Keeping Up with Calendars.

 Keeping Up with Calendars.

 

Ok, a trip to the neurosurgeon’s office has now resulted in a referral to another doctor’s office for some kind of shots with pain meds and steroids. Think this is the same treatment given to my son-in-law that worked for him. Here’s hoping. But their office has not called to set up an appointment yet. At least Dr. Kern’s office set up another appointment to see how things went for the next doctor. Such fun. Meanwhile, tomorrow the young woman who cut my hair the last time will get to do it again in the early morning. The problem with getting a short hair cut is that it does not stay short long at all. And this mess really grows out quickly! Oh well. Worse things could happen.

 

It seemed that Athena the Campine hen had totally stopped laying eggs, so imagine my surprise to find one in the nest this morning! Since she is the only one who has ever laid a white egg, there is no mistaking her eggs. But she also looks so pretty and fluffy right now. Guess she has stopped with the molting phase. And the last of the Copper Marans that was broody actually laid an egg this morning. Ah! Cooler weather and happy hens!

 

Connie came over and picked up a dozen eggs and spent some time telling me about making masks for some children. She has more patience with sewing things of that sort. In that matter, at least, she is much like Sharon Dickerson. Talented and patient. Sitting here hoping that Sharon is not worrying herself sick about her heart and breathing problems. We all have a tendency to worry about things that seem to make us hurt or otherwise restrain us from enjoying life as we wish it. For her, and for the rest of us who worry about things that we can’t control, let us pray for God’s peace.

 

Connie reminded me of how our entire lives have been changed in the past few years. Since Viet Nam, we have spent trillions of dollars fighting wars that seem purposeless at this point. So much goes into destroying others and their countries when we should be working on controlling our economies, our growth of foodstuffs, our population growth, and the control of criminal elements in our own nation. When we see that our waste of water and other resources is totally out of control, we can see that we have so much to accomplish right here in our own nation. Personally, it is my belief that the planting of foods in each city should be undertaken by city governments and schools. Our children should be learning how to take care of the environment and the wildlife that makes up nature. But perhaps that is too much to ask for in this age of microwave mentality.

 

For tonight, and probably for some time to come, my prayers are going to include our nation as well as those of other nations who are being killed for their beliefs, who are being persecuted in one way or another, or who have become infected by the diseases running rampant all over the world. Let us remember that God is always in control. And who among us considers that those who are taken now will not have to live through the sorrows to come. Let us pray to remain faithful to God’s laws of love.

 

Rest and ask for His peace, my friends. You are loved.

 

Misplace Naps.

 Misplaced Naps.

 

Waking up at 4 or 4:30 in the morning is not too conducive to energetic living unless one is an early morning riser for the sole purpose of chasing down earthworms or something of that sort. And personally, the early bird is very welcome to any of those worms. While watching the sun rise is somewhat inspiring occasionally, a regular attendance of that event can be pretty tiring in general. It would suit me immensely to just be able to go to bed at a fairly decent hour and then wake up at six or thereabouts. Earlier rising does not get any more done than later attempts to greet the day. At least, it does not in my estimation or in my experience. A logging camp cook might need to get up early to make forty pounds of biscuits and gravy, but this old woman only makes a couple of cups of coffee sometime after six in the morning. Sleep is such a wonderfully refreshing exercise!  Lying back down around nine in the morning is ok, but that hour or half hour would be so much better earlier in the day. Sigh

 

Years ago, my sleep patterns were set by my parents’ time schedules. Mom was always up and preparing breakfast by 5:30. She never deviated from that schedule all the years when we were at home. It was only after Dad retired that she started doing things a little bit differently. Then, when her mind began to fail, she went back to the routine she had kept all those years before. Unfortunately, Dad said that she would lie down for about 30 minutes and awake thinking it was time to get up and prepare breakfast. And she did that several times in the night. Not getting enough sleep was one of Dad’s major complaints as he grew older. Now it makes sense why he was so troubled not only by Mom’s rearranged sleeping schedule, but by his own broken patterns. Sleep definitely matters at any age. Our oldest son told me the other day that it feels as if he never gets enough sleep. Sitting here wondering if he might have sleep apnea.

 

Saw on FB that a friend’s new baby grandchild, her daughter, and her son-in-law all have Covid. It sounds as if she has had it as well. She had a horrible headache for about a week. More than one person has said that headaches may be part of the virus symptoms. Scary! Sitting here wondering how long this mess is going to last. Will just have to pray that we all survive this horrible stuff.

