I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. #nablopomo2020
Five Things Friday: just five things I’m thinking about or things that made my week, or things that I otherwise feel like sharing.
Hey, can I hear from all the pandemic-sourdough starter parents out there? A) are you still maintaining your starter, and b) what are you baking?
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Be honest with me: do you guys know any bloggers that support Trump? I am asking this because I want to know if I am living in a bubble because all my blog friends expressed such huge relief about the outcome of this presidential election. Which makes me wonder, do Trump supporters not blog, or are they just not as outspoken on social media (except on Facebook, where I apparently also don’t know any Trump supporters but one, which I recently “purged” from my friend’s list).
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On that note, as excited as I’ve been this week about our newly elected president-and vice-president-elect (they just flipped Arizona, baby!), I still feel exhausted by the fact that Trump hasn’t conceded and keeps up the shenanigans with the voter fraud allegation. Of course, according to him (and his minions), voter fraud only happened in the states where he lost. Naturally. I just can’t with the whole bunch. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security calls this “the most secure election in American history”.
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Sacramento County slipped back into the highest Covid-tier this week (purple = widespread) and I think some businesses/restaurants are ordered to close again. The direction in which this pandemic is heading right now – right before Thanksgiving – is not good (the US had the highest single-day record of new COVID-cases yet) and we badly need some leadership in the White House to fight this pandemic. Am I tired of it all? Yes, but that doesn’t mean the virus is gone. Jon and I are planning to (continue to) hunker down and I hope you’re doing the same. Don’t risk your health and the health of your loved ones over a turkey dinner.
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If you missed yesterday’s post, the sign-up for the Secret Santa (Mug) Swap 2020 is now open (and you have time to sign up until November, 19th if you need more time to think about it). A few people have already committed, and I’d love for you to join us.
Have a great weekend!
Lisa of lisa’s Yarns
November 13, 2020 at 7:26 amI don’t know any bloggers who support Trump. I made a comment on a blog about our governor’s thanksgiving precautions (10 or less ppl from no more than 3 families) and said I hope people, especially republicans, followed his advice. I got 3-4 responses to my comment about how terrible it was to lump all republicans together. And in hindsight, it was. I regret saying it. In my family, compliance/respect for the guidelines falls along party lines (most of my family voted for trump) but I shouldn’t have assumed that all republicans disregarded Covid guidelines. I thought no republicans read this blog but clearly they do. So I do need to be careful about how I phrase things.
All that said, things are bad here too. Our positivity rate is around 15%. The state is asking all 18-35yo to get tested since they are the ones spreading Covid. I don’t know how much that will help. I’m trying to focus on the fact that I can’t control the behavior of others and can only control how we manage our risk. I am nervous about thanksgiving as my parents are celebrating with 2 siblings and their families and then they come here less than a week later to care for Paul when we have my c section. We are having them get tested on Monday so they will have results by Wednesday. If they are still healthy on Wednesday I think we can trust that they didn’t get it. But it adds another layer of stress to the week of my delivery. I am glad this is the only holiday we will have to stress about though. They can gather on Christmas if they want – we won’t be coming and won’t allow visitors who have celebrated holidays… or visitors in general really.
San
November 15, 2020 at 11:50 amIt must be hard to know that most of your family voted for Trump. Do you ever talk about politics with them? I mean, I know you said you were leaning Republican before Trump, but doesn’t this man change their minds at all?
I think we have to be very vigilant in the weeks going forward!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
November 14, 2020 at 12:11 amI do not think I have any blogging friends that support Trump. Unfortunately lots of people on Facebook are from my days I lived in Idaho. And you know how that state votes for all of history as far as I am aware. I used to be there when Clinton was elected and it was very upsetting for me. The elections following Bush/Obama and Trump I tried to stay clear of FB because I felt like I need to unfriend the whole bunch of them. It is really soul wrenching. But I did share many fun memories with those people too…
San
November 15, 2020 at 11:51 amIt’s interesting how some of the politics are really tied to geographic areas. I mean, I know there are Trump supporters here in California, I just don’t know any myself.
sara
November 14, 2020 at 6:43 amI think – in many cases – you can identify those bloggers either by their silence OR by their posting of “how you treat people is more important than your vote.” I unfollowed people for the latter comment because I think it’s ridiculous that people want to pretend that how their president has treated people is okay, fair, or good. Like the above comment, I’ve found a lot of those comments to be soul wrenching, particularly from people I know well. This election was a deal breaker for me though. I’ll be cordial, but it feels like a violation of our shared morality. Does that make sense?
We got an alert last night that Texas has passed 1M cases… and still… I don’t foresee changes yet. I’m trying to prepare for them professionally… but the lack of response from our state feels worrisome. I’m trying to come up with fun ideas for menus and cooking to keep Thanksgiving from feeling impossibly sad. It was already a hard holiday for me and I’m dreading it even more so this year. Hoping that getting creative in the kitchen will help.
San
November 15, 2020 at 11:52 amThat’s a good point, Sara. I’ve only really had 2-3 social media friends who have expressed those kinds of sentiments. I am all for difference of opinion on politics in general, but in regards to Covid and some of the horrendous things Trump stands for, I can’t really accept that people still voted for him.
anne
November 18, 2020 at 2:18 pmI do follow some bloggers with, shall we say, VERY different political leanings than I. I like some of their other content (e.g., SUYB posts) so if I start reading something that is too overtly political, I’ll simply close it and walk away.
What’s fascinating to me are the people who comment on blogs that are more focused on things like fitness, or motherhood (I have a very diverse blog feed, apparently? since I’m not a mother? and I follow my own fitness plan? :>) when the blogger makes a political statement (99% of the time I agree with the blogger, just fyi). For example, one motherhood / “healthy living” blogger whose blog I’ve read for years posted that she was thrilled with the election results, and she got innumerable comments that spewed hatred at her and her family. People saying they would never read her blog again, she was completely wrong, she had “no right” to post on that since she doesn’t write a political blog (??). I don’t understand why people can’t just navigate away, or unfollow without commenting, if they disagree with someone’s political leanings.
Sorry, this is super-long, but I’m also simultaneously saddened and happy that Lisa is in the same position I am of knowing several people – family members and others with whom I used to be very close – who voted (again) for Trump. It colors my interactions with them, even if we’re not talking politics. Which we never do anymore.
OK, I’ll be quiet now. Sorry. :)