Janet Watson
LightNews LightNews
banner
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Janet Watson
@janetskwatson.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1K following 2.3K posts
History professor at UConn, mother, knitter, long COVID and cardiac arrest survivor. Author, Fighting Different Wars. Be kind, stand strong, and aim for democracy. Cats. Personal account.
Posts Replies Media Videos
janetskwatson.bsky.social
This is a good time to be honoring Resistance heroes.
Black and white photo of the head and shoulders of Jean Moulin, wearing a fedora angled just so
November 9, 2025 at 2:56 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
He also reminds me of the guy from the Pears Soap advertisement.
Ad for Pears’ Soap from the late 19th century. A white man with white hair in a white naval uniform is washing his hands at a white sink aboard ship. The text explains that Pears’ Soap helps by “lightening the White Man’s Burden” as “cleanliness” is key to the imperial project of “brightening the dark corners of the earth as civilization advances.”
November 3, 2025 at 10:44 AM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
When your kids grow older, they do pretty amazing things
A beautifully carved small pumpkin in a floral pattern, illuminated from inside by an electric tea light. The pumpkin is sitting on an autumnal runner on top of an Edwardian sideboard. Part of a framed portrait from just before the Second World War is visible above it.
October 31, 2025 at 9:57 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Plumcot (near) and Pomegranate, channeling the lions at the New York Public Library
Two black cats, the nearer one with a jabot of white fur under her chin, posing like matched guardians on the arms of a gray upholstered chair. In the background are a Birdseye maple mid mod dresser, a barrister bookcase, and part of an open interior door.
October 31, 2025 at 5:06 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
I love having a Japanese maple right outside my window.
Photograph of a window with sage green curtains pulled open. Outside are the brilliant red leaves of a Japanese maple in autumn, glowing in late morning sunlight.
October 31, 2025 at 3:08 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
I am lying in bed with two sleeping cats on me and it’s the best weighted blanket ever.
Part of a bed with linens that are white with blue and green hydrangeas. You can just see the bumps created by two legs under the covers, but they are covered by the bodies of two sleeping black cats who fill the frame.
October 12, 2025 at 4:55 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Age yourself with a film you saw in a cinema as a kid
(Admittedly it came out several years before I was born but I still saw it in our local movie theater in Saratoga Springs NY when I was ~6, along with my big sister. We sat in the front row and she wouldn’t let me have 🍿 till after the cartoons.)
A still from the movie Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Santa is standing on the left. A man and a woman are on the right, wearing goofy helmets and stretchy green clothes that apparently seemed futuristic in the 1960s. In front of the adults are two children wearing earth-style clothing of the period, an older boy and younger girl. The girl was played by the young Pia Zadora. The movie routinely makes lists of the worst films of all time.
September 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
My sister was quoted on @rachelmaddowarmy.bsky.social last night!

SO PROUD of how she has been speaking out for truth (and cancer research!)
Screenshot of a clip from Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC. It shows an excerpt from the NYT Magazine article, “Trump Is Shutting Down the War On Cancer.” The pull quote, which Maddow read: “…this has been a deliberate and targeted attack. ‘They have studied how N.I.H. works, studied it hard and learned it well,’ says Sarah Kobrin, head of the Health Systems and Interventions Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute. ‘And they have put sand in the gears in ways that are very effective, devastating.’”
September 17, 2025 at 12:26 AM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Six years ago today we adopted these two sweethearts, who bring such love, joy, comfort, peace, and sometimes hilarity to our lives.
An adult black cat with no visible white fur. She is lying on a bed, awake, in a position reminiscent of the sphinx. Her head is turned toward the camera, looking at it with beautiful green-yellow eyes. She looks very comfortable and as serious as she ever gets (usually she is a goofier PomPom). An adult black cat with a jabot of white fur under her chin. She is sitting on a bed with majesty and confidence, looking into the camera with beautiful yellow-green eyes. Two fully-grown black cats, snuggled together on a fleece blanket in the corner of a couch Two black kittens, still kitten-shaped but just starting to make the transition to cat shape. One has a white lace jabot of fur under her chin. One is sitting and one is standing. They are together but not touching. They are on a rug in a bathroom (part of the transition to a new home is to start in a relatively small space where they can feel comfortable and safe). Their names have just become Plumcot (r) and Pomegranate (l), but they don’t know them yet.
September 8, 2025 at 12:09 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
For Labor Day, my grandmother, Ida Thomas Sledge Engeman, Memphis socialite, Wellesley grad, & ILGWU organizer. She was once escorted to the town line of Tupelo MS in her nightgown & was covered in papers all over the US. My grandfather was a writer trying to organize the Baltimore Sun when they met
A black and white photo from the late 1950s or 1960s of a white woman with short dark hair sitting on a folding lawn chair on a deck by a lake. She is wearing a summer dress with a floral print and white sandals. She is “helping” a brown English bulldog look toward the camera; the dog looks patient but not thrilled. The woman is looking lovingly at the dog and smiling. There is a silver birch tree beyond the white side rails of the deck.
September 1, 2025 at 5:45 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Can I just stay here forever?
Looking out over Harris Bay, Lake George. Weathered wood deck railings are in the foreground. Cleverdale is green on the far side of the bay, with Buck Mountain darker green beyond the shore and more to the right. The lake and the sky are both very blue, and there are some big white clouds. Several smallish boats are out on the water.