 

Got a call today from Dr. Kern’s office to tell me that an appointment is on my calendar for early in the morning. It was a surprise to me since they had not called, texted, or emailed this information to me already. Guess we might need classes in mind reading. Anyway, guess he will tell me what he thinks after seeing the results of the CT scan and x-rays. Can already say that PT is not a further possibility for me at this point. Too many people in that little space, not enough masks, and not enough cleaning of things where people handle equipment or chairs. No sense in taking undue risks.

 

Not sure how much rain we got today, but was pleasantly surprised by the quiet rain earlier. The weather has been pleasant and not even humid. The hens have been out running around the place clucking and cackling happily. Not that many eggs were out there, but at least they sounded happy. And the Copper Marans have stopped being broody! Hooray! They may not start laying right away, but at least they are not ready to fight me away from the nests.

 

These two spoiled dogs are funny. They KNOW treats are up there in the bucket. They paw the bottom of the bookcase to get my attention. And yes, they get some treats. Just had to tell them “No more treats.” They know what that means, too. Silly critters.

 

Patty called earlier and told me that she ordered camera lights for her front porch, two air horns (one was for me), rat traps, and a cattle prod. She sat there and laughed about her Amazon shopping history and wondered if anyone would notice. It made me smile and laugh with her. But was able to tell her that Susan’s dogs have not been barking in her back yard, so it may be that Animal Control picked them up at some point. Have not even heard a sound out of the little furry yapper that she keeps down there. Hope the critters are ok. But at least they are not down at Patty’s place scaring her.

 

Really don’t know much tonight except that part of my prayers this morning included the Christians who are being persecuted all over the world and the women and men who were friends of Americans in Afghanistan. Never have we seen the horrors that have been perpetrated by various nations as we have this year. May God let His son return to rule this earth very soon! And may we be found to have remained faithful.

 

Rest and ask for His peace. You are loved.

 

 

Thoughts about Fear.

 Thoughts about Fear.

 

None of us want to see our friends and family become ill or otherwise suffer from any kind of distress, but lately my prayers have centered on diseases about which we seemingly have no control. Yes, we can do several things to encourage our bodies to remain healthy, but no amount of avoidance can totally protect us from diseases. What my friend AnnaBeth said about the children in the hospitals in Mississippi was quite upsetting. Just imagine how powerless those parents must feel. Someone I know just included her own children in a school that is just now starting up with its own curriculum. The parents feel very strongly about what their children are taught. And they don’t want them in public schools. So maybe they fear both the type of things that are being taught in public schools as well as the presence of those who won’t wear masks. However they feel about either the teaching or the lack of masks is THEIR privilege. None of us has the right to judge others about their fears or lack thereof.

 

Tonight, my prayers include my sister-by-another mother, Sharon Dickerson. She has to go in for a test to see if she has a particular kind of heart problem that has little to no resolution. May God bless her with good health and happiness.

 

And may those of us who are relatively healthy appreciate those who are fighting battles we can’t see. Pain is a relative situation in most cases, but its presence reminds us daily that we all need help. May God bless this nation and those who hold His love in their hearts.

 

Rest and be assured that you are loved. His are the promises.

Egg-cellent Weather!

 Egg-cellent Weather!

 

Some of us really appreciate cooler weather. Not all of us lay eggs, but some of us certainly enjoy gathering the fruits of fowl efforts. Today Cari Guidry’s mom came and took home a couple of dozen eggs. She left behind a couple of small watermelons, some okra, and a cucumber or two. If she brings empty egg cartons next time she comes, she will undoubtedly find more eggs waiting for her. Yours truly simply does not want to buy more egg cartons. It is silly to find their expense so irritating, but such is life.

 

Thompson just insisted that he needed a treat. Sylvia wholeheartedly agreed. But they are just a teensy bit picky. The dental chews are not their favorite at all. But the “kabobs” with jerky wrapped around them get classified right up there with eating something from my plate. But these things are much more expensive than cooked broccoli and cauliflower! Oh well. Guess some beef liver is going to have to be ordered from Bill Brown’s Beef. It just occurred to me that some sliced pork loin was in the top of the freezer. Hmm. It’s been there awhile, too. Sounds like a good treat for a dog to me!

 

Cleaned out the dog’s pool today. This time it watered the two apricot trees, but next time it will water the plum and the two cherry trees. Tomorrow it will have to have some “dunk” chips put in to keep the mosquitoes from breeding in the water. The little pieces won’t hurt the dogs or the hens either one. Do need to remember to put something in there for the toads, small birds, and any other small creature to use in order to keep from drowning. Love the toads! But the silly critters have a tendency to jump at flying things over the water!

