First Forward

Despite being entirely online, there's a lot of excitement for the Forward Conference this year, which will be very memorable just for that reason:  it's entirely online.  Madison is showing her Tribe spirit by wearing a custom-made "Saints" shirt.  That's the tribe she is representing here, and she's been online in the Forward chatrooms, along with friends, all of them cheering on the Saints.

Today's sessions were good, and Madison has been taking lots of notes throughout.  She has her laptop set up on the table, and her notepad there as well.  I rushed home to set it all up on the big television screen there, but she prefers her setup on the table there, a little study area made up for Forward 2020.

So we've gained some more ground this year.  And to explain, let me start out by saying that just when you thought this year couldn't be any more unusual, we've had a dust storm.  But it isn't any ordinary dust storm - this is from Africa.  Yes, a Saharan Dust Cloud has blown all the way over the Atlantic Ocean and swirled all the way up over to North America.

It's unreal.  The last time I've seen something like this was back in 2008, when we were in Beijing.  The weather was overcast and had a chalky sort of look, and there was the feeling like it was going to rain, but it never did.  The skies looked heavy with something, and we didn't see much of the sun then.  That was pollution, and Beijing was famous for it that summer, right about the time of the Olympics.

That's the way the skies look now, and for the rest of the weekend.  You can look to the mountains north of us, and there's this beige light that illuminates them.  The sunsets are supposed to be more colorful, although the frequent rain and cloud cover might make that a challenge to see.

 I spent a good bit of time today on our upcoming "Wildfire" series, which I'm hoping isn't prophetic in any way.  The way things have been lately, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if there were rampant wildfires in the West somewhere.  The running joke about the year 2020 is that the next month will feature asteroids, alien attacks, or some other dramatic plague.

In between sessions, Madison had time for piano, and time for a bath as well.  So she had a full day regardless of the fact that she didn't go anywhere.

Tonight there was time for an episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," and we had time to read from the current book we've been reading, "Truckers."  This is Madison's first Terry Pratchett novel, and in fact Mommy's as well.  They're both enjoying this Book of Nomes (without the "g") quite a bit.  It's not a Disc World book, but it is a good starter kit for the author, a good glimpse at the style of writing, which is witty and fun, and always sneaky with a point or two.

It was a good day in the end, a full day too.  We went to bed on time tonight, tired, but ready to tackle another summer weekend tomorrow!