Walk the Yard

I drove to Portland today and the first thing I do when I get to the other place is walk the yard....there are always changes...always something new to see.  

The mushrooms are out in full force pushing their way through the mulch....and my love affair begins again.  And every time I get down on my knees to take a closer  I think about my friend Joyce. ..she knows that's a compliment.

The wine and roses Wigelia is in full bloom along the side of the condo...five days ago it was just getting started. And the dangly pearls of the Leucothoe  next to it were still as interesting and beautiful as they were before I left.

The first 5 rain lily blooms hung on for me to see and a 6th one just opened.  

And....I had almost forgotten that the last few days I was here at the condo I put together all the small  100 piece or less puzzles I own.....all but one from 5ftinf.  Joy sometimes looks like this!

In my quiet, one step at a time kind of way, I continue my commitment to learning more about why Black Lives Matter.  Reading about slavery and racism makes me uncomfortable and I've come to understand that avoiding it has been part of my white privilege. I'm going to continue to work my way through the articles in The 1619 Project from the New York Times.  The project gets its name with the premise that 1619 may actually be when our nation was born....not 1776.  In 1619 the first slaves were brought to this country....and "out of slavery-and the anti-black racism it required-grew nearly everything that has truly made America exceptional."

Today I read Capitalism, by Matthew Desmond.   Oy! It's much easier to just walk the yard.

"In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism, you have to start on the plantation."