UPDATEd. January Umbrella Sales

Oh! Umbrellas may not be needed? I’m happy (but wary)-a judge ruled against the use of pepper spray:

[end update]

A couple umbrellas were sticking up from the cart of priced goods I wheeled onto the sales floor yesterday, and Em at the cash register said, 
"Good, get those out! People are asking for them."

Temperatures are in the teens (–10C), snow and frozen water cover the ground, and umbrella sales are up.

People protesting ICE are carrying umbrellas to shield against pepper balls. 
[Pepper balls are breakable projectiles, shot from a paint-gun-like weapon, filled with chemical irritants, including capsaicin II, a lab-made replica of the natural chemical that makes peppers sting. 
They are used along with tear gas and pepper spray. --via Wikipedia]

The store is in the thick of the ICE occupation, 
and I'm surprised they haven't targeted the store itself [yet].

We don't have much of a plan, 
but we do have PRIVACY signs on doors leading into the back work areas, and from there, people can leave out the back doors. 
Or stay in the break room.

Legally, ICE agents can't go in private areas, 
though they haven't seemed concerned with legal niceties.

The federal raid looking for ICE's stolen guns across the street from the thrift store (the raid with the tank) yielded nothing.
. . . Maybe because they went to the wrong address?

The warrant was for a top floor apartment, but they raided the first floor--not legal. The poor woman who lives there returned to a home totally torn apart.
But they wouldn't have found anything at the wrong address anyway--no one lives there.
_____________________

I felt really low yesterday, after revving high for ten days, ever since ICE murdered Renee Good. Mushroom Jester nailed it:

"I just want this to be over."

Me too, I said. It reminds me of Ukraine, though not as violent, the feeling is so grim, the awareness of armed men (mostly men) who are not here for your good. 
And everyone's high emotions--mostly fear or anger.

In some cases, there's disinterest, which I also find disturbing. 
One coworkers said he's not sticking his neck out for anyone. Understandable, but hardly en-couraging.
Still, I get it--everyone makes their own way, for their own reasons.

I am very jugdgmental, but really and truly, the longer I live, the more I see that everyone has their own stories they're living out, 
and to try to interfere with that, unasked, is not very effective.

(I'm not talking ^ here, of course, about trying to stop or hinder harm being done.)

One volunteer talks openly of "staying in the light"--and I really appreciate her bringing that New-Agey perspective to it.

She's not just talking woo-woo. 

She shows up.

She's the retired doctor who had knelt by the young man shot in the store's parking a couple summers ago (it was a drug-related assassination ).
At that time, she'd told me, 

"There was nothing I could do. 
I just held space for his spirit to leave."

God forbid I'm ever shot, but if I were to be, 
I'd want someone like her kneeling next to me, praying in love, 
not someone yelling "fuck you" at ICE over my body
(understandable though that would be).
Or, conversely, I'd want to follow her lead, if anyone were ever harmed in front of me.
____________________

Here's a good article in today's Guardian---most of the places and the photos are near the thrift store, or in the 3 miles between my work and home:

"‘Make no mistake, this is an occupation’: 
ICE’s deadly presence casts long shadow over Minneapolis"
theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/17/minneapolis-twin-cities-ice-dispatch

___________________ 

The energy is heavy, dark. 
Unless I get in their way, which is possible, I am not the direct target of ICE. However, they are harassing everyone. For instance, they stopped an 87-year-old white woman who volunteers at the store while she was driving to the doctor and asked for her ID and car registration.

But the occupation of 3,000 federal agents is not going to end here for a couple more weeks--and not then, either. 
I mean, even if ICE leaves here at the end of January, they'll go elsewhere. Gotta spend that $8 billion/year!

And as long as this administration is in place, 
their Power will keep expanding, or trying to.

I sing, I pray, I talk to people, I make God's eyes... 
I am doing what feels right to me, for now.

I keep my spirits up--important.
Today is Needlework group, and this afternoon I've invited a few people to make God's eyes at my place.

There's supposed to be an anti-Muslim march today (by Proud Boys and the like--many have come into town from out of state)––they're targeting the Somali community--
 and there's a counter-protest in a different location, downtown. 

I feel a sort of evil delight that the weather forecast for today and the next ten days shows temperatures in the teens, and below zero at night.
Locals will have their cold weather gear. 

Oh, that reminds me––I am grumbly about this–– I gave my new furry Pendleton (!) ear-flap hat to a dumb-ass girl at the bus stop yesterday evening, in the bitter cold because she was wearing some sort of fleece poncho, with no hat. 

She was smoking a cigarette she'd bummed off a passerby, hands exposed. She said she had no gloves, but I drew the line at giving her my mittens. 
(My coat has a hood, but it's not really warm enough. I can layer it with my frog hat underneath--its synthetic material doesn't breathe, so it's surprisingly warm.) 

I need to remember to carry warm gear in my bag, so I don't give away my best and favorite ones I'm wearing. 
I MISS THAT HAT ALREADY.

The humans! We are our own worst & stupidest genius enemies!
How have we survived so long? 

 Shine on, anyway!