Daily Prompt – 1956

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Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.

That’s easy: pet my cat.

Izzy is our 15-year-old baby, and anytime she’s ready for some attention, we’re ready to give it!

Almost every night, once we’re in bed, Izzy comes to one or the other of us, usually alternating between the two. She’s an equal opportunity spoiled kitty

She also likes to get up beside me on the couch, or in the recliner with Mom. But only when she feels like it. You know how they are.

And when she starts up that “purr motor”… there’s just nothing better.

We used to have her sister, Lizzy, as well, but we lost her last November. She loved plenty of attention, too; she really loved it when my wife and I retired a couple of years ago and spent more time at home!

We miss that sweet one every day, but we still have Izzy to give our love to, and I can personally attest to just how much joy it brings.

I have to go without seeing her the next couple of days; already can’t wait to get back home.

Be good, Izzy. Dad loves you.

Get Your Orange Out!

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It’s rerun season, y’all, so here’s one from last year, because it’s orange time, again. Obviously, the dates are slightly different this year, but Wear Orange Day is today, June 2nd. Go to wearorange.org to get all the up-to-date information. Larry

This coming Friday, June 3, is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, also known as Wear Orange Day. It’s part of Wear Orange Weekend, June 3-5.

My blogging friend Jill Dennison brought Wear Orange Day to my attention last year. Now, I’m bringing it to yours, and it’s my sincere hope you will let lots of others in on it.

So, what’s this about, you ask? Let go to wearorange.org for some background:

On January 21, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. One week later, Hadiya was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago. Soon after this tragedy, Hadiya’s childhood friends decided to commemorate her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others.

Wear Orange began on June 2, 2015—what would have been Hadiya’s 18th birthday. Since then, Wear Orange has expanded to a period of three days each year: National Gun Violence Awareness Day (the first Friday in June) and Wear Orange Weekend (the accompanying weekend). This year, Wear Orange will take place from June 3-5, 2022.

Orange has become the defining color of the gun violence prevention movement. New York gun violence prevention advocate Erica Ford spearheaded orange as the color of peace through her work with her organization, Life Camp, Inc. Whether it’s worn by students in Montana, activists in New York, or Hadiya’s loved ones in Chicago, the color orange honors the more than 110 lives cut short and the hundreds more wounded by gun violence every day.

Our movement gains momentum when people come together to fight for a future free from gun violence. In 2021, more than 1,000 partner organizations, influencers, corporate brands, elected officials, and landmarks joined hundreds of thousands of Americans to unite around a call to end gun violence. As Wear Orange pushes on into its eighth year, we hope you will join us by attending Wear Orange events, posting on social media, and much more! Learn more about all the ways you can participate in Wear Orange.

I encourage all of you to visit wearorange.org to find out how you can participate this weekend. In light of recent events like the Uvalde, Texas massacre, everybody is obviously aware of gun violence, already, but this is a good opportunity to demonstrate our solidarity and commitment to seeing gun violence end.

And yes, I’m very aware that everybody wearing orange will solve nothing; it’s gonna take a lot more than that.

To that end, let me recommend one other website to you: Brady.

Named for Jim Brady, the White House Press Secretary who was shot during an attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981, Brady is an organization dedicated to ending gun violence by arming people with facts, not guns and ammo, and by suggesting ways we can participate in the cause.

The website is an excellent resource. Please take time to visit it, educate yourself, share what you learn, and get involved.

We are not helpless, even if the United States Congress is. We must take action.

I’m not a father, but I know I don’t want to see one more child gunned down.

Or one more teacher.

Or one more church member.

Or one more store customer.

Or one more driver.

Or one more minority member.

Or one more any innocent victim.

Ever again.

ENOUGH. IS. ENOUGH.

You with me?

Good. Got any orange?

Be Proud

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Today, June 1st, is the beginning of Pride Month, a worldwide celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. On the Human Rights Campaign website, it says, “Pride is a joyful celebration of all of the beautiful identities of our LGBTQ+ community. We create spaces where we can bring our whole selves to dance and march in the streets and declare: We are here. We are visible. We are proud!”

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In a letter published in the Greenwich Free Press entitled, “It’s Pride Month. Stand up, be loud, and bravely be yourselves.”, Karsten Vagner offered these words of encouragement:

To my LGBTQ+ neighbors, as Pride month begins today, I hope you remember how much power you have. Across the country our community is under attack. Hiding out, keeping quiet, and trying to fit in may feel like the most natural response in this climate. But I’m asking you to stand up, be loud, and bravely be yourselves in every room you step into. Our voices – our very presence – can change hearts and minds.

To my neighbors who are LGBTQ+ allies, I hope you remember your unique power. When others try to chip away at the dignity of this community or think they can opt out of a world in which we exist, your voices have weight. In your daily conversations, in your schools, in your clubs, and in the voting booth, we count on your presence and your support.

The letter concludes with this exhortation: “Now more than ever, visibility matters.”

An article on the Human Rights Campaign website by HRC president, Kelley Robinson, highlights both the progress that has been made, as well as the challenges still ahead (and you and I know full well, they are numerous), in the fight for the rights of LGBTQ+ people and, ultimately, the rights of us all. Please read it.

We all can see the level of cruelty being ratcheted up, not only toward the LGBTQ+ community, but also toward any businesses that support them, Bud Light and Target being the highest-profile examples. Washington Post columnist Philip Bump opined, “At its heart, this is a backlash from the right against a feared future. It’s an effort to change the country’s trajectory, blaming the current path on perceived indoctrination.” 

Simply put, they think the queers want to make the rest of us queer, too.

Listen, y’all: What they want, all they want, is to just live their lives in peace, and be treated with dignity and respect, like the human beings they are. Period.

So, Happy Pride Month, everyone! Fly your flags, be free and be beautiful.

.

Oh, and Jesus has a message for all you Conservative Christians out there: