...And it's only Wednesday

These past few days have been pretty rough.

"Patriots’ Day is a day for Boston."

I only lived in Massachusetts for less than a year and experienced Patriot's Day 2012 as an outsider and a newcomer, having moved up there less than a month before. As a native Floridian, I was mainly glad to see the weather getting warmer and thinking the parties and festivities were fun, but not really getting it. I mean, I hadn't even been to Fenway at that point (later remedied), which I'm pretty sure is a mandatory requirement before making any comments about Boston culture.

Anyway, someone emailed this blog post to me, written by a Boston resident I've never met, but who sums up perfectly how all my Massachusetts friends describe Patriot's Day. It's definitely worth reading in its entirety, but I'll share a few excerpts here:

"Look for the helpers." #PrayForBoston

I spent less than a year in Boston but still have friends there and my heart is heavy and sad seeing the news and photos from the explosions at the Boston Marathon today.

I remembered this quote from Fred Rogers, and found it very comforting:

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep

Watching the news these past few days has been tough. The elementary school in Connecticut where those teachers and children were murdered is just a little more than two hours away from my apartment in Massachusetts. I have never been to Newtown, but it looks like so many of the idyllic New England small towns through which I have traveled this year, and it seems inconceivable that such a horror could happen there.

I cannot even imagine the pain for those families, losing a loved one so close to the holidays. And even for the many of us whose only connection to Newtown is through our televisions, there may be other reasons to have heavy hearts this year. A newly empty chair at the table, dreams that turned into disappointments, ongoing economic struggles, and so on. 

And yet there is always reason for hope. I believe that very strongly, and the Christmas season is a excellent time for all of us to take a few moments to find ways to renew hope in ourselves.

How you can help people affected by the Colorado wildfires

In Florida, we are regularly threatened by Mother Nature's wrath in the form of hurricanes, and people from all over the country have always pitched in to send donations and supplies. 

If you didn't know, Colorado is experiencing some very serious wildfires right now. Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated, and a heartbreaking number are losing their homes.

The Colorado Division of Emergency Management has set up a website at www.HelpColoradoNow.org, with information about what kind of supplies they need donated (if you are in the area), and where financial contributions should be sent. 

A Message for Monday

So I'm sitting here feeling cranky because I have one week left in this house before the big move to MA and of course nothing can just be simple and now there's some sort of something wretchedly wrong with the plumbing (this isn't my area of expertise, but I'm pretty darn sure that when you run the washing machine, sandy water isn't supposed to flow up into your bathtub) and my new buddy from Roto-Rooter is pulling freaking tree roots out of the pipes (yes, this is a real thing that happens in older houses, oh, such joy) and it's going to cost several hundred dollars, ugh...

And then I came across this photo, and, well, it put things in a little more perspective:

Pray for Obama!

I don't think this is new, but I got it in my inbox yesterday, and it made me chuckle, so I thought I'd share it:

Morning Coffee Reading for August 22, 2011

Here's your morning coffee reading for today:

• Libyan nutcase dictator Muammar Kaddafi Quadafi Gaddafi Holy-heck-pick-a-spelling-dafi was overthrown yesterday, but it may be a bit early to pop the champagne, according to John R. Guardiano:

The Minority Report | Mission Not Accomplished In Libya

• In case you missed it, I posted some updates to Saturday's post about Mike McCalister's post debate run-in with Miami Herald reporter Marc Caputo:

Sunshine State Sarah | "The Colonel Has To Use The Restroom" aka Mike McCalister's Post Debate Debacle [UPDATED] 

And here's a funny tweet from State Representative Scott Plakon in response to my post: