Here it is, the end of a very long two years. Christmas is in a few days, and then it will be new year, and then, we’ll have an opportunity to decide what’s up with us. Are we going to move forward or backward?

I think one thing that can help us decide is if we can reflect on lives worth living. If we find someone or something good, and then maybe try to act like those persons, maybe we can have a life that was worth it.

I’m going to try a few.

Heather Cox Richardson

She’s this historian, and Mom started reading her daily columns when “things” were really bad in the world. When she turned off the news, she kept reading this column. Ms. Richardson puts everything into perspective, going all the way back in history and comparing what happened then to what is happening now. It is both enlightening and alarming. She’s a very smart person. You can find her on Facebook; you can also sign up to get her daily column in your email in-box.

John Pavlovitz

This is a guy that Mom started reading about, again, when “things” were really bad. He’s a writer, a pastor and a speaker. He has generally uplifting messages, but he can really hammer people for being – what do you want to say – hypocritical. Currently, he’s telling everybody what it’s like to go through some really serious cancer treatments. That’s brave. You can find him on Facebook, too.

Pluto

Pluto is a dog from the Canada Lands that comes down and gives us messages of encouragement all the time. He doesn’t really care for cats, but other than that, he’s a pretty good egg. He has fun with his messages, and his Mom is a wildlife photographer, so she’s pretty interesting, too. You can find Pluto on Facebook.

In Closing

I’m going to concentrate on “people” like this for a while.

This is a Tiger Lily Approved Message. Be Kind.

To honor women, I share quotations from powerful women about how women can be powerful. Enjoy.

Feel The Power

I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself. Emma Watson

We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead. Beyoncé

A man told me that for a woman, I was very opinionated. I said, ‘For a man, you’re very ignorant.’ Anne Hathaway

Whenever one person stands up and says, ‘Wait a minute, this is wrong,’ it helps other people do the same. Gloria Steinem

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. Alice Walker

We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced. Malala Yousafzai

A woman is like a teabag – only in hot water do you realize how strong she is. Eleanor Roosevelt

It is a fact that when you change a girl’s life, you affect her vision of herself and her immediate world and the world that she will have an impact on. Oprah Winfrey

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. Marie Curie

I am an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them. I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life who taught me about quiet strength and dignity. Michelle Obama

The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. Coco Chanel

We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly. Margaret Atwood

The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing how we are. Imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer to be our true individual selves, if we didn’t have the weight of gender expectations. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble. Serena Williams

When women and girls are empowered to participate fully in society, everyone benefits. Melinda Gates

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. Rosa Parks

Life shrinks or expands in proportion with one’s courage. Anaïs Nin

I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind learning. Amy Poehler

Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles. Tina Fey

We believe that equal means equal, and that’s true in the workplace, it’s true in marriage, it’s true ever place. Elizabeth Warren

Every day as I get older, I appreciate women more and more. When you’re between the ages of 15 and 19, maybe you see women as competition, as opposed to lifesavers and people that hold your hand and have experienced pretty much everything that you have. So the more women in my life, the better. Adele

I do know one thing about me: I don’t measure myself by others’ expectations or let others define my worth. Sonia Sotomayor

Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another. Toni Morrison

Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance in the world to pursue your dreams. Hillary Clinton

Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost. Helen Keller

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’! Audrey Hepburn

Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination. Mae Jemison

If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions. Catherine Cook

Women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation. Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. Gloria Steinem

And Now … Breaking Barriers …

On Breaking Barriers: “My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last,'” Harris said during a lecture at Spelman College, recalling the motto that’s guided her life. “That’s why breaking those barriers is worth it. As much as anything else, it is also to create that path for those who will come after us.”

Tiger Lily Approves Of All Women.

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

March On Washington

On August 28, 1963, more than a quarter of a million people joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The march was first conceptualized in 1941, when A. Phillip Randolph, a renowned labor leader, envisioned a “march for jobs” to protest racial discrimination. At the time, African Americans were systematically denied jobs created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs and jobs created by the defense industries of WWII.

He did not move forward with the march, when, in June 1941, the President signed the Fair Employment Practices Act. The Act established the Fair Employment Practice Commission (FEPC) to assure compliance.

Within five years, the FEPC dissolved. Each year, from 1945 until 1957, Congress considered and failed to pass a civil rights bill. Congress finally passed limited Civil Rights Acts in 1957 and 1960, but they offered only moderate gains.

Randolph, undeterred, decided to combine several causes into one mega-march, the March for Jobs and Freedom. He looked to the charismatic Dr. King to breathe new life into the cause. Working together, they built a coalition of the six most prominent civil rights groups of the era. The coordinating committee included:

• Randolph, leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters;
• King, Chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC);
• Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP);
• James Farmer, founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE);
• John Lewis, President of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); and
• Whitney Young, Executive Director of the National Urban League.

Decades of intense lobbying of the President and Congress, capped by the March (over one quarter of a million people gathering peacefully on the National Mall) led finally to legislation. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. One year later, he signed the National Voting Rights Act of 1965.

At the March, Dr. King was originally slated to speak for four minutes. He spoke for sixteen minutes, giving one of the most iconic speeches in history. The complete text of the speech follows. It can be found at this website, which also provides an audio recording of the original.

I Have A Dream

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” – one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

It’s over! 2020 is over! Can we move forward now?

Shake It Off

No matter what happens, this year has got to be better than last. Many of us – perhaps most or all of us – have a need to blast that year away and start fresh. Clean. New attitudes, new perspectives, a new you and a new me.

