you, or I hear you, or I share your pain. I don't know what the fuck is wrong with people. Particularly with old white Republican men, though I know there are also women (probably white women) out there saying the same things. It's horrible. I'm so angry.

Agreed.

I don't particularly enjoy calling out sick to work, but it seems today was a good day to do so. I had to call my assistant this afternoon to follow up on an email from today and learned that he had borne the brunt of a fit from our boss over a project the boss has been ignoring, so we were doing what needed done without him. The. A few minutes ago my assistant texted a news report about a suspicious package causing the block to be shut down. They were evacuated from the building for an hour at the start of the evening rush.

Dear lord, aurela. Yikes.

Yikes, aurelia. Yes, a good day to call out sick. Sorry about the sick part! Also, hoping the package wasn't a bad thing.

Bought my sister a cocktail, since stupid people are calling her racist in public. Bah. What's that about the left eating its own?

It's time to start working on my fruitcake, I think. Need to inventory my dried fruit and hit the organic food coop.

I love Rachel Maddow's show, but today I had to turn it off after about five minutes because it was making me so tense. I know there are many people who have more to worry about than I do under this shambles of an administration, but I can still feel my anxiety levels increasing every time I read or listen to the news.

Autumn has arrived in Otter Lake. Leaves are still green but I expect the coming week will change that status. Sitting here with multiple layers of clothing and space heaters running. Big bowl of oatmeal and mug of coffee. The forecast for the week ahead only gets to the 60s during the day and 40s at night. Tonight 38!

See how I am talking about the weather rather than the lack of common decency or humanity in our political system.

Good for you, Laura. That's the line I'm trying to hold, as well. It's mid-60s during the day here, and high 40s at night, until next Friday when it's supposed to fall to low 60s and mid-40s. We've had rain for several days, which the area needed after the dry summer. I see color on some leaves, but we haven't caught the full force of it yet. It's precious, though, as we're mostly conifers.

If I was ever going to visit back east, it would be mid-October on the Blue Ridge. I miss leaf-peeping season.

Happy equinox!

I got up early and dragged myself up to the park for a chilly run in the redwoods. I forgot my headphones, and was cranky about that, but it was also nice to hear the silence in the forest, and the occasional bird chirping.

Then I went out to brunch with my niece and sister, which was very nice. My niece (who is now in grad school) told a story about some "mandatory" training from campus police about active shooters, which degraded rapidly when the cop refused to answer questions about how to protect other students from inappropriate calls to the cops. You know, like what happens all the damn time. So the grad students all walked out, which I'm glad to hear. But seriously: it's a major university in a progressive area, and this campus cop was talking like he was on SEAL Team 6, very aggressive and impatient with their concerns about police over-reaction.

Now I have two loaves of garlic-spice bread in the oven, and a bunch of dried fruit macerating for fruitcake, and Paul Simon on the stereo. A bunch of local teens found some electric scooters and are doing laps around the block. It's sunny but not hot. There are worse afternoons.

we slept in late had rice omelets for brunch and went and grabbed a few things from the farmers market . I am going to make some beet chips . We went evening shopping last night and spent all the money on all the cheese ,plus some other things so we can eat all the food. Matt is on call this week so it is good to make things easy and tasty.

So I am thinking about food, not the news

I have the most boring diet--voluntarily. I dislike being challenged by my food.

I boiled some eggs, made egg salad, added tuna to half and now have several sandwich meals of each kind of salad. I used up the last of the elbow macaroni (already finished off the shells) and the last of the butter and the cottage cheese along with sharp cheddar and made several servings of mac&cheese. I've a freezer full of veg to add at opportune times, and fruit chunks for dessert. I filled the rice cooker and have several servings of rice ready to go, and made a pot of pinto beans. They can be had with mac&cheese and some kind of greens, or over rice with a bit of tabasco and black pepper.

I love clearing out the fridge and pantry and getting to start with fresh stuff.