JAPANESE ANEMONE, ERRANDS AND WHINING

         

It seems as though I'm running out of flowers with which to begin my posts. This may be the last one. My friend Claudia gave me a Japanese anemone some years ago and it's grown quite a lot. In fact, it's moved in on my biggest hellebore. If the Hummingbird Vine doesn't take them both over before fall, I'm going to have to dig and transplant to a larger area. You know, my back hurts when I look out at the garden and think of everything I need to do. 

        Today (Monday) I went to the post office and it was still there and still open. I went in order to send photos of John and the woman (Susan) he dated in his senior year to Susan. When the Lincoln High Alumni Association (LLAA) posted the list of graduates who had passed away, this woman made a donation to the Lincoln High Alumni Scholarship fund. I thought that was very kind of her and wrote a thank-you note which was forwarded to her by someone on the LLAA board.

I, of course, knew about Susan before John and I ever married. I knew he thought of her with affection and was delighted one year when he received a flower arrangement from her for his birthday. I thought it was very kind and generous for her to make a donation in remembrance of him.

When I was going through stuff in the garage, I believe I wrote about the scrapbooks I found that dated back to John’s polio days and his high school years. I don’t remember if I posted that I found three cardboard holders with a photo of John and Susan in each. Two of them also held the invitation and/or dance cards. One was the senior prom. When I first met John, he told a story about drinking mustard on a dare to earn money for the prom. He really did like mustard…a lot.

Anyway, in my thank you note to Susan, I told her I’d found these photos and offered to send them to her if she would like to have them. I received a very nice card in return and yes, she would like the photos. She said she’d never forgot John or the time they spent together but thought John being her first big crush probably had something to do with that. In any case, I was glad to send them off to her with the hope they bring her happy memories.

Following the post office, I went to Costco for gas and a couple of other things. It was already so hot, I debated with me and myself about purchasing a fan. Now, I know we had a number of fans around here and/or in the garage, but do you think a single one was found when Haley and I worked in the garage…NOPE!!! I argued with me and myself about just going home and dragging the portable AC out and setting it up. I and myself didn’t want to, so they forced me to go to Home Depot and buy a new box fan. I just plugged it in and it’s blowing cool air on me as I type…love it.

The trip to HD was also worth it because I checked for and found ammonia…lemon scented no less. I bought two bottles, so the cleaning I mentioned several posts ago can now proceed. I mean you really cannot clean windows unless you have ammonia and white vinegar. Now, I have no excuse unless I want to use the one about it being too hot to do anything besides lay in front of my new fan.

My new fan may also keep the doggies away. They both like to lay on me even when it’s hot, although Kaizer moves away fairly soon because he’s a little hottie. Karma is laying in the front room in the sun and Kaizer is by her but not in the sun. It’s funny how their bellies turn pink and white over the winter, but once the sun begins to shine, that pink and white becomes very dark, maybe even black. I wonder if they suffer reverse vitiligo?

I was also talking to friend this morning and she saw an interview by Anderson Cooper with the Washington State Attorney General. Apparently, more than three million people voted by mail-in or drop-in ballots and out of that huge number, only 142 were found to be fraudulent. I’m hoping she can find a link to that interview and post it on Facebook. I would repost it and ask everyone who sees to repost it as well. I mean, seriously, voting by mail isn’t calculus unless you take into account what that tRump and his USPS person are attempting to do. OMG, isn’t there some way we can get him arrested and thrown in jail NOW? I certainly hope Pelosi and the House can get the USPS back on track.

Many many posts ago, I referenced Stephen King’s book, THE STAND. Even Mr. King was unable to write a dissertation as scary as what we are living through. Yes, there was a virus. Yes, lots of people died. Yes, strange things happened, but he didn’t put an idiot in the White House (that idiot died in the book if he was an idiot), or a bunch of other idiots who were trying to change the entire country in very negative ways. No, there were no major protests or interactions between people and the police, but that’s because the majority of everyone actually died. I sometimes think it might be better for all if our pandemic was more closely tied to what Mr. King wrote. Of course, then most of us except for a very small percentage would be dead.

Seriously, I don’t have any answers; and even if I did, how would I get people to listen? It just seems to me that we keep going on day to day without making any positive progress or being led by anyone who offers positive progress. Once again, people in Seattle protested and protesters and policemen alike were injured. How does that help anyone or anything? And it’s not that I don’t see a need for change because I do, it just seems like the methods of getting that change done are more divisive and harmful than not.

Okay, climbing down off the soapbox. Think I’ll take a look at my China scrapbooks and digital photos so I can regale you for a few days with memories of that trip. It will undoubtedly require more than the two posts I did for Kenya…we were gone for almost three weeks and traveled all around China. The best trip ever.