Walking, Plants and the Death Penalty

Lots of walking yesterday! I was feeling a bit sedentary after sitting around all day Wednesday, so while Bailey went on her dog walk with Josh, I went out on my own and listened to my podcast. It seems a little silly to pay someone to walk the dog when I'm going to be walking too, but I can't really have AirPods in my ears and walk the dog at the same time. I took my old route down toward school, as if I was walking to work, and it felt good to get my blood moving.

On the way back I found a tall IKEA barstool set out with the trash, and I grabbed it thinking it might make a good plant stand. I brought it home and cleaned it up, and indeed it will work to hold a plant somewhere. I'm always in search of things to elevate plants nearer to windows, particularly in the winter when there's so little light.

I brought the rubber trees inside for the winter and elevated the Thanksgiving/Christmas cacti into a place where they'll get better light and visibility. They're already forming buds, so we should have flowers soon!

I also began Anne Hull's memoir about growing up in Central Florida, "Through the Groves." I am loving this book so far. It describes life in rural Florida in pretty much the same years that I was a child there, and though I was several counties away from Hull (who was living in Sebring at the time) our experiences were not dissimilar.

Then, in the afternoon, I took Bailey for a long walk around the Thameslink station (above) and up into Cricklewood. I think we both enjoyed stretching our legs on such a bright, sunny day.

I've been in touch with the charity where we adopted Bailey to get a referral for a trainer. The woman who runs the charity told me that Bailey came to them after she was dropped off at a vet's office in Hendon, just north of us, by someone who said they found her. I think it's funny that she's practically back in her old neighborhood -- Hendon is very close by.

Found this on our walk through Cricklewood. What woman could resist such a heartfelt, carefully composed proposal?

A couple of news articles have rankled me in recent days.

First, there was President Trump, saying: "I could have done very bad things to Hillary Clinton. I could have done very, very bad things to Joe Biden. I could have done very bad things to Barack Hussein Obama. I thought it was inappropriate to do so because you have to treat the office of the presidency with respect...I view the presidency as a very sacred position, a very sacred position, very important, very sacred, a position where it has to be treated properly...You can’t treat the presidency with disrespect. And again, I’ve had my shot and still do at Biden, at Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama, and I’ve had plenty of people say, ‘Let’s go get ’em,’ and I said, ‘No, you can’t do that to the presidency.’”

And what all that blather really means is, "I got nuthin'."

Second, there's the attempted execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. All executions are appalling in a supposedly civilized society, but Pike's was especially so -- and if there's a better argument for the barbaric nature of the death penalty, I'm not sure what it is. All the authorities have managed to do is torture and gravely injure her, perhaps permanently. And yes, I know Pike tortured and killed her own victim back in 1995, but as the famous saying goes, two wrongs don't make a right. Trump and his followers have shown a special bloodthirst for the death penalty, now pledging to execute a mass shooter in Texas by firing squad while live-streaming the event for all to see. What could possibly be the public purpose of such a display, and who would watch it? This isn't justice. It's death as a public spectacle -- and it turns my stomach.