My two-sided self ...

1.  I love nature, flowers, bugs, birds and all stuff like that, but I am not a gardener and never will be.  I just don’t have an interest in making things grow.  It seems like a real shame, because we have a large yard that would definitely benefit from some tender loving care…just not from me.  Whatever grows in our yard is a remnant from the former owner or transplanted there by some other being.  I am actually looking forward to the day when I have a small patch that requires nothing more than a quick mow, if that.  Then I might not be so overwhelmed and I will plant a pot or two.  Meanwhile, I will admire other’s efforts.

2.  Greg and I decided not to put the air conditioners in this year.  Initially, I was a little bit leery about that because if there’s one thing I truly hate in this world, it’s a hot, humid day.  But I keep thinking about the bottom line of our electric bill and also that we are polluting less than we would be if we were artificially cooled and I think that maybe I can stand it.  Fortunately for me, the summer has been relatively comfortable here with only a couple days in the 90s and mostly cooler nights.  And it doesn’t hurt that we have a whole-house fan.  That makes a tremendous difference at night.  If it gets too hot, I just sit in a dark room and wait.  After all, Mark Twain was pretty much right when he said, “If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes.”

3.  My niece just posted this on Facebook:  “One day, when I'm extremely wealthy, I'm going to hire someone to read articles of my choosing and sum them up for me. I hate when I find an article I really want to read, but it's too long and I'm too lazy.....”   Well, I know that she’s not too lazy.  She’s a full time mother and going to college at the same time.   But I understand where she’s coming from, I think.  For a brief fifteen minutes one day, I thought about subscribing to The New Yorker.  I think I would really enjoy reading it from cover to cover.  But I know in my heart that I never would and they would just stack up.  There are just too many things vying for our attention these days.  Like blogging, for instance.

  It’s a world of sensory overload.

4.  I sat with some friends last night, one of whom recently lost her elderly Jack Russell Terrier Boomer.  Boomer was a fine, handsome, little dog.  I’m sorry to know I won’t see him again.  We talked about how difficult it is to lose pets who have been members of our families for a long time and the lengths we’ll take to keep them with us…maybe long after we really should let them go.  I’ve found that many people, after losing a beloved pet, often say that they will never go through that again.  It’s just too hard.  But I’m not one of those.  I think that you have to be aware when you take an animal in that you will most likely outlive them.  That’s just the way it is.  While it brings tears to my eyes to think about the pets I’ve let go over the years (Hobo, Henry, Clousseau, Gorky, Dinah, Kitty, Burgess, Tigger and Asta), I wouldn’t give up one minute of the time we had together.  And, I don’t care what my allergy doctor says; I hope to never be without a furry friend no matter how much it hurts in the end, because the joy that they bring while they are with us is worth it.

5.  The daylily pics I’ve posted here today are of a plant that is in our yard.  I didn’t plant it but it seems to be thriving through benign neglect and I’m happy about that.

Linking up today to Tanya’s Willy Nilly Friday 5

 on Around Roanoke…A Daily Photo Blog.