A la Mode

Unless we wear masks forever (not a bad idea), in the future we'll be able to date photos from Covid time by our masks––here, mine is oh-so-fashionably dangling off my ear.

The 3rd Avenue bridge over the Mississippi River behind me and bink is being repaired (for two years).

Speaking of fashion, I love the top I'm wearing: $3.99 from the thrift store (my main source of clothes)––or, actually, free, on my store credit. It's ultrafine merino wool, from Eileen Fisher.
For fun, I looked it up: it originally cost $198.00. Does anyone actually pay full price? I suppose some people do.

We're with friends from out of town at a fantastic new restaurant downtown: Owamni, by the Sioux Chef.
They use only precolonial, indigenous ingredients.
No wheat flour, cane sugar, beef, etc.
Yes, bison, wild game, greens, corn, blueberries, maple syrup, etc.

I had smoked trout with white beans and a blueberry reduction; my favorite was sweet potatoes & scallions roasted in chili oil.

Penny Cooper is checking out the blue corn mush. Actually, she's hunting for garnishes for her hair--that's where her fir spray (cedar?) came from.

Covid & Cholesterol, and other sticky things

I prefer to sit outside at restaurants. The staff were all wearing masks, but of course people eating inside were not. The county where I live has seen a slight uptick in Covid cases this August.

And there are so many other diseases out there--I like not getting sick. As I keep saying, I haven't even had a cold in almost two years.

Our friends were visiting from Texas, which is like another country. The governor there has forbidden state agencies from mandating masks.
Here in Minnesota, after Labor Day, state employees will have to be vaccinated or get tested weekly.

Oh! I just looked up the name of the Texas governor--it's Greg Abbott. It was just announced he has Covid! He's fully vaccinated and showing no symptoms: that should be an advertisement for getting vaccinated, right???
Meanwhile new Covid cases in Texas are as high as they ever were.

Let's see.... what else is going on?
August has been busy and eventful. Visitors, seeing friends, auntie continuing to recuperate--yay!

Not so yay: Covid, cholesterol, and the ongoing, intensifying drought... Dust-Bowl level in some parts of the state.

HouseMate has wonderfully installed a gray-water system: a bucket by the kitchen sink. We pour the dishwater into it, and use it to water the garden.

You've seen the IPCC's latest report, its sixth? (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.)
Here are the basics as a slide show.
It's just what you'd expect: CODE RED.

Dust is everywhere at this very minute as I type at home:
giant machines are tearing up the street outside to install 5G Internet––"a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices."

So as the world ends, I can talk to my toaster!

GOOD NEWS:

I'm doing well on my first steps toward eating to lower cholesterol: avoiding red meat is easy, and adding oatmeal with fruit is pleasant. It's super helpful that it's not about eating less, but eating better.

I like eating well, but I generally suck at planning and preparing, so I end up eating donated crap donuts at work. (If I could eat at Owamni every meal, there'd be no problem.)

I'm trying to take food with me--I just got some KIND bars on sale--they're basically candy bars but with healthier ingredients, like almonds and "natural" sweeteners ( =  sugar, but not as much).

Kind bars made Time's list of 5 healthiest granola bars, while noting "you can get the same filling effects for fewer calories by eating a handful of almonds and an apple".

Yes, but will I?

I will try.