 

Now that two Cuckoo Marans are gone, only one black (copper) Maran is cooped up away from nesting material. Cleaned out the little chicken house in order to have a place to protect her and still isolate her from the nests. Three or four hens would have been too many for that little coop if they are feeling broody. They get really grumpy with each other and anything else that comes between them and a nesting box. Maybe it won’t take long for this one hen to change her attitude.

 

Cleaned blanket/spreads today and still have not folded and put them away. Honestly prefer to put the spreads on the couch over the cover bought for it recently, but should probably just let the dogs enjoy the tan cover. Then there are the ones that cover my bed. Light blue has to be washed twice as often as the dark blue even though they both probably attract the same amount of dirt! Just dust mopping the floors tells me that doggie feet carry about twice as much dirt as my shoes!

 

Today Patty called me about two big dogs that were outside her back door. She is afraid of so many things, but has no idea what to do about stray dogs. Kinda think these dogs belong to Susan Priddy, but they get out fairly often anyway. Not really sure what is wrong with one of the dogs, but it has either lost hair from scratching or has the mange. Either way, the dogs need to be in their own yard. Patty was talking about getting a cattle prod. Personally, getting that close to something a person is afraid of sounds unreasonable. Maybe she will call the animal control office next time. They don’t work on Sunday. But then, Donny has a cousin across the lake that could come on a weekend to help her with something like this. Yours truly does not mess with stray dogs. Have no desire to confront something that might chew on me! Roger Thonton’s wife Susan got bitten recently while she was trying to mow grass. She ended up at the emergency room! Not funny at all!

 

It seemed to me that cooler weather would reduce the pollen count a bit, but such does not seem to be the case. My eyes are burning just as if the grass had been freshly cut. Argh! Connie said that she was having the same problems with allergies this morning. Wonder what life would be like without headaches and sneezes.

 

Downloaded some more books to my Kindle. A couple of them sounded as if they might be funny. Had started to read about Anne Frank, but just can’t make myself do that right now. It needs to be funny or interesting and not sad at the moment.

 

Was telling Connie this morning about the “shopper” at Market Street substituting baby bubble bath for baby shampoo. She said that such substitutions had happened to her as well. It would be funny, but have no idea why anyone would buy bubble bath instead of shampoo. Oh well.

 

Other than dog and hen news, not much is happening around here. Woke up at an unreasonable hour this morning and then lay back down about 8 and fell asleep so soundly that the pillow left marks on my face. And both dogs must have been just as sleepy because they did not wake me up. Only the hens stayed up. By the time we went back out there, they were griping about having not received any scratch. Poor mistreated hens!

 

Ah, just defrosted some frozen meat that turned out to be liver. The dogs are waiting impatiently for it to cool off. One would think labeling the Ziplock bags would be a priority for doofless old women who can’t remember what they put in the freezer. But NO! Ah, but surprises are such fun—sometimes. There is the time a bag of milk was mistaken for a bag of turnips. Great big smile.

 

May you all find time to enjoy whatever is outside of the houses and apartments or wherever you may live. Breathe this air of freedom and smile with gratitude for life itself. We are so very blessed.

 

Rest and be happy, my friends. You are loved.

 

 

Seeds and Hens.

 Seeds and Hens.

 

So, some folks wanted hollyhock seeds—including my daughter—and a lady who let me ride her mare last year wanted a couple of Marans. Now it will be necessary to keep up only two hens for a while. They just about go bananas when more than two are locked up, but now it will be easier—at least that is my hope. And now the hollyhock seeds are being harvested, maybe fifteen dozen little plants won’t come up this next season.

 

Jennifer told me earlier that she really wished my hens were down there to clean up the army worms. The City of Mansfield is having to close their parks to spray for the silly buggers. Nasty, squishy things underfoot, ya know. Remembering one year that the birds around here finally gave up eating every miller flying through the air—which later became more worms. Those cycles are just relentless.

 

Apparently, my youngest Ostand grandson has moved into a rather nice apartment place near the UTA campus. Right now, he is having to take care of his friend’s cat while the friend is back at home taking care of his parents’ animals. Jenn is hoping that Reece will see that it is totally unfair to an animal to be cooped up in one room. Listening to Connie talk about her cats makes me feel that they need plenty of room to run and climb. But then, she also talks about having an entire handful of purrs each morning when Amelia wants her attention. Yes, animals are definitely worth it.

