Blue Sky Beyond

 

Morning Glories

These lovelies self sow and decorate our steps every year--a most obliging flower!

 

Lying LIars

 

The prospect of Ghislaine Maxwell being given a pardon is completely appalling. Any thing she may say or testify to has to be suspect as she's already been convicted of perjury. But the Liar in Chief has pardoned rioters and criminals of every ilk--it will be just another day with the Sharpie for him.

Having her speak only with one of his minions is another cause for alarm. Plus, who is listening to the multiple victims of the Epstein/Maxwell racket? 

Just another reason to wonder why all those GOPers who were frothing at the mouth over Qanon and Pizzagate are so quiet. 

Mute Monday-Really

 

Silent Sunday --Well, Maybe Not

This was going to be a wordless post but there is so much going on that I feel a need to speak out. Where to begin? There are more rant-worthy topics than I have the energy to address at the end of a hot day. So I'll just make a little list, in no particular order:

Mike Johnson sending the House home rather than deal with the Epstein mess; the Epstein mess; the Orange One's multiple golfing vacays that we are paying for; the burning of food meant for famine relief; the ICE thugs' startling disregard for due process; the continued genocide in Gaza; the continued perilous state of Ukraine; the undoing of so much that was accomplished by previous administrations, especially in attempts to mitigate climate change. . . 

Petty annoyances: the tackification of the Oval Office; the destruction of the Rose Garden; the very idea that the mostly MIA First Lady should have the Kennedy Center's Opera House named for her; Karoline Leavitt's cos-play Christianity; Kristi Noem's big-haired, big-lipped heartlessness; those annoying little silver swooshes in Tulsi Gabbard's perfect do as she lies and lies . . .

Oh, dear, obviously I've only just begun. 

 

Ay, Law!

                                                    

A few years ago I read about an innovative way of helping caregivers understand the challenges faced by geriatric patients. It was a suit that forced the wearer into a stooped gait and added weights to slow that gait. There were gloves to limit digital dexterity, constraints to limit range of motion, goggles to simulate various problems with vision, ear muffs to deaden sound. 

The idea, of course, is to encourage empathy for geezer clients. I wonder how widely these are used. You can see one HERE.

When our old friends (he is our age; she is maybe ten years younger--a veritable spring chicken) were her for supper, we got to talking, as one does, of the challenges of aging. I began to tell them about the geriatric suit . . .

Then I realized--I'm in the suit!

Well, not entirely, But bad hearing and compromised gait are daily realities. My fingers still work on a keyboard, but my vision isn't as sharp as it once was.

Could be worse. And probably will be, before it's all over.

Summer Scenes

 

Summer Evening Feast

Hot weather. Old friends. And we were too busy enjoying the meal for me to do more than grab a quick phone picture.

Salmon with cucumber, sour cream  and dill

Corn on the cob

Garden Lettuce and tomato salad (courtesy Louise)

Just picked Flat beans (also from Louise)

Focaccia with Rosemary

Bubbly

Peach and Plum Granola Crisp with Whipped Cream

Coffee

It were good.

 

Ladies of Leisure

 

From the Drovers' Road--A Re-post

 

This historic photo showed up in our county's weekly newspaper -- one of the stock stands on the old Drovers' Road near the end of its days. It's gone entirely now, but for the foundation stones.

But while it stood, like my mythical Gudger's Stand, the house was the stuff of legends. For one thing there were the brown hand prints on floor and ceiling --they looked like dried blood but couldn't be removed, so it's said, even when a carpenter's plane shaved away layer after layer of wood.

They still talk of Chunn's Inn, rumored to be the last stop for many an unwary drover returning home with pockets full of gold. and this is the story they tell.

A drover, riding home from markets to the east, stopped at Chunn's Inn for the night. Perhaps he drank too deeply; perhaps he spoke too freely of the good price his beasts had fetched; whatever the reason, the drover slept fitfully that night, his pistols close at hand. He seemed to hear footsteps or the doorknob turning and would start awake as soon as ever he drowsed.

When morning came at last, he breakfasted, bid farewell to the company, and resumed his journey along the river road.

In spite of his restless night, the drover rode cheerfully, thinking of his return home. The way was lonely, with not another soul in sight and he sang and whistled to pass the time.

Suddenly the horse shied as a dark figure stepped out of a laurel thicket above the road and leveled a pistol at the drover's breast. The bandit's black face contorted in an ugly scowl as he demanded that the drover halt and throw down all his money.

Thinking quickly, the drover reined in his horse and tossed a handful of silver into the dust of the road. When the highwayman bent down to retrieve the coins, the drover pulled out his own pistol and fired.

As the robber fell to the ground, the drover, fearing the man might have accomplices, wheeled his horse and galloped back to Chunn's Inn.

Mrs. Chunn was in the doorway as the drover pulled his lathered horse to a stop, shouting out that he'd killed a Negro highwayman.

"My God!" she shrieked, "It's my husband you've killed!"

Interested bystanders went to see for themselves -- there on the road, sprawled dead as a hammer across the coins, was Alfred Chunn, his hands and face blackened with soot. When they brought the body back to the inn, Mrs. Chunn was nowhere to be found -- but investigation revealed a small back room where blood stains and a chute leading down to the river gave evidence of the Chunn's' murderous ways with their moneyed guests

The Old Road

As Josie and I were returning from the playdate on Friday, we were approaching the familiar bridge and I heard a train whistle! This was exciting because parts of the tracks were washed away back in September and this was the first train I'd seen since then. It was quite long and all the same sort of flatbed cars--probably, I guess, carrying materials for track rebuilding.

In my memory, it's never been a very busy section of track. A few trains a day and only freight trains. But I was told by Louise Freeman, who grew up on our farm, that when she was a girl, a passenger train ran back and forth between Hot Springs and Marshall.

And before the trains, of course, the same roadbed was the Drover's Road--the route between Greenville, South Carolina and Greenville, Tennessee. Wagons and stagecoaches traveled this rough thoroughfare, which in the fall was given over to herds of pigs, cattle, mules, and even turkeys.

And before that, the road was a trail, traveled by the Cherokee. So much history there along the river. I'm glad it's continuing.

 

Summer Green

 

Playdate at the Pond

Our friend Louise invited Josie to have a play date at their pond with her friend who lives next door. Louise has paddle boards, kayaks, floaties, and endless patience. A good time was had by all,

 

7:13 AM

 

A Happy Birthday to my Firstborn!

Ethan was and is a total delight. From a curly-haired, precocious kid to the witty and erudite adult that he is today, he has enriched our lives immeasurably.

And as he (like his mother) doesn't like pictures of himself, I'll use Josie's art instead.

Happy, Happy, E! See you soon!

 

Josie Stays Busy

I made a cat mask.

I gave Meema and me tattoos.  (They are not real.)

I made a bus pass for Meema. She wanted to go to an aquarium so that's what we did. 

I drew a bunch of fish pictures to show her. This is one.

There were  also these pillows with sea creatures on them.

Then we played restaurant. I got all my stuffies out of The Room and put them beside Meema. I was the restaurant person and Meema would hold up some of the stuffies and I would say How many, please? and she would do their voices and say Table for two, please.

This is Otter and Weasel at a table (stuffy Otter, not my dog.)

The restaurant was packed! So I took a break.

Time to do some art.

I made a mermaid. Then it rained and we went and sat on the porch. It was much cooler. 

Meema and Grumpy were giving Bob a haircut and I helped with some thinning scissors until it thundered very loud and I jumped up to run in the house and dropped the scissors and we think they fell under the porch because there is a big gap between some of the boards in the floor. There are no pictures of this event