#37 — Life Goes On I Guess
Janie
This past week has been busy, not particularly interesting, but also not bad. We celebrated Labor Day with m side of the family. All the cousins had fun together after being apart for a few weeks. Thursday we had Liturgy in the morning, celebrating the Feast of Ascension and swim class in the evening. Ginny has left the country and is spending her days throwing back mango and watermelon juice (on tap) at a tropical resort. While she’s away, we have been given her cat to look after which has been the biggest thrill for our family in quite some time. The girls are still squealing with joy every time the cat enters the room. Shrieking with laughter every time he moves. I have to admit, I’ll be sad when it comes time to take him back home. Aside from all the excitement about the cat, the usual mundane weekly things happened, feeling just as tedious as ever. I went through all the motions, but my mind has been elsewhere.
I can’t get North City off my mind. It’s still a pretty dismal situation. The roads have been mostly cleared at least, but the looting is becoming a huge problem. I hadn’t learned this until recently, but St Louis bricks are valuable. So people are literally having their homes stolen. Brick thieves... how absurd. Of course, the copper is being stripped as well but that was very expected. I never would have thought that people would need to guard their bricks. And there actually are some men standing outside their homes armed and ready to protect what’s left of their houses, a lot of which have been passed down through multiple generations. It’s a heartbreaking situation because although so many neighbors have come together, trying so hard to make the best of things, there are a few others.. who are not so helpful. And the damage they’re causing is so much more that just the loss of material. It’s perpetuating the narrative that these neighborhoods are dangerous - full of criminals and now highlighting “irresponsible” homeowners who don’t have insurance. North City is just a list of alarming statistics to most, so when tragedy strikes.. everyone gets shoved in the same category and there’s not much sympathy to go around. While it’s true that these neighborhoods aren’t safe, what’s not talked about nearly enough is that they’re a tight knit community - mostly honest and hard working families. I wholeheartedly believe that all these families have been denied care because the mayor wants them out. I think we’re about to witness another massive land grab that could expedite St. Louis’s transition into a smart city. And I don’t know how to stop it.
Anyway, that was my rant about the Delmar Divide.
I normally post my letters to you on Saturday mornings but we were out kayaking.. so I’ll just mention that I had a great time and I’m even more confident about our trip! We’ve proven to be more capable than I thought possible (specifically in regards to our perseverance through the struggles of unscrewing the two very stuck side air chambers of the kayak). Now I know there’s isn’t anything we can’t handle! Unless something reallllly bad happens.
The next day, I drove with Turnip alllll the way down to the Ozark’s to pick up a butchered cow. We chucked over 700 lbs into the back seat of the truck, covered all the meat with blankets, and prayed that everything would stay frozen for the three hour drive back home (surprisingly, it did).
I’m very excited to make some stews with the tail and tongue to help reset my gut health. I’ll take pictures of everything if all goes well. I’m going to attempt to freeze dry some of the liver and put it into capsules to take. If I can figure out how to do it correctly, maybe I can mail you some! They’re so expensive to buy online…
Anyway, I hope all this beef can help up my energy levels because I feel terrible and tired. I’ve really been neglecting by diet this past month and I’m starting to feel it. I’m going to need as much energy as I can get for all the paddling we’ll need for successful island hopping.
-Lydia