August 2023 – Leigha Robbins

Some Things Daily August 31 – #011

I want to try something. Let’s talk about things. Things that matter, things are not so important and outright silly things. Things that are strange and different, things that are timely, things that make us laugh or cry. Things that are on your mind and mine. And things that never crossed your mind. Let’s talk….

No slowing down now… the weekend starts tomorrow! Today in 1945 Irish singer/song writer Van Morrison was born. Clear back in 1888 Jack the Ripper started his killing spree. In 1955 the first solar powered car was demonstrated by William Cobb. And tragically in 1997 Princess Diana dies in a car crash. It is National Trail Mix Day and We Love Memoirs Day. Today we will talk about an international day.

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day. According to DaysOfTheYear.com the holiday was started in 2001 in Melbourne, Australia. It aims to bring awareness to a difficult topic and bring hope to those who have suffered from friends and family members’ overdose. It is represented by a purple and silver ribbon. It offers a time when people can be educated about overdose and have a safe place to tell their stories. Do you know someone who has suffered from overdose? It is an alarmingly fast-growing tragedy in our nation here in the US – how about your country? Will you do anything today to bring awareness to the community? What would you do if faced with an overdose situation? Let’s talk about these things…

In the summer of 2016, a friend of mine overdosed while staying with me. I knew she was taking meds for a migraine and going to nap so I left her alone. Many hours later trying to wake her I found a note in her hand. I was stunned. For a split second I was conflicted as to whether or not I should call an ambulance, that was not what she wanted. But I was selfish and wanted my friend back and KNEW her family did too and called. It was a long recovery, but she made it back, a few health concerns for the rest of her life now, but she is still with us. And for that I will be forever grateful to the hospital and ambulance for giving her back to us.

This was all prescription medication. There are tragedies like that and more that are street drugs. With the overwhelming number of drugs being laced with more toxic drugs on the streets it is a wonder more haven’t died. Overdose can happen for many reasons from intentional to accidental. Show compassion to those dealing with it. It affects everyone that person knows and should not be shunned. The person is not evil for what they did, but in need of help… give that gift to them. Help them know they are not alone. Back to the basic principle of being kind to one another.

Let me know your thoughts. Drop a comment or leave a link in the comments for a post you do on the subject so I can find it. Thanks for talking with me.

Some Things Daily August 30 – #010

On this hump day we look back to find philanthropist Warren Buffett was born in 1930. In 1963 a direct hotline was established between USSR and the US after a near miss on nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis. Three years later Thurgood Marshal became the first black supreme court justice. And in 1983 Guion Stewart Bluford is the first black American to travel into space. Today is International Whale Shark Day and National Grief Awareness Day. But today’s topic was an event that took place in 2006 in California.

The Californina senate passed the Global Warming Solutions Act seventeen years ago today. The law placed restrictions on the emissions of greenhouse gases, including that from automobiles. It even called for a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels at a 25% reduction. California is leading the way to try to save planet Earth… what do you want to do for your part? What do you think is the one big thing you could do to reduce your carbon footprint? Are you more in favor of electric cars, wind power, solar power or something else? Let’s talk about these things…

I have another year and a half on my car loan, but I would like to look into a hybrid car. I don’t travel long distances often, but I would like that security having the fuel would give me. For in town driving through the electric side of things would be great, I think. I have heard solar updating is expensive, but if I were to somehow manage a new home in the country, I would definitely look into wind power.

What are your thoughts on these things? Let me know in the comments or make a new post and give me a link so I can find it. It is good talking with you!

Live Energy

The lights dim

The auditorium is suddenly alive

Shouts and cheers start to fill the air

The slow buildup of applause

Suddenly an excitement ignites

I get butterflies with a starting drum beat

I feel like a teen again

Attending a first concert

The spotlight hits the stage

Colored lights drape the band

And a guitar cuts the sounds

Keyboards echo through the night

And the concert begins

*****

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – teen

Some Things Daily August 29 – #009

Today the birth of pop royalty took place with Michael Jackson coming into the world in 1958. Also, on the music scene, it was the last concert with paid admission performed by the Beatles in 1966. In 1970 a group of Native American rights activists held a protest at Mount Rushmore for the broken Treaty of Fort Laramie. It is International Day Against Nuclear Tests and More Herbs, Less Salt Day. But I bring up a similar topic today as yesterday. More fear is projected as hate in Florida this time.

