Compassion, Love and Peace

This is going to be my last political posting for a while....  the news just keeps getting more disgusting, appalling, and hopeless each day.  We, humanity, seem to be degenerating at a great rate at this point in time.
   I am still reeling from the attacks made by all the groups that poured in to Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend for the "Unite the Right" gathering.  We are having a march in Denver, tomorrow, to celebrate the life of Heather D Heyer, the paralegal killed last Saturday by a professed Nazi supporter.  This is too little, too late, but we will honor the memory of a young woman who was protesting hatred by marching quietly on a street with her friends.
   There has been an outbreak of attacks against innocent people this week.  First, Thursday evening, the van attack on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain - that left 14 dead and over 100 injured.  Then the attack in Camblis, a two hour drive south of Barcelona. (Camblis was where some of the planning for the 9-11 attacks took place.) There was also an explosion there the night before the attack at Las Ramblas, and police now believe that the people involved in the Barcelona attack had been planning to bomb several places before "something went wrong" at their manufacturing site, and they decided a vehicular attack was in order.  The driver of the van at Las Ramblas is still at large and being sought throughout Europe.
   Then there was the knife attack in the market square of Turku, Finland the following day.  An 18-year-old man from Morocco attacked several women with a knife, killing two. He reportedly targeted eight women, one of which was pushing a baby carriage.  Two men tried to intervene, and both of them were stabbed, as well; one of whom was so severely cut that he may lose his arm.  The suspect was shot in the leg, arrested and taken to the hospital.  Four other men have been arrested with suspected ties to the attacker.
    This morning, a man in the Siberian town of Surgut, in Russia, stabbed at least eight people, seriously wounding two of them. The Russian police fired shots at the man and killed him.  They are investigating the incident.
   Friday night:  In Kissimmee, Florida, two officers responded to a call and were apparently ambushed.  One officer is dead, the other in serious condition.  A man has been arrested.
     In Jacksonville, Florida, two officers responded to a call about a man considering suicide.  He greeted them with shots from a high-powered rifle, shooting one policeman in both hands, and the other in the stomach.  The man was killed by the officers.
     In Fayette County, Pennsylvania, two officers approached a man to serve a warrant.  The man reached into his backpack, pulled out a gun and shot both officers. The officers shot and killed that man, also.
      Too much death and destruction for me, folks....   I know this happens every day in our country, and around the world.  But I want PEACE  for all.
      Then there is the ousting of Steve Bannon from the White House - he's going back to Breibart News to spew more hatred and ignorance.
      The world needs help - compassion, love, and peace need to rule this place.

Bits and Pieces

We have flocks of birds visiting the feeders, and Bertrando, the squirrel, is sprawled flat across the top of the telephone pole, soaking up the sun.  The skies are blue, with a few high clouds, but the view of the Flatirons, less than 1.5 miles away, is already hazy.  I changed my hair color yesterday - it is now a deep burgundy, with purple highlights.  I'll keep it this color through the summer, and then go back to being a grey, almost totally white, haired old lady again.
   It looks like a very interesting field building up for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday - Patch, the one-eyed horse; Tapwrit, Lookin At Lee, Epicharis, Irish War Cry, Hollywood Handsome, J Boys Echo, Senior Investment, and, possibly, Gormley.  The post position draw will be held Wednesday.
    One of my client's said she'd be staying at home this summer - she told me that in mid-May.  I dropped her off at the airport the third week of May, and picked her up the last week of May; then she flew out on 1 June, and back yesterday.  I'll take her to the airport on Friday, and she says she thinks she'll be back around the 24th of June...  Of course, it isn't "really" summer until June 21 - but I always think of summer as June, July, and August...  I'll have to see what happens in later months.  The client's gentleman friend, who is also a client, left on 31 May and returns 7 June, only to leave again on 9 June, with his lady friend.  I know he has to be in California in late June - but don't know when he'll return from the 9 June trip.  Gotta say that this job is always interesting, and never the same any day!  The first client's daughter, who is currently living with her Mom, will be going to a wedding the last weekend of June - and I have been asked to care for the family house and critters for that weekend - but the Mom said she'd be back then - but that's the weekend the gentleman leaves for California - I'll just have to wait and see what happens....
    Beatrice, my roommate, is African-American.  Her maternal grandmother was a Louisiana Creole named Annie DeClouette.  I'm working on her family tree, since we've received her DNA results from 23andMe.  I've been able to trace her DeClouette line back the Governor of Bienvienido, Cuba in the 1700s.  Her paternal line I have been able to trace back to a slave named Priest Trickles, who was born in South Carolina in 1820.  We're heading down to the African-American History Library in Denver today to do more research...
    Foals are popping out all over the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island.  Although we have lost two of the babies, 51 have been born so far (as of yesterday evening, anyway).  The latest was a chestnut pinto sired by Hoppy, and out of Carol's Little Freedom.  Thetis and Wild Thing's bay pinto colt (born May 14) is as bold as brass - and bugles challenges to the tour boats full of tourists.  He certainly give pony lovers' their money's worth!  I also double-checked with the intrepid photography couple, Steve and Darcy Cole, who told me that my buy-back filly, Surfer Princess, has apparently settled into Tornado Legacy's herd.  Her previous best buddy, Badabing, is now content with Ajax.
    My heart goes out to the people of England - first the vehicular attack outside of Parliament, then the suicide bombing outside the concert in Manchester two weeks ago, and now the vehicular attack on London Bridge with three men then going on a stabbing rampage.  Most of my ancestors were from England, and I love that small strong country dearly.  London is one of my favorite cities to visit and explore.  As the old World War signs stated, "Keep calm and carry on," is the country's mantra - and it's perfect in these times of escalating terrorism.
    And, again, the current President of the United States is a complete and total asshole.

Mali, Snow and a Space Heater

One week after the attacks in Paris, an attack in Mali.  I am so sad that the Islamic extremists believe that they must write their history in the blood of innocents.  I wish peace and understanding for every single being on this world.  Since last Friday, each time I see a news report, my mind suddenly starts playing the song "Eve of Destruction" in the background of my thoughts.
  It was bright, with a few clouds out early this morning.  I got the cats and chickens out over at Dellwood a little before 7 this morning, so hopefully, they'll have a little bit of good weather.  In the last twenty minutes, the sky has gone grey and it's begun to rain.  We're supposed to have snow this afternoon and evening, and a low temperature of 14 degrees.  We'll just have to wait and see if the forecasters get today's weather right...  And they are calling for more snow on Thursday, which is our (America's) Thanksgiving Day.
   Beatrice and I went out seeking a space heater for the living room yesterday.  Our apartment is on the second floor, and under our place is covered, but open, parking.  There is an apartment above us.  But the HVAC vents are all placed just below the ceiling in every room, so, since heat rises, we really don't get a lot of heat down where we are, even when the heater is running.  Our solution? A space heater.  We found a very nice one at Home Depot for $99.  We considered getting one with a remote control, but it cost $80 more - just for the remote feature, and then the batteries were not included.  We decided we'd rather get up and down from our seating rather than spend an extra $80.  It's an infra-red heater, but looks like a cast-iron gas-log fireplace/stove.  It has all kinds of safety features, and it puts out a great amount of heat, even when it's on the lowest warmth setting.  We're quite happy with it.
  Well, the sun is out again, in the east, but I can see clouds and mist forming along the tops of the farthest mountains in the west.  We'll have to see what develops.