ceciliatan

We made it to the end of July! \o/ If you have completed some of your medium-term goals or subgoals, and/or you're still chugging away at your ongoing goals, then pat yourself on the back. You worked hard for that. We're now most of the way through summer. If you're doing seasonal goals, hopefully you have made good progress on the summer batch.

This year I'm trying something new, continuing to track goals at the end of each month. So far it seems to be helping, so that's encouraging. I'm looking at my goal list more often and trying to keep ticking off more of them. The main drawback is that this update becomes more of a chore each month.

These are the previous check in posts:
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 4
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 10
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 17
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 24
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In February 28
New Year's Resolutions Check In March 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In April 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In May 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In June 30

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This poem is the freebie for the July crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by himejoshiheart. It also fills "The Wayward Wind" square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo Fest.

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Today is partly cloudy, humid, and hot.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I picked 2 red cherry tomatoes and a Cherokee Purple tomato.

Some of the goldenberries and ground cherries have little fruit lanterns on them. :D

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I potted up 2 white peach and 2 white nectarine seeds.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I took a few pictures around the yard.

Cicadas are singing.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Shanidar 1 is probably the most famous disabled person in history: missing an arm, blind in one eye, hard of hearing or deaf, mobility impaired, and more. He belonged to a Neanderthal family who exerted maximum effort to keep him alive, far beyond the typical lifespan of the time. Because he strove to survive, and they helped, his story lives on through his bones -- concrete proof that compassion, not brute force, is part of what made us human from the very beginning. The ability to care for each other, and to value people for themselves, not just for what they could contribute, made a difference in our survival.

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Israel is not a lawful state

Heartbreaking testimonies gathered from medical staff, parents of children hospitalized for malnutrition and displaced Palestinians struggling to survive paint a horrifying picture of acute levels of starvation and desperation in Gaza. Their accounts provide further evidence of the catastrophic suffering caused by Israel’s ongoing restrictions on life-saving aid and its deadly militarized aid scheme coupled with mass forced displacement, relentless bombardment and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.

Even worse, the food aid stations are set up as bait, drawing out parents of starving children to be gunned down by Israeli snipers.

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Today is mostly sunny and sweltering.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I found a cinnamon fern sprouting in the forest garden.  :D  I never know what will suddenly spring up from things I planted earlier.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a pair of mourning doves.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I checked the garden but nothing was ripe.

However, I think I've got a good start on my landrace zinnias.  There is a nice cluster of purple and red ones where I planted the seeds gathered from the Charleston Food Forest last fall.  :D  Now I just have to hope that these do a good job of setting seed.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I walked out to the north end of the yard today.  The telephone pole garden has balsam, gladioli, sunflowers, and zinnias blooming.  :D  Naked ladies are putting up flower stalks nearby, but none have opened yet.

I picked a couple of blackberries from the late-fruiting bush.  Wildflowers are blooming all over the prairie garden.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
 

This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Books and Learning." I'll be soliciting ideas for readers, writers, storytellers, scribes, editors, publishers, students, teachers, caregivers, children, parents, bookworms, nerds, bookstore owners, librarians, an anonymous benefactor, activists, volunteers, superheroes, supervillains, other bookish people, reading, writing, delighting the reader, editing, publishing, bookbinding, shopping for books, telling stories, teaching, inviting students to a lesson, demonstrating tools, educating the whole child, learning, studying, parenting, lending a hand, cooperating, concentrating on a current task, volunteering, supporting people in hard times, respecting people, modeling manners and skills, learning to trust others, observing the environment, engaging all the senses, cultivating a full life, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, choosing your own goals, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, making mistakes, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, other educational activities, books, scrolls, magical tomes, printing presses, pens and pencils, bookstores, libraries, Little Free Libraries, book nooks, windowseats, Montessori schools, other alternative schools, preschools or daycares, Montessori homeschool, prepared environment, colleges and universities, beautiful places, craft centers, community centers, coffeehouses, outdoor classrooms, parks, nature centers, other spaces designed for learning, Triton Teen Centers, mentor circles, intentional communities, clubs, quiet rooms, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, the Lacuna,  the Aqademy of the Qrossroads, Waldorf toys, Montessori materials, intrinsic motivation, child independence, respect for the child, freedom to choose, freedom of time and uninterrupted work periods, absorbent mind, post-traumatic growth, individualized education, three-part cards, language lessons, mathematics, diverse ages and abilities, self-correcting toys and lessons, natural consequences, freedom of movement, intentional neighboring, diversity, inclusivity, emotional closeness, nonsexual intimacies, first contact, rescue, interspecies relationships, trial and error, trust issues, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One involves education and reading in the Lacuna.

Arts and Crafts America focuses on fine arts and practical crafts, sometimes education.  Bookbinding would be a logical craft.

The Bear Tunnels has future books in a past culture.

Daughters of the Apocalypse have to rediscover many historic skills for survival, including earlier methods of sharing knowledge.

Frankenstein's Family has two scientists teaching villagers to be thoughtful instead of stupid, and after a few years, several more people keenly interested in books and education.

Not Quite Kansas started with mishandling a book of spells, and involves trying to learn about a whole new world.

Path of the Paladins includes the Canticle of Thorns and other books.

Peculiar Obligations has Quakers in organized crime.  The Religious Society of Friends has been greatly involved in education, including abolitionist and natural science publications.

Polychrome Heroics is largely about people learning things.  Threads particularly focused on this include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Aquariana, the Big One, Danso and Family, Dr. Infanta, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Quixotic Ideas is set in a world with plenty of magic and a positive tone, where people often help each other and solve challenges peacefully.  It includes a healthy magical school.

Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they learn a lot along the way.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

( New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

Today is Don't Be a Dick Day. Pass the word and celebrate with your friends.  Here are some more resources...

GG's Op-Ed Articles, Part 1: Trash Talking and Good Sportsmanship in Competitive Video Games

How to Be Polite

RuneScape:Don't be a dick

The Ultimate Game Night: 31 Ideas & How to Host One

Wheaton's Law: Don't be a dick. (video)

WHY SPORTSMANSHIP MATTERS