Up early today thanks to Silas the Cat who for some reason thought it was time to wake us up even though the sun wasn’t even up yet. So I got to see the sunrise which I don’t get to see much these days. The birds are singing this morning and I’m quite enjoying the quiet.
There’s been a lot of happenings in the neighborhood this week. Machines of all sorts have been very loud all week, though, thankfully, it’s all been outside the fence. Inside the fence, our amazing yard guy finished our fire pit and brought some hay bales for us to set up a fall display behind the pit for J-Dawg’s birthday weekend. We will be picking up pumpkins, gourds, and mums at Hughes to complete the look.
There’s not much left to do in the yard though we are still getting tomatoes thanks to my wife’s gardening prowess. I’m so grateful to her for all she does so that I have time to write and read. As such, I was able to get two more books finished this week.
Book 70
Oath and Honor – written and narrated by Liz Cheney.
So much about this woman’s politics I wholeheartedly disagree with, but her incredible fortitude in facing and defying the lies of MAGA, knowing she was committing political suicide, has earned her my gratitude and respect. This book was hard to listen to at times because I felt triggered by the actual audio of events she placed in the book. Listening to it near September 11th didn’t help. All the anger and disgust I felt back then resurfaced commingled with the despair and it was hard to stomach at times. But it was a good reminder about why getting Kamala Harris elected is so very important. Joy and hope are great antidotes for despair.
Book 71
Lush Lives – by J. Vanessa Lyon
This Sapphic romance is about a character who has ties to an actual Harlem Renaissance author. The story revolves around the mystery of who she was and how she was connected to the aunt whose brownstone the MC inherited. I love how well the historical real-life person was woven into the fictional love story.
I’m still a bit behind my book count for the year, but I’m almost finished with two more novels. I’ve also downloaded the next book club book and the most recent library book that dropped off from the hold list.
With so much reading you’d probably guess that not much else has been happening and you’d be right. However, I was required to complete paperwork for my, hopefully final, security background check, which is done every 5 years. So many new questions to answer this go-round.
Some of the questions were very interesting as they were about whether or not I have ever participated in an insurrection or if I have ever associated with anyone who had. These questions have never been asked on any clearance background questionnaire I’ve completed before. I can’t imagine why they are asking them now, said no one.
Also new were the questions about my wife and in-laws. Some of the info for my in-laws Tennessee was able to provide or I had from when we filled out the application for our marriage license. But Uncle SAM requires more info than the State, so I got to learn a few more things about them. I apologized for having to put them through the background check but now that they are family it’s part of the package.
I’m not really worried that anything will pop up to preclude my clearance, but wouldn’t it be kind of cool if they turned out to be notorious fugitives? Now there’s an interesting story line that I might have to explore…hmmm.
Have a great week y’all.
Baby Gay When You're Fat and Gray - All Grown Up 