The cats and I have decided to go for it. We have some ideas of our own, but here are some from more of an expert than I. These suggestions stop short of “new year’s resolutions.”

12 Simple Ways

“Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture along with a little humor, and your picture will begin to lighten up.”  Allen Klein

From this website comes 12 simple ways to “hit the reset button on life.” If you go to the site, the explanations are broader than what is given here. I’m going to add a few COVID-related notes at the end of some of the suggestions. Sigh.

Add Color to Your Life

Add a shot of fresh and uplifting color to your life. Whether you pick up a bouquet of flowers at the store, add a fresh color to your wardrobe or buy a few new pillows or accessories to spice up a room in your home, choose a color that brings you joy, makes you smile and brightens your outlook.

Embrace Your Imperfections

[Step] back from any old “perfectionistic” ways, adopt a healthier mindset and embrace the authenticity of who you are with all your wonderful, beautiful, perfect imperfections.

Get Rid of Excess Baggage

A cluttered home, unfinished business in our lives or relationships that need work – all these things can trigger negative feelings and make us feel overwhelmed and stressed. Start small and slowly begin removing “stressors” from your life that are draining you of your energy and happiness. Even a few steps every day will make a difference.

Laugh

[Laughter is] the cheapest medicine around! So, whether you watch a funny movie, share a funny joke or go to lunch with someone who always makes you laugh, seek the humor in life every single day. Going out to lunch can be difficult these days, and it’s January. Where I live, it’s cold. Perhaps order take-out from a favorite restaurant – this is even better if you and your friend enjoy different food – you can order from different restaurants – and head to a park that may have an outdoor shelter. Bundle up.

Give Yourself Something to Look Forward To

Whether it’s something small like lunch with a friend or something big like a vacation to the beach, give yourself a much-needed lift by planning ahead and giving yourself something to look forward to every single day.

Get Outdoors

… start walking, take a hike with your kids, go on a bike ride or join your neighbor when they walk the dog. The fresh air in your lungs will do far more for your mindset and outlook on life than it will for your body – although you’ll be doing your body good too – so, do yourself a big favor and make a play date with the great outdoors.

Start a Project…Any Project

… neuroscience has found that when we finish tasks we actually get a dopamine rush. So, now’s a perfect time. Pick a project… any project, and get started. Set aside the constant barrage of interruptions and focus on how great you’ll feel when you can finally check it off your mental to-do list. Anyway, let’s face it, finishing feels good!

Bring in the Sunshine

The sunlight improves our mood, relieves stress, helps us sleep better and can treat seasonal depression caused by lack of sunlight in the winter. So, go ahead, pull back the curtains, open the blinds, slide back the sunroof and enjoy all the benefits the sun has to offer.

Spend Time with Friends

Being with friends we care about, even if it’s a quick cup of coffee once or twice a month, can motivate us, help re-energize our spirit, challenge us when we need it and help us cope when life gets tough. So, take a break from life, scratch solo and call a friend. Find a place to meet outdoors, or in an open space with lots of room (open a couple of windows). Or master the magic of Zoom or other related technologies.

Buy Yourself A Pick-Me-Up Present

Life is stressful… in the midst of our busy lives, it feels really good to take the focus off of everyone and everything else and focus on ourselves – even if it is just for a little while.

Crank Up the Music

… brain functions such as learning, memory and even auditory processing have been known to show improvement when music is part of our daily life. So, the next time you’re feeling down or simply need a good reason to get your toes tappin’, crank up the tunes, close your eyes and sing those lyrics at the top of your lungs.

Unplug

Browsing through a thread of texts or viewing images of a Facebook friend’s recent trip to Jamaica might be fine on occasion, but if your downtime is spent keeping up with other people’s lives through social media, it might be time to put your phone down (far enough away so you can’t hear the “ding” of the texts coming in) and enjoy more human interaction. Consider it a healthy and refreshing “detox” to make yourself a better “you.”

In Closing

It’s never too late for a do-over. Hit that reset button and never look back.

This is a Tiger Lily Approved Way To Approach Life In 2021.

Please consider this a companion piece to the blog submitted two weeks ago. That blog railed against the madness of all of the gift-buying and purchasing in general in this season.

Pretend You Can’t Afford Holiday Spending

This website – a gem – holds great philosophy and several really good ideas. You can search the web for many ideas, or go to a bookstore. Books. Books are great gifts, but you can also find books that have great ideas for homemade gifts. Anyway, proceeding with the philosophy from this website, here I go!

“Your friend holds a pretty, shiny gift, all wrapped in red paper with a glittery silver bow. From across the room, you watch. It’s finally the moment that she’s going to open it-something that you’ve been working on and anticipating giving for weeks. When she opens it and loves it your heart feels warm and happy. Any gift is fun to give, but isn’t it even more fun to give a handmade gift? Something you’ve put your own heart into? Something you hope she will love for a long time?”

The site (referenced above) has photographs to go with the ideas, and additional information. I am going to list just a few here.

• Skillet handle covers
• Chap Stick key chains (or key chains with many helpful items)
• Watermelon-shaped soap (or soaps of many varieties)
• Marble-dipped coffee mugs
• Oven mitts
• Macrame wall hangings or plant hangers
• Kitchen utensil sets
• Planters
• No sew flannel scarves and blankets
• Candles
• Coasters
• Bookmarks

No, Really. Pretend You Can’t Afford Holiday Spending

This site has ideas as well, and they are billed as “inexpensive.”

