A Study in Yellow

or an Early Morning Walk Around the Yard

Thankful Monday, July 20, 2020

I am thankful that I had a patient mother.

Today is my birthday which has me thinking about when I was a baby. Of course, I don't remember anything about my first year, but I have the stories I've been told.

Apparently, I was late in arriving. Very late. My mother had to wait three weeks past her due date for me to be born.  My parents sent my older sisters to stay with my grandmother in the next town when the event was eminent or so they thought. My sisters were there so long that my parents visited them on the weekends. My mother had made them a box of surprises for their stay with ribbons attached to a trinket that they got to choose everyday. However, the box emptied before they were back home. During what must have been a very miserable extra three weeks, I am thankful for my mother's patience for my arrival.

Me at 4 months. True to form, I had a cold in
one eye for this appointment.

My mother said that before I came she had time to clean the entire house and she even waxed the kitchen floor. She thought things would go smoothly with me. The house was in order and this was her third child, so she knew what she was doing. But then I came. And I cried. And cried. And cried. For the first six months, I cried so much that I burst a tear duct and herniated my naval. The neighbors used to take me in the car with them while they were delivering groceries to try to calm me. I am thankful for my mother's patience during the very noisy, exhausting time of when I was trying to settle into the world.

Soon after there was finally some quiet in the house (as much as you can have with a baby and two small children), I got pneumonia and was in the hospital for two weeks. The hospital was in another town and my mother spent all of her time with me while the rest managed somehow at home. Once I was back home, my oldest sister remembers the extra care that I still required. For my mother's patience while taking care of a sick baby, I am thankful.

Throughout the years, I have heard various stories about when I was a baby, but never did the stories come with any guilt or resentment. Just another story from my mother like the one when they had to call the fire department to get my sister's foot out of a drain. So for having had a very patient mother who gave me a great start to life despite how hard I made it for her, I am very thankful.

A Parade of Zinnias

With a Few Other Things Thrown In.

Despite the continued HOT weather, there are still a few things blooming around the yard. Among them the zinnias happen to be the happiest. Here are a few pictures of them and some other things I saw along the way.

Zinnia

Coreopsis ? This is from a pack of wildflower seeds I sowed last year. This is the first year it came up.

Bee on Bachelor's Button. Notice the pollen sacs on its back legs.

Zinnia

Mushrooms growing under one of the pine trees.

Zinnia

White wild flower (or some might call a weed). Does anyone know the name for this?

Zinnia

A new egg in the wren's nest

Zinnia

An out-of-sync cicada

Well, that's it for this go round.
Until next time...

Thankful Sunday, July 12, 2020

I am thankful for the Delete button.

Well, it has finally happened. After all of these years, my little, obscure blog has finally gotten some disgusting robo comments. I am very thankful for the delete button so I don't have to see them one more time. If they show up again, I guess I will have to go to reviewing the comments before publishing them.

In other news, here's a quick note before I go to work.

Speaking of going to work, I am back in the building but only interacting with other coworkers. We are doing contactless pickups at the library at this point in time and phone service. Masks, cleaning, and social distancing are going well there, but I do get tired of the mask after an hour or two. I'm still a little stressed answering the phone because I was just starting to catch on, in my new position, to all that is involved with answering questions when I had a 4 month hiatus because of COVID-19. I was busy teleworking during that time with training and programming, but I didn't have to figure out the details of peoples accounts. At least I am very polite as I sometimes fumble through providing people with what they need.

And speaking of programming, I will be doing a virtual program for the library in a couple of weeks and that is occupying a lot of my time. I will be reading, doing experiments, and a craft. It's difficult to technically manage all of that with one fixed camera (my phone or Ipad mini)  and I seem to be trying something different every day. I'm getting closer, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. All of our programs are live for legal reasons. It would be easier if I could record it, but that is not the policy presently.

In the meantime back at home, they are almost done with all of the construction. And what's the most important part of that? The port-a-potty is gone. It was cleaned regularly, but with the heat, it didn't always smell the best.

And speaking of heat, we have gone over two weeks with temperatures over 90 and no rain. I am getting tired of it and so are the plants. I can tell you that I'm not ready to move to a hot, desert climate.

And speaking of plants, despite the heat and lack of water, we are getting some vegetables from our small garden. We have been enjoying lettuce, peas, several kinds of cruciferous vegetables.and two kinds of squash.

And speaking of food, I should go now and fix my lunch for today.

Until next time...