DEVASTATING CORN CROP

Went for an afternoon trolley yesterday.  So sad to see how the cornfields are suffering without rain.      

This morning a bee stung the boyfriend's hand while he was standing on the deck.  He hasn't had a severe reaction, only swelling and itching.  He picked more cherry tomatoes, a few large tomatoes, and five peppers.

Tomorrow we're going grocery shopping.  Our cupboards are bare.  I've conned the boyfriend into taking me out for Chinese lunch.  

Nothing earth-shattering.  Cuddy's parents are on a trip out east.  Feels odd not to have the little boy here while they're away.  It's nice that they still send us pictures of their adventures.    

It's after midnight, so it's Tuesday.  I've been tucked away in turtle mode.  It's a coping mechanism that works for me.  

Have been watching a live kidnapping-murder trial.  Today the state rested its case.  The defense made a motion for acquittal, but the prosecuting attorney put forth an aggressive summary of the circumstantial evidence in response to the motion.  The judge denied the motion, and tomorrow morning the attorneys will present closing arguments.  The defendant chose not to testify.  This is a bench trial, so there's no jury.  The judge will decide whether he's guilty or innocent.  I personally pray he's found guilty and given life in prison w/o parole.  A little 8-year-old girl is the victim, and the story is gruesome and sickening.  

I like staying up late and sleeping in the morning.  The last while I've been spending the late hours watching YT videos about the nomads in Iran.  These people have lived in the mountainous terrain for over 2,000 years.  I'm fascinated by their ingenious ability to survive, build their shelters out of rocks, and survive the dangers.  Watching how life is in far-away places makes me thankful for living where we live.  The culture of the Mid-East is so different from what we hear from media sources.   

Have taken a break from my hobbies, and will need to return to them.  Can't imagine where the summer has gone and that next weekend is Labor Day.  Nature teaches us how the seasons must change, and so must we change along with the way of our lives.  Sad stuff happens, and it's okay to surrender to the pause.  

Goodness, here it is 5 o'clock already.  

At 12:15 I hiked down the hall to the salon, where my dear stylist provided me with a head massage and wash, then lowered my ears with a pixie!  We had lotsa good laughs, shared woes, and the whole bag of nuts.  A couple other gals dropped in, and that added to the fun.  

Came back home and decided to fix a big batch of macaroni salad with all the yummy ingredients.  

Nothing newsy in my corner.  Just gonna relax now until we decide to eat supper.  It's been a sunny day, although I haven't been out.  The boyfriend spent part of the afternoon in the workshop sharpening knives for the ladies out here.    

Must get myself back on track after being derailed by the loss of Cuddy.  On top of that, two of my girl second cousins passed away, one on the paternal side of our clan and one on the maternal side.  Seems dying is coming at me from all directions.

I'm not writing about me in this post, but rather about those along with me who are filled with sorrow.  It comes to us in waves, and sometimes those waves seem to overpower us to the point of despair.  One step follows another, one breath follows another, and that is how life must be lived until the sorrow consumes our grief and helps heal in microscopic measures.  

More and more, the older we get, we must care for one another.  We are all losing more loved ones because of illness and natural span of life.  It's all inevitable, there isn't one thing we can do except endure it all.  

It baffles me how callous humanity has become.  Why can't every one of us realize that pain and suffering is the one commonality among us.  Instead of this godforsaken bickering, belittling and bullying, why can't we just try to understand and make okay with the simple fact that every single one of us 8 billion humans are different, think differently, feel differently, act differently, talk differently, look differently and choose to live differently.  

If we tell one person every day that we love them, we are doing our part to bring peace to the planet.  All the activists in the world aren't contributing that much to any one of their supposed causes.  It takes down-to-earth compassion to get the job done.  There are many ways of loving.  There's family love, romantic love, friendship love, neighborly love, and simple caring for a total stranger.  We don't have to wash their faces with kisses, but maybe a smile or kind words.  Compliments are way underrated.  They cost nothing and can mean the world to the receiver.  

I've lost life-long friendships to the pathetic political pissiness, and at this stage of my life it tells me just how feeble those friendships were in the first place.  So, if we have friends and family who care about us, let's press the love button before it's too late.  It sounds like I'm on one of my rants, and I guess I am.  If I leave nothing behind after my last breath, let it be that I was a lover and not a fighter.  People these days aren't only fighting, they're killing each other.  That's a wrong that we all are responsible to right.  

On to the boyfriend's garden.  Here's one picture of yesterday's picking.  

We're incorporating tomatoes in our meals and eating the babies as snacks.  We've frozen some for winter use.  Don't want to let one of these beauties go to waste.

As a fun ending for today's post, I share a photo received from Robin.  This picture is of the mammoth sunflower that's adorning their garden.  I personally have never seen anything like it.

