Lavanerd - Untitled

Construction vehicles trying to redirect the flow of Lava from the town of Grindavík in Iceland on the 14th of January. Photo by Einn1tveir2

Fagradalsfjall, Icaland 2021 l jvn.photo

Yosemite Valley, Thunderstorm, Ansel Adams, 1949

October seventh hasn't ended.

And I don't mean the traumatized headspace many of us have been since then. I mean the literal attack.

October seventh continues with every rocket launched towards Israel. October seventh continues with the fire in the north. October seventh continues with each day the hostages aren't free.

October seventh is also in the diaspora. October seventh continued when Paul Kessler was killed. October seventh continued when Benjamin Harouni was killed. October seventh continued with the cases of rape in France. October seventh continued with the "day of rage" and Nova riot in New York. October seventh continued with the pogrom in LA. October seventh continued with the campus violence.

The initial, catalyst attack of October seventh may have ended, but the aftershocks are still shaking each of our lives.

Each chant for "globalizing the intifada" and the erasure of Israel from the world is a continuation of October seventh. Each instance of violence and hostility against the diaspora is a continuation of October seventh.

October seventh was meant to destroy us, and they haven't stopped trying. In spite of this, we will outlive them. This is nothing new and we have survived this before.

Am Yisrael Chai, now and forever.

My friend who is Black tells me how she wishes she could have an invisibility cloak, a day without racism, a chance to see what life is like with fear and ancestral pain set aside.

And I say, I am so sorry the world has made you feel this way, how can I help?

Just keep listening to me, she says.

So I do.

My friend who is a lesbian tells me how she worries when workers need to come into her apartment, will they hate her and her wife, speak unkind words or actively create harm.

And I say, I am so sorry the world has made you feel this way, how can I help?

Just keep listening to me, she says.

So I do.

I tell my friends how I’m scared of antisemitism, generational trauma activated by people spreading lies about a war in another part of the world, attacking Jews in the diaspora, I tell them I don’t know what I’m going to do, this weight tight on my chest, fears I can and can’t control.

And they say I’m wrong, exaggerating, playing the victim and misinterpreting what’s going on.

Just stop talking to me, they say without words.

So I do.

Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea,

From Etchohuaquila, Mexico, Fernandomania took baseball by storm. Like the lava lizards of the Galapagos Islands, breathing through your eyes to throw the nastiest of screwball, the world wasn't ready.

For years, he was the voice to so many around the world. I'm so glad you became immortalized with your number retirement.

Even without being in the hall of fame you'll always be a cornerstone to Dodger history

We will forever miss you.

"If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!"

RIP, "El Toro"

An Epic Vantage - Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River from Inspiration Point

(c) riverwindphotography, May 2024

You can be beautiful but it doesn't mean you have a soul .

Rachel Zegler is living proof of that !

🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️