• Body scrub – you can make many “flavors” and use several cute bottles.
• Personalized wooden hangers
• Rice bag warmers
• Monogrammed soap bottles
• Kindle / iPad covers
• Pillows / pillow covers
• Lap desks
• Cup cozies
• Monogram weaths (a wreath that is actually a letter, a W or K or P or …. well, a monogram)
• Everything / anything in a jar
• “Hand print” apron
• Monogram towels
• Personalized coupon book (20 minute back rub, 1 prepared meal, evening of babysitting, afternoon of doing whatever you want, trip to favorite coffee shop, night off from doing dishes, offer to mow the lawn, etc.)
• Homemade bath salts

Because You Really Can’t Afford Holiday Spending

We’re in a pandemic. This could last for a while. Save your money.

In Closing

Last thought, if you absolutely have to purchase gifts, and you are like me with truly no skills for making crafty things, consider looking at the community calendars in your region. Shop craft and vendor festivals and support small business owners. Great gifts, a variety, and you will support someone other than a major shopping center. Those may be more difficult to find this year, because, well, 2020.

This is a Tiger Lily Approved Gift Buying Strategy

Can it just stop? Please!!!!!

This Is The Crazy Week

This Friday is Black Friday. Regardless of all else that has happened throughout 2020 (the pandemic, the economy, the protests, the election and all of the craziness surrounding it), we will still probably have a very crazy Black Friday. Week. Black Friday Week.

This just needs to stop. Really.

Thank You, Canada

Over the years, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has become part of the holiday season rituals in America. But according to this website, the first “Santa Claus Parade” was held in Canada in 1902. When Santa appeared at the very end of the parade, it was a signal to officially kick off the holiday season.

American stores took their lead and began to have similar parades all across the United States. In 1924, the premier Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was held. The parade was run by employees of Macy’s and featured some of the animals from the zoo in Central Park.

Let’s get to the nitty gritty. Why is it the entire week?

Thank You, Plumbers

As bizarre as this may sound, CNN reporters explained that plumbers are needed to clean up after guests “overwhelm the system.” And Thanksgiving is to blame! Yes, Thanksgiving is to blame for the massive build-up of holiday purchasing that puts people all over the world in financial constraints. (Somehow, I’m not sure how clogged toilets lead to holiday buying, but, hey, different strokes….)

And following through with that thought, holiday shoppers indirectly determined the date for Thanksgiving.

From the mid-19^th to the early 20^th Century, the US president would declare a “day of giving thanks” on the last Thursday in November. This changed in 1939 when the last Thursday was the last day in the month. Retailers were afraid that the holiday season would be shortened and petitioned the president to declare the holiday be held one week earlier.

Thank You, Congress

In 1941, Congress created a joint resolution to clear things up. After that, Thanksgiving was always celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, which gave shoppers one extra week to shop before Christmas.

Black Friday wasn’t officially claimed to be the busiest shopping day of the year, until 2001. Before that, the Saturday before Christmas was the busiest day. The Saturday BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

Thanks to all of the hoopla, we have lengthened the madness by A MONTH.

And because those pesky Canadians who started the ball rolling worried about people crossing the border for great deals, they started their own Black Friday deals. And now it has spread AROUND THE WORLD!

In Mexico, it is referred to as “El Buen Fin”, which translates to “the good weekend.” This is actually attached to the anniversary of the 1910 Mexican revolution, which sometimes coincides with the American Thanksgiving. El Buen Fin actually lasts for the entire weekend instead of just one day.

WE HAVE DRAWN MEXICO INTO THE MADNESS!!!!!

Thank You, Walmart

In 2011, Walmart broke the tradition of Black Friday. The tradition of Black Friday shopping was broken when Walmart opened up their store on the evening of Thanksgiving. Since that time, the retailers are engaged in a race against the clock to catch up with the times. These days, 33 million Americans plan to run out shopping as soon as they finish their Thanksgiving feast.

This is known as Gray Thursday.

Thank You, Liquor, Wine & Beer Sellers

According to a survey conducted on behalf of the coupon site RetailMeNot, 12% of all Black Friday shoppers admit they hit the stores while under the influence of alcohol.

Thank You, Progress

If you don’t like the madness of Black Friday, fear not, Cyber Monday is gaining in popularity, when millions of shoppers sit at home ready to click ‘add to cart’ when the item they’re watching goes on sale.

Take Your Pick

Whether you prefer Gray Thursday, Black Friday or Cyber Monday, this weekend is truly the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

THE MADNESS HAS TO STOP!

And Thank You, The Rest Of The World

Using information from this website, I bring you other really (not-so-good) news.

1. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but several states observe “The Day After Thanksgiving” as a holiday for state government employees, sometimes in lieu of another federal holiday such as Columbus Day.
2. Many non-retail employees and schools have both Thanksgiving and the following Friday off, which, along with the following regular weekend, makes it a four-day weekend, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers.
3. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005, although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate, have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.
4. Similar stories resurface year upon year at this time, portraying hysteria and shortage of stock, creating a state of positive feedback.
5. In 2014, spending volume on Black Friday fell for the first time since the 2008 recession.
6. $50.9 billion was spent during the 4-day Black Friday weekend, down 11% from the previous year. However, the U.S. economy was not in a recession.
7. Christmas creep has been cited as a factor in the diminishing importance of Black Friday, as many retailers now spread out their promotions over the entire months of November and December rather than concentrate them on a single shopping day or weekend.
8. The earliest evidence of the phrase Black Friday applied to the day after Thanksgiving in a shopping context suggests that the term originated in Philadelphia, where it was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic that would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.
9. This usage dates to at least 1961. More than twenty years later, as the phrase became more widespread, a popular explanation became that this day represented the point in the year when retailers begin to turn a profit, thus going from being “in the red” to being “in the black”.
10. For many years, it was common for retailers to open at 6:00 a.m., but in the late 2000s many had crept to 5:00 or 4:00.
11. This was taken to a new extreme in 2011, when several retailers (including Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Best Buy, and Bealls) opened at midnight for the first time.
12. In 2012, Walmart and several other retailers announced that they would open most of their stores at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, prompting calls for a walkout among some workers.
13. In 2014, stores such as JCPenney, Best Buy, and Radio Shack opened at 5:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day while stores such as Target, Walmart, Belk, and Sears opened at 6:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day.
14. Three states, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts, prohibit large supermarkets, big box stores, and department stores from opening on Thanksgiving, due to blue laws.
15. There have been reports of violence occurring between shoppers on Black Friday.
16. Since 2006, there have been 7 reported deaths and 98 injuries throughout the United States.
17. It is common for prospective shoppers to camp out over the Thanksgiving holiday in an effort to secure a place in front of the line and thus a better chance at getting desired items.
18. This poses a significant safety risk (such as the use of propane and generators in the most elaborate cases, and in general, the blocking of emergency access and fire lanes, causing at least one city to ban the practice.)
19. “Black Friday” used to refer to stock market crashes in the 1800s. Although it is now known as the biggest shopping day in the US, the term “Black Friday” originally referred to very different events.
20. “Santa Claus parades” were Black Friday’s predecessor. For many Americans, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has become part of the holiday ritual. But the event actually was inspired from the US’s neighbors in the north. Canadian department store Eaton’s held the first “Santa Claus parade” on 2 December 1905. Once Santa appeared at the end of the parade, the signal was that the holiday season – and thus, holiday shopping had begun.
21. Low-end entertainment items (books, movies and music) are the items with the highest Black Friday markdowns. According to WalletHub, the average additional discount on these items is 28 percent.
22. Despite the huge advertising campaigns, jewelry sales offer the worst deals on Black Friday. As a category, jewelry is discounted only 4 percent on Black Friday, according to WalletHub.
23. Previous year’s Black Friday repeat items won’t necessarily be any cheaper the next year. WalletHub found that retailers including Big Lots, Sears, Office Depot and Office Max, and JCPenney among others all raised their Black Friday discount prices in 2015 for the exact same item they also discounted ion 2014.
24. There are more deals on toys than any other categories. According to WalletHub, almost 23 percent of discounted items fall into the toys category, followed by apparel (21.67 percent) and appliances (9.5 percent). Consumer packaged goods had the lowest concentration of discounts (1.4 percent).
25. Black Friday may be going away … or at least losing all relevance. Like the proverbial snake swallowing its own tail, Black Friday contributes to its own irrelevance a little more each year as more retailers begin offering “Black Friday” deals on Thanksgiving Day or even earlier in the week and more shoppers look for deals online. It’s plausible to foresee a day-after-Thanksgiving where long lines outside department stores have complete vanished

In Closing

So Black Friday may be going away. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the madness will now start on Thanksgiving Day or earlier. Those Christmas decorations hit the stores in September. And it will go through – what – the new year? Easter? AACCKK!!

This is a Tiger Lily Approved Article, BUT IT HAS TO STOP! CHRISTMAS CREEP, INDEED!

Today isn’t Friday, and it isn’t the 13^th. It’s actually Monday, and it’s the sixteenth. But we had a Friday the 13^th just a few days ago. I hope you all survived it.

Around the world, superstitions surround Friday the 13^th. Myth? Truth? Only a truly intelligent cat like me – Tiger Lily – would know for certain. But I’m happy to tell you everything I learned about the subject.

Here’s a fun fact. We get a Friday the 13^th in any month that begins on a Sunday. And yep, wouldn’t you know it, the first day of this month was a Sunday!

Another fun fact is that we have at least one every year, sometimes as many as three. We’ve had two in 2020, and this year, two is more than plenty.

Last fun fact: Triskaidekaphobia is the extreme superstition regarding the number thirteen. Friggatriskaidekaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13^th. This is important enough that there are two words for it!

Here are more important phobias. Ailurophobia means you have an intense fear of cats. If you have this phobia, it will cause you to panic when you’re around cats or when you think about them. Sometimes, it’s called elurophobia, gatophobia, or felinophobia. So cats are more important than Friday the 13^th. We have four words.

Back to the topic at hand.

Origins of the Superstition

From Wikipedia comes a few probable beginnings of the superstition. (I have to say that my Mom – the author of my books – would never allow her college students to reference Wikipedia in their research papers. But I’m not a student. I’m a cat. )

I have included only three probable beginnings. Otherwise, we’d be here all day!

The Norse Myth: There were these twelve gods having dinner at this place called Valhalla. This guy named Loki – he’s in the Thor and Avenger movies – wasn’t invited. He went anyway, and that made thirteen. He arranged for this one god to shoot another god with an arrow that had been tipped in mistletoe. That’s supposed to be a love plant. Anyway, apparently it’s poison to gods, and the one that got hit died. The whole world got dark. It was a bad, bad, very bad, unlucky day. So there you have it. Now those Norse folks think the number thirteen is unlucky.

The Middle Ages and The Last Supper: Now I know you’re going to say that The Last Supper wasn’t in the Middle Ages. No. It was right at the cusp of BC and AD, way before the Middle Ages. Anyway, once we got to those times, lots of hundreds of years later, people started to talk about there being thirteen people in what they called the Upper Room. And people of several major religions know what happened after that. Oh, and they were saying that it was on the “13^th of Nisan Maundy Thursday,” which is the day before Friday. So you have two thirteens, both right before a Friday. But then they say while this talk started to happen in the Middle Ages, it didn’t really become a “thing” until the nineteen century. This one was very confusing to me.

