Bars are Open! Protests for Justice Continue. COVID-19 is Still Here!

The River House reopened on Friday, 06/05/20. We heard that all went well, no crowding, tables spaced apart, and only the outside bar is open. We will go soon as it will be too hot to sit outside soon, so not sure of our plans yet.

Sunday, we woke to Tropical Storm Cristobal, far west of us but much rain and thunderstorms over our area.

With the rain and the problem JGCC is having scheduling a practice round for this week's First Coast Women's Amateur Tournament (which AA has a fully paid exemption she earned), not sure how the schedule will shape up for this week. Just found out, her practice round is Wednesday.

Hugh sent this article, about the role of the military and police force, with this conclusion:

"We have over a million police officers in the United States. The National Guard, which is appropriately prepared for these kinds of civil order missions, is a capable and ready force available to governors to supplement the police if needed. That is more than sufficient to control any foreseeable version of events going forward. We need to get our active duty military out of the line of fire of domestic politics and off the streets, and turn this mission over to the men and women trained for it.

I am old enough to remember the protests of 1968, the destructive energy that ripped through this nation in those days under the twin burdens of racism (and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.) and the country’s enormous protests against the war in Vietnam. Our military became part of the politics of the time, and as a result was disrespected in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has taken decades to rebuild the nation’s trust in our military, and to find our way to a time in which the military is the most trusted institution in the nation and the expression “thank you for your service” is regularly heard by every man and woman in uniform.

All of that is at risk. Our active duty military must remain above the fray of domestic politics, and the best way to do that is to keep that force focused on its rightful mission outside the United States. Our senior active duty military leaders must make that case forcefully and directly to national leadership, speaking truth to power in uncomfortable ways. They must do this at the risk of their career. I hope they will do so, and not allow the military to be dragged into the maelstrom that is ahead of us, and which will likely only accelerate between now and November. If they do not stand and deliver on this vital core value, I fear for the soul of our military and all of the attendant consequences. We cannot afford to have a future Lafayette Square end up looking like Tiananmen Square."

From Saturday: "Thousands of people gathered outside Washington, D.C., monuments and the White House on Saturday protesting the killing of George Floyd, years of unanswered calls for police reform and President Donald Trump’s use of military personnel in response to largely peaceful demonstrations. “I’m tired of the racism. Just tired,” said Rochelle Grate, a 58-year-old information technology specialist from Fort Washington, Maryland, who described the Saturday protest as “beautiful, peaceful and diverse.”

Sunday, Patrick stayed at Leaa and Jesse's home and held a concert online to help Patrick with gaining some income.

Monday: The rain continued, I went to work for a few hours due to over 5" at our landfill. AA did her summer school work and Ford made homemade pizza dough and cucumber refrigerator pickles (with onion). Ford cooks a large late lunch of salmon, baked potato, sweet potato plus saute onions and peppers. Delicious. We played another two games of Rummikub, AA won and Ford won one game. By 3 p.m. we decided to have one drink at the River House between rain bands. Patti was tending the outside bar, chatted about all the improvements at the RH: (email I sent to Hugh, Penny, Kathy) We are at the RH, a bit warm, but a breeze sitting outside. Patty is here with Paul and Bill sitting at outside deck. The inside has been cleaned and all wood oiled. The dumpster was filled with old debris stored to the north of the outside deck, where the grills/smokers stored; Patty said she and Kelly carried all the old wood from the deck/storms to the dumpster. The outside stairs were painted gray with yellow caution stripe. New sinks at both bars built by Patty’s hubby. New ladies bathroom vanity. Lots of new plants. Also, we didn’t need to wear masks as entrance was thru the side gate.

Our "regular" sitting area, cleaned, new plants and decluttered!

Ladies bathroom new vanity:

Side deck, cleaned and swing installed.

Side gate entrance, we were happy to see this change as otherwise we were going to wear masks walking inside thru the house (no one was inside, so either would have been fine):

Otherwise, a quiet Monday (in other words, didn't get anything done on our "to-do" list!)