 

It came a downpour in Arlington while Jenn was helping Reece get settled in his new apartment. Don’t think they got that much rain where Jenn lives, but at least things got cooled down a bit. It did the same here early this morning. SO nice! Maybe the rain won’t cause too much humidity.

 

Talked to my granddaughter about her first airplane travel and her vacation in Florida. On the beach with that crystal clear water every day was her favorite part. That’s pretty understandable. Unless it is a good river in the Hill Country, we just don’t have that much in the way of clear water. Of course, where we grew up near the Red River, nothing was clear. In fact, any water that was running looked a bit like cocoa—red or muddy. It was called Clay County for more than one reason—a man’s name notwithstanding.

 

Got my car insurance bill today. It certainly does improve the cost if only one vehicle is on one’s policy! Germania really does a good job of insuring things for folks like me. The agents have always been super nice, too.

 

Steamed some broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots to go with some fajita meat that was cooked earlier this week. The dogs helped eat the stuff. Did ya know that dogs will eat broccoli and cauliflower? These two dogs are not just real picky. They don’t eat pickles or cucumbers if they are not upside down on the kitchen floor covered in chicken salad coatings. And they don’t care for green olives, thank you very much. Black olives, maybe, but definitely not green ones! To me it is amazing that they will eat cooked broccoli. It does not smell good when it is cooked, so maybe that is why they like it.

 

Jenn was talking to me and suddenly exclaimed that the humming bird was back and sitting on the feeder. He/she just sat on the thing and slurped up all the nectar it could hold. Then it fought off another hummer. Jenn brought more nectar from her fridge and laughed. Brain freeze! But it did not stop both birds from sucking up that stuff. This is the time of year that they are trying to stock up on body energy so that they can fly south later this next month or so. Not really sure where they go exactly. They used to stop at a town close to Houston where everyone had planted flowers especially for the hummers and their migration. But then that little town got blown off the map in the last bad hurricane. So not sure where the hummers are stocking up now.

 

My friend AnnaBeth texted me earlier and tried to wish me a happy Shabbat. But her phone did not appreciate the word or tried to put in its own version of what it thought she was trying to type. Technology and an interesting vocabulary simply do not always mesh. Anyway, she was trying to be very positive—and we did not even mention ANY type of politics, but she was sad about the results of all the children being hospitalized near her. She said one of her son’s co-workers got the virus recently. Praying that AnnaBeth does not get even a tiny inkling of illness in her home! Being 80 years old is an accomplishment for many of us. We can thank God for what it took to get us to this point. But let’s face it, we are more vulnerable than we used to be. Even wearing a mask and staying away from other people can only do so much to protect us. We still have to watch our step, drink plenty of fluids, and eat the right kind of food. Then we have to also try to have a positive outlook on life. Sometimes that makes the difference in how we feel emotionally as well as physically. Let us remember to try to be encouraging to others. It makes the world a sweeter place.

 

Waking up at 4:30 in the morning is a rather large pain in the derriere. If one could just roll back over and go back to sleep, it would be a different story. But by 8:30, my office had been rearranged and the floor cleaned. It did make a difference, but a bunch of that stuff is now sitting on the kitchen table. The printer is going to Jennifer’s house. A small, wooden box will go to Lance’s oldest. The irrigation system (was in the workshop, not office) will go to Gary’s house. Another wooden box will go to Jennifer’s house. Anyway, slowly but surely things are getting shuffled. Lance and Tracy call that “shtuff shuffling.” They have furniture from Tracy’s parents that has moved back and forth a few times. Not sure but what one piece ended up here. Oh well.

 

Hand sewed a burlap bag today to put the garlic in to hang in the workshop. The bag came wrapped around a book from the Texas History site. Their books are very expensive—at least $39 is expensive to me. Anyway, those books are very enjoyable for anyone who loves Texas and Texas history. It really would be great if our library here in WF had these books. It occurred to me to give my copies to the library, but now both of the ones bought this year have disappeared. Think a certain horse shoer has one of them. Will have to ask him. It’s terrible not to be able to remember who could have been one that yours truly loaned a book. Oh well.

 

Met Donny Anderson’s son D.G. He looks like a taller, lighter-weight version of Donny. Patty had him working. Not much changes, does it.

 

Think maybe an ice pack will be a good solution for some of the morning exercise. Anyway, it is easy to keep the ice pack on if a movie is on at the same time. Will be watching Murdoch Mysteries if you need me.