The Knights Templar: There were these guys called The Knights Templar. They were military guys, Catholic, and they started up in the early eleven hundreds. They were at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – so we’re right back there in the place of the Upper Room – I caught that – but then they moved to the Vatican (that’s in Rome) after about eighteen or nineteen years. They stayed there, but this King of France didn’t like them, and in the early thirteen hundreds he had them all arrested. It was Friday, October 13, 1307. But even though it happened back then, people didn’t start thinking it was particularly unlucky until sometime in the twentieth century.

Facts, Fun And Otherwise

I like looking up fun stuff. This website provided thirteen (13) facts about Friday the 13^th. There’s something to be said about symmetry. Some of them are boring, so I offer only a few.

Fears About The Day Are Common

Experts say that friggatriskaidekaphobia (there’s that word again) affects millions of people. Some businesses, especially airlines, lose business and money on Friday the 13^th. It must be as bad as a full moon. I wonder if anyone has ever investigated days that are Friday the 13^th and full moon days at the same time?

Anyway, that other word, triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number thirteen, is even more widespread. Lots of tall buildings skip the 13^th floor, and lots of airports don’t have a gate number thirteen. There are other silly things around the world, like not having thirteen guests, etc. Silly. Right?

Patterns Repeat In The Calendar

If you like to investigate your calendar – who does that? – here are some rules.

• If a common year begins on a Thursday, the months of February, March and November will have a Friday the 13^th. This will happen eleven times in this century.
• This February-March-November pattern repeats in a 28-year cycle. This century, the pattern began in 2009, happened again in 2015 (6 years), and will happen again in 2026 (11 years) and 2037 (11 years). If you add those up, that makes 28 years. Phew! I got a brain workout on that one! Oh, the next one is six years later, in 2043.
• I think I already said that if the first day of the month is a Sunday, then you’ll have a Friday the 13^th. That’s easier for someone like me to figure out.

Alfred Hitchcock Was Born On The 13^th

Here is a direct quote from the website. It’s pretty interesting. “The master of suspense was born on August 13, 1899, so Friday, August 13, 1999, would have been his 100th birthday. He made his directorial debut in 1922 with a movie called Number 13. Unfortunately, the film was doomed from the start and never got off the ground due to financial troubles.” (Cue suspenseful music here….)

One Country Uses The Day To Raise Safety And Accident Awareness

If you live in Finland, one Friday the 13^th each year – it’s easy to choose if there is only one that year – is dedicated to National Accident Day. They use this day to raise awareness of safety at home, at work, and on the road.

Moving right along, I checked out another website.

Finances, Heavy Metal, Cats And Presidents

This website has several fun facts.

Stockbrokers Become Nervous

On most Friday the 13^ths, stocks actually rise, but those folks trading money are a little wary of those days if they happen in October. On those days, there is an average drop of about 0.5%. On Friday, October 13, 1989, it went down 6.1%. That’s what’s known as a mini-crash. (It made the news.)

Heavy Metal Was Born On A Friday The 13^th

According to people really into heavy metal, this genre was born on Friday, February 13, 1970, with the release of an album by Black Sabbath. Titled Black Sabbath. Some people would argue that Steppenwolf coined the term in 1968 with “Born To Be Wild,” but metalheads point to the first chords of the opening track of the first album of Black Sabbath. Horns up. (I copied that from the website.)

Meanwhile, In French Lick, Indiana…

These people must really be superstitious. In the 1930s and 40s, the town decreed – that means they ordered – that all black cats had to wear a bell around their neck every Friday the 13^th. My sister Little Socks would be so mad!!! We live in Indiana, but luckily, we don’t live in a town that requires Little Socks to bell up.

Presidents Club

There was this Civil War veteran, Captain William Fowler, who fought in 13 Civil War battles. He started a club in 1882 to spit in the face of superstition! Members met on the 13^th of the month, at 13 past the hour, and they sat 13 at a dining table. For good measure, they put open umbrellas in the dining hall and they broke glass, inviting all kinds of madness and mayhem to the meeting. Five Presidents became honorary members of The Thirteen Club: I did a little Wikipedia surfing to see if anything ill befell them. (I liked that little turn of phrase.) (I’ll say it again: to see if anything ill befell them.)

• Chester Arthur became President because he was the Vice President to a President that was assassinated (James Garfield). So, it wasn’t unlucky for him, but, geez.
• Grover Cleveland. Well. As his second administration began, disaster hit in the form of the Panic of 1893. It produced a severe financial depression from which the country was unable to recover while he remained President.
• Benjamin Harrison. Nothing particularly unlucky happened to him. In fact, he may have gotten really lucky. He served after Grover Cleveland’s first term and was defeated by Cleveland, which, well, see above. Bummer. Harrison missed the depression by a hair. Maybe he caused it, I don’t know. I’m just a cat.
• William McKinley was assassinated. I don’t think that’s very lucky.
• Theodore Roosevelt was one of those great Presidents. Hanging around with the thirteen folks didn’t seem to do him any harm.

In Closing

Well, if you are not yet decided if a Friday the 13^th is something to fear, let me tell you about this. In 2029 – pretty soon in human years – an asteroid is going to come close to Earth.

Yikes!

According to the folks who look through telescopes, we’ll be fine. But still, put this date in your calendar: April 13, 2029. We’ll get a really good look at the asteroid known as 99942, Apophis (also known as 2004 MN4). It’s about 320 meters wide and would make a pretty big hole if it hit us.

