Warzone, Day 5....and a new story out!
May. 30th, 2020 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catherineldfLet's start with the fun stuff. My story, " Cardinal's Gambit," is out at Heather Rose Jones' LHMPodcast, If you liked the pirate/spy couple that I introduced in "The Letter of Marque" and wrote about in "One Night In Saint Martin," they're back! Have a little distraction!
Okay, back to the horror. So last night we had a friend over for birthday dinner (Jana's and his) and he left right before curfew (a brand new thing, started last night at 8PM, both cities). When he left, we found a bag of food from a local restaurant on the porch. We tried unsuccessfully to reach them and there was no name on it, so into the fridge it went. More on that later.
Now many places, putting a "curfew" in suggests that it will be enforced, in this case by the MN National Guard and the local constabulary. Or, you know, someone in authority. But that was not how this rolled. I have said elsewhere that a number of our public officials are people that we elected in good times for good times, not necessarily people who could handle many, many simultaneous crises, back to back. Some of them are trying, but aren't good at it yet. Some are not trying and it shows. Last night, the rest of Lake Street burned, along with a big chunk of St. Paul and some of North Minneapolis. Today, we are finally wrestling with the notion that the Fire Department needs to be able to get to the fires in order to put them out. We are also dealing with the notion that if you start out with huge, interracial groups of protestors, then suddenly have small groups of white guys with suspiciously new gear running around setting fire to things and encouraging looting, then maybe you have a different set of problems.
Last night, we lost, amongst other things too numerous to even begin to list:
Today, I dropped off donations at the food shelf, helped raise the Bat Signal to assist DreamHaven Books, shared food from the restaurant delivery (I paid the restaurant even though they tried to give us the meal kit for free) with our neighbors, helped clean up DreamHaven and locked up our trash cans and recycling bin so they can't be used to start fires. The farmers we buy goat cheese from fought their way to our house to deliver the goat cheese order I couldn't get downtown to pick up.
Tonight, the word is that we are going to get an influx of white supremacists. The highways are closed. We no longer have mail delivery or public transit. All over the area, people are assembling block patrols. One of our favorite cafe owners to begging people to come and stay overnight to help her protect her restaurant (an East Coast Big 5 editor informed me today on Twitter that "no one did that," when in fact yes, they do). The full Minnesota National Guard will be out, along with troops from other states. Tonight, they have been told they can use lethal force. Tonight, I will be sleeping on the couch with a fire extinguisher and sundry other equipment and waking up periodically to patrol our yard and keep an eye on the surrounding houses. We are all angry and scared and I just hope we stop these fuckers tonight and save what's left of our cities.
And no, I haven't forgotten about George Floyd. Hell, I haven't even forgotten about COVID-19. But we're in in survival mode now and have to do the best we can with what we have. We'll get justice for him, but we gotta survive the night first. Good luck out there and stay as safe as you can.
Okay, back to the horror. So last night we had a friend over for birthday dinner (Jana's and his) and he left right before curfew (a brand new thing, started last night at 8PM, both cities). When he left, we found a bag of food from a local restaurant on the porch. We tried unsuccessfully to reach them and there was no name on it, so into the fridge it went. More on that later.
Now many places, putting a "curfew" in suggests that it will be enforced, in this case by the MN National Guard and the local constabulary. Or, you know, someone in authority. But that was not how this rolled. I have said elsewhere that a number of our public officials are people that we elected in good times for good times, not necessarily people who could handle many, many simultaneous crises, back to back. Some of them are trying, but aren't good at it yet. Some are not trying and it shows. Last night, the rest of Lake Street burned, along with a big chunk of St. Paul and some of North Minneapolis. Today, we are finally wrestling with the notion that the Fire Department needs to be able to get to the fires in order to put them out. We are also dealing with the notion that if you start out with huge, interracial groups of protestors, then suddenly have small groups of white guys with suspiciously new gear running around setting fire to things and encouraging looting, then maybe you have a different set of problems.
Last night, we lost, amongst other things too numerous to even begin to list:
- Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's Bookstore - the oldest indie sf-speciality bookstore in the country. Staff are unharmed, fundraiser likely coming soon.
- Broadway Family Medicine Clinic, one of the largest medical facilities left in North Minneapolis
- 2 post offices (one of which housed my p.o. box as well as several things on hold that were due to be delivered when mail service resumed - the 2 shirts that I had ordered for Jana for her birthday, the DVDs I was looking forward to watching and some other things). My all time favorite mail clerk worked at our closest one.
- More restaurants, nail shops, barber shops, gas stations, coffee shops, banks, pharmacies, drug stores, grocery stores, etc. than I can count.
- A photojournalist has lost an eye to "nonlethal" rounds, DreamHaven Books was broken into and trashed, the Minnesota Somali Museum got trashed and the Midtown Global Market and its apartments were attacked (the tenants fended off the looters and arsonists and now it's one of the few buildings left standing). Paper Source got looted (Paper Source? I mean all the why?).
Today, I dropped off donations at the food shelf, helped raise the Bat Signal to assist DreamHaven Books, shared food from the restaurant delivery (I paid the restaurant even though they tried to give us the meal kit for free) with our neighbors, helped clean up DreamHaven and locked up our trash cans and recycling bin so they can't be used to start fires. The farmers we buy goat cheese from fought their way to our house to deliver the goat cheese order I couldn't get downtown to pick up.
Tonight, the word is that we are going to get an influx of white supremacists. The highways are closed. We no longer have mail delivery or public transit. All over the area, people are assembling block patrols. One of our favorite cafe owners to begging people to come and stay overnight to help her protect her restaurant (an East Coast Big 5 editor informed me today on Twitter that "no one did that," when in fact yes, they do). The full Minnesota National Guard will be out, along with troops from other states. Tonight, they have been told they can use lethal force. Tonight, I will be sleeping on the couch with a fire extinguisher and sundry other equipment and waking up periodically to patrol our yard and keep an eye on the surrounding houses. We are all angry and scared and I just hope we stop these fuckers tonight and save what's left of our cities.
And no, I haven't forgotten about George Floyd. Hell, I haven't even forgotten about COVID-19. But we're in in survival mode now and have to do the best we can with what we have. We'll get justice for him, but we gotta survive the night first. Good luck out there and stay as safe as you can.