June 2020 Recommendations

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Doesn't this feel footloose and fancy free, sharing recommendations on the last Tuesday of the month as if we're in The Land Before Corona Times?  

1. Wear a fucking mask indoors, in lines, and when you can't maintain six feet of distance outside. If you're afraid to, it's fine, stay home. Let the people who are not afraid to have regard for other people be out living life and social distancing like bosses if you are afraid to wear a mask. Do not make life harder for people working who have to wear masks and then also get after your dumb ass to put one on when you know damn well you should. 

2. Curbside pick up from your library if they're doing it. No, it is not the same as being in there but it feels damn good to hold a library book!  

3. Book direct instead of using VRBO or AirBB. If you are looking at a house on one of those platforms and the house has a name (like ours is Home Sweet Shore Home), google House Name Location and see if a link to book direct comes up. Do not book anywhere without a rental contract that protects both you and the owner. Let me know if you are looking to do this and have questions. Also: if your flying vacation got cancelled and you are planning to drive somewhere, DO NOT TRAVEL if you want a guarantee of safety in regards to Covid. No private or hotel owner can guarantee that for you. Also do not travel if you think you are the only person who wants to travel after months in your home and will then complain about how many people are around at the destination you are in, as if you are the only person who has the right to go and be there. Final also:  do not travel if you want to act like there is no pandemic. The same mask up, patience with small business owners, awareness of new ways of doing things, etc you have to do at home you have to do elsewhere. Do not make anyone's life harder because you have an expectation of a normal vacation.

4. These baskets have been awesome - I have kid books hanging in them in the main house at the shore, and snacks in our apartment here. If you are short on space and need additional storage, these work great. 

5. Kid books. I try to add new books to my shore collection every year. This year was Kindness Rocks by Sonica Ellis; Celestina the Astronaut Ballerina: A Kids’ Read-Aloud Picture Book About Space, Astronauts, and Following Your Dreams (Big Ideas for Little Dreamers) by Donald Jacobsen;cele Hide and Seek Harry at the Beach by Kenny Harrison, and Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beatty. My niece and nephew donated some of their books too. 

6. Leaning into this unpredictable time. I know. If you are like me, you hate unpredictable. Try to use it as a time to really examine everything - even things you think you enjoy - and only keep the ways, activities, things, and people that really make your life. I spent almost five years forcing myself to get up at 4:30 in the morning for sunrises at the shore when I don't even like them that much in May, June, and July...much preferring end of August through December. Why was I doing that? When I asked the question, there was no satisfactory answer. Even though I enjoyed it eventually, I'm not doing it anymore. And my days flow much better this year than they used to down here. I can actually see sunsets and sit on my porch and enjoy the night quiet at 9:30 pm because I'm not dead tired/angry trollish by 8. The sunrises will still be there later in the summer and through the fall, when I can get up at 6 or later. 

7. Tommy Bahama Beach Umbrella. The only umbrellas I will buy or use. Do not buy a cheap ass $20 umbrella with no anchor on it and expect it to stand up to winds by the ocean. Under no circumstances should anyone ever purchase an Amazon Basics umbrella. You'll kill yourself or someone else.

8. Buy from a black-owned business. Try https://www.buyfromablackwoman.org/, We Buy Black on Instagram, download the Black Wall Street app, if you are in a city who has it (Philly, you are), use Black & Mobile for food delivery service for black businesses, google buy black. 

9. This vacuum attachment is great on baseboards. It fits both my Eureka and Shark vacuums.  

10. Stay hydrated and take your vitamins.

Last day of June. What.