When they found this rock in 2004, astronomers gave it a one-in-sixty chance of colliding with Earth, but since then, they say it will miss us entirely.

Here are some other interesting statistics:

• It will cruise past us at 18,600 miles above ground. (Geosynchronous satellites – what in the world are they? – are 22,300 miles above us.)
• It will be visible in parts of Asia, Africa and Europe.
• Nothing like this will happen for another 1,000 years or so.

This is a Tiger Lily Approved Tale. And she wants to remind you to duck – or go to Asia, Africa or Europe to look up – on April 13, 2029.

This is Mr. Bean speaking. Mommy gets very busy during Election season, and this one has been especially tough on her. She asked me to write an essay on voting.

This is what I choose to write.

TOMORROW, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE AND VOTE!

So this is me, Mr. Bean, again. Did you understand me? I have a very-soft-almost-no-voice, so sometimes people don’t hear me. Let me say it another way.

FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, JUST GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!

This is a Tiger Lily Approved Essay. She Says, “Well said, Mr. Bean.”

My name is Mattie. I am Mommy’s newest kitty kat, and I am still, almost, a kitten. I turned one in September. I’m beautiful. I love to play with toys. I torment my sister Sassy Pants whenever I get a chance, but I love up Mr. Bean at least once a day.

This is by way of introduction. You haven’t met me in a book yet, but if Mommy ever gets off her butt and finishes Volume 14, you will.

Make A Difference Day

Mommy said that the fourth Saturday in October is always Make A Difference Day. That will be the 24^th, or this Saturday. You still have time to plan what you want to do to make a difference in your world.

But let’s get back to me. I’m a kitty kat. What can I do to make a difference?

Glad you asked.

First, I like it when Mommy brushes my hair. I have very long, very pretty, very easy to mat hair. I love to be brushed. I’m a wiggle worm, but I let her hold me in lots of different ways to get to just about all of the places. (And, to be honest, every now and then she has to ask a professional to come in and shave my butt.) To make a difference for my Mommy, I can continue to be helpful and let her hold me upside down, or against her chest with my stummy exposed, or up by the tail. If I were going to be really helpful, I could use this day to let her trim my butt without having to hire it done. Fat chance.

Another way I could be helpful – if I really wanted to be – would be to stop eating all of the other kitty kats’ food. Mommy sometimes has to put Mr. Bean in the bathroom with his food so I don’t get it. He likes to take his time. I’m like a vacuum cleaner. And when I finish mine, I head for his. I could try it for just this one day, but, huh, see above. Fat chance.

I could use this one day to stop chasing Sassy Pants. But… fat chance. That’s just too fun.

If You’re A Human

Most of the people reading this are human people, not kitty kats. Most kitty kats haven’t learned how to read. So let’s concentrate on you.

If you haven’t planned anything, get busy! You might need supplies, and you sure need to plan it. Let’s face it, in times like this, if you are going to work in a group, or if you are going to go to a place, like a park or organization, to volunteer, people have to know you’re coming. You might need masks and gloves and such. Or you might have to alter your plans.

Let’s say you want to take persons with disabilities for a walk in the park. That could be a great fall day, but they may not be able to get together with them now because they are medically fragile. Things like that.

So let’s talk about what you might be able to do without being hampered by such things as a pandemic.

Mommy said that’s what we’re in right now. It’s a bad thing.

Some Ideas

Some of these ideas are good for other years, but not necessarily this year. I’ll help you figure it out.

• Organize a food drive. You can still do this. You can send out messages this week and invite people to gather food for persons who need it. Right now, lots of people need it. On Make A Difference Day, you can drive around (if you’re young, ask an adult) and pick up the food. People who have gathered may have to leave it on the porch for you to pick up. Make a plan with a local food bank so you can take the food – either on Saturday or early next week – and safely drop it off.
• Volunteer at an animal shelter. This could be problematic these days, because it requires you getting together with people to be trained. If for some reason your local shelters are not allowing new volunteers, you can do what I mentioned above. Organize a “food and supplies drive” to get litter, food, toys, and other supplies that could be needed at the shelter. You can even collect money to help them with the medical expenses that always come up.
• Clean up a local park. This is a good one. You can organize lots of people, it’s outside, and you can easily socially distance, as long as you all bring your own supplies. Trash bags, rakes, gloves, other tools. Be sure to work with your local county and town officials before you go off to “do good.”
• Organize a blood drive. Well, not so much. Your community probably has blood drives already. But you could do them a great service if you take that Saturday to go all over your community, posting signs about the next drive, where it is, who to contact, and that kind of thing.
• Treat your local first responders. Do it safely. Safely means that you probably don’t make and take homemade goodies right now. Again, gather some friends to help and each of you take an assignment to do some shopping. Fresh donuts; packaged cookies; snack items; drinks. Make arrangements with your local police and fire departments, the hospital, other places, to drop these snack items off. Make sure to include thank you notes, either several individual or one large one, to say THANK YOU for being our first line of defense.
• Gather a number of friends and have them make – on their own in the safety of their homes – optimistic signs. Things like “We Are In This Together.” “Today Is A Great Day To Be You.” “A Smile Can Take You A Mile.” You know. Things like that. Oh, a good one would be “Cats Are People, Too.” Anyway, decide what your signs are going to say, and on Saturday, each of you take an intersection in your community. Stand and wave those signs for all you’re worth!!
• Think about the people you know from school, work, church, your family. Who could benefit from a random act of kindness? Be thoughtful. It’s not like you can snuggle up close to people these days, but maybe someone could use help shopping for groceries. Maybe someone has to use a laundromat, and it’s tough for them to get out. Maybe someone could use a surprise car wash. Be creative. Wear a mask.
• Write cards to nursing home residents and/or veterans. This is easy. You don’t need to gather to do this. Work with your local nursing homes to see who needs a card or letter. Call your local veterans service center. This is something cats can’t do. We can’t hold crayons or pens or such stuff in our paws.