There are so many things in life that help reset our internal compass, and genuine bits of Mother Nature rank high.  Thank you, Robin, for bringing a smile to my face.  Along the way, we simply must hold on best we can, to ourselves and each other.  Sometimes the biggest things are the smallest things.  Life is not a glamorous gig like the movies want us to believe.  It's an unpaved road through the wilderness.  It matters not one iota how much we own, what we look like, or where we live.  Earth is earth.  Life is life.  Remove the clothes from the richest person on earth.  Remove the clothes from the homeless person living under a cardboard box.  Give them both a few days out in the elements, and there's no way to tell the difference.  None.  Fancy words mean nothing.  Fancy clothes mean nothing.  It all boils down to one thing:  LOVE.

In ten minutes, at 10 a.m., I've got myself programmed to go in the kitchen and bake a loaf of cranberry-orange bread.  Cuddy's daddy is celebrating a special birthday this afternoon, and we're invited.  What do you give a man for his birthday?  I say food.  I know he likes the bread, cuz I've made it for him before.

Today's blog will be short.  Two of my second cousins passed away.  So far in the last five months I've lost my brother, my non-biological brother, two girl second cousins and Cuddy.  If I remember correctly, the odd-numbered years hold heartache and pain, more than the even numbered years.  That's probably a silly superstition, as all superstitions are.  

It's a sunny day.  Have quite a bit to do here before heading out to the party at 3 o'clock.  I personally look like something that was dug up out of the ground, so getting "fixed up" is gonna be a challenge.  Don't have a clue what to wear.  Wish I could wear a mask to hide my tear-streaked face.  Sometimes I think we feel worse than we look.  Don't know.  

Every day the world and the people in it manage to baffle me.  I expect people to act like in the past, and that's just not gonna happen.  A new culture has come out of nowhere, and we're left to sink or swim in it.  Personally, I'm treading water right now and think I might be drowning.  

Gotta get my bread in the oven and start putting together a plan for the afternoon.  Wish I could throw a bed sheet over me and let everybody at the party wonder who's under it!   

Yesterday afternoon I took down my hanging petunia plant and trimmed the dead spots with scissors.  Then gave it a good dose of Miracle Gro.  It's like one last chance.  This morning it looks perkier, and the hummingbirds have been putting their little beaks in the blossoms.  

Am told that we got 3/8" of rain about 4 a.m.  Never heard the thunder.  Drat.  Every drop of moisture is a gift these dry days.  

Aren't the wildfires in Maui awful?  Our nephew and his family are in Honolulu.  The minute I heard about the fires I texted him to see if they were okay.  The miracles of technology allowed us to communicate within a minute, and he said they weren't on Maui.  The destruction and deaths are catastrophic, according to the news.  I'm wondering if the smoke has affected their vacation, or if the winds carried it away from where they are.  

The sun is shining.  Think I'll finish the second wind-spinner that I crocheted the other day.  I used colors that I don't particularly care for, and can't wait to see what it looks like when it spins in the wind.  I used orange for autumn.  

The boyfriend's garden is producing gorgeous tomatoes, and they're insanely delicious.  He's been making my Mom's recipe for refrigerator sliced cucumbers.  You take 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of sugar, bring to a boil.  Let cool and then pour over thinly sliced cucumbers and sliced onions.  

Have submitted my monthly newsletter article.  This time I decided to write trivia.  Searched the internet for unusual facts that will hopefully be of interest to the Venny family.  Now I've gotta start thinking of something for the September edition.  Gives my mind something to think about.  What's the saying?  Life isn't as serious as the mind makes it out to be.

SADDER THAN SAD

Yesterday afternoon we received word that our precious love bug, Cuddy, passed away in his sleep.  I keep wondering how one's heart can be broken so many times and still keep beating. 
 Dale took down the fence around the balcony that we put up for Cuddy's safety.  It was a constant reminder, and one has to do all things possible to be okay.  I am a mess, my face is wet, and my heart hurts as if I was shot by a cannon ball.  

Remember me talking about our wren house?  Well, yesterday Dale realized it was filled with wasps.  We didn't realize it cuz the bird house was tucked back of the hanging petunia plant.  He got out the wasp spray, and we tied the house in a plastic bag to throw away.  Just have to accept the fact that wrens do not care to live by us.

Now, I must learn to live without Cuddy in my life.  My saving thought is that my Emma reached out for Cuddy's paw, and she pulled him up to heaven where she can take care of him.  Lord knows, she'll protect him, cuz she's a terrorist and isn't afraid of protecting those she loves.  I know this first hand.

The sound of lawnmowers buzzing across the lawn has me wondering if mowing is such a wise idea, considering our lack of rain. 

Have been away from my blog platform once again for a few days.  We've had invitations, some we were able to accept and some postponed because of prior plans.  Think it's time for us to stay put for a while.  

My hanging petunia plant is gradually showing its age.  Time is here for summer to switch places with fall, when the greens and pastels give way to the browns, oranges and golds.  We took a day trip with friends last week, and the Golden Rod was blossoming, which is a definite sign of autumn.  The Black Eyed Susans were just beautiful.  Picture-taking is so much fun now that we have our iPhones.  

Black-eyed Susan flowers are symbols of encouragement and motivation.  They are a symbol of encouragement to stay on a path of well-being and pursue what is best for us.

Flowers are the music

of the ground.

From Earth's lips

Spoken without sound.

~Edwin Curran