Looking East

67 beautiful degrees F this morning---bliss!

 

Porch Time with Josie

Yesterday when I went up to stay with Meema, I was nervousited. That means I was nervous and excited. Do you know why?

FIRST GRADE starts Monday. I worry that the kids might be mean--there is one boy who was sometimes mean to me, but he got better. Sometimes we even played together. I worry that it might be too hard, but Meema said I already know lots of stuff even second graders don't know. 

I hope she's right.

After pancakes, we went out on the porch and blew bubbles. I like when Meema blows them so I can chase them and pop them, but she asked me to blow some so she could take pictures of the bubbles. So, I did for a while.

I watered the porch plants. They get very thirsty. Sometime the basil starts to look droopy, but after a drink of water, it is fine.

Check out the pink crocs! Me and Mama went to the Barbie movie, and I wore them because pink is Barbie's and my favorite color.

Another thing we always do on the porch is brush the dogs. Bailey loves being brushed.

See how shiny her coat is? 

This is on the porch too. It is a place for insects to lay eggs. You can see that some of the holes are sealed shut. That means there are already eggs in there.

While we were looking, a wasp came flying in and went in to check it out. If you stay still, wasps will probably not sting you. This one did not.

PS Guess what! In the afternoon, Mama took me to school for Meet the Teacher time and I met her and she is really nice and I found out that a bunch of my friends are in my class. Also, at recess, all the first grades go out together so I can see my other friends.

I'm still a little nervous but not as much.

Intimations of Change

After a lengthy series of thunderstorms in the early morning hours of Tuesday, by Tuesday evening the weather had become cool and dry--a most welcome development. Yesterday was in the low 80s, forecast to plunge to 59 degrees at night.

As I drove to the grocery store, I was struck by the quality of the morning light slanting through the trees. Everything seemed brighter, crisper, and dare I say it, just a tad Autumnal.

Yes, it's a month away. Yes, the temps will climb again by the end of the week. But I found myself in the AC of the grocery store, tossing the ingredients for chili into my buggy and thinking about making stuffed butternut squash. . . two meals I reserve for cool weather.

I hadn't completely lost my mind. There were also some lovely heirloom tomatoes, too nice to pass up. And fresh mozzarella for Caprese salad--a quintessentially summer dish, enjoyable even in this cooler weather.

 

I did not acquire pumpkin spice anything.

 

Teenager Birds

The products of a second or third hatch are learning more about their world and how the birdfeeder works. They all look a little scruffy yet.

 

Old Soul

                                                                                

Many years ago, a mystically inclined friend of a friend, told me (after a few hours acquaintance) that I was an Old Soul and had obviously lived many lifetimes before this one.  I didn't argue, assuming this was a compliment, but I did suggest that I'd read and absorbed many books . . .which, in my view, is almost the same.

I am the product of a white, Southern, nominally Protestant, middleclass upbringing during the Fifties--a fairly blinkered existence. Along about sixth grade, it was Science Fiction and Historical Fiction that first extended the boundaries of time and place . . .and social mores.

Later, as an English major, I became enamored of Brit Lit and read English authors almost exclusively for many years--pleasant but not the best way to broaden one's horizons.

Now, as more and more books are published by folks who aren't Dead White Males, and thanks to book pusher friends who read widely, I've been afforded the opportunity to experience vicariously lives very different than my own.

Beautiful Country, a memoir by Qian Julie Wang, brought me face to face with one family's immigrant experience--from soul-deadening sweat shops and a constant struggle for existence, to the intricacies of navigating life in America, the Beautiful Country, as an "illegal" alien.

Told from the point of view of the young Qian Wang who arrives in 1994 New York as a seven-year-old, it's a compelling story of a child and a family facing seemingly insurmountable odds--and prevailing.

From New York's Chinatown to Harlem isn't far--but Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle, set in the early Sixties, is another world. I sank deep into the richness of Whitehead's prose and succumbed to yet another life that I'd otherwise never know.

From the back cover: "Harlem Shuffle" is a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and, ultimately, a love letter to Harlem."

Two more worlds explored, experiences gained. Two more terrific books.

It's What's for Supper

One of those meals that happens when the fridge needs clearing out. I had some corn and some collards and kale that needed using up, as well as some potato salad from a few nights ago. And fortunately, there was some Conecuh sausage in the freezer. (THE best sausage, in my opinion.) 

So, corn and sausage on the grill, kale and collards sauteed with onions and garbanzos, potato salad lurking beneath some fresh spinach and cucumber. 

And to drink, the remains of a gin and tonic, topped off with some red wine from a box. It makes a refreshing drink, reminiscent of a very good sangria we had in Spain many years ago.

 

Randomly

 

New to Me--a Red Spotted Purple

 

This beauty was feasting on a ripe fuchsia seed on our front porch.

                                                                                 

It was so fixated on eating that it totally ignored me.

It just hung out there under the fuchsia.

Josie tried to tempt it with Black-Eyed Susana . . .not interested.

I had assumed it was a Spicebush or Pipevine Swallowtail--the black and blue butterflies I'm familiar with. But then I realized, there was no swallowtail. None.

Call Mr. Google! A little sleuthing led me to a butterfly I'd never heard of-- a Red Spotted Purple. I believe that's our visitor. And what a beauty!

Below is a photo from the internet that helped me identify this beautiful critter. Lots more info HERE.

Past Times

 

Late Summer

Cardinal Flower

Joe Pye Weed

Morning Glory

Chicory

And a Maple Leaf, turning early.

 

Playdate at the Pond

My friend and I had a playdate at Louise's house. I brought my new baby Lily because we were going into the pond later and Lily can float.

My friend's mom brought a bunch of dress up stuff for us to play with. There was a llamacorn suit that my friend put on.

Louise made two big dolls out of two big zucchinis. They were very fancy but I don't like to eat zucchini.

At the pond, the water was pretty cold and I had to get used to it. I had my floatie thing on.

Louise has a paddleboard, and she took me and my friend for a ride. (I still had not gotten in the water.)

My friend lives next door to Louise and she plays in the pond a lot. She knows how to paddle even though she is only starting kindergarten this year. (I am starting first grade.)

Look at her! I think she is really brave.

I wonder if I could do that.

Then Louise and I took Lily for a ride.

This is really fun. And I think I am ready to get in the water now.

I have an idea!

                                                                               

My idea was to throw Lily in so I could rescue her.

My friend got cold and got out and put on her llamacorn suit. Then she threw Lily for me to rescue. Then she threw in the paddles too.

Then she decided to come back in because there was so much stuff to rescue--paddles . . .

And Lily. 

We played rescue for a long time. Then Meema said we needed to go home. I didn't want to, but my friend's mom said it was time for them to go home too. 

I told Meema I would get out but first there was something I wanted to do, and she should take a picture.

Ta Da!!!