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The snow began falling lightly here after dark on December 24 and fell steadily all day on December 25. Something prompted me to take a quiet peaceful 2-hour walk in the snow. Because of wind and rain, I've not been walking much in the past few weeks. Looking at the forecast, it appears that we will have snow on the ground and unusually cold weather for at least the next 10 days, with a low of 7 degrees predicted for today.
It's December 26 now. I woke up just after midnight and learned that Desmond Tutu had died and decided to stay up and post something.
3 comments:
It was such sad news this morning to read of Desmond Tutu's death. These long dark days of winter, the cold and wind, the snow and rain... we wait for clear days.
In 1984, I was a member of IDATU, a trade union in Ireland that worked closely with the co-operative movement I was involved in at the time.
In the summer of that year, two women, IDATU members and working as cashiers in a large Dublin supermarket began to refuse handling South African goods as a form of protest against apartheid. Both women were suspended from their jobs. That started a country wide strike by IDATU members and lots of anti-apartheid campaign activities during which I often joined picket lines outside the supermarket chain with my toddler playing with all the other kids of the striking union members. There was a lot of support but the Irish government, other trade unions and the Catholic church repeatedly criticized the strike. All IDATU members received notice that they would never be allowed enter South Africa.
Later that same year, Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace prize and on his way to collect it in Oslo, on stopover in London, he met the two women who started the strike to encourage and thank them in the name of black South Africans. I remember picketing that day in Cork with huge crowds cheering us.
The Irish government eventually, albeit not for another three years, banned the import of South African goods.
more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnes_Stores_strike
I love walking while it's snowing. It's so peaceful, all the sounds are muffled and the world recedes a little.
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