1. A tech from Border's Heating and Sheet Metal showed up at our house, as scheduled, this morning. I was under the impression that our heating/cooling system ought to be checked out annually and the tech came to do that. The unit in the living room that we use the most needed some deep cleaning, but not the other units. He made sure all the units are functioning well and they are.
This was great news.
2. Even though Debbie put in several hours in her classroom, preparing for the 23-24 school year, she wanted to fix dinner when she arrived home, after a quick trip to the vet to have some spots on Gibbs' belly checked. (There's no problem.)
Debbie combined lettuce and basil from Carol's garden with feta cheese and a killer vinaigrette, built around pomegranate balsamic vinegar, and other perfectly chosen ingredients and created a superb salad. Along with the salad she made one of my favorite pasta dishes: spaghetti with garlic and basil and grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
3. After we finished this simple and totally satisfying meal, Debbie and I returned to the last episode of the Season 8 of Slow Burn, entitled Being Clarence Thomas. It was difficult for me to listen to as it told the story of Thomas and Anita Hill being called before the Senate Judiciary Committee to present their conflicting testimony regarding Anita Hill's claims that Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her when he was chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and she worked there as an adviser to him.
Three other women were prepared to testify, but the committee didn't hear them. Their contributions were limited to written testimony, all of which made claims about Clarence Thomas similar to Anita Hill's.
Listening to this episode further cemented my understanding of the past, of history. Things that occur in the past are always connected to things that happened previously and things in the past are never done, are always with us in the present.
History doesn't repeat itself.
It continues.
It's not uncommon for people to say, "Oh -- that's history", usually meaning that what they are referring to is over with. It's not.
The issues raised when Anita Hill testified, the way she was vilified, and the impact it all had on Clarence Thomas himself have all continued not only to live, but to shape our lives in the USA, and will continue to do so long after the parties involved are gone.
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