A Something New and Different Friday

This morning Missy and I went out on my patio and we saw something very strange. At first I just thought it was a couple of cats but as they came closer I realized they were foxes. There were two of them. Yesterday morning Bob saw them and thought they were cats too. There were three yesterday. One was a kit. This morning I called him to come out and see them and he agreed they were foxes. Missy was terrified and wanted back in the house. I let her back in and she growled and growled...now that she was safely in the house. We are not in the center of town but we are certainly not on the edge of town. A block or two away there is Sycamore Creek and a lot of timber. That must be what is drawing them in....that and perhaps the need for food. Strange!

I went to Independence this morning to get my hair done and while I was there I went to their Wal Mart store and bought school supplies for the back packs I bought earlier this week. I had to take the long way since tenth street road is still closed. Now I am ready for the Friday exercise class. Bob will be leaving soon.

My neighbor across the way has bought a new Toyota. It is one of the unique ones.....a Prius. It is a beautiful red.

More later...

We had our exercise class and afterward went for coffee. Then I came home and fixed dinner. We had pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy and carrots and jello salad. We had cupcakes for dessert. Everything was good.

My son, Scott, called after lunch. My eldest son, Keith, called earlier.

Now I am preparing the bulletin for July 28th. I will take it to be printed off after the weekend.

Now about the president's speech. This was an "off the cuff" discussion about race and without any teleprompters. He spoke from his heart. And it's about time he said something as president as a black man about this subject. He reminded the audience that he too had encountered the reaction of whites clutching their purses when he got into an elevator. And people locking their car doors when he encountered them on the street. The answer to prejudice is not some kind of "conversation" about race. People cannot be talked out of their prejudices. The way we eliminate prejudice is to make interracial friends. That's what we have done in Coffeyville with the PINCH organization. Those of us with some influence have taken on the racial prejudice and injustice we have encountered in the community. The black community cannot make these changes by themselves. It takes those of us who are friends and white to assist them to find justice.

Some years ago, retired Methodist minister Howard Bredesen and my husband, Bob Miller, started this organization in an attempt to combat racism the natural way...by making friends in the black community and socializing with them to get to know them. At one time we had dinner parties and had some serious conversations about their experience in the past. Their stories did not surprise us. We remembered when the black athletes could not play sports with the white teams. I stayed with the organization when Bob died three years ago and have made some incredible friends in the black community. That's how we combat racism. We make friends.