 

Rest well and enjoy each day as it comes. May God continue to bless you. You are loved.

A COLD Front?

 A COLD Front?

 

Wow! According to my phone and the weather app on it, we are going to have several days of temperature UNDER 100 degrees! Is that great or what? And what’s more, there is even a possibility (40%) of some rain. Absolutely will NOT gripe about that! My trees are going to die if they don’t get some real rain pretty soon. It is just impossible to water enough to soak the ground around the smaller trees except for the fig and peach out front. The ones in the side lots are just too far away to haul water. Even getting a hundred foot of hose is not really a great idea since pulling that hose around would be more exercise than a silly old woman really needs right now. Guess the watering will be restricted to giving the hens water and spraying under the deck. Have some irrigation line out in the shed, but yours truly does not really know how to set it up. It was one of those strange things that Jerry brought by thinking it might be needed over here. Oh well.

 

Amazon got the rat traps here today. Between the pumpkin pie spice and the poison baits, maybe the rat population will be thinned down. At least there were no more signs of their droppings in the trays under the feeders this morning. Who knew that pumpkin pie spice was good for anything else! Patty put her little bags of mint around her carport trying to ward off the nasty critters. Then her door camera rang this morning at 2 a.m. to show her the newspaper person in his strange looking shorts. She truly woke up fully awake! But then she figured out what was going on. Try going back to sleep after that situation!

 

Patty had printed out some pictures of Donny including one of him holding a fawn that was on the side of the highway. Wonder if the doe might have been hit by a car or something. Have no idea what he did with the fawn, but it was a long time ago since he did not have a beard in the picture. He liked his scary beard. Once he took me and my lawn tractor to Berend Brothers out on Seymour Hwy. The man waiting on me saw him standing back from the counter and said in a rather hostile voice: “Did you need something?” It did not take me but a second to assure the man that Donny was my chauffeur and tractor hauler! But it is easy to see why the man thought that Donny was someone off the street. He wore his hair long and his beard down to his belly! Yep, might not want to meet someone like that on the street.

 

Looked around a while ago trying to find some bags to put egg cartons in. Have no idea where all the bags have gotten off to. The paper grocery bags are not a biggie, but no one is going to get anything in my Paris or Ketchikan cloth bags. Enjoyed both places and purposely bought enough stuff to collect the bags. Guess yours truly will have to go to Tractor Supply and get some more bags.

 

Saw online today that Alaska has three separate volcanoes bubbling over in the Aleutians. Not that any one thing is totally unusual, but isn’t it something that this year has been one for volcanoes, forest fires, storms, and assorted disasters! Well, and the creeping crud that seems to be taking folks out left and right. My oldest Dickerson grandchild brought me a book about the yellow fever that hit Philadelphia back in the 1700s. It was pretty frightening, but they have since discovered a cure for that one. Now if they could just help us avoid West Nile viruses. That is just another mosquito caused disease. Yet we need mosquitoes. Isn’t it strange that only the females bite? The males breed and pollinate things. And both male and female provide food for many birds and other insects. Eventually we will figure out how to live with them and avoid the diseases they carry.

 

Read just enough “news” on AOL to see that even a few high ups in the Biden administration realize that we are losing our southern border. Sooner or later, everyone will realize that it is not possible to allow unfettered entry into our country by the sick, criminal, and otherwise illegal people. It is easy to understand why those from the Central American countries want to come here for better opportunities. Their countries are overrun by mobs and corrupt governments. Where could they possibly go to improve their lives? Yet, we have obviously not improved the lives of those who are truly American citizens if we allow these people to flood our hospitals, use up available resources, and otherwise camp on our streets. We still are not feeding our own citizens—children and homeless especially. This situation is just so sad and seemingly unlikely to be resolved.

 

Told Connie this morning that we needed to find a way to get a good laugh every day. Google will tell jokes if you ask it to: How do you make a tissue dance? Put a little boogie in it! Ok, that was just pretty silly. But you get the idea. Used to have a large joke book that was definitely non-PC now. It talked about the dumb blondes and such as that and made either the woman or the man in each joke sound pretty stupid. That is not even funny to me. Oh well. Will find something soon to amuse me. Will have to ask the grands if they know of anything funny—either a movie or a good book. Lance and Reece are always coming up with silly stuff that makes me laugh. Their specialty is funny pictures.

