week notes 7/5/2020

Happy 4th of July everyone! I had a busy long weekend, starting with a backpacking trip to Navaho Peak, camping in the meadows beneath. It was beautiful and a little challenging with our packs. We’ve hardly been hiking all season due to the rona and we might be a bit out of shape 😉

View from Navaho Pass

We took Thursday off and left for the trailhead at 8am with some friends. It took about 3 hours to hike to our desired campsite. Fortunately it wasn’t too busy when we arrived, but by the time we left on Friday afternoon, the meadows were packed. I’m really glad we camped Thursday night to avoid the crowds.

On Thursday afternoon we visited the pass, a short hike up from the campsite.

Us at Navaho Pass

Then on Friday morning, we went all the way up to Navaho Peak. The hike from the pass to the peak was pretty grueling, but we didn’t have any packs to carry up so we made it okay!

Navaho Peak

The boyfriend and I got back Friday evening and PTFO (a friend’s acronym - guess what it means 😂). We woke up a little sore, but recovered pretty quickly.

On Saturday the 4th, I took time out to participate in the Socialism 2020 conference. I found it interesting, but there were quite a few technical difficulties. Because of the current racial conversations, most speakers had a strong racial justice theme to their message, which I appreciated. But as someone new to the ideas of socialism (rather than just democratic socialism), I was hoping for a bit more of the fundamentals.

I also took the time to read Frederick Douglass’s full speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” (linked below). It was so moving and really put the Fourth of July in a different perspective for me. Sam and I did not celebrate this year.

If you’re more of a video person, here’s a version of the speech read by descendants of Frederick Douglass.

Knitting

I actually haven’t knitted at all recently! Instead, I’ve been crocheting! Crazy.

I haven’t picked up a crochet hook since I was a kid, but I was super inspired to make these Slouchy Hanging Baskets by Two of Wands.

Beautiful baskets

Mine didn’t turn out quite as elegant - but it’s super useful! I have it stretched full of work stuff (notebooks, pens, chapstick, etc.) that used to be scattered around my WFH workstation.

My basket of work supplies

Crocheting came back to me easily and the pattern was dead simple. I enjoyed making it while watching TV or listening to audiobooks. I think I might even make another before I start my next big knitting project!

Reading

I liked this