This was the weirdest year of my life...
This looked normal (more or less):
The year went from (among many things)...
> a Trump-inspired attack on the US Capitol on January 6
> to the jury finding Derek Chauvin guilty of all counts for the murder of George Floyd in April
> to a happy break from Covid in the summer, between the vaccine and the arrival of Covid variants Delta & Omicron
> to trying (and failing) to get the City to provide sanitation for people living next to my workplace all summer
> to being at George Floyd Square (38th & Chicago) during July, and helping tend the community library there
> to the death in September of Auntie Vi ––my last grown-up
> to losing my iPhone in October and happily replacing it with a flip phone, and taking a long break from blogging too
> to my workplace (finally & unexpectedly) raising minimum wage to $15/hour in December.
Oh yes, and also, I turned 60 years old.
With so much going on, I decided to use a lot of photos.
JANUARY 2021
A few months away from a COVID vaccine, Julia gives me a respirator to wear working at the thrift store;
snow covers remnants of Lake St. buildings burned in the uprising after the police murder George Floyd;
Jan 20, celebrate the inauguration of Biden/Harris
FEBRUARY
Meet up with Marz outside Half-Price Books (outside for Covid safety);
Stuff at work (I'm still doing social media for the store);
Participate in [due South] Fandom Flower Day with Eeva
MARCH
At Minnehaha creek: bink & I regularly take selfies to email to Auntie Vi;
the City prepares for the trial of Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd;
The library reopens after one year;
March 25: my first Covid vaccine (Moderna)
APRIL
Two Harbors Lighthouse & Duluth for Marz's 30th birthday;
Celebrations at George Floyd Square (GFS) at the verdict of guilty, guilty, guilty for Chauvin
MAY
Orphan-Red Circus-Costume Day w/ bink & Sister;
Annette threw me a (belated) 60th birthday party w/ Maura & bink--we take off our masks but stay outside;
Marz at GFS
Domenica's 62nd birthday at the Arboretum, w/ Marz;
baby bink;
Coffee outside at "The Nut" with John & Jill
Plant dyes class at the Duluth Folk School w/ Sister;
Tending the George Floyd Square Community Library (w/ Neal Baxter), while house-sitting Stefanie & Jim's a few blocks away
With Jesse, Big Boss, OPE, & Sara at work;
Astro eats a cicado!
bink & I celebrate Vi's 96th birthday--her last--with her neighbors Lance & Cindy;
I bring books & make Broken-heart Bear for GFS
SEPTEMBER
Mr. Linens in the alley next to the store;
The City fenced the park to keep people from living there;
Bicyclists drop off donations at the thrift store;
Violet B. Konkel, r.i.p., Sept. 10, 2021;
bink & Maura play chess on bin
Bear Repair;
At the George Floyd Square Free Library;
OPE, BJ, Darwin in the alley behind the thrift store;
Day of the Dead altar at Mexican grocery store by work;
Cat-sit Cleome
I lost my iPhone in October. Relieved not to have the Internet on me 24/7, I replace it with a flip phone. Takes a while to get a working digital camera (from bink), so I don't have many photos in Nov & Dec.
NOVEMBER
City Elections: "There could be something new about this moment."
...But the mayor is reelected, and the proposal to establish a Dept. of Public Safety to incorporate the police dept. is defeated.
Golda Bear lights the Hannukah menorah;
Me with bears to give to kids at work;
Penny Cooper trims the tree
Comments are off. Emails are welcome.
