One Summer Day

sunset...

The day's work is done. I was on my knees weeding the gardens around the patio at 7:00 this morning. The heavenly blue morning glories have sprouted against the fence, the violets planted in early spring have finished blossoming but their leaves make lovely patches of green. The chives, the basil, the mint, and the oregano are thriving. I have breakfast there very morning and often eat supper there as well.



Two loads of laundry have been washed, line dried, folded, and put away. I mowed the lawn, weeded the vegetable garden and replenished the hummingbird feeder. Cleaning and baking will have to wait until tomorrow's rain keeps me indoors.

there was even time for a nap in my screen house

Vital Statistics

Dick posted his own and asked who's next. Here's my list so now it's my turn to ask... who's next?

I drive
a sporty little Subaru Outback Sport

If I have time for myself
I read, write, draw, take a long walk, nap

You wouldn’t know it but I’m very good at
washing dishes by hand
sewing my own clothes
finding creative new uses for used or discarded things

I’m no good at
math (numbers multiply and divide with impunity)
hurrying (I prefer life in the slow lane)
caring for the sick (I get sick right alongside them)

Books that changed me
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Collected Poems of Rumi edited by Coleman Barks
Lives of A Cell by Lewis Thomas
Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard
Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick
Fractals: The Patterns of Chaos by John Briggs
a hundred others (at least)

Movie heaven
Love Actually
Sound of Music
Spirit
Hearts and Souls
Monsters, Inc.
Everafter
etc. etc. etc.
(You can tell I see movies purely for the entertainment factor. If I want to be informed, I read)

Comfort eating
mashed potatoes (preferably with gravy)
macaroni and cheese
pie of any sort (except for banana or raison)
pasta with rich meat sauce

When I was a child I wanted to be
A hermit (sometimes I still do), a writer, a teacher.
(Two out of three isn’t bad.)

All my money goes on
paying off what I owe!

At night I dream of
ridiculous things like driving large vehicles with no brakes, trying to discipline children, or kissing someone I shouldn’t

My favorite buildings
after my childhood homestead? Canterbury Cathedral, the remains of Tintern Abbey in Wales, the “Painted Ladies" near Alamo Square, San Francisco, California

My biggest regret
falling in love with the “wrong” person

If I wasn’t me I’d like to be
someone with a small nose and a very large income

My favorite works of art
the drawings done by my children and grandchildren

The current soundtracks to my life
I’m hopelessly given to oldies (of the 50s and 60s), folk and fiddle tunes, and almost anything classical

The best inventions ever
the bedstead, showerheads, paper and the printing press, the contraption for boiling off maple sap

Of Meanwhiles and Memes

There are cat birds in the birdbath, black bears in the side yard, and a possum the size of carry-on bag roaming the woods between here and the neighbors. The daffodils have faded, and the lilacs, but the iris are blooming in purple profusion and the day lilies are putting out sheaves of spear-like leaves. The whole land smells sweet and green. Evenings are mellow and fragrant and heady with bird song. I am out early in the morning and not back in until darkness and the mosquitoes descend. Blogging regularly has fallen by the wayside like new-mown grass.

However, I still read my favorites before I head out and after I come in (if I'm not in a tear or too exhausted to keep my eyes open, both states in which I find myself far too often). Dick of Patteran Pages posted two intriguing memes, one of which came from Dominic's blog. Here's my "appropriately embarrassing photo" from my own youth. The Vital Statistics will have to wait for another post. Darkness and my eyelids are descending...

I'm 18, newly graduated from high school and have no clue what lay behind that silly grin.