In 1987 three brothers Randy 8, Robert 9, and Richard Ray 10, were in the midst of a legal battle and their home was burned down. Suspected arson happens a lot, but this was thought to be retaliation after their parents sued the school system to allow the boys to attend public school. The three boys, all hemophiliacs, contracted HIV at the height of the AIDS crisis in America. The public, unfortunately, did not understand this disease well enough or specifically how it spreads, and the boys were shunned. When the decision came through to allow them into public school, nearly half of the parents pulled their kids out of class. Then the threats began.

When the home burned down, thankfully most of the family was gone and only an uncle suffered smoke inhalation, but the home was a total loss. Trying to salvage any thing they could find at the remains of the house a cousin was still met with taunts by those driving by to leave town. They ultimately did and unfortunately two of the boys (Richard in 1992 and Robert in 2000) died before they reached 23 years of age. Randy lived much longer into his 40’s having just passed in May of this year.

Why do people still to this day shun those with HIV/AIDS? I understand (and remember) in the 80’s for some time it was unclear how it was transmitted from one person to another, but aren’t you supposed to help those who are hurting? When your fellow man is down, don’t you give them hope? Do people really hate the idea of a gay lifestyle so much they would target kids, they didn’t understand were just sick with hemophilia? Let’s talk about these things…

I remember being in my late teens at the time that HIV/AIDS was just being discovered and understood day by day back then, but if my memory serves me correctly it did not take long to discover it was predominantly spread by unprotected sex and shared needles. These boys were just carriers of a blood disease that needed transfusions and they got bad blood before blood was tested for HIV. I don’t understand how you can hate kids for that. How can you hate kids for any reason so much you want to burn down their home? It is just senseless violence and as a nation we seem to excel at it. It just makes me sad and embarrassed.

Tell me about your views in the comments or make your own post and share the link so I can find it to read it.

Some Things Daily August 28 – #008

A week of things done and a new one begins. On this day in 1965 Canadian singer Shania Twain was born. Today is International Read Comics in Public Day, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day and National Red Wine Day. One of the most famous speeches was given today in 1963 by Martin Luther King Jr at the March on Washington. In 1996 Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced. But what I want to talk about will make your blood boil, at least it did mine.

On August 28^,in 1955 a 14-year-old black boy named Emmett Till was tortured and brutally murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman in Money, Mississippi. I am sad to admit that I had not heard about this case until just this year when I saw the movie Till (which was so well done). I was shocked such a thing had happened in my country. One of the surprising things about the case was Emmett’s mother Mamie Bradley, decided to have an open casket for her son’s funeral so all could see what had been done to her son. The magazine Jet published photos of the corpse and the rest of the nation’s news slowly showed interest in the story as well.

A trial was held in September but it’s no surprise that witnesses were hard to find and after just an hour the all-white jury ruled the men not guilty of the crime. Many years down the road the woman who claimed he had flirted with her told the truth that he had done nothing wrong, but she was never charged for her part of Emmett’s murder. No justice was ever given for the murder, however in March of last year, President Biden signed into law the Emmett Till Antilynching Act making lynching a hate crime. How could we as a nation wait nearly 70 years to make such a law happen? Had you heard about Emmett Till’s death before? Have you seen the movie Till? How can people be so utterly hate filled, and against a child? Let’s talk about these things…

When I saw the movie Till I had tears on my face. Growing up in a community where there were maybe less than 10 children of color in my classes I feel I was sheltered from a lot of the racial tensions that existed then and still do (many more place than should) today. Once I became an adult, I was more aware of the diversity in the “real world” but I never saw the prejudice here. I think that is why it shocks me so to hear about something this brutal just because of the color of his skin. I have struggled to write this without getting angry, but it is a natural reaction to senseless violence! And it is an embarrassment to be in a country where it took so long to enact that kind of a law to (hopefully) prevent further acts like this. When will we learn that everyone has the same red blood?

Sorry for the length of this post… it had to be written. For those of you who made it to the end, please talk with me. Tell me I am not alone in this total sadness and frustration. Please comment below or share a link if you choose to write a post on the subject. And please, be kind to one another.

