mythfact

[mythfact]

Tiny cone with tiny mushrooms resting on the cap of a russula mushroom…

Fungi in fungi.

[mythfact]

Dunluce Castle

@_marcelsiebert

[mythfact]

So gorgeous

A few of the tree houses at @treehousepoint More photos on @cabinporn.

[mythfact]

So gorgeous- two of my favorite things

🌿 Botanical 🌿

[mythfact]

So I recently found out that the rainbows formed during nighttime are called “Moonbows”

A moonbow is a rainbow caused by moonlight. It's a bit fainter than an actual rainbow. Moonbows are rare because moonlight is not very bright. A bright full moon is needed & it must be raining opposite the moon. The sky must be dark and the moon must be less than 42° high.

[mythfact]

Talkative fella

A happy pygmy falcon 

(Source)

[mythfact]

Group of falcons. The illustrated natural history. 1859.

Internet Archive

[mythfact]

We went kite flying yesterday in a big field. The kids and I had a lot of fun. My brother in law, too. We also played soccer and frisbee, and I also took a little rest. At one point, one of my nephews and I did some cartwheels together, and we made dandelion bracelets. 

[mythfact]

Friend

I have a friend  who is a good listener 

Who reminds me to be present Calms my often-raging mind Reassures me when I doubt myself. 

A fount of sparkling wit and comedic timing the most charming dinner companion A stand-up guy (as they say)  in every-day life. 

He sees things as they are drinks in the beauty of the ever-changing stream of what is

Knows his blessings One by one Is a blessing on his own. 

We almost lost him once The angels took one look

Said-

 “Go back”      

“It’s not your time”

 “Your heart has more to give” 

He landed with a thud back into his body-home Grew stronger there- 

Since then he gives and gives and gives-  Wide, open, unabashed Unrestrained As he is, where he is With what he’s got

(Always enough

Often more than enough)

And will 

until his 

day 

comes

When he’ll 

have 

   no 

      more

               to                             . 

[mythfact]

Observant and Reflective

Taking more photos lately, this is from a car ride we took to a park awhile ago. Going to put in a few hours over the next couple days and write about my experience being in Canada over the last couple of months. The experiences have mulled over in my mind, and even though I’m still “in it,” I feel like I can actually start writing about it now. Editing photos, and compiling them is something I find relatively soothing, a way to sift through feelings and impressions. Especially in these uncertain times. To be continued... 

[mythfact]

Getting to the root of racial injustice

This Tedx Talk is from 2016, and yet it is entirely relevant today. 

Professor at U Washington Megan Ming Francis discusses her experiences being stereotyped as well as those of her students, and the way that even when other people observing know that it’s not right, especially when it’s a coworker, they stay silent, which allows the racial injustice to continue. 

To be clear, African Americans are not inherently more dangerous than white people, and yet it’s become ingrained and reinforced in a lot of the current population. I’m hoping that this is changing, as people examine their own implicit biases. And that more and more people speak out when they see something that’s not ok. Stand up for each other. 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aCn72iXO9s&list=TLPQMDYwNjIwMjCpTsHoCsCYnA&index=8 

[mythfact]

Campaign Zero

This campaign is one I wanted to showcase here because they focus on policy and passing local and state regulations to reform the police force. 

The steps laid out are very common-sense, like limiting use of force and ending for-profit policing. It’s hopeful that lately, in the last couple days, the use of choke holds and strangle holds is being looked at, because those moves, especially on handcuffed and unarmed citizens, is completely reprehensible. 

I encourage you all to take a look. 

Link: 

https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision

[mythfact]

putting money where the mouth is essentially

I’m encouraging everyone to donate to these organizations. If you believe that our social interaction with police needs to change, if you can see that African Americans and other ���minorities” are more adversely affected by interacting with the police than white counterparts, if you know that police shooting into peaceful protests with rubber bullets and spraying teargas, as well as being able to get away with total impunity the violent and fatal acts that have occurred in the last 5 years, but especially the last couple of weeks- then please, put your money where your mouth is. 

With Actblue, it splits the donation evenly between all of them, or you can choose which individual organizations you want to support in the quest for racial justice:

Black Lives Matter Global Network

National Bail Out

Know Your Rights Camp

Black Voters Matter Fund

BYP100

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

The National Police Accountability Project

Color of Change Education Fund

Unicorn Riot

Campaign Zero

Advancement Project

Higher Heights for America

Fair Fight Action

I donated $50- it’s not a lot, but feels like it when I a) don’t have a job anymore with only 1 more paycheck coming at 50% pay and b) don’t know WHEN I will have another job again (hopefully by September) but you know... this is important, I believe in it, and change IS happening, so you know what they say about “put your money where your mouth is”

So that’s what I’m doing.... and I encourage you to do the same, even if it’s $10, or $5. Just sit with it and feel out what’s right for you. What aligns with who you are, and what you believe it?

Links:

 https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision 

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ab_mn?refcode=insta 

#donations

#blacklivesmatter

#end police violence

[mythfact]

Suburbia

Sounds like the invasive drone of lawnmowers  Or the power-rush of a hose turned on a car  Soapy suds running in a river down the street 

The black asphalt hot  The houses all the same   Uniformity equating respectability   The cars all parked in the spots  Garages all full of the deemed necessities  Of living in Suburbia  

One tree for each house, some in bloom  Others simply leafed  Others bare  

Backyards in squares, some with trampolines, like ours  Others, with shaded tents  Veggie boxes  Chairs and tables  (We can see them when we jump on the trampoline) 

Often-   The smell of barbecue  And charcoal on the breeze  Walking by in the evenings,   Smelling dozens of dinners  Multicultural feast for the nostrils  Wishing we could be invited  

Passing neighbors  Nodding and sometimes a smile  A wave, a “hello”  

The one thing I really like from around here  Is that everyone is from different places  India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria  Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria  Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago  A U.N. disguised in a development area  

On the playground every few blocks, children venture out  Even though the equipment is still off bounds   The grass is now free again  It’s a small gift, but it means a lot  After “only walking through” was the rule  For 2 months, and it means, if nothing else 

You can stand around and talk to people  Run into neighbors you sort of know  Again, and the kids and I-   We can fly kites  We can wave to their friends  They can run together 

And I ran into a neighbor   With a dog that is a big fan of mine  They had a new puppy too  And I got to say hi to both of them  Get jumped on and licked  And although I washed my hands when I got home  I felt ok, more than ok, with it.  

Funny how this poem started out a little dark and sad,   And in the end, it’s really about-   Connection,   And the necessity for public spaces  Places we can all be   Without having or needing a plan   Places for spontaneity  To just see each other, and talk, and be.  

[mythfact]

Discovered the BBC Myths and Legends playlist, and this piece on looking for trolls in Iceland is so well done- all of the people interviewed, as well as the narrator- are all so lovely. I want to go and have tea and a walk with all of them. 

My favorite stories were of the Whey Well and the Troll Bath. The idea of our cultural narratives influencing ecological/human interaction when those stories COME from the landscape- that’s something that really speaks to me. 

It also reminds me that when I landed on the name “mythfact” for this blog, it had something to do with my curiosity and wondering about the space between the things that we culturally believe as a society “myths” and then the “facts”- aka the truth, the objective details. 

If anyone ever wants to join me in going to Iceland to traipse around the countryside, let me know- I’m in! 

[mythfact]

Learned a new word this morning: Shambolic

sham·bo·lic| ˌSHamˈbälik | adjective informal, mainly British chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged: the department's shambolic accounting. 

----

I’m a fan of how the word sounds like its meaning. I read it in relation to Pete Davidson from an NYT article about his new film coming out: The King of Staten Island. 

I like to write down and write about new words I learn as I learn them- that way, they are more likely to stick, both in my mind, and in my vernacular. 

When I was younger, I used to be teased and even bullied for having a “large” vocabulary, which I found laughable, because I knew that there were so many words that I  didn’t know. I just found other people’s vocabulary (my peers- high schoolers) deplorable and... hmmm... what’s a nice way to put it? Boring, uninspired, flat. Limited. 

Some of these bullies (I guess they felt threatened?) asked me if I went home and just read the dictionary. I always answerd No, or ignored them, but the truth is, I couldn’t even look up one word in the dictionary, because I would get distracted and end up reading a ton of words and definitions. Now, I’m grateful for the “look up” method of the internet because it lets me get right to the word I’m looking for, but I also miss the meandering paths that I sometimes took when I opened the actual book. I enjoy the feeling of reaching for a word, a  specific word, which means exactly what I need it to mean, and finding it. I get frustrated when I forget a word, or can’t quite get to it. And then when it comes back- what satisfaction! What absolute relief! 

Maybe this is also why I like learning languages. The way humans express themselves and communicate is endlessly fascinating to me. 

[mythfact]

This piece introduced me to a new word: misogynoir- depicting both misogyny and racism, for the prejudice exhibited specifically against Black Women. The total erasure from history, historical paintings, and the narrative illustrate this term precisely.