Image: artfido.com   Johnson Tsang

DISMAY — For two months now China has been enduring a prolonged heat wave.  The New Scientist reported that hundreds of places have reported temperatures of more than 40°C (104°F), and many records have been broken. Subway stations have set up rest areas where people can recover from the heat.  On 18 August, the temperature in Chongqing in Sichuan province reached 45°C (113°F).

APPRECIATION —  Finished reading an enjoyable and exceptionally well-written book, Entwined, by Joyce Wallace Scott, whose Down Syndrome twin sister spent more than three decades in a state institution.

FRUSTRATION — Having spent more than fifty dollars on a new bird feeder, two days have passed and not a single bird has visited to peck at the new,  easy-to-reach bird seed.

ENJOYMENT —  Spent time at a local thrift store with super wonderful, unusual items, including an illustrated book of myths.

EMBARASSED  — to realize that my state of residence is so reactionary, especially in the areas of abortion, gun control, gerrymandering and public schools.

WORRIED — A Trojan virus tried to invade my computer but I knew what to do: unplug the computer immediately.  Then I had to wrangle a bit to get my computer and phone working again.

RESOLVED — To continue working on my 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, which I’ve been working on for a good two weeks now.

CHAGRINED —  I read the truth about Woodrow Wilson and the extreme censorship he condoned by his segregationist postmaster, the former Rep. Albert Sidney Burleson who, in the era of World War I,  declared certain newspapers and other publications “undeliverable,” and confiscated them.  A Justice Department special agent seized one periodical from the Wells Fargo Express company.  An early version of the Espionage Act  allowed Burleson to declare 44 American periodicals entirely “unmailable,” followed later by an additional 30 more. The in-depth article, “The Censor,”  is by Adam Hochschild in the current Mother Jones.  I had always thought well of Wilson.