Maintain a social distance while Dancing in the Street.:)

Thinking about a gofundme for local restaurant workers who survive on tips. Is this workable?

📚Also finished Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. I should have read this years ago.

📚Finished the audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas. Loved the narration by Bill Homewood. It was a bit commitment since the book runs about 55 hours. I was expecting a bit of a swashbuckler, but instead found a morality tale of the dangers of omnipotence without omniscience.

My nephew has made it home from Denmark where he was studying.

Archdiocese of Detroit suspends all public Masses

I admit that I’ve been getting most of my books from Amazon or from our library as ebooks. They are convenient for reading in bed or while traveling, but those are the only advantages. There is nothing to mark up and, worse, there is nothing to share.

I had a short list of books I wanted to buy that friends had recommended and decided to stick with paper this time. I could get that from Amazon as well, but there are still a few independent bookstores left in the area, including one in Rochester. All of these, even those in the Twin Cities, have become sanctuaries for used books. This is a good thing.

Sampling , Ann and I decided to drive up to Red Wing to Fair Trade Books. Although most of their stock is used I was able to find Richard Power’s The Overstory and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.

Fair Trade Books has a custom of giving you a free book on your first visit to the store. The book maven at the store asked what I was currently reading. I had been listening an audiobook version of The Count of Monte Cristo (excellent narration by Bill Homewood by the way). She suggested Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. I had already read that. She then pulled Eco’s The Prague Cemetery from the shelf. I would not have found that book on my own.

If that’s not enough, they even have Reveler, the bookdog.

As for sharing, I’m looking forward to slowly giving my collection away. I have enough books. Why keep them all? Someone else needs to enjoy them.

Check out and give a local bookstore your business.

More ink! I’m probably set for this life and many after.

I’ve been journaling regularly now for over a year and sporadically before that: pen, paper, and text only. I don’t understand journaling like this.

I received three new inks today. Can’t wait to try them out.

I’ve recovered from my norovirus attack and am now basking in a cool breeze off a Dunedin fishing pier. #mbfeb

Today is Sunday, a day of rest. I thought I’d post this peaceful sunset over Lake Superior from last September. #mbfeb

Life today is out of balance. Unwell. Hope to be up to snuff tomorrow. #mbfeb

It’s 75°F here in Dunedin Florida. These blankets at the downtown market spell even extra warmth. #mbfeb

About to rise at MSP. #mbfeb

We ran across this odd attachment at Quase Café in Lisbon last spring. #mbfeb

Lake Superior beach. Plain. Simple. #mbfeb

I found this sign in Dublin this fall when visiting. It was in Merrion Square near the statue of Oscar Wilde. Mathematicians are my heroes. #mbfeb

The lull before the Sunday snowblower symphony. #mbfeb

Sunlit is crashing on my phone on startup. Just started today. Anyone else seeing this?

Contrast. Too many here to count. #mbfeb

My Gwen Ifill stamps have arrived!

Science Hall looms above Park Street on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison WI. #mbfeb

My dear friend, Craig, wrote this plant book. It’s getting quite a good reception. Craig teaches at University of South Florida and St. Petersburg College. You can follow his tales of Florida gardening on his blog: There Were No Fences. #mbfeb

I’m finding that the photos I’m posting for this February challenge are from my everyday life. They’re not art by any means, but tell stories about things or people I encounter that fit the prompt, maybe with a little twist. I think I’ll stay on that track.