Happy July, 6.75 year old, 

We thought the Coronavirus was going to run its course and we’d be able to enjoy the summer like we anticipated – oh how wrong we were. The US has been the leading country with the most number of cases and deaths for a while. It is embarrassing and frightening because 23 states cases are still on the rise. The rising cases now are coming with fewer deaths, most likely because it is younger people who were out over the holidays and at bars and restaurants in the states that have reopened establishments. 

I feel absolutely horrible when I read or listen to the news – especially because much of this limping along as a country with the virus could have been preventable. Since last post, the country has erupted, in some ways good and most ways not. School ended, you graduated from Kindergarten and we had just moved into Phase 2 of Washington’s Approach to escaping the COVID-19 epidemic. 

George Floyd was killed in police custody on May 25th. This set a maelstrom of outrage over police brutality and the disproportionate killing of black people by law enforcement….which has been happening for decades but hasn’t really taken a national stage and outrage. You and I watched protests in Minneapolis and Chicago and all over the USA, then you, me, Mommy, and Alexandra participated in a silent protest in Seattle on June 12th. It was very powerful….Mommy and I were glad we all participated – we all kept our distance (the umbrellas helped) and everyone’s mouths were shut – the silence was incredibly palatable. During the march, you started to complain, so I put you on my shoulders – you gasped when we made it up a hill and I turned around to show you how many people were participating,  

Since that protest, there’s been quite a movement around the country to defund police departments, rethink policing, change the names of professional sports teams whose mascots are derogatory to Native Americans, and tear down confederate monuments that stand for the oppression, killing, and ideology of racism and vestiges of slavery. Some Kansas State University athletes have threatened to refuse to perform in their sports if the university doesn’t take tougher action on a student who tweeted an insensitive comment about George Floyd. 

Even Colin Kaepernick, whose activist kneeling in 2017 drew a split outrage/support, has been apologized to by the NFL, players, and political players. 

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

What you’re doing these days:

In the middle of the night, you came into our bedroom, and asked me to help you “put your balls away.” I played along with your sleepwalking a little, then scooped you up and put you back in bed. You were already asleep by the time we got to your room, but in the morning you got a kick out of the story and asked me to retell it to you. 

We’ve spent hours of time on the neighbor’s trampoline…..which is a perfect fit because Kazoo plays with Sadie and we can chaperone and jump around. We play Marco Polo a lot, and now you like to pretend we are Jim and Tim, two brothers who take martial arts lessons. Most of the time, Jim (you) are five years old and I, Tim, are your older teenage brother. Our parents make us go to Oom Yung Do practice and make us practice fighting. After playing “Cheetah” or “Puppy in a Box” for several years, I’ll take this new pretending. 

You lost your third tooth last month, and you just had a dentist visit which was a great success. You admitted that you were nervous going to it because the previous one was not fun.

You make your own salami-egg dish as well as fruit smoothies, you can tie your own shoes, and you just graduated to a 24-inch bike. Like a kid, you get caught up in things so deeply that you still need to be reminded that you’re doing the pee pee dance and you should go to the bathroom…it’s adorable!

A recording

Here’s a tantrum you had on a Sunday night in May when you were overtired and really wanted to finish a movie that we had started earlier but it was bedtime. 

In my life these days:

I just finished my 23rd year of teaching, my advisee Otsile finally returned home to Botswana after being in limbo with her host family for months, I’ve been my Grandmaster frisbee team’s workout coordinator and have now sent out 18 weeks of workouts (you’ve actually helped film this intro one and the Townsend Circuit), I’m bummed that there will be no frisbee in Sardinia this summer, our garden is taking off with kale and carrots and a zuchinni, I replaced another toilet in our house, you and I made a how to cut a Pineapple the Mathematical way video. Here are some more pics of us. 

In the news:

 

Here are some other noteworthy items I haven’t mentioned yet. The SEC refuses to play Mississippi until it changes it’s state flag (it did on June 20, 2020).

Producers of the Simpsons cartoon has stated that, from now on, voiceover actors will now not have white people impersonating non-white characters.

Pepsico has announced the removal of the Aunt Jemima image on it’s syrup and pledges to replace it in an effort to strive for racial equality. 

The supreme court ruled that LGBTQ+ rights are protected by the constitution on June 16th of this year. 

Now the US is 4% of the world’s population and now has 25% of the COVID cases as of July 6. Florida is 6% of the US population but now has 23% of the new US COVID cases. 

Trump is sliding in early presidential polls, most of which have Joe Biden 6 or more percentage points above him in June. There are rumors that 45 is thinking of picking a new running mate over Mike Pence as a Hail Mary shot at winning. We can’t wait until November! 

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

I’m running low on juice right now, so I’ll just say that my audiobook diet has increased since Coronavirus – mostly because of long dog walks and more frequent runs. I’ve finished A Gentleman in Moscow, Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, Talking to Strangers, and Just Mercy.  

That’s all for now, sweet one. I’ve got to get to bed because I have 6am office hours tomorrow for a class I’m teaching for Global Online Academy this summer – keeps me fresh with all the new online techniques. 

Love,  Daddy