June 18, 2025
We’re already past the mid-point of June, and so far,
I can say that the sweltering heat so prevalent last summer has not yet
arrived. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that today, and for the
next week or more, it’ll be here and we’re going to hit our first triple digit
humidex days of 2025.
I am not a person who enjoys the extremes in life—not in
any area. I am truly one of those boring, middle-of-the road kind of people,
and quite happy being so.
Up until I checked the forecast first thing this morning,
I was quite content with our spring/summer weather.
Of course, never far from my mind was the sure and certain
knowledge that can and likely would change. Now it seems that today is the day.
I will be venturing out later to have lunch with a friend. I’m made of tuff
stuff. I can do it.
Yesterday afternoon—a day known here in the Ashbury
household as Nanny Tuesday—our great-grandchildren who are the grandchildren of
our daughter came for supper and brought their stepdad with them. Stepdad cut the grass while the
kids did a few chores here and there around the yard. After the yard work, we feasted
on grilled burgers and hotdogs, a favorite of almost everyone.
This past weekend, David re-planted one of the green
bean gardens. While one is already
showing healthy-looking plants a couple of inches high, the other had only three
plants up. He suspects the seeds weren’t good to begin with and so has
replanted, using a different package.
There’s a wonderful upside in that. We should have
some space between peak first-harvests in each garden of beans. And, of course,
staggering the planting allows you to really keep up the picking, so that you
get them before they’re “old”. That’s just one of the many qualities to admire
about green beans. As long as you keep picking them (provided you do so
carefully, without damage to the plants) you’ll get fresh beans well into the
fall.
Our tomato plants look healthy, too. With some hot
days and rain in the forecast, my fingers are crossed for a good yield. It’s
one of our pleasures in life—for all three of us living in this house—to be
able to step outside, pick a tomato, and have a satisfying lunch fresh off the vine.
The coleus plants my daughter put in the back yard are
thriving, as well. They are lush and beautiful and will last into the fall provided
we nip the little flowering stems that emerge from the center of the plants.
This getting old thing continues to challenge me. And
it is a challenge to keep one’s attitude positive. It calls for a shift in
focus, in emphasis. There is still joy to be found, but one must look for it.
There are still accomplishments to be had, but again, one must redefine that
word, make it more subjective, and then claim it.
Of course, all this is helped along enormously if one
keeps one’s sense of humor.
I also try very hard to keep my sense of perspective.
Life changes for us on a regular basis from the moment we’re born. In fact, birth
was our first “oh, shit” moment in life when forces beyond our control forced change upon us.
Just think about it. There we were, safe, warm, and comfy, every
need met, just floating around in the Zen of it all.
Then the next thing we know, we’re squeezed and squeezed
and squeezed until, bloop, there we are, out of the warm and wonderful womb
and into the cold and cruel world.
And while some may say that many of us spend the rest
of our lives looking for a way to get back in, I say it was the first and the
greatest change we’re likely to face in life. And if you strip it all down to the
absolute basics, and if you’re determined enough, you can convince yourself
that everything else that has followed that first big change is just a matter
of remembering two essential principles in life.
Relax, and keep breathing.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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