Goodbye August

Costco sells these beautiful mum plants in August, but you have to act fast. The cheap bags of fall bulbs were already gone to make room for the Christmas stuff pouring in. Too bad, I wanted to get a few more lillies, not that I need them.

The mums are a bargain at $12. Of course you have to lug the messy thing home in the back seat of the car, with your other giant warehouse packages and impulse purchases. Then unload everything at the curb, where hopefully you have a parking space in front of your house. Oh, Costco.  What would I do without you? Life would be simpler if I wasn't "saving" so much money.  Ha!

I'm glad September is here, a lovely month, and most people's favorite. Nothing bad happened this last week, but it was sure short on fun. I had two routine doctor appointments. And now I have the routine follow up tests to look forward to. Woo-hoo. At the store on Wednesday, I wasn't paying attention and made a couple of errors on the cash register. No problem, said the manager, all the cashiers make mistakes! But that took me down off my high horse.

It rained yesterday afternoon, a lovely and unexpected rain. You could almost hear the parched plants sucking up the moisture. The travel rush is on for the Labor Day weekend, but wild horses couldn't drag us out of West Seattle.  Have a good one wherever you are-- hopefully far away from the hurricane.
 

Buzz off

Like most articles in the New Yorker magazine, the book reviews are long and well-written. In fact, they're almost too good, because after you've read those 3 or 4 dense pages you feel like you've read the entire book. Or certainly got the gist of it.  The August 5 review of "The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator" by Timothy Winegard explains world history through the impact of mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes were in the news again last night for a potentially deadly disease in Michigan called the EEE virus. Winegard's book claims that mosquitoes have killed more people than any other single cause.  Something like 52 billion, or half of the humans who have ever lived. He calls them the "ultimate agent of historical change."

I call them the "ultimate agent of extreme annoyance" when one buzzes in your ear at night.  Fortunately, we don't have many in Seattle (yet) which is why we can sleep with open, unscreened windows, unheard of in most parts of the country. Even so, one occasionally turns up in the house.

20 degrees cooler today. Now the pleasant 70's right through Labor Day weekend with just the slightest chance of a shower.  Perfect weather as summer winds down.

Looking ahead

It looks like a grim winter forecast for the Northwest (Wet, or Worse!) from the Old Farmer's Almanac. Texas and Florida are the only places to be. But for now, summer is still in full swing, close to 90 today in Seattle, perhaps for the last time this year.

I found a recipe on the Internet for a spicy plum chutney. You can't have too much chutney in the pantry, much less waste plums.  Guess I'll cook up a batch before I walk to the store this afternoon in the blistering heat.  Just kidding, how pleasant it is, strolling down the street without a jacket, hood and umbrella. 

The new woman I worked with last week told the manager the cashier job was too tiring. She quit. Well, from all her complaints, I kind of suspected that. But oh dear, have I scared off a teenager and an old lady now? It's probably just the nature of volunteering, that people don't feel much commitment. What is that old saying about the key to success is "showing up?"    

I felt better when manager asked if I would mind working alone from now on since I was so responsible and capable, she could get things done in the back. So who would have guessed it?  Already clawing my way up the retail career ladder. Just by showing up.

Labor Day weekend is almost here, and I'm thinking about laboring I need to do around the house, like washing the windows inside and out, and starting to clear out the flower beds.

Tuesday

"Credo"
 by Donna Hilbert

I believe in the Tuesdays
and Wednesdays of life
the tuna sandwich lunches
and TV after dinner.
I believe in coffee with hot milk
and peanut butter toast,
Rose wine in summer
and Burgundy in winter.

I am not in love with holidays,
birthdays--nothing special--
the weekends are just days
numbered six and seven,
though my love
dozing over TV golf
while I work the Sunday puzzle
might be all I need of life
and all I ask of heaven.

Photographs and memories

I just looked through my August my photo file, and what a busy month for the family.  Marji and Dad took a trip back to Colorado and had a wonderful stay in Cripple Creek seeing old friends and getting his house ready for another winter. Amanda, Tom and the kids went backpacking at the ocean, then the Pt. Townsend birthday weekend, also our big trip to New Mexico.

You can't pack more into a month without dropping over from exhaustion.  Come to think of it?  I'm ready for a much quieter September and looking forward to the start of the Symphony.

We drove the girls north on Saturday morning and dropped them off again with Grandpa Jerry. Amanda picked them up in Burlington and after school shopping, they went home over the North Cascades Highway. A long day in the car, but they got home safely.

The traffic jams were epic. It took us over 4 hours to make an 80 mile round trip. You start to wonder why a person would ever leave West Seattle? It was a relief to get home. I never thought our urban village could seem quiet, but after the misery of the I-5 corridor and the jammed cities up north, it was an oasis of peace.

We sure enjoyed having the girls stay overnight and they were very good. Of course they're kids and I'm a neat freak, so things get messy and cluttered and noisy, but then they leave, and suddenly I miss them awfully. In a few short years they'll be teenagers, not interested in toys and picture books or fairy gardens. Each age brings new fun, but wish we could slow down the clock.  

They like to be constantly busy, and this gets tiring when you're not used to it. So each afternoon I told them it when it was their "free, quiet time" so I could get a few things done.  Maybe that sounded like a treat, because for once they didn't complain about being bored, and spent hours making fairy gardens in the flower beds.

They rarely fight over stuff which is nice, but everything shared must be scrupulously equal. So they are in a constant state of negotiation over toys and food. You better make sure that nectarine is cut exactly in half.

A typical exchange goes something like this:

Nova:  OK, Maya, I get the big fairy statue and you can have these two small ones.

Maya:  I don't want the small ones, I get the big one because I saw it first.

Nova:  No, it's actually mine because I was playing with it this morning.

Maya: Well, then I get to have it now and you can have the small ones.

Nova:  No, how about you get to have it tomorrow?

Maya:  OK, then I get all three tomorrow and you can have this blue stone instead.

Nova:  You can't have them tomorrow until I take my fairy garden down, OK?

Maya:  Then I'll give you this flower and the elf for the big fairy now.

Nova:  OK, but I need the fence and the bench too.

Maya:  OK. But I still get the other one tomorrow.

And so on and so on...
I'm taking them along next time I buy a car.

It's quite amusing, but then I don't have to listen to it all the time. This bickering drives Amanda bonkers, but hey Mom, it's better than fisticuffs. Sometimes Nova can out maneuver her little sister, but Maya has some tricks in her bag, too.

Anyway, time to tackle that pile of laundry and the Monday morning chores.

At the zoo

Feeding the alpacas

And topping off a long, busy day with a unicorn ice cream cone.  

Back to Mom and Dad today, after a great visit.