Day 4,443—Juneteenth 2026—

 

Start time: 6:35 a.m.

Weather: Low 60s, wind 3.4 mi/h, Humidity 92%

My kids are home today, and I had hoped to do something fun with them, but so far, they both seem satisfied being home bodies. I got up on time and went as early as I could to get these 7 miles in before they woke up, but when I got home, they were watching PBS Kids on my daughter’s laptop, and my son was throwing stuffed animals down the stairs. While running, I stopped for a while to take pictures. I have loved using a real camera again. I spent a while today adjusting the focus settings to take tight shots of ancient-looking screws. I listened to the Weathering the Run podcast episode yesterday, and it sounded okay. If you listen to it, please tell me what you think. Since today is Juneteenth, I’ve also been thinking about how I might celebrate it. 

       I am not sure what I will do to celebrate Juneteenth today. It has been fascinating to see how American culture has also struggled with that concept. Juneteenth was signed into law as a national holiday in 2021, even though it had been celebrated in some form since 1872. What is fascinating about the holiday is the cultural reaction to it. Many people in finance have come out in almost protest of the holiday. It has sparked confusion among many retailers who don’t know how to sell products aligned with the holiday, and, more importantly, the day has made many people uncomfortable with the revelation that they don’t know much about reconstruction. As much as we spend focusing on the Civil War, very little is devoted to Reconstruction. It would be nice if the Civil War ended, and that’s when slavery ended. Obviously, the white slaveholders would pay a price to the enslaved people of some kind, and that’s what the plan initially was. However, that quickly devolved into: why not just continue working like a slave? But now we will pay you some.