Monday 1 June 2020

Monday

Make the most of today -- it may be the last good day for a while - or so say the weathermen.   Now they are saying tomorrow will be alright but it is all downhill after that.   That big swirling jet stream is pulling cold air down over us - all this orange on the weather map and then a creeping blue swoops down from the Arctic bringing a North wind and cold  air.   But sadly no rain.   Walking round my garden where the sun is on it all day is quite depressing as every single plant is suffering from lack of moisture and suffering badly.   Two of my new herbaceous geraniums are in danger of dying - one I can reach to water - but the other two are in a part of the garden inaccesible to me because I am not steady on my feet.   I am hoping the gardener comes tomorrow so that he can give them both a much-needed drink.

True to form it looks as though the cooler spell of weather destined to arrive shortly coincides with my cleaning out of my winter wardrobe and the putting in of my blouses and T shirts.   Just in case I have left in a couple of jumpers.

The dreadful riots in the US fill me with horror and make me so glad I don't live there.   That any society can treat a man like that just because of the colour of his skin is, and always has been, way above my comprehension.   Much of my teaching life was spent in multi racial schools and many of the children I remember with great affection were black children.  I am thinking back to the seventies and eighties but I really don't remember any racial tension around where I worked at that time.  What a sorry state our world is in at the moment.

Our schools have reopened for some years from today but as yet it is impossible to say how many parents have taken up the offer to send their children back.  I am not sure whether or not I would as a parent or whether as a teacher I would be happy going back.   Luckily I am no long in a position to have to make that kind of decision.



 

24 comments:

Rachel Phillips said...

I am sure such decisions as you refer to in your final paragraph were easier in the days of newsreaders in place of investigative journalists and before the days of social media. Parents would go with a gut feeling and teachers would work to their vocational calling.

Derek Faulkner said...

It's been very hot with unbroken sunshine down here in the south Pat, with a similar day forecast tomorrow. After that it's a ten degree drop in temperature and even the possibility of some rain, though I won't hold my breath on the latter.
In America the initial protests over the death of the coloured guy at the knee of a white policeman with a history of violence, were fully justified. However the degree that it has now turned into has simply given license to people who enjoy a good riot and some looting and has moved away from the initial protests.

justjill said...

Forecast here is for heavy rain tomorrow afternoon. My daughters are worrying as am I at the schools reopening.

Heather said...

I'm not sure I would risk sending a child of mine back to school just yet, though possible it would depend on the size of the school and the preparations put in place.
We've got the plague, now the drought. What comes next? Pestilence? Perhaps we already have that!

George said...

Hi, Pat. After retiring Transit Notes a few years ago, then starting a new blog in 2018, only to stop posting after a couple of months, I have decided to curtail my Facebook activity and return to blogging on my new blog, "The Shape of Light" (theshapeoflight.blogspot.com). Getting back to reading some of your recent posts was a treat. What you say about the current state of affairs in the U.S. is spot on. After three and a half years of a corrupt, narcissistic, and incompetent president, an historic pandemic that has already killed more than one hundred thousand Americans, many unnecessarily, and a related collapse of the economy that could lead to a Depression, it's hard to imagine that anything worse could happen this year. Yet, it did. The brutal murder of George Floyd, which is horrible and unacceptable in itself, has unleashed these uncontrollable riots in which every anarchal fringe group, from left to right, is taking the opportunity to create chaos and instability. Hopefully, good will prevail in the end. With the current political situation, however, things could get much, much worse before they get better. On a lighter note, I'm delighted to see that your doing well, Pat.

jinxxxygirl said...

The protests have gotten out of hand and they have lost their purpose. As soon as protests turn violent they lose my interest. Which is a shame. At the same time my husband an i are so tired of hearing about the poor black man in general. I don't mean this particular black man but the black man as a whole. Enough of the poor me syndrome.. AND i know this is not a popular opinion. But we are not responsible for what happened ages ago. If the black man wanted to left himself up he has every opportunity to do so.. They live the way they do because they choose to.

angryparsnip said...

I have a lot I could say about the riots but this is your blog so I will not plus I have protested but never rioted.
Sorry to read of your weather, we are hot so very hot here it is HOT !
Take care and be safe.
parsnip

Ellen D. said...

