Another Day, A Few More Quarts Of Pickles

 

It was still raining when I got up this morning. I slept late, probably because when it's raining, the light falls differently, making me feel like it's still early. And lucky for me, I have the luxury of sleeping until I feel like getting up. 

What a luxury!

But the sun soon came out and I took a short walk. Although it wasn't quite as hot as it could have been, I was still very sweaty by the time I got home but at least I didn't feel like I was dying which was nice. 

I spent some time this afternoon shopping online to find a bathing suit that doesn't look like an outfit of torture. This has been an ongoing project. The other day I actually googled, "comfortable bathing suits for fat old women."

Here's one of the images that came up. 

As I have been known to say- I shit you not!

I did not buy that one. Frankly, it does not look comfortable in the least to me. 

So I got an old lady suit from Land's End but I got it in red so WATCH OUT WORLD! At least they'll be able to find my body if I get pulled out by a rip tide (aka Under Toad) in the ocean. 

Speaking of finding bodies in the ocean- oh hell. What can you say? We are all so fascinated when the truly rich get killed in horrible ways that involved them spending gazillions of dollars for the experience. What about all the people who drown trying to flee the horrors of their home countries by sea in rickety old boats or on rafts? The mothers and children? No one wants to even think about that, much less talk about it. 
God. What a weird world we live in. 
Again I say- I shit you not.

I'm listening to a book that Lily recommended. It's called Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing and it's by a woman named Lauren Hough. 

It's a series of essays about her life and my god- what a life. I'm not even halfway through it and I'm already completely astonished at its power. Once again, someone is teaching me more about life than I ever wanted to know and yet- my god, I should know. 

Ms. Hough is not only a lesbian who was honorably discharged from the Air Force during DACA for coming out as gay, she also lived all over the world as a child when her parents were in the cult commonly known as The Children of God, or later on, The Family. 
She has a great deal of trouble with the word "family" now and one can understand why. 
In the part of the book I'm listening to, she's living in Washington, DC, working as a bouncer at a gay bar, and living in abject poverty. You want to learn about the America that so many marginalized people live in? Read this book. I have a feeling we've only touched the surface of what she's lived through at this point in her story. 
One thing that really hit me hard is her saying that only those who have truly been poor- going to bed hungry, not knowing where you're going to sleep tomorrow poor- will do a kindness for you and not expect anything in return. 

I could write my own entire essay tying this in to right-wing politics, but I won't. 
Powerful writing. 
Phew. 

A book I doubt I'll be forgetting any time soon. 

I think I may have made the last pickled green beans for the summer this afternoon, not because there are no more green beans but because I have had enough of that particular project. I did indeed get out the quart jars and filled four of those with beans, brine, and spices, and canned them. It was so much easier as I only needed to trim the ends because the jars were tall enough to accommodate all but a few of the very longest ones. 

And my refrigerator is still filled with beans and I don't even want to think about what's on the vines. 

I'm going to cut this short today. I'm going to make enchiladas and that takes some time, even though I am going to cheat and use canned sauce. I will be adding tomatoes and peppers from our garden, though. I picked a gorgeous giant jalapeno today and that will be part of the sauce. 

Oh! Lily and Lauren and the kid crew will be returning from Lauren's parent's house tomorrow. I hear they have had a wonderful time. 

Lily says that Maggie has been in heaven because of all the animals. They have about 25 goats now because the man goat got in with the women goats and knocked all of them up. I guess that goats really are randy. And fertile. 

I will be glad to see them when they get home and I hope that we can take some nice little jaunts to the river. Perhaps Maggie can adopt an alligator. 

Thanks to all of you who told me that I need to cut the tops of my garlic before it blooms. I will have to discuss this with Tom. Sounds sensible to me. 

Also, thank all of you who have suggested that I volunteer in a library, reading to children. It is a wonderful idea and one I have considered for a long time. The thing that holds me back is the thing that holds me back from so many things- social anxiety. And, oh, you know- that little agoraphobia problem. 

Well, perhaps I can jump those hurdles. We shall see. In the meantime, Terez is on his way to Chicago! As much as that man loves his hometown of Monticello, I think he yearns to experience new places and new experiences and so he should! Hopefully, he will be coming back. He's threatened not to. 

Meanwhile, I am thinking that perhaps I could pay my grandchildren to let me read to them. Why not? It would be a win-win situation as far as I can see.

Love...Ms. Moon