Two small victories

It is bitterly cold, has been for a week or so, today it is below -10 degrees celsius even during the day. Usually that kind of temperature (which we don't have often) goes along with easterly winds, and they come up the valley, making the top ripples on the rive go 'upstream'. It never is a river with a noticeable flow (unless it is flooded, which happens infrequently as well), and the spot where the downtown bridge crosses over it is rather flat, so the direction of the flow is not necessarily noticeable from looking at the surroundings.

Looking upstream - and the 'waves' seemed to be headed that direction as well.

It has been so cold that I have seriously curtailed my walks or activities outside, and I am not a chicken in terms of temperatures, but the winds are just making it entirely unbearable, despite the fact that the sunshine is brilliant and luring.
So my brief walk a couple of days ago yielded a few pictures of marks, shapes, textures.

And a brief contemplation about why I haven't chosen this tree as a tree for observation and frequent photography...

Then I remembered - it's not been considered 'old enough'. And it is an oak, and I have done an oak.
Stitching is slow these days. A bit of quilting for the 70-273 Project, sending quilts out to be bound, too, and a few thoughts about things I could be doing. Thoughts only, as there has been only little time of leisurely contemplation because of the issues for the Senegalese friends. They have by now been allowed to move back into their former accomodation, and we hope that the neighbors will be more understanding, less hostile, but as of this moment we don't know. It's so cold they have kept their windows entirely shut. However, from the situations I witnessed when I happened to be present and the neighbor was beginning to have a go at them I must say that his reactions were completely overdrawn. So we will have to see when the weather gets warmer. Another issue was that one of them had received a warrant in summer for being in the country illegally and supposedly not having done enough to obtain a passport. In the summer he was acquitted, but the prosecutor was not satisfied and took the case to the next level, claiming it would have been possible for him to take more intensive action. So we have been busy writing letters, e-mails, trying to get statements about the ease with which somebody who never has had a birth certificate that he knows of could obtain such a birth certificate from outside the country of birth. Believe me, you don't want me to go into detail about all of this, neither do I want to do so here. But it has been keeping me busy, occupying my mind, and tying up my energy. Add to that the fact that this particular person is a very closed and difficult person, not easy to deal with, and I have to admit I don't particularly like him. But he lives with these other friends of mine, he turned to me for help, and I just felt like I could not let him fight this alone, especially because I think the way he was being treated was cruel, unjust and in my opinion even unconstitutional and against the law. Basically the prosecutor was demanding that he get engaged in corruption to obtain a birth certificate - definitely not something a prosecutor should be doing in a state that prides itself on its constitutionality and righteousness. In any case, today was the third (!) hearing in this case, which had also been postponed once, and he was acquitted again.
So I am very happy about this. Another minor victory, because it is only one case in court, and that does not mean that the authorities will take note of this case for other procedures. But we can refer to this. And he does not have to pay for the lawyer. That is a major aspect of it all. So two small victories within the last ten or fourteen days, that is something. The battle is not won yet, and a lot of fighting remains to be done. But I can be a little proud about myself. And I am.

I hope my mind will loosen up a bit now. I need to be doing more stitching. I did finish the challenge for the 12 by the Dozen that was supposed to be published on the blog today. Except for the binding.

text messages 16 (40 x 40 cm)

And I hope that the ideas swimming around in my head will materialize, turn out to be feasible.