The healing journey of a widowed, unschooling badass in Delaware.
I’ve never hung a door, and it shows.
The rug should be inside. The stoop isn’t swept. The mat is crooked. The boots need to be cleaned and donated. The threshold isn’t in place. The door knob works, but doesn’t have anywhere to catch yet. The frame is crooked. The masonry needs repointing. The door color doesn’t match the roof.
It’s all a proper mess, but we got the thing hung and it locks.
None of us expected this day to go this way.
We attended Elevated Studios adult promotions to support our mentors and training partners.
Isaac and Westen each earned a new belt and I got the first stripe on my blue belt.
I try to unschool and follow my children’s interests as much as I am able.
However, philosophy and history are intensely important to me. I want my boys to have perspective on current events and be able to think clearly.
Mostly, my own passion for these subjects creates opportunites to discuss (my older and I are listening to a podcast series on Jim Jones and the People’s Temple tragedy that is a deep dive on domestic race relations in the 20th century).
The only thing I “push” on them (and myself) is Tom Woods’ history courses. They provide a wide approach to history and the background knowledge that I want my sons to have.
Martyr Made on Jim Jones:
Tom Woods: The Liberty Homeschooler
Isaiah 49:1 RSV — Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.
Isaiah 49:15 RSV — “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
Isaiah 49:17 RSV — Your builders outstrip your destroyers, and those who laid you waste go forth from you.
Isaiah 49:25 RSV — Surely, thus says the LORD: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.
The Servant is both named Israel and sent to redeem Israel.
This may be a message that only The Servant can save, even Himself. It’s the kind of paradox echoed in the Trinity and when God saves Jesus from death.
Department of Defense.
War is the health of the State. They waste money, destroy civilization, kill and maim human life, and damage the environment more than any other organization.
Holy crap, this would be awesome!
Mary and I discovered the Drops in 2011, or thereabouts, and got tickets to see them at The Queen in early 2012. Hoots & Hellmouth was added to the lineup and it was an unforgettable night. Between sets, mama Mary almost got me into a fight when we observed a young child without ear protection who clearly didn’t want to be there. We had to sacrifice a sweet spot in the pit to diffuse the situation, but still shook our backsides off to CCD (the little bit ‘o ass that Hoots left us to shake).
We saw the Carolina Chocolate Drops as a family in June of that year at the Appel Farm Arts and Music Festival. Westen was taken with their energy and we saw Rhiannon being a sweet mom at one of the kids activity tents.
Mary and I saw them at the Grand on one of our rare dates in 2013. The audience was the worst of the public radio crowd and wouldn’t get off their butts. Mary and I had amazing seats, but scooted into the wings to dance and not block anyone’s view. Unbeknownst to us, WHYY was filming the show and we saw ourselves months later on TV.
After Mary passed away, it was a special honor to take the boys to see Rhiannon Giddens in 2018 at Delfest. It was the first time they got to stay up for a proper headliner and Giddens served up a captivating performance. It wouldn’t be the last time I cried that weekend.
In 2022, Kristen and I took our kids to the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Local heroes, The Honey Badgers, were our big draw that year, but we also got to see Dom Flemons…twice. Few artists have the depth of talent and knowledge and personability that he does. He is an American treasure.
CCD hits deep in this family.
“Security video from Walters’ home shows the 15-year-old boy kicking the trooper’s door about 8:30 p.m., then running away. According to the Delaware Department of Justice, after reviewing the security video, the trooper’s girlfriend called Walters at work and told him what had happened.”
“Deputy Attorney General Dan McBride said audio of that call makes it clear Walters knew his home had been pranked and that there was nobody trying to enter his home, that kids had kicked his door and there was no emergency.”
“Walters called in his girlfriends’ report as an “attempted home invasion,” which saw a swarm of police bearing dogs and long rifles, as well as a helicopter, descend on the area.”
Walters then pulls an uninvolved 17-year-old from his home and attacks him.
“…Walters also lied to investigators about using a police database to pull the teenager’s address. The boy had nothing to do with the prank, was held in custody for several hours…”
The manhunt, wasting tens of thousands of dollars of public assets, finds the 15-year-old culprit and Walters goes to the location where police have the child “under control.”
“He turned off his bodycam, but the camera stays on for 30 seconds after being turned off. Footage shows Walters going to the police cruiser, shouldering another officer aside and striking the kid.
The 15-year-old, who had a concussion and fractured eye socket that required 11 screws and a mesh to repair, remained unattended in the police SUV for nearly an hour, according to the teen’s attorney.”
Walters and his fellow officers go on to cover up their abuses.
It seems that only Walters has faced consequences.
This question is for the men who read this far: What do you call a man who stands by while a handcuffed child is beaten?
The officers who assisted in this assault are losers and pussies who don’t deserve the title of “man.” They are tools of a violent system. Their job has turned them into mindless enforcers with no intent “to protect and serve.”
This is old school Jordan Peterson with Bret Weinstein.
“The room is not the room” becomes a representation of an intuition I have had for a long time. Although it appears that we live in a physical space, the real game, the larger playing field, is spiritual.
At least 126 journalists have died in IDF attacks on Gaza.
Recently, Jeffrey Loffredo of The Grayzone was beaten and arrested at an Israeli checkpoint.
“The soldiers… illegally requested that the journalists hand in their phones, and when they refused, the soldiers pointed a gun at one of the journalists, hit him with their hands and the barrel of a gun, then dragged him out of the car and slammed him onto the concrete. When lying on the ground, they pointed 2 guns at his head. The rest of the journalists exited the car and the military raided it, confiscating phones, cameras, and personal items,” said @the_andrey_x.
This story is no where to be found in major US media outlets. The US State Department has also been silent.
The abuse that Israel is committing against journalists must be brought to light.
We had an exciting night in Kennett Square seeing Cat Ridgeway at the Kennet Flash.
Ridgeway rocked the stage and was so sweet afterward. She remembered us from the Philly Folk Festival two years ago and chatted with us for a while.
She signed Isaac’s CD and just might be considering a tattoo.
We also got to see the promotional poster for Westen’s upcoming gig on the wall of the venue.
