An act of petty cruelty

 I witnessed an act of petty cruelty today that has left me rather shaken. 

I was at Jay Cooke State Park, walking down to the swinging bridge to get my weekly photo, when I saw two teenage girls watching the tiniest snake I’ve ever seen sunning itself on the sidewalk. From where I was, about 10-15 feet away, it looked like an earthworm.  Suddenly, a woman returning from the bridge walked right up to the girls, looked down, and deliberately stomped on the baby snake. I looked right into her face and noticed three things: she had dark hair, she was wearing a black sundress, and she was grinning as she walked away.

"Oh, I think she might’ve just killed it!" one of the teenagers exclaimed in dismay. 

"Is it a snake?" I asked when I reached them a couple of seconds later.  The proportions were all wrong for an earthworm. Far too slender and quick-moving to be a worm.  

"Yes," the girl answered as she walked slowly away.  

The snake, which was no more than 4" long and maybe 1/4" wide, didn't appear badly damaged. I didn't see any blood, but it flipped momentarily onto its back, exposing its red belly, which is not the behavior of a healthy snake.   I spent a few moments moving the snake off the sidewalk - it was so tiny I couldn't get ahold of it on the cement, so I scooted it off the sidewalk and into the grass where I was finally able to pick it up and place it in the shade, where it could either recover or die unmolested.  

That woman's actions harmed and probably painfully killed a tiny harmless snake (her behavior may well have been illegal, too - killing wildlife in a state park?), but horrified three other people who aren't going to forget her vicious act.  

I will be honest: I wanted to assault that woman. And call her obscene names.  But I did neither because I was just frozen.

... In which the family makes mixed media postcards together

Reverse side (modified rubber stamp)

My family is fortunate enough to live near my favorite place in the world: Lake Superior.  Chris and I have been coming up to Duluth since before we got married (and in fact, when we got stressed out from wedding planning, we escaped up here the weekend before the wedding).

Then, almost 2 years ago, I started a photography project, taking a weekly photo at Minnesota Point, a park/neighborhood in Duluth that separates Lake Superior from Superior Bay.  At the end of the year, I created a slide show that puts a year of the stark beauty of the place on display:

A big social outlet for me is a group on Ravelry (a site for knitters/crocheters) called Remrants, and they do a "RAK" (Random Act of Kindness) postcard exchange every summer.  On a whim, I decided to sign up, and I had the great idea to make our own postcards. I wanted it to be modeled after the photos in the slide show, and I wanted to incorporate sand collected from that beach, and paint it using watercolors moistened with actual lake water collected from that spot. I had also wanted to use leaves from that bush, but that didn't work out.  

Kivi's block and initial print.

But somewhere along the way, my daughter joined in the planning. She had taken a print-making class her senior year at University, and and I don't know if it was her idea or mine, but she hand-carved a block depicting the bush (without leaves) and a few wisps of beach grass. I LOVED it.   She also hand-carved a tiny ore-carrier ship out of an eraser, which I loved, too.  

Samples of paint, print, and sand.

We made a trip out to the point to collect some sand and water, and ... Kivi and I made a few test samples, and ... then I trouble getting it going. 

Finally, we got set up and had set aside weekend time to knock them out.  I went for a walk, and when I returned, I found that Kivi had gotten started with the water colors (and yes, she used lake water to moisten the paint), and invited her dad to join her, and between the two of them, they'd finished half of the 32 I needed (31 for the exchange, and one extra). And to my delight, no two were alike. They'd experimented with the (lake) watercolors, seeing what kind of sky/water/beach effects worked best.   

The next day, I did the remaining 16, continuing their experimentation.  Once everything was dry, Kivi did the printing, continuing to experiment and hone her skills.  After the ink had dried for 24 hours, Chris and I did the leaves using acrylic paints and dotting tools in one evening.  Then in two more evenings, I spread glue and sprinkled sand on the beach.  

It's funny - I can see where each of us brought our own talents to the table. Chris was clearly the bolder leaf-maker, willing to push the technique in dramatic ways. I got some good ones myself, but mostly because I emulated what he was doing.  The watercolors had moments of beauty from each of us (but it's often hard to identify which were done by a specific person) and of course, there's Kivi's print.  It ended up being fun, kind of a pain in the ass, but satisfying, too.

Here are all 32 (click to enlarge):

As American as Apple Pie - Armchair Critics and Simone Biles

Agência Brasil Fotografias,
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

    There are few things more American than apple pie, but apparently one of them is to criticize others.  (Oddly, the people who seem most likely to say, "You have no right to judge me!" frequently seem to be the same ones who don't hesitate to judge others. But I digress.) But there's a person out there who is being judged, and judged, and judged. Not just on balance beam, but in the court of public opinion.