August 31, 2025 at 7:06 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Waking up to this is such a gift
A cabin wall with knotty pine paneling aged to a deep golden brown. The picture is dominated by a large window that lifts entirely up to open, attached to a hook set into the ceiling. The view through the window is Harris Bay of Lake George, NY, looking east across to Cleverdale. There’s a strip of placid lake water, then the shore with vibrant green trees, darker green small mountains beyond, and sky above the curved mountaintops. On the right side there’s a dark tree trunk that’s just outside the window. The top of a brown wood chair back is visible below the window. The view out the window in just slightly distorted by the screen, so there are no sharp lines. It is serene and peaceful and beautiful.
August 24, 2025 at 11:54 AM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
One of the best things about birthdays is that the next morning you get to have cake for breakfast
Or in this case, key lime pie
A piece of key lime cake on a cream plate with a green rim. There is a fork on the plate. In the background, out of focus, is a deck overlooking a lake with a variety of chairs and a table with a closed sun umbrella. There are some towels hanging about. The lake is very blue and across the bay is the green shoreline, with darker green small mountains beyond.
August 22, 2025 at 1:22 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
There are still good things
Photo of sunrise looking northeast out Harris Bay and up the main body of Lake George NY. The tip of Cleverdale is visible on the right, with layers of mountains beyond it. Dome Island looks closer than it actually is. The lake is calm but still more gray than blue. The sky above is like watercolor stripes of pink and blue with some peach bits closer to the water and lavender bits further up the sky. The photo is framed so the horizon is about a third of the way up the shot, with water below and sky above.
August 19, 2025 at 12:47 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
At last
A view of Lake George NY looking out Harris Bay from Assembly Point. Dome Island is visible in the distance. With lake, sky, islands, and mountains, the photo is a study in blues and greens
August 9, 2025 at 5:15 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Meme of Eleanor from “The Good Place” saying “If I’m not gonna get rewarded somehow, like a tiara or one of those diagonal word belts … then why should I do good things?”
July 31, 2025 at 9:14 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Using “protection” as in protection racket:
That’s a nice environment you’ve got there - it would be a pity if something were to happen to it
Screenshot of Washington Post Breaking News alert: “EPA announces proposal that would end virtually all of its climate regulations”
July 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
We see deer pretty often out here in the country and see fawns occasionally but I think this is the first time in twenty years in this house that we’ve seen twins! So cute and speckled.
Then mama called and they bounded back into the woods
Two white tail speckled fawns, the same size as each other, standing a foot or two apart. They are on the edge of the woods, in overgrown grass and low brush, with trees behind them. The background of the photo is very green, with the two brown and white animals near the center.
July 23, 2025 at 5:28 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Plumcot has Thoughts.
I’m just not sure what they are
A black cat with a jabot of white fur looking serious. She has beautiful yellow-green eyes. She is sitting up on a couch, with living room furniture visible in the background (a dark purple settee, a coffee table, a patterned wool rug, and an Edwardian cabinet with glass doors).
July 20, 2025 at 6:58 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
I have a book necklace and I happen to be wearing it right now!
A small diamond solitaire in a yellow gold setting that curves around the stone and up to a snake chain. Only the pendant and the lower part of the chain are visible, sitting on a green marble coaster
July 17, 2025 at 4:05 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
I mean, I’m glad that he’s finally coming to appreciate NATO, but what is going on here? (screenshot from running coverage in the Guardian online)
Screenshot of news coverage from the Guardian: “He explains: ‘We had a couple of days of very intensive talks. And they’re great people. They’re leaders of countries. Many of them great countries. Some of them smaller countries. But for the most part, that’s a very solid, strong countries [sic] and very successful. Some of them are among the most successful countries in the world.’”
July 14, 2025 at 3:55 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
How can you tell Bezos is out of town even if you missed all the coverage of his exorbitantly expensive wedding?
The WaPo is running this
👇👇👇
Screenshot of news alert from the Washington Post, reading: Breaking News Intercepted call captures Iranian officials saying U.S. attack on nuclear sites was less devastating than they expected
June 29, 2025 at 5:13 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Sunrise on Saturday (I didn’t know then that it was the only one I would see before I had to leave - I thought I would be there all week)
Photo looking out over a weathered old deck and dock on Assembly Point, looking up Harris Bay past Cleverdale and Buck Mountain out to the main body of Lake George. Sunrise is pink and peach in the sky, and the colors are reflected on the water, which is entirely calm. Dome Island is just visible in the distance. No people or boats are in sight, and everything is incredibly peaceful and beautiful.
June 24, 2025 at 12:23 PM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Sunrise this morning
A photo looking out over a weathered old wooden deck and dock, up Harris Bay and the main body of Lake George. The sky is a variety of pinks and peaches beyond the tip of Cleverdale. Dome Island is just visible in the misty distance. The lake is smooth and calm, mirroring back the rosy shades of the sky.
June 21, 2025 at 11:35 AM
janetskwatson.bsky.social
I feel better already.
Photo looking out from a weathered old wooden deck over a weathered old wooden dock to Harris Bay, Lake George, NY. Dome Island is visible in the distance. Photo is from the Assembly Point side of Harris Bay; Cleverdale is across the bay, with Buck Mountain rising beyond. The lake is very blue, there are some fluffy white clouds in the sky, and it is both beautiful and peaceful.
June 20, 2025 at 9:44 PM