In Closing

You can do big things or little things. It doesn’t make a difference. But every little thing does, really….

This is a Tiger Lily Approved Essay, And She Is Pleased Mattie Chose To Write It.

This is Little Socks speaking. I turned 18 years old this year (that is 87 human years), and from my perspective, as a mature cat, this year can’t end quickly enough!

I’m going to miss a few things, but here we go. For things that happened through the middle of the year, I’m relying on these websites: Fox10Phoenix; Insider; CNN. And then I just added some stuff. Because. The stuff seemed important.

Australian Wildfires

Australia had a really big fire that started in 2019 and kept going this year. 47 million acres burned (Mommy says that’s a lot bigger than our yard), making thousands of people homeless and killing at least 34. From a cat’s perspective, the most awful thing is that more than a billion animals were killed and their homes (Mommy says ‘rare habitats’) were ruined.

World Health Organization (WHO) Is Notified Of A Novel Coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, In China

Mommy said cats can get infected! We have to stay in the house, and only go out if we have an appointment with Dr. Ralph! Mommy says if company comes, we have to wear masks. Instead, we just hide.

Anyway, apparently this started in November 2019. As I’m writing this, we still don’t know everything we need to know, but we were really flying blind in January.

Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Step Down From Buckingham Palace

Do we really care? Some people do, so it made the list. But I’m not going to tie myself up in knots to research it.

The President Was Impeached

Mommy tells me I can’t get political, but I don’t care what your politics are. To have a President impeached is a really big thing. I’m not going to go into the details here. Let’s just say it’s a rare thing. Oh, and later, he was acquitted, but Mommy says he is still impeached. I don’t understand it, but apparently, that means people have ignored it.

Iran

There’s this country called Iran, and we’ve been up, down and sideways with them for lots of years. For a while in January, it seemed like we might actually go to war. Phew! Missed that bullet!!!! Oh, and a passenger jet was shot down by Iran, who thought the jet was a threat. It wasn’t.

Death of Kobe Bryant

I’m not a sports fan, but apparently it was a very big deal that this guy, his daughter and seven other people died in a helicopter crash. Prayers to everyone involved. Truly.

The United Kingdom (The Buckingham Palace Country) Withdraws From The European Union

Celebration! Protest! Yay! Nay! This is another thing that we don’t know enough about it to know how important it is, but since that time??? Pandemic and smashed global markets. I don’t know if them being separate now is a good thing or a bad thing.

Oh! I started this in August. A little later, it seems like the leader of the Buckingham Palace Country has decided he doesn’t have to follow the rules he agreed to, and the EU (that’s what Mommy says I can call it) Is. Not. Happy.

Iowa Caucus Chaos

Apparently this year we’re having something called a Presidential Election. There were about a billion Democratic candidates for President, and they were on television over and over and over again, talking and yelling at each other. Then we got to the first state that would have an election. Iowa. They have what is called a Caucus. Mommy has said lots of things about caucuses in general, and what state should have the first one primary, and all of that, but she said to leave all of that out of here. Okay. I didn’t understand it anyway.

But, back to the chaos. Apparently it was pretty important.

According to this website, the February 3 “Iowa Democratic caucuses became a disaster of epic proportions.” There was a faulty app – Mom said it was supposed to count the votes – and other problems. The reporting was off, there were things said one way and another way (Mommy says the word is inconsistencies), and the election wasn’t certified until a month later! Two candidates ended up very close together at the top, with just a 0.04% difference in points. (Mom says Mayor Pete won! I like Mayor Pete because he has two really nice dogs!)

Harvey Weinstein Convicted

This is apparently a really big deal for women. Some big, important, rich guy who was a real rat’s patoot with women was convicted of stuff that Mommy won’t write about in our books. So yay. Apparently, we can thank him – indirectly – for starting this movement called #MeToo.

Can I join? What do I have to do, Mom? Oh. (She told me to hush.)

COVID-19 Pandemic

That virus that WHO told us about was named a pandemic, which means it’s a really bad, really really bad thing. By the time it’s named a pandemic, it’s in dozens of countries, and, well, now it’s everywhere. Mommy still says we have to stay home and stay safe. Quoting from one website piece written in June: “Six months ago, none of us could have imagined how our world – and our lives – would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus. The pandemic has brought out the best and the worst of humanity.”

March: Dow Plunges, Biggest Drop Since 1987

When I think of stocks, I think of soup. You know, beef stock, chicken stock, vegetable stock. Mommy says the stocks in this instance mean money. Mostly rich people’s money. But it’s a big deal. They closed down this trading place for fifteen minutes. I don’t know what good that could do, but Mommy said it stopped an even bigger disaster. Okay.

The 2020 Summer Olympics Were Postponed

This country called Japan was going to go ahead and hold them, but then other countries started saying they wouldn’t come. Then more said that. Then that country – Japan – said, well, maybe that’s a good idea. It has to do with that pandemic, you know. The one I told you about before. The one that is all over the world.

Sports In General

They pretty much all got cancelled. Horse races, car races, baseball, basketball, football… Wow. That must be a pretty potent pandemic.

We Have A Winner

Kind of. Remember when I said that there were about a billion candidates for President? By April, the last candidate – well, there might have been one or two more that hadn’t officially said anything – but the last one with oomph backed out, leaving this guy called Joe Biden. So, according to Mommy, in November, when we have that Presidential election, it will be Biden and Trump. Mommy has her opinions, but she says I can’t talk about that here.

