Ups And Downs And All Arounds

I took another walk this morning. Knowing that I'm only going to be out for a little while makes it a lot easier than thinking I have to push myself to do many miles. Harvey and I crossed paths and he was in one of his more somber moods. I said "Good morning," and he nodded but didn't give me one of his blessing greetings. I doubt he was in the mood. He was not walking for pleasure or exercise but to get to the GDDG or the old convenience store to get what he needed. 
We got some rain last night and it was a little cooler this morning. Still hot and humid enough to snatch your breath. I've actually been breaking my routine to get out earlier which means basically that I don't try to finish the crossword, Wordle, and Connections before I go. This sounds so ridiculously small but my routine has been set in stone for quite awhile now and it's sort of a big thing for me to deviate from it. 
I walked up to the fally down house and slowly, slowly, it is sinking. 

There are bottles and cans and other detritus around the house and I can't imagine anyone going there seeking shelter. This puzzles me. Someone is obviously spending time there. But why? 

Just as my Map My Walk app alerted me to the fact that I had walked two miles, it began to rain. I knew it was going to but I figured I had time to get home first and even if I didn't, so what? I was already drenched with sweat, why not get rinsed with sweet rain? 
And so it was. And I am here to tell you that you can sweat IN the rain. But still, it felt wonderful and when I got home I felt a tiny thrill of exhilaration. The knee that's been bothering me for over a month felt so much better and the foot that's been painful and a little swollen for the past few weeks felt better too and the swelling was almost gone. Hurray for exercise! The walking, the activity! They've been paying off! 

I needed to go to town to feed Lily's kitties and stop by Costco and Publix and so when I'd gotten cooled off I did that and by the end of that trip, I was cursing walking and activity. All my leg parts hurt and I felt exhausted. I did no bamboo cutting or eggplant staking. I did no weed-pulling. But look!

I found my beloved little mending pincushion that Liz Sparks made for me a long time ago. 

I did manage to take my basket out and pick a few things and to add to the buzz kill, in the past 24 hours it would appear that the bugs have found the tomatoes and by the time the pest-control manager (Mr. Moon) gets home, my dreams of a great harvest of tomatoes will be in ashes. He has his sprayer and his "natural" potions and I don't even want to get involved with that. 
Sigh.

Let us not even discuss how the black aphids are back after their last spraying, gunking up my field peas with their bodies and the sap they drain from the plants. 
Sigh again. 

This is summer in Florida.  

And tomorrow I have to go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I hope I get the same hygienist I got last time- the sweet little Christian girl who just married her high school sweetheart with whom she loves to hunt. Look- I'm not joking. She was precious. She may, however, have given me over to someone else because although we bonded like crazy I did tell her that I don't believe in god. 
"You don't?" she asked me, aghast. 
"No," I said. "I don't." 

But I really hope she's still going to be my girl because she let me hold the sucking thing to use when I felt the need and I could love her forever, just for that. 

Stay hydrated, my friends and whenever possible, be in control of the fluids in your own mouth. 

Love...Ms. Moon