Knitting Friday

I walked to La Fundación today. It’s a great 5-mile walk with the wind at my back. I enjoyed chatting with my knitting group and then got a lift home. I can’t remember if I posted a photo of what our knitting site looks like. I can’t find it right now, but we sit right outside La Fundación, which is a thrift store and a community meeting place for the disabled. Upon arrival, one must first go inside to see if any new treasures have been added because…you never know. I thought I might find a toner cartridge for my printer, but no such uck.

Today my friendly driver home was Nancy Peterson. She won the prize! Believe it or not, Nancy and her former husband used to live in a house they built in a subdivision off HIghway D in North Prairie. Nancy likely lived less than 10 miles from me in Delafield.

I left one of my walking poles in Nancy’s car, so she was nice enough to bring it to my house. So, then I got to see Bailey! I didn’t get his photo today, but I will, someday. He’s a cutie. He knows me as the “cheese lady.” Today he was looking into my eyes, saying, “It’s great to see you again, but where’s the cheese?”

Here are a couple of photos I did take today on my walk. I think this is the courthouse, although I have never heard anyone talk about having to go here.

I especially like the rock. It feels so substantial. The plaque on the left says Rock of Volcanic Origin.

The following is a rough Google Translate rendition of what is on the plaque on the right:

By divine design
From the bowels of the earth expelled
This rock has here found its destiny

Centuries have passed
at its side

The instruction of justice
has been built

It is the rock of justice
Natural pedestal
Where country and family
United will grow

Review the message sent through millenia
On this rock
Justice will stand

It brings to mind a video I rewatched recently of a young black woman journalist by the name of Kimberly Jones. You may have seen it. The title is How Can We Win I watched it for a class I’m taking called Soul Matters. I dug the video up, if you’re interested. I like adding links now. Jones was in the thick of it in Georgia during the civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd. Jones is eloquent and impassioned about the racial inequality and injustice that have been going on in the U.S. for hundreds of years. She is angry, yes, but she also sounds tired and frustrated. In the end, she said that that the oppressors are lucky that what black people want is equality and not revenge. She also said, “We have created the warrior cop instead of the guardian of the community that we deserve. ” Slowly, slowly I feel things are changing. In her tirade Jones says that she was so grateful for the education she received as a young person. I am too. She can now speak truth to power.

I hear the same courageous, intelligent audacity coming through Barbara Lee, a congressperson from CA. She was interviewed on NPR the other day in regard to a documentary that has come out about her life. Lee learned much from Shirley Chisholm. I just looked it up; the documentary is called Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power. It’s being aired on Starz, which I obviously have no access to right now, but it is definitely on my list.

The interview on NPR was compelling. I loved hearing Lee talk about her shaming of the “old boy” politicians who lacked the courage to vote honestly on issues and instead worried only about their re-elections. Like the “moral authority” I wrote about the other day, the demand for integrity is something that I believe these strong-willed, intelligent women are bringing back to our social fabric. Thank you.

Okay, back to my walk. Here is another image that I love. I don’t know the history of this building, but it is called Ave Maria, and there is a kindergarten attached to it.

Saturday morning: I had a lovely hike with Barb this morning. We went to the area known as Jaramillo. We met some friends while hiking. I only knew Chris Duffy. Barb introduced me to her friend Mike. When Mike learned I was from Wisconsin he told me that his aunt lived in Madison and used to have a radio program: Judy Rose – Simply Folk. Small world.