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Three Good Things for Tuesday, March 19th

It snuck up on me that today was the Vernal Equinox. Usually we try to recognize the equinoxes and solstices but nobody had the gusto. I sure didn't - I've got a Dreaded Task on Friday looming over me, and had to clean up both a cat puke and a cat carpet-poo tonight, so am feeling at my very least reverent. 

In spite of the extra work and the occasional grossness, these two guys are pretty swell. Look, they're learning to snuggle!


Okay, that was the 1st thing, on to the rest.


2. Rosemary Mosco.

Rosemary is an artist, writer, and speaker whose passion for the natural world is evident in her (often ornithological) cartoons from her website https://www.birdandmoon.com. Her father died last month, and today on Facebook she posted a beautiful and heartbreaking comic about her grief: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/9WqspK6q1ZaumMoe/?mibextid=oFDknk.

Grief is so universal and at the same time so horribly particular, and it can be hard to capture or communicate. Embracing the fragmented aspect of the experience and reflecting it in the loose connections between the five pages of this comic helps get across how grief takes us to pieces.


3.  School Spirit and Civic Pride.


When Sarah gives me a ride to the hospital we drive past the elementary school our two youngest kids attend. This morning the principal was out front helping the kids who got selected for flag duty to sort things out. The portion of the school visible in the background was originally built in 1906, and is the oldest school in Madison. The flags that Mr Wallace is helping with are the American flag, the Wisconsin state flag, and the Pride progress flag. It's a small thing, and maybe a little corny, but it made me feel hopeful to see this small example of a better world coming into being through this ritual of civic pride, this small declaration of belonging.

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