Happy Friday!
I hope you
all have a fun weekend planned, or a relaxing one. We’ll likely get the
Christmas tree up at some point (we’re an interfaith family), and we may have
some outdoor plans with friends, so hopefully the weather holds up. I
desperately need to get more reading done, and I’d like to get more work done
on my grandmother’s cross stitch. And maybe a nap or two in there. The new comforter
I bought the other day is sooooooooooooo soft! I sleep on top of the comforter,
covered by a heavy fleece blanket (because of my back, I frequently switch
positions during the night, and this way I’m not constantly waking my husband
up by rustling or stealing the covers!), and it was like sleeping on a cloud.
Two thumbs up from me!
Here's what I’ve
found interesting online this week. (My apologies for there being so many
downers this week!)
California
firm touts ‘mushroom leather’ as sustainability gamechanger
So, a lot of people
out there have ethical reasons for not wearing leather, which is perfectly
fine. An industry of vegan leather has cropped up to serve those people, but
unfortunately, that’s problematic as well, as a lot of the products out there
are made from plastic. And the environment really doesn’t need more plastic in
it. Enter…mushroom leather! An interesting solution. It would be nice if
everyone on earth could be fed before we started making clothing out of food,
but I’ll take a win for the environment wherever it comes. Would you wear mushroom
shoes or a mushroom jacket? Maybe carry a mushroom purse?
This is a
website where you can enter your address and learn which tribe’s land you’re
living on. For example, where I live is Miami land, which is something I often
think about when I’m outside in my yard- the native people who walked on,
hunted, and foraged or grew plants on this land before people who look like me
showed up. What were their lives like before and after being forced off their
land? Are any of their descendants still alive today? I’m going to need to do
some reading about the Miami at some point. If you live in the US, this is
history you need to grapple with and learn about. No one has ever been served
well by knowing less.
Cognitive
rehab: One patient’s painstaking path through Long Covid-19 therapy
Oy. This is a
sad article to read. The woman in question had a mild case of Covid, didn’t
even need to be hospitalized, and still suffers not only from Long Covid, but
devastating neurological effects. She has to be reminded of the steps to brush
her teeth. She can’t quite figure out what to do at red lights. She confuses
days of the week and has a harder time caring for her autistic daughter. This
is the reason my family was so, so strict in terms of precautions before we
were able to get vaccinated. And we’re still not letting our guard down too
much; breakthrough cases happen and I’m not eager to tempt fate!
I know two
people from my hometown who ended up at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab after having
Covid.
The
Staggering Number of Kids Who Have Lost a Parent to Covid-19
This? Another
bummer of an article to read, but if you’re able to read it (The Atlantic offers
a few free articles per month; otherwise, it’s behind a paywall), I highly
suggest you do, because this is our reality now. I’ve seen this go down online,
instances where both parents didn’t take the pandemic seriously and now they’ve
orphaned their three, five, eight kids, and even more instances where kids lose
one parent. Let me repeat: this is our reality now. These kids are going to be
your kids’ classmates, their teammates, your grandchildren’s friends. Your
niece or nephew might date someone who lost a parent or both parents to Covid.
These kids are going to suffer the trauma of losing a parent- especially hard
to fathom when their deaths came after the vaccines were available and the
parent/s refused to get vaccinated- and growing up with their sense of security
damaged. Many of them will live in families that have suddenly descended into
poverty; some will be sent to live with relatives; others will find themselves
in foster care. None of them will have the lives they expected or their parents
dreamed of for them. Our schools are woefully equipped to support a generation
of kids who have suffered such loss. This is going to have ramifications for
generations, truly.
And that’s it
for this week! Wishing everyone a peaceful, relaxing weekend, wherever you are
and whatever your plans are!
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