Lady T

In front of her wide screen cat TV with the 24 hour neighborhood channel. It's her favorite spot for bird 🐦 watching. It's also her balcony from which she is courted by a very smitten tuxedo cat I've nicknamed Romeo.

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The beautiful Tobago aka Lady T

Very much enjoying signs of spring--especially the increasing number of 🐦s she can see through the window. BTW if you have cats PLEASE keep them inside. Each year outdoors 🐈 😻 🐈‍⬛️ 🐱s kill 1.8 billion birds. They're wired to be predators. Also indoor 🐈 😻 🐈‍⬛️ s live longer, healthier lives.

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Amber

I was delighted to see my author daughter, Amber, at Take Back The Night. She's a very strong feminist.

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Stronger Than (picture book)

     I was hooked on Stronger Than the minute I laid eyes on the cover. I mean any book that unites the formidable talents of Nikki Grimes and E. B. Lewis is bound to be amazing...

     ...and the inside of the book beautifully lives up to the cover's promise. In the light of day eight-year-old Dante is not afraid of anything:

"Not monsters slithering beneath his bed.

Not dragons lurking in dark corners. 

Not ghostly spirits wandering the halls."

His mother has to prevent him from doing risky stuff unsupervised. 

"I'm old enough for lots of things!

Why can't Mom see that?"

     But it's a whole different story once darkness falls. He dreads sleep because of terrible nightmares. 

     It doesn't help that his brother, Damon, calls him a baby. 

     But his mother has a plan that sends him off to the library to learn more about the crisis his ancestors faced.

     In her author's note Grimes says: "More and more races and cultures are being featured in children's books these days, but I recall hardly any stories starring Black Native people [people like Dante who have both Native and African American blood]. That bothers me because I think all children should get to see themselves between the pages of a book."

     Stronger Than is certainly a step in the right direction. 

On a purrrsonal note, at the University of Maine this month there were activities dedicated to raising awareness of and cutting down on the incidence of sexual assault. A number of on campus (i.e. Title IX) and off campus (i.e. Rape Response Services) groups tabled and hosted events. My favorite this year was the boundaries lunch 😋. (Good job, Cam!) The Clothesline Project with it's eye catching decorated t shirts was a sobering reminder of a crisis a lot of people would like to sweep under the rug. And last night was Take Back The Night. It was where rape survivors shared our stories. It was quite emotional and authentic and the audience was respectful and supportive. At the end some of us marched around the mall with signs doing chants like 

Claim our bodies 

Claim our rights

Take a stand. 

Take back the night.

My favorite was

No means no

Yes means yes

Wherever we go 

However we dress 

It was quite a moving experience!

A great big shout out goes out to all who participated and to the college of my ❤️, University of Maine, for carrying out this essential awareness campaign every April. 

Jules Hathaway 

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French toast

And the students were loving it. 

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French toast

Thursday they were serving up delicious 😋 😍 French toast, hot off the griddle, at the UMaine Wade Center.

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Sign of spring

These lovely daffodils are blooming at the Orono Community Garden where we're prepping beds and planting veggies in anticipation of bountiful harvest.

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