An Announcement Soon!

The heat has broken, at least for now! After two weeks of oppressive heat it has cooled off to a respectable 80-something and sometimes a little cooler! And life in the hood continues!

I think I've said before that there are ten days in a year when I wish Rick or I had air. I think I've been through eight or nine of them over the past two weeks. Poor Lizzie can hardly move, except for food -- and sometimes even that isn't enough to get her to change positions.

The garden is looking great. My sweet peas have definitely morphed into Audrey Two of "Little Shop of Horror" fame and spreading out across the front of the house. Fortunately they require little maintenance.

Neither does the hosta garden. And it's like a jungle out there.

The bunnies are loving it. Some have settled into the woodpile (courtesy of the tree-cutters last spring -- all pine and not burnable).

I haven't seen any babies, but Wrennie keeps stuffing things into the Bed and Breakfast. I even caught this photo of her -- a tad blurry as I shot it through the screen.

The hydrangeas are rocking it, too. I love them white but even more when they turn that wonderful shade of chartreuse in the fall and dry so well!

I don't know if this is last year's nest or if all have flown (no signs of egg shells) but it was a nice find in the bushes.

And of course guess who figured out where the bird seed is. I don't mind him nearly so much as the squirrels.

I've been harvesting loads of oregano, dill and thyme and had a good batch of pesto from the basil. The tomatoes are blooming (no fruit yet) and soon there will be blooms on the black eyed Susans and the cone flowers.

In an attempt to get a bit of cool, Rick and I went to "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" -- the Mister Rogers movie. Heartily recommended. It should be required for every parent or anyone who is ever around a small child but it wouldn't hurt every adult in America to see it as well. David Brooks had a wonderful take on it in his recent New York Times  piece HERE.

It reminded me again of meeting Fred Rogers at a PBS meeting in the long-ago. The line went the length of the ballroom, following his lunchtime speech and there were sessions after. I feel for those who were in those sessions -- the attendance was probably dismal.

He greeted every person in that line (which isn't that big a deal). But what was is that he took time with every person in that line. Direct eye-to-eye communication. He asked us about the kinds of things we did, not just at the station but in our real lives. I remember telling him about the work I did for Ele's Place, a children's grief center where I worked as a facilitator for ten years as a volunteer. It was a conversation. And it was like that with anyone in the line, at least those I saw.  I will never forget it.

As I write this, we are still waiting for our Baby Grand Two to make his appearance. He was due July 1. By the time it posts, perhaps we'll have our little guy and once his mom and dad make his presence known, I'll be eager to share with you.

Till then, we are biding our time. And waiting with baited breath!