Endless Summer

Labor Day! Often overlooked, more a last hurrah of summer in some parts of the country, this holiday has taken on new meaning during the pandemic. At least it should, in my opinion. According to the Labor Department website, it is a holiday to celebrate "the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well being of the nation." Imagine where we would be without the labors of truck drivers, grocery store clerks, the building trades who built our homes, and the list goes on? Thinking of workers, I've been wondering where all the lab techs have come from. Surely before the pandemic there weren't as many as have been required to run all of these coronavirus tests. Apparently, I'm not the only one who has thought of this because I've found this web article from the Department of Defense calling them the unsung heroes of the pandemic. No kidding! Although the article references an Army hospital, the same scenario is playing out all over the country. The world, for that matter. Thank God that there are those who are willing to do the job! Perhaps one silver lining of this upheaval will be the realization that all jobs are important!

On a less serious note, something fantastic happened this week! And what would that be Gail? I bought the last jar of Claussen pickles at Publix the other morning!!

And while I would have prefered the hearty garlic variety, beggars cannot be choosers.  I was rationing them with lunch until something else exciting occured yesterday afternoon at the pool. I was chatting with a young woman and the conversation turned to what has been different in our lives since the pandemic. Mine was that I now buy what I can find regardless of the price, a VERY big change for this frugal gal. Hers was that she has watched more Netflix/televison than she has done for the last twenty years. The conversation took a turn to shortages and as you have probably guessed, I brought out my pickle woes. Lo and behold, she shared my pain!! And my love for only Claussen. She went on to tell me that the WalMart grocery store carries a big tub of them and she's bought some during the pandemic. As you may recall part of the problem was a glass shortage, but these are gian pickles packaged in a hard plastic container, so there you go. Once home and cleaned up I made a rare trip to that store and there they were. Where there is a will, there is a way!

Bruce was over helping Bill;  much to everyone's delight, the floor is all put in. More than 450 square feet of one board at a time, the younger and elder Peck men could not be more pleased. Especially the younger, as he sanded and stained each individual board, followed by several finish coats once the boards were installed. With just the closet to do, the end is in sight!

The days are much the same, pickleball, a few trips to the store, preparing meals, going to the pool, and watching Endeavour, one episode each night. While Bruce was helping Bill on Wednesday, I tried finding some fabric, with tried being the operative word. As well, I went to Barnes and Noble to exchange some books. My darling husband checked into what the appropriate gift is for a 47th wedding anniversary? The answer was books, and with that in mind, he visited two B&N to choose some books which I thought was amazing. He did such a good job choosing books that he though I would like that it turns out, I had already read the purchased books, one of which was a signed copy. Because our storage space is so limited, I wondered about keeping them, and then I thought better of that decision. With his blessing, I exchanged them for some others.

Roaming the entire place, while upstairs looking at the selection of puzzles, I came across a biography section and saw Anne Frank, a book that I should have read years ago. Now that I have,  it was not at all what I imagined. Firstly, she was so articulate for a teenager. Secondly, while I'd always imagined they lived in one room, the book had a diagram of their "accomodations" and I was surprised to learn that there were several rooms spread over two floors, as well as an attic. There is nothing new that I could say about the book that hasn't already been written before, however, if you'll bear with me,  I'll write a few thoughts that came to me.

• We have it easy, easy, easy, in spite of what we read and hear.
• Walking home from the pool yesterday, rain began falling on me, makine me even more aware of the sensory deprivation they had while hiding. 
• I was surprised at all of the helpers who aided them during those two years. Those were some seriously brave folks. Would I do the same? 
• The difficulties that all eight people had with getting along with one another was a bigger part of the book than what they could, or could not do.
• I hope to never live in fear for my life.

While I have read countless books about the Holocaust, this was my first time reading a first person account, a powerful experience indeed. God bless the woman who gathered her papers (diary), found her Dad through the Red Cross, allowing the world to know. Heartbreaking.

So much so that I am now reading the above book, When Life Gives You Lululemons, as an antidote to all that sadness. A sequel, if you will to The Devil Wears Prada.  Now that was a fun book, and this one is too! We shall soon see about my other choices.

In the world of birds, it is molting season. These are male Wood Ducks who will become so colorful later in the year.

 To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if this is a male or female Cardinal.

The other evening, while in the kitchen, I heard a noise that I first thought was related to my cooking. In truth it was a neighbor knocking on the back screen door, wanting to show me the baby snapping turtle she'd found on her back step.

Observing it in the box for a few minutes, she let it go on the shoreline. Not the prettiest of creatures, but it takes all kinds!

Around the property, there are hundreds  and hundreds of bromeliads, most of them in bloom right now, a most pleasant sight.

The front garden crew, specifically Bill, has the area filled with butterfly attracting plants. Following pickleball the other morning, I walked over and saw probably a dozen flying around in the hot and sunny weather.

 Who knew that the polka dot plant produced tiny blooms? I do now.

While making some egg salad the other day I used my egg slicer. So what?

It got me to thinking about the design of this gadget, and because mine is old, wondering if there was any way that it has been improved over the years. A quick Google search tells me not much has changed, which is pretty amazing when you think about it. So much of what we use changes over time, but the trusty egg slicer remains the same. For those who don't eat eggs, this works amazing on mushrooms as well. Now I'm wondering who invented this gadget. Willy Abel should you be wondering.  The link is fascinating stuff....he invented the bread slicer as well. Plus, someone used it as a musical instrument before! Who ever said reading Camera Crazy was a waste of time?

While the calendar tells us that we are marching toward Autumn, here in Florida we are still in the midst of endless summer with days in the 90's for the foreseeable future. Maybe six more weeks of intense heat before we can even think of going camping? Probably so. While the humidity and heat remain, the only sign that Fall is on the horizon is the shortening days with sunset now before 8PM and sunrise around 7AM. I'm embarrassed to report that it is only in my 66th year that I've begun to understand a tiny bit about what the Spring and Fall equinox means. Don't think less of me okay?

your friend,

Gail