Sunny Sunday – August 27th

Today I decided to bring more light to the world. Today I ask you to do the same thing. Join me in posting something happy and upbeat, funny or serious but always sunny. It can be poems, stories (real or fiction), pictures, quotes or music. Let’s spread a little joy today. Encourage each other with a little positivity. If you want to spread that sunshine give me a link in the comments and we can light up the world together. #SunnySunday

I am happy to report a break in the heat here, at least for a few days so I am feeling a little better on this Sunday. I don’t know if it is fibro, old age or a combination, but I just can’t handle those high heat and humidity days like I used to.

Let’s spread some sunshine. Link me to a sunny post you share today and we will shine! Now let’s take a little walk with me in the sunshine today…

Counting on the Sun

There is the first hint of autumn chill

Taking hold on this late summer day

As I walk along the fence

The sun plays hide and seek

With the leaves growing there

It’s warming light urges me on

Step by step to keep going

Knowing I can make it further

Meet my goal on this beautiful day

And take steps to better health

Some Things Daily August 27 – #007

I’m going to try a little something new. Let’s talk about things. Things that matter, things are not so important and outright silly things. Things that are strange and different, things that are timely, things that make us laugh or cry. Things that are on your mind and mine. And things that never crossed your mind. Let’s talk….

Today in history Lyndon B Johnson was born. It is the anniversary of the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, in 1916 Romania joined the fight in WWI and in 1955 The Guiness Book of Records debuted. It is International Bat Night, International Lottery Day and most importantly on a lazy Sunday – Just Because Day.

Just Because Day is a time to kick back and do things with your family, hit the beach, play hooky, pay it forward or just perform random acts of kindness, why? Well just because of course. Days of the Year (daysoftheyear.com) offers many ways to celebrate like I mentioned above. The important thing is to relax and enjoy. What will you do this Sunday just because? Let’s talk about this thing…

I am thinking about taking a walk just because it is finally cooler after a very hot week. Our temps are back to the lower 80’s and we had a nice mild overnight. So, the windows are open and tempting me with breezes blowing and birds singing. And besides, the extra steps are not going to hurt one bit, ha, ha.

Let me know how you feel in the comments or give me a link to a post if you want to go into more detail, just don’t forget the link so I can find it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

High Tech Love

The coding begins

Run scenarios

Execute protocol

Compatibility

Consolidate data

Extensions

Create input

Complete download

Analysis

Program success

*****

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – download

Some Things Daily August 26 – #006

It is the weekend! And I think the weekend should be laid back and easy going, therefore nothing to serious today or tomorrow although today’s question has caused major debates at times… more on that in a minute. Today Mother Teresa was born in 1910. Ten years later the 19^th amendment would be active in the United States, giving women the right to vote. Some of you will sit back and watch a baseball game this weekend – the first televised one was on this date in 1939. And it is Dog Day – a day to celebrate our canine friends.

The big debate will be continued with what I am focusing on. Today is National Toilet Paper Day. Did you know toilet paper has actually been around since the 6^th century when it was discovered to have been used in China? By the 14^th century they were producing special packages of toilet paper for personal care. The emperor in 1391 even had specially prepared paper with scent added to it. Paper advanced and was eventually produced out of many different things through the years, including a roll of 22 karat gold paper that cost $1,300,000 a roll – talk about flushing money down the toilet! Today is just one easy question – over or under? Let’s talk about this thing…

The paper should always roll over the top of the roll. Only barbarians attach it to the holder under, ha, ha, ha! Just remember not to run out of toilet paper today and be thankful we stopped using the communal sponge on a stick! (Eww!) Share with me your thoughts in the comments or in a separate post with a link back to this page so I can find it. Let’s talk!

Fandango’s Flashback Friday – August 25

At the end of another week and it is time for FFF. This week I go back to my busiest year and pull a poem from 2017. I hope you enjoy it!

Together

Your breath and mine

Catch the same rhythm

Inhale and exhale

In an increasing rate

Our heartbeats also

Begin to synchronize

Beating for each other

The tempo building

Your lips touch mine

Your arms hold me

Your love surrounds

And we chase the passion inside

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