Breathing A Little Easier

So, I just got off a little Face Time chat with Matthew who assures me I need not worry. Easy for him to say! Actually, he did ease my mind just a bit. For those who've not been following the news, there is widespread mayhem in London with violence, burning of buildings, and looting. When I read that there were riots in Hackney, I nearly panicked. Remember I said I'd roamed on Hackney Road one morning?

Sadly, there are other cities in England experiencing violence as I type. We discussed that most British policeman do not carry guns,  mostly clubs (?), which must be very frightening indeed. God bless those brave souls. I felt so darn safe in London, and ordinarily I believe that is the case. Darn those bad boys!

Oddly enough, while reading a short story called Neighbour Rosicky, by Willa Cather, at the museum this morning, it contained these few lines:

"In the country, if you had a mean neighbour, you could keep off his land and make him keep off yours. But in the city, all the foulness and misery and brutality of your neighbors was part of your life"

Yesterday was not such a great day for me. Every now and then, my old illness rises to the surface, draining me of all energy. Although I slept for ten hours Saturday night, nearly that on Sunday night, I still couldn't manage to do much at all on Monday. Waking up this morning after yet another marathon sleeping session, I knew right away, that for the moment, the lethargy is gone. I was up and at 'em bright and early, as in 5:45, accomplishing more in the hours before I left for the museum than all of yesterday put together. Hurray!

I did manage yesterday, after writing my blog, to jot down notes about what I really meant to say if I'd been thinking clearly. Let's go over that list right now.

• This sort of thing makes me crazy. No wonder EVERYONE feels less attractive. The images presented in the media are all a result of using PHOTOSHOP excessively!
• My friend Robin posted this and I couldn't agree more: "When gifts are given to me through my camera, I accept them graciously. (Minor White)
• There are not one, but two, baby cardinals in the nest. I went to check on Momma Cardinal and lo and behold what I saw through the branches was a little mouth peeking out of the nest! I ran to tell Bruce who suggested I get the ladder to try to see from above. I couldn't see a thing. He, on the other hand, saw the two of them. I'll soon be looking all over the yard, or really, listening for their little cheeps, and hopefully, we all will be seeing their development soon. I needn't tell you that I'm hoping they both survive.
• For months now I've been looking for my previous wallet because I knew it contained my SS card. During all our cleaning I kept hoping we would come across the darn thing. We didn't. From the time I was 12, I've had that card in my wallet, so don't go thinking I'm a loser or anything. And why, pray tell did I want to find it? These days, when renewing one's drivers license, one needs not one, not two, not three, but FOUR pieces of identification. What a stupid pain. Post 9/11 hysteria in action.
• I found it! While retrieving some blank music CDs to use for Bill's iPod, I merely wondered what was in a box. Yup! Just when I was NOT looking, I found it. Happy Days.

For four years plus I've been taking photographs nearly every single day. While Nancy was here, mostly I didn't have the time, so once she left. I got busy. I got out my Nikon to practice, using the manual focus with the results below:

There's our little watch dog on the front path, ready to bark his little head off if a stranger appears.

By now you're sick to death of my bird bath, but I'm not:

You know I have caladiums, but did you know Angela has them as well? She bought the only one of this kind while we were together. I'd have fought her for it but she's way younger and taller.

Isn't the color terrific? Next year...

One of the things I kept from Bill and Dave's treasures was this signed, Major League baseball:

I can't read the signatures or anything but it makes for good photography practice.

Just before we went to England I finally had to give up on my beloved petunias. The English folks knew this and were kind enough to have planted oodles of them in all the gorgeous hanging baskets I saw. Nice folks, those Brits.  Replacing them with periwinkles, I expected upon our return to find them nicely settled in their new pots. They were not. Actually, to be more specific, one of them looked very shabby indeed, caused by the excessive rain from not only the sky, but the overflowing gutter above it. Because they'd not been there too long, my attachment was not great. Once again, I was on the hunt for something to make it through the summer. I found these wonderful plants at none other than our market. 

Mostly I bought them for their colorful foliage, not even realizing until I took this photograph that there are tiny little purple flowers as a bonus. Plus, apparently, lizards like them too!

Allrighty now. I've covered my notes, I've covered that both Matt and Tom are safely eating dinner at home, and I've covered my little down time. I'm breathing much easier now.