Day of Reckoning

Whoa....I knew it would be bad, just not how bad. No longer am I in the dark regarding the water bill. OUC kindly sent it our way this afternoon. How does $276 sound to you? I can hear your gasps; you should have heard mine! The cost of filling the pool was a given, however, Mr. Bruce's incessant watering trying to restore our lawn is what really sent it through the roof. He was sanguine about it saying it is the cost of doing business, which I suppose is true. The good news is that I don't have city sewer or it would really have been something!

Last week Lisa asked for a better photo showing the wall art so here you go:

 

Aren't reflections and shadows amazing? I wish mine weren't in this, but I just love how the house is so perfectly reflected in the pool, not to mention the windows. I wish the piece were a tad larger but that's all I could really find. Click on the photo if you're interested in seeing it larger.

It took me two days to finally cross everything off the to do list. Early this morning I sent my order to Roger for the annual Darden show next week which I'm reallly looking forward to. Naturally I'd be thrilled if I did as well as last year. Speaking of doing well, I was delighted (after prompting from Bruce) to pay a sizable amount to the State of Florida this month. The state budget can use all the help it can get!

What a relief that the heavens finally opened wide yesterday afternoon bringing much needed rain to our area. More than 30 days had passed since our last downpour. Now, for the project and my art shows that was obviously a good thing, however, there was a growing fear of wildfires, which is now not so urgent. Allegedly there is a 90% chance of rain tomorrow which would be just fine if not for the promise of sod installation. What do you think? Will they show up? I'm not holding my breath.

The gardens at the Polasek are looking nice and as the cooler days arrive will look even better. Last week, one of my favorite flowering trees was packed with blooms:

 

I've learned from my tenure at the Polasek that there are three different colors for Angel Trumpets--the one pictured, a pale shade of yellow, and what's called Devil Trumpet--a deep purple and white. Here's something I've recently discovered there as well:

It would be more fun if there were a little wren popping it's head out of the top don't you think?

Watching a little bit of the election returns last night, I was reminded in short order why I don't watch television very often. Within the first 15 minutes I was forced to watch a commercial about overactive bladders and colon problems. Seriously, it's just too much for me. Who in their right mind would take some of these advertised medications? Let's weigh our options--Depends or blindness? Just kidding folks about the blindness, which is no laughing matter for sure, but the list of side effects are downright ridiculous. You even get to pay for all that misery! Don't get me started on this....I'll never shut up!

Today some folks are happy, and some folks are sad. The elections are over and not a minute too soon for those of us with landlines. Endless robocalls! Filled mailboxes! Enough money spent to feed an entire small country. Mostly what I think is that many, many people are scared. I don't need to tell you that with such high unemployment numbers there seems to be little improvement in the economy. Dave and I were hashing this topic over and both of us agree that the internet has created many, many job losses in an increasing number of sectors which will never be regained. It makes me wonder how people living at the time of the Industrial Revolution felt. So, maybe thinking about that can give us hope. Tidal waves of change and they survived. We will too. In what shape that will take I've no clue. Wish I did.