Death Of George Floyd

In May, this guy named George Floyd was killed in a city called Minneapolis. It was a horrible thing, and it unleashed all holy heck around the country. Mommy says I can’t talk about the movements and the happenings and the this and thats, because people have very strong opinions. She says it is not the place of a cat – not even an intelligent Tuxedo cat like me – to wade into the argument. But it was important enough to make the list.

Jeffrey Epstein And Ghislaine Maxwell

This really awful guy named Jeffrey Epstein was in the news in 2019 (he died then), but then this woman who was all wrapped up in his mess, Ghislaine Maxwell, got caught by the FBI. So now it’s in the news again, and it gets racier and racier. Again, like that Weinstein guy above, Mommy says she would never put the kinds of things they did in our books, and she won’t tell me what it all was.

That’s okay. I’m a cat. I want to live in blissful ignorance.

Mommy also can’t tell me how to pronounce that woman’s name.

John Lewis, Civil Rights Icon

Mommy cried a lot about him, and she watched his Laying in State at Capitol Hill and his funeral. She says we have to VOTE VOTE VOTE to honor his memory.

Wildfires, A Heat Wave And COVID Converge

Wow. It’s a lot for a little four-legged creature to wrap her mind around.

There are these fires, and it’s really bad and intense, and it’s in California, Oregon and Washington. And the sky is orange. And there are fire tornadoes. Mommy says I have to say there is a “fire season” in California, and the fires are burning in the season, but they have been enhanced – I’m not sure that’s the right word – by weather. There was something about 12,000 lightning strikes, with more on the way. And a record-breaking heat wave. And there are evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people, but they’re afraid to go to shelters because of that pandemic I talked about earlier. And possible floods. And there is a lot more… but the news is bleak enough without me saying any more.

Midwest Derecho (Idaho Got Hit Hard)

A derecho (Mommy says that’s a hurricane, but on dry land) devastated an area nearly 800 miles wide. The winds were kind of steady at 100 miles per hour, but they say some gusts were as much as 140 miles per hour. It lasted 14 hours. Bunches of homes, schools, businesses and agribusinesses (imagine huge grain bins laid down on their side) were damaged or destroyed. Trees that had stood for over a century fell down. Ten million acres of crops were damaged or destroyed. Power was knocked out to more than a million people. But with all of the other news, this got little mention in the national press.

If it had come here, Mommy would have made us go downstairs to the safe space, and she says even at that, we might not have been very safe.

2 Hurricanes At Once?

This is supposed to be an above-average year for hurricanes, with enough tropical storms and hurricanes predicted to actually use up the alphabet. (Mommy says they are named by the alphabet every year, starting with “A.”) But in August, two hurricanes got ready to aim in the same general direction in the Gulf of Mexico. At the same time!

Mommy says this Gulf thing is a lot smaller than an ocean, so not only is it rare, but the damage can be more severe. She also said this kind of thing has never been “recorded” before. That means it could have happened before, but not since we’ve been keeping track of weather.

As of September 19, the Greek alphebet was being used. Mommy says thats a lot.

OH! And hold the presses! We had a zombie hurricane!!!! One that died and came back to life! Are we done yet?

OK OK OK

Mommy said she saw a joke on the interweb. Here it goes.

A man goes to a bar in New Orleans: “Can I have a corona and two hurricanes, please?”

Bartender: “That’ll be 20.20.”

I think that’s supposed to be funny.

A Really Bad Thing

Mommy says Rest In Power, RBG.

Presidential Election

Mommy says, “Let’s not go there.” Okay. I understand, since this will be posted on October 5, that in one month, it will be over. Mommy says it can’t happen soon enough.

But…. just because…. can we say that at the 100th Anniversary of the signing of the 19th Amendment – giving women the right to vote – isn’t it grand that one party chose a woman to be the Vice Presidential candidate? And Mommy says she’s “of color,” and both of her parents were immigrants! One from India and one from Jamaica! So that’s good news, right? And a great thing to mixed-breed female kitty kats everywhere!

There’s One Other Thing

Mommy says voting rights are being subverted, but she said I couldn’t talk about it. She said there was Just. Too. Much. And some people wouldn’t like her opinions.

And let’s not forget!!!

NASA has predicted an asteroid will pass close to Earth the day before the election! Really! It’s supposed to come as close as between 4,700 miles and 260,000 miles. I supposed they’ll narrow this down a bit.

There is good news. There is only a 1 in 240 chance of the blasted thing entering the Earth’s atmosphere, and since it is small (7 feet in diameter), it will probably look like a meteor and break into tiny pieces.

If only we can be so lucky. It is 2020, you know.

We Aren’t Done

Mommy said I have to put in a caveat. I’m not sure what that is, but she said, “Make sure you tell the people that you are writing this in August, and you are going to have to remember to update it before it goes out in October.” Okay. I just told you. Hopefully I’ll remember to do that!

And Here Is The October Surprise. Already.

Mommy wasn’t sure if we should put this in front of the election or here at the end. She said I should put it at the end. That pandemic has reared its head in our most hallowed seat of government, the White House. (We live in a gray house.)

Mommy says there is a lot to talk about here, but she doesn’t want to scare the bejeebers out of me, so she makes me go into another room when the news is on.

In Closing

Let me just say, God Bless The United States Of America.

This is a Tiger Lily Approved Essay, Although She Says She Would Have Done A Better Job Than Little Socks. And we need to be done with 2020 as soon as possible.