It was 60F /15.5 C a week ago and close to that on the day after! I even dried laundry out on the clothesline. Then fake spring the second came to a screeching halt last Tuesday night while James and I were out on neighborhood patrol. The wind was already gusting and then it started sleeting. If you have ever had sleet slamming into your face you are currently cringing and thinking, ouch! If you have never had the pleasure, perhaps you have had sand or small bits of gravel grit whipped against your bare skin? Now pretend they are ice instead. It’s a barrage of cold needle pricks. And when you think it can’t get any worse, one hits you in the eye.

We stuck it out a little longer because we had reported two ICE-y vehicles prowling the neighborhood and we wanted to be able to send an update if they slunk by again. But when you have to put your hands up over your eyes to protect them from the sleet, it is kind of hard to see what else is happening on the other side of your mittens. So we reluctantly called it a night and went home and crawled into bed early for a little relaxing reading time.

Minneapolis has dropped like a stone out of the headlines since the government announced the anti-immigration surge was over. But, while there are fewer Department of Homeland Security agents here—nobody knows how many, some report 180 and some 900 and both got these numbers from the government (my guess is closer to 900)—there are still abductions happening every day. Since Bovino and Noem have been fired the abductions have become quieter and more targeted rather than the in-your-face performances requiring tear gas thrown into peaceful crowds and gallons of pepper spray aimed at anyone who dares to stop and look and question what is going on.

But they are getting ready for something and we don’t know what, though there are guesses. Over the last several days ICE has taken delivery of over 100 new SUVs at headquarters. None of them have yet been driven off the base. I suspect they are planning on something for March 17th, the day the protected status for Somali refugees expires. Thing is though, something like 90-95% of Somalis in Minnesota are United States citizens, having either been naturalized or born here. However, according to the Star Tribune (local paper), there are 2,500 Somalis who currently have protected status in the United States and most of them live in Minnesota (gift link). If you have been paying attention, you know the disgusting things the President has said about Somalia and Somali people, including Ilhan Omar my Congressional Representative. Except none of this is about immigration to begin with, but rather a terror campaign conducted in an effort to consolidate authoritarian power.

Kind of like the war Trump started against Iran, which by a number of reports, appears that Trump was pressed into it by the Israeli government.  Spend a little time thinking about what that means. And while you’re at it, take a look at some recent reporting about plans for Gaza. If those reconstruction plans go through some people will be making a lot of money and they won’t be Palestinian.

It’s hard to know what is going on with Trump these days, he is seriously boffo and even more incoherent by the second. He accuses people of covering up for Biden and his problems, I can only imagine how much is being covered up with Trump. Actually, I don’t want to try and imagine it because it is just too horrific. It will all come out eventually but by then it will be far too late. So we continue to suffer from his incomprehensible whims and desire for revenge and self-aggrandizement. We’re spending over a billion dollars a day on an unnecessary war but somehow have no money to fund health care or food stamps or anything for people who actually need help instead of billionaires whose only goal in life is to have the biggest bank account, everyone and everything else be damned. What sad, broken men they are, and they are pretty much all men. 

I wish I could say fake spring part 3 or even real spring has arrived, but there is currently a blizzard going on outside my windows. We were on foot patrol Saturday afternoon and in an amazingly accurate for a change forecast, it began snowing only ten minutes before the winter storm watch went into effect. It’s been snowing since then, though I can’t tell how much has fallen because the 24 mph winds are whipping it all around.

I did a first round of shoveling early this morning after breakfast and there was about 6 inches/ 15 cm of heavy, sticky snow. I haven’t been out since, but will need to venture out at some point. Added to the insult of the snow and wind, temperatures by Monday night will be subzero F /-18 C.

Meanwhile, indoors, the seedlings are doing great. I have already had to raise the grow light above the tomatoes. It might not be spring outside, but it is spring in my kitchen and in my heart.

One of the best things about getting connected with neighbors for ICE watch and mutual aid, is also finding other ways to connect. I am now part of a neighborhood garden group who will be raising extra veg for the purpose of donating it to the neighborhood food shelf. A couple folks have organized a seed swap for next weekend. Yesterday I went through all my seeds and made up quite a few envelopes of tomato, bean, squash, herb and flower seeds to share. In sharing my seeds I have no plans to bring home any new seeds. Does anyone want to wager on how many seed packets I come home with?

Life has gotten increasingly busier and rewarding, but I have also made sure to take time to rest. Some days I don’t feel like I have rested enough, but I do what I can. Yesterday, life was a pie full of cherries. Well, and today too because leftovers. Saturday was Pi Day y’all, at least in the weird way Americans write our dates. To celebrate the magic of 3.14, James made cherry pie. The cherries are from the garden cherry bushes and have been waiting quietly in the freezer since August. James also made vanilla ice cream. Not exactly ice cream weather as it turned out, but with hot coffee and tea and warm pie it was all perfect. And there is still some leftover so I will get to enjoy it a third time.

I’ve also been enjoying some great books. I am in the midst of Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, and enjoying it immensely. Also reading Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times by Tracy K. Smith. I enjoy reading poets analyzing poetry and Smith is really good at it, meaning she doesn’t write in academic jargon but everyday language. The book is about overcoming the fear of poetry, which I don’t have but I know many people do, as well as a discussion about the importance of poetry, especially in uncertain times. It is a slim book that I am slowly savoring.

Then there is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney and Mothers of the Novel by Dale Spender both of which I am reading because of Marcie at Buried in Print, darn her! I’m not far along in either book, but they are tickling something I need at the moment, and I find myself thinking about them and the novelists they write about even when I am not reading the books. I have already made a reading date with a friend to do a summer read together of Frances Burney’s Evelina. No doubt, there will be other novels sneaking onto my TBR pile.

As for poetry, I am reading June Jordan, Marie Howe, and Wendy Barker. All of them very different and all of them very good.

And with that, I have a few handwritten notes yet to write, some snow to assess, a couple chores to finish, some yoga to ease my tired muscles, and some books to fall into. And perhaps a second helping of pie.

Send warm, melty spring thoughts my way please!