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Weekly Wrap Up


I finished two books this week...but in two different months! I finished The Bookshop of Yesterdays before Oct. 1, and spent the rest of the week reading My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, which definitely has me on the Fredrik Backman train, even though I just found out he's only a few years older than me, which is intimidating considering the number of books he's had published. Then again, I should have suspected with all the Harry Potter and X-Men references in these books. 

Finished Reading 

  1. The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson
  2. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Watching

  1. I finally finished watching all of "The West Wing," for the first time. So astonishingly naive in 2020 hindsight, but I hope we move toward that (still flawed) picture of who we wished we were!
  2. I'm currently watching "The  Good Place," season 4. 
  3. I'm so glad "Sister, Sister" is on Netflix now. Such a comforting '90s rewatch. 
Other Things
  • I went camping and hiking this weekend! It was so incredibly restorative, and I was so proud of us for making a successful fire and cooking some delicious food over it, veggie burgers and broccoli in a skillet on a grate over the flames, and foil-wrapped potatoes in the fire, cooked for about an hour and a half, turned out delectable!
  • The only drawback was that the trails and campsites were totally crowded, and even though we wore masks the whole time and socially distanced (and of course all the camp sites are way more than six feet apart), I do still worry just because there were so. many. people. But. we were outside, and most other people were wearing masks too. 
  • We got our ballots on Friday and dropped them off at a ballot box on Saturday! It was quite an impressively huge box!
  • Tonight, I phonebanked for an hour for the Democratic Party in North Carolina, which besides being a huge swing state for the presidential race, has a Democratic governor up for reelection, Cal Cunningham (D) up against Thom Tillis (R, incumbent) in the Senate, and Pat Timmons-Goodson (D) in a viable House race against the Republican incumbent in District 8. So, pretty exciting. Most of the calls were no-answer, but I did have a couple potentially useful conversations!

Comments

Good for you. A. Going camping. B. Phone-banking. Living in a blue state doesn't give me a lot of opportunities to make a difference in the states that are on the bubble. How were people reacting to Trump with COVID? It was a weird week. Here's what I have to say about it on my blog
I'm so glad you got the opportunity to go camping. I can see that would be restorative. We are planning a hiking trip in November. Now I'm a little worried about how many people will be on the trails.

I wish I knew what I could do to have people in my state wake up to DT. Every day I seem to see another DT flag waving in a yard in my town. Do these folks not keep up with the news? Do they not believe in science and reason? Very frustrating. I'm happy to see you taking action in your state.

I hope you have a wonderful week.
Judy Krueger said…
Wow, that was a big week! It does seem wherever one goes these days there are lots of people which freaks me out! Glad you had fun camping. I did read a Nevada Barr mystery set in Yosemite National Park so that was my camping substitute.
Heather G. said…
Glad you were able to get outside and camp! I get too much anxiety to do anything overnight right now but we've been hiking a lot and the fall colors are gorgeous where I live. Fall is saving my sanity right now. Good luck where you live this November. Fingers crossed.

I hope you have a great reading week!

I've been wanting to read A Man Called Ove for a long time now. I need to read one of his books and get on the train!
Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

Anne, I live in a blue state too (Maryland). There are plenty of opportunities to phone bank in swing states no matter where you live! The leader of my group was working from Colorado!

That said, I also signed up to phone bank in MD next weekend, since even though I know we'll go blue, there are still plenty of people in my state and county that don't vote or don't vote blue, and I still think every vote counts, especially this election, where the popular vote needs to be VERY clear.

Deb, I sympathize! I think all you can do is fight the good fight and share your views/flags if you feel comfortable and safe doing so. I hope you have an awesome and safe hiking trip in November; I imagine it will be a little less crowded then, at least.

Judy, I'll have to check out Nevada Barr. I've never been to Yosemite, so that will be my only chance for a while.

Heather, glad you are enjoying the hiking and colors! Fingers crossed for your state in November as well!

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