    I'm talking about a woman whom I idolize just a little bit: Simone Biles, who though she be but little, she is fierce.  She's our very own GOAT (Greatest of All Time for my older readers) gymnast, who at 27 is still winning gold in a sport where people start to wash out by 20.  

    But just in the last several weeks, I've seen people criticize Simone Biles for:

1. Her hair

    Apparently, people think her hair needs to be perfect when she's flying through the air at the Olympics, and at her wedding a year or so ago.   The only appropriate thing to say to a woman at her wedding is, "You look GREAT, and I'm so happy for you!" or as she wins a gold medal at the Paris-freaking-Olympics, it's "You did GREAT, and I'm so proud of you!!!"   And seriously, if people are criticizing her lovely thick hair, what must they think of my unkempt, frizzy, graying, and quite obviously thinning hair? 

2. Her medals

    Holy shit, people are angry because her husband (while wearing her medal) posed for a picture with her. It was cute and funny, and don't you remember that in the 1950s, girls wore their boyfriend's letter jackets? Hell, I came up in the 1980s, and girls were STILL borrowing letter jackets from their dates.  Yeah, it's hers, and yeah, he's wearing it, but honestly, you think people are going to get confused who earned it? That if he puts it on and dreams of winning gold, that it somehow diminishes her win?  Besides, if she had a problem with him wearing it, I doubt she would have happily posed with him, nor posted the picture (which is really cute and fun).

3. Her attitude on the podium

    I kid you not - in the video of her team atop the podium being awarded the gold medal, the women were standing with their hands on their hearts, eyes sparkling, smiling, excited, and happy.  They gazed respectfully at the flag, but instead of feeling pride and joy on their behalf, people online bitched that the American gymnasts were too snobby to sing along with the anthem, like the athletes from other countries. There is no winning, because if they HAD sung, people would have complained they weren't solemn enough.

4. Dropping out of the LAST Olympics

    Jesus, people, maybe we should just trust Simone when she says it was too dangerous for her to compete.  The "twisties" are a real thing, and they are incredibly dangerous.  When someone is tumbling through the air, they need to know where their body is, and she didn't. I'm no gymnast, but I am a pretty good swimmer (not world-class by any means, but I did the swim team and lifeguarding thing), and one time I was once playing in the ocean and got tumbled by a wave, and suddenly, I couldn't tell which way was up, I was running out of air, and for a few terrifying moments, I thought I was going to drown in waist-deep water.  Now imagine yourself flying through the air and not knowing where the ground is.  Or imagine driving a car, and your brakes go out.  You really think it's so unreasonable for someone to refuse to drive the car until the brakes are fixed? Yeah, it's a shame she had to drop out, but better that, than sticking the landing on her neck instead of her feet.  Yet, people claimed she failed her country.  I say her country failed her.  People value loyalty so much... yet where was the loyalty to her, one of our greatest athletes?

5. Bringing down Larry Nassar

    She joined the voices accusing the respected Olympic team doctor of sexual abuse.  I really don't get it, but people -- instead of sympathizing with the victims -- often side with the abuser, assuming the victims are just out to get him.  Simone, due to her popularity and success, gets more notice, has more power to be heard.  For many, however, sexual abuse is still something shameful, something to be hidden, and they just cannot approve of the public discussion.  

    In the end, the real issue is that Simone Biles is an outspoken Black woman. She shares memes of her Black job, she claps back at people criticizing her hair, and she puts people in their place when they cross her very reasonable boundaries.  God forbid a woman tell people how to behave, let alone a Black woman.  

    But you know what? She's setting an excellent example for all women, showing us that we no longer need to suffer in silence, that we shouldn't put up with the jerks, that we should take down the abusers, and that she (and we) can set and enforce boundaries.  I don't just idolize her gymnastic talent, but her fierceness, too.  This out-of-shape, middle-aged woman wants to be just like Simone Biles when I grow up.

    I know that with this post, I've joined the ranks of judgemental folks, and yet here I am, clutching my pearls and saying this: you guys can be real assholes. And maybe now I'm one too for saying this next bit, but you need to sit down, shut up, and mind your own damn business.

    And most of all (and I can't believe this needs to be said but apparently it does), when an athlete wins a gold medal, you should be saying things like: "You did GREAT!" or, "Congratulations!" or, "Thank you for your service to our country!"