The Times They Are a'Changing

That fact was hammered home this morning when I opened the patio curtains at 6:15 AM to discover that the sun hadn't cleared the trees yet.  You know what that means, right?  It means that we're on the slippery slope toward winter.  No-o-o-o-o-o, not yet.  But look, see?  The sun's still shining through the tree behind Lee and Suzie's house.  Even as recently as last week it was high up over those same trees when I opened the drapes (and I don't sleep in).  Soon it'll be sidling along toward the right (toward the Equator) and waiting just over the horizon until later into the day before it climbs up over the edge of the Earth (sorry, I think our planet should be capitalized just like Venus and Saturn) to warm and light our days.  I hate to be a broken record about this whole thing but time sure flies.

As on most mornings I was out with my camera, just for a few minutes, to see what's blooming today and found some busy bees on the spiderwort and the daisies in full bloom.  I broke off the blooms on the purple basil and the parsley so they make more leaves and spend less energy making flowers and, I gotta say, my right hand smells great.  Kinda pizza-y but sweet and fresh.  Mmm.

I'm off to the chiro again this morning and I'm hoping she'll say that I'm nearly cured.  My shoulder was very achy yesterday so it was good that I didn't have any customers wanting airfills.  Heck, I didn't have any customers at all except for BLV (a staff member) and ES stopped in too (another staff member)--and MW, my knitting pal and he doesn't count because he never buys stuff.  I'm happy to have full range of motion so I'm confident that I didn't tear anything or break anything, I just have bruised tissues and those take time to heal.  Especially at my (advanced) age.  Bah.

July 11--India, Lucknow, Black Stork in a Landscape.  The heat haze rising from the dry marsh made the great stork look like it was moving.  It was just after noon and only the newly arrived Americans were out and about.  Jik and Nancy were determined to wring every moment out of their honeymoon.  They ignored the suggestion that they spend the hot afternoon hours lying in their room.  "I thought siesta was a Mexican thing," said Jik, "but here we are as far away from there as we can be and still be on the planet and they're obsessed with afternoon naps too."  They were too newly wed for Nancy to tell him that she thought that a siesta was a very civilized practice so she packed extra bottled water, wore a wide-brimmed hat, and carried a parasol to keep the blazing midday sun from lighting her on fire.

Okay.  In one hour I have to be at Dr. Paula's office and I have a lot to accomplish in that time, not the least of which is making this rumpled, bed-headed woman presentable for polite society.  Bye.

--Barbara