I am sorry to say that there is a long history of violence against people of color in the United States. It is a historical fact and I am ashamed of our country for not doing something about it. I hope that horror over George Floyd's death will spark the change we need to see in my country. It is a sad history and we can do better.

Joanne Noragon said...

Not a happy time over here, now. Keep us in your thoughts and wishes for a decent outcome.

Cro Magnon said...

I rather regret that I've never had a black friend. I don't know if it would have made any difference to my life, but I would have liked the experience. With the current problems in the USA, one needs to remember that racism used to be government policy; as it was in S Africa.

Rachel Phillips said...

George's comment is very amusing. Straight in with his colours on the tree or whatever the saying is. I suppose he turns a blind eye to the previous years of corruption in government in the US or just pretends they never happened and all the wars that the US have been involved in, or are involved in, well where did they come from George?

Frances said...

Could you set up a hosepipe to help you with the watering? With the right " end bit" they can squirt quite a long way !

The Weaver of Grass said...

I try not to use the hosepipe - not sure it helps the plants in the long run - it certainly doesn't encourage the roots to go down in search of damp soil and it wont be long before we have a hosepipe ban unless there is suddenly a lot of rain. Hopefully my gardener will be here today and will just water the ones which are new and really suffering.

Librarian said...

We had around 28/29C here yesterday, and today and tomorrow are similar, with thunderstorms and a severe drop in temperatures from Thursday onwards. Hopefully, there will also be some rain!
As for the protests, they were fully legitimate until they turned into riots. That does not help one bit with the original cause, quite the contrary.

Christine H Hancock said...

We are too hot here in Suffolk and having to water every evening. Yes the prejudice in US has never left really, why do they think that people with a different coloured skin are inferiors?

Derek Faulkner said...

Cro's comment is a bit odd and could be patronising. Why would he of liked to have experienced having a black friend as a friend to see if it would of made any difference to his life. Why make the colour of the person as something different to be experienced.

Sue said...

I think America has been living on a knife edge for a long time now. The death of George Floyd was simply the catalyst that lit the touch paper. Having such a racist President has cause a lot of division.

I'm saying no more except to say there is a LOT in the news that we are not being shown, the police officers walking WITH the protesters and carrying banners of their own, the black folk protecting the shops and stores from being looted and the hundreds of people taking to the streets each day to clear up after the protests.

Jan said...

I thought the idea above of using a hosepipe was a good one. Perhaps you have a water meter and don't want to use a hosepipe. The idea that using a hosepipe doesn't encourage roots to go down is a but skewed - if you thoroughly wet the ground it's the same as a good downpour.

Anonymous said...

Yes black lives matter but also - ALL lives matter.

Fiona said...

Yes all lives matter but at this moment it needs to be said that black lives matter because if you’re a white person living in the U.s. or the U.K. for that matter you have no idea of the privilege you have.
Do you have to worry about the police stopping you or a family member because of the colour of your skin? And of being forcibly arrested when you have put up no struggle? Do you live in a society that is governed by white middle class men who have no idea of where their next meal will come from? Have you ever applied for a job and not got it because of the colour of your skin?
These are just a very few examples of the real discrimination that a black person faces. You may face some of them too but I bet nowhere near as much as a black person.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thank you for all our your replies. There is a lot of food for thought there and I think we would all do well to think hard about the whole issue.

jinxxxygirl said...

FB my white husband has not gotten a job because they needed to hire their quota of black people...

Grace said...

FB - your tone is patronising. I answer YES to three of your questions.
For your information - I am black.
Look at the comment above mine from jinxxxygirl - her white husband has been discriminated against because of the colour of his skin.
I am black but I would not want to be given a job because of the colour of MY skin.
I uphold my previous comment - ALL lives matter.

Fiona said...

Grace, I did start my comment by saying all lives matter and I too answer yes to all 3 of my questions and I am black also . I didn’t suggest that black people should be given jobs to fill any sort of quota so you have misunderstood me. The topic was a discussion that black lives matter. When people are discussing breast cancer and someone else says all cancers matter, they are missing the point and that’s what I was trying to allude too. There is enough rhetoric around at the moment so I really am not interested in having a row with anyone about this. I wish you a peaceful day.