 

Speaking of funny pictures: my sister-in-law sent me a picture of her and her grandson Nanden. They were “cone heads.” They were each wearing half of a giant Easter egg, so Anne said that they were cone heads. Pretty cute. Her grands will be here a few days, and it is debatable whether it will be Anne or her dog Snoop who will mourn the most when they leave. Anne says that both she and the boys cry when they have to leave. Because she has Snoop, she can’t go visit them in CO. They don’t allow dogs in their condo. And she can’t leave Snoop by himself. He might not get along with my dogs now. If it were just Thompson, it might not be a problem, but Sylvia would probably eat him up. Anne could not feel good about taking a trip up there if Snoop were not happy, too.

 

We really are strange folks who love our critters so much. But they love us right back and sometimes much more than anyone else could love us. They are not judgmental the way people are. Anyway, while my dogs don’t always mind me, they know that they are loved.

 

Let’s all appreciate the weekend coming up—even if weekends are not your favorite time. Just looking forward to cloud cover makes me happy no matter which day of the week it might be. So, rest well and be happy with whatever you find to please you. You are loved.

Whew! Texas In August!

Whew! Texas In August!

 

According to the gauge on the deck, it is currently 103 degrees of miserable. Even the dogs want under the AC! Two of the hens put into the pool just sat there. They are so very hot under all those feathers! And all seven eggs in the nests today got there early rather than in the afternoon. Yep, too hot to sit in a nest.

 

Got up at one a.m. to look at the eastern sky, but the light pollution from the State Hospital was so bad that it was hardly worth the effort. Then at five the streaks across the sky were still going, if somewhat less than often. And it was much easier to see them from the angle away from the east. It made me remember the trip to Palo Dura Canyon when we looked up at the night sky and felt as if we could just reach up and touch the sparkles! It was so very pretty. Know the cowhands on the trails must have felt that they were closer to God out there under the stars. It is sad that our cities have to light up everything around them. Lightning bugs have diminished in numbers now because of light pollution. They can’t find mates in all this extra light.

 

Took Patty’s mail down to her a bit ago. She had ordered some mint spray that is supposed to repel rats and mice and assorted critters. She gave me one of the bottles to spray around here. Now my house smells as if it has rolled in the mint bed. But then, the chicken coops smell like pumpkin pie because an entire bottle of that spice is now all along the inside 2x4s and around the feed trays. We will see if that helps. But then Amazon should soon get a poison trap here in a couple of days. The poison is not supposed to hurt dogs, cats, and kids, but it is also enclosed to prevent them from getting to it. Rats apparently like the scent and eat the bait freely. Here’s hoping!

 

Trimmed a bunch of tree branches out of the north fence that grew off the roots of a hackberry tree. Found a stupid mesquite root that had also grown out a few little branches. Tried to get most of it out, but will have to get the hatchet our and whack the base of it good when it is cooler. Mesquites make good fires for smoking meat, but their thorns are truly dangerous. Like rose thorns, they can cause all kinds of infections.

 

Downloaded a book today that has changed over the years. It’s been a long time since it was in my hands, but now it is on the iPad to be read—The Diary of Anne Frank. Remembering things changes as one ages.

 

Thompson just came over to me and gave me the once over. He thinks someone has been cheating on him. Patty’s Roxie drug herself all over me while wiggling and whining about being petted. Those dogs are something else. Rudy would still just rather chomp on me than let me touch him, so he gets left alone pretty much. But my dogs still have to tell me about it whenever a visit is made.

 

Other than the heat and the inevitable work that always has to be done around here, this old woman knows very little today. Have to pray for Texas and Florida because of this stupid virus that is making folks so very ill. Jennifer said that her family has been crouping, snorting, and generally feeling like crud, so they may have picked up something since the entire family has gone through it—including bad headaches. And my brother Sterling and his wife Jacqui have had the same garbage. From now on, everyone who gets ill may believe that it is some form of this stupid virus. And it may very well be just that, but so far most of us get over it about as quickly as a summer cold. And no, they have not found a cure for the common cold either!

 

No one asked for advice, and it is probably worth about as much as any other opinion, but this seems like a really good time to stay away from lots of folks in places that may or may not be clean. Hand sanitizer may dry out our hands, but it beats becoming ill. Whether or not a mask helps may depend on how close we are to others, as well. Anyway, may you all be careful about your health right now especially. Good food, rest, a good attitude, staying away from miserable sources of “information,” and trying to get outside when you can will make life more enjoyable.

 

Rest and be happy, my friends. May God bless you and yours. You are loved.