I was busy yesterday, and didn't get onto social media until late afternoon - which was the first I learned of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.  Given the pervasive  atmosphere of hate and violence (spurred on by constant inciteful rally rhetoric and tweets by Donnie) none of it is surprising... though I am at a loss for an adjective "bad enough".

I had started my day (after a relaxing soak) by dropping off bags and bags of clothing at Park Meadows (my closet and drawers are less stuffed now, though still need additional mucking), and then helping Patti and Gary with their yard sale.  Did come home from there with a few items: two outdoor chairs to replace the falling-apart ones for the patio at the back house, a Tupperware container large enough for all the leftover beef stew, and a jellyfish Beanie Baby for Latina to replace the penguin toy that is finally beginning to disintegrate.   My neighbor Edie stopped by the sale so we got  a chance to chat, and I also took a pic of shopper Walt in his Kodiak, Alaska t-shirt:

 In the afternoon Tom and I made a trip down to Bookman's, 

where I found a copy of Ella Minnow Pea.

  Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal phrase containing all the letters of the alphabet, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” 

Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island’s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl’s fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

Tom found a number of books by an author he's been enjoying lately, but after the store announced it was buy-3-get-1-free he was 'forced' to go back to the stacks to find a couple more.  On the way home we made an unplanned stop at 31 Flavors, where I pigged out on two scoops (Rocky Road and Mint Chocolate Chip) so I really wasn't hungry for dinner.

  

Did worry all that chocolate might keep me awake, but I was falling asleep early in the evening, and easily could have crashed at 7:30.  Luckily I was able to force myself to stay awake (without resorting to toothpicks!) until a more reasonable hour.

Marcie and Latina came over to the park for a bit shortly after we arrived home.  Latina was her usual cheerful self, chasing the frisbee and penguin, but Marcie is struggling because the fourth anniversary of her son's Thanksgiving murder is approaching.  

Of course there isn't anything I can do to lessen her grief, just give her hugs and let her know she can cry and fall apart here all she wants.  

Unfortunately instead of getting "better", she says the annual sadness seems to start earlier and earlier each year, which is not what she "expected".  She is not the only friend I have who has lost a child (sadly I can list way too many!) and I don't know how anyone ever "recovers" from that loss.

After Marcie headed home (with the last quilt of hers I'd been doing the hand-sewing on!) I got on my computer, which is when I learned of the latest hate-crime horror, resulting in yet many more grieving families.  Things have gotten worse these past two years, with Trumpers feeling "validated" for their hateful beliefs, in no small part actually encouraged by his ongoing litany of comments supporting violent actions.  

If only they would adopt this sort of hate:

It's increasingly difficult to stay positive in world where it seems that the news reports, almost daily, on a new "unthinkable" horror, and we are faced yet again with having to think about what should be UNTHINKABLE!