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.
on
Around Roanoke…A Daily Photo Blog.
