A Relationship.

 A Relationship.

 

Think the old woman is in a relationship—with her AC units and her king-sized bed. Can’t seem to stay outside long enough to hardly notice anything other than the state of the water in the chicken bowls. Reading, playing a few games on the computer, and talking to these two dogs is the usual fare for each day, but today a trip up to the parking lot of the nearest Eskimo Hut took place. On the Hook makes good fish and chips, but standing for an hour in the sun is not really good for a person without sunblock and good shoes. So, the good shoes helped, but did not wear sunblock. Guess it would be worth another trip some other time, preferably when it is not 100 degrees outside.

 

Actually, the heat is not as bad as it has been the first part of this week. It’s only 109 on the front porch. The hens have not been squawking much, so maybe they are not cooking under the deck. It just is pretty miserable if it is necessary to be out there very long.

 

Can’t imagine the flash floods in all these places washing people and property away in the sudden downpours. Parts of WF are susceptible to flash floods—even downtown WF. But this city was built on a river. Shaking my head here. Greed is the only reason that comes to mind for any excuse to build in places that might flood. And the more expensive homes are the ones built in canyons!! IF the banks under the homes begin to crumble, there goes the foundations. And in this heat, the ground cracks open in wider areas. Water poured into those cracks will eventually cause landslides. But what does an old woman know?? Just because these things happened out on the farm where the clay banks would collapse doesn’t mean the same thing would happen when big bucks are invested in homes on a different river bank. Rolling my eyes silently.

 

Got some O’Keeffe’s Working Hands stuff for my mangy paws. Noticed that it stays on pretty well without getting yucky. When we were young, Granddad said that bag balm would fix just about anything. Well, except for a sore throat. But there was always antiseptic throat swabs for that. He still had his tonsils and had problems nearly every year when we were children. Mom would “mop” his throat a couple of times before it would stop bothering him. But he thought that bag balm should have helped my silly allergies. Of course, we had sheep. Sheep have lanolin and wool. Guess who is allergic to both. My own lamb lived in our backyard for a few months with the one Grandmother gave Sterling and another one she gave our cousin Johnny. Mine was Kris Kringle and John’s was Vickie Boo. Don’t remember the name of Sterling’s lamb. Funny what a person will remember—or forget.

 

Some of my best memories were with my horse Chico and later with Duchess. Chico was the best horse for a young person to learn on. He was so smooth. My body felt like it belonged up there behind his shoulders. He would let me slide off the back or sit on him backwards. He did not care and just appreciated being loved. Miss that relationship with a big critter like that. Duchess was a different situation. She was a little over one when the parents bought her for me. She would lead on a halter, but had never been messed with much. It was a learning experience for both of us, but she became a good cutting horse for the man who eventually ended up with her. She just was a good horse for teaching me patience. Of course, our children were the best teachers in that area. Perseverance and patience are the two results of having children—at least for me. Lewis loved them and taught them. But patience was harder for him. He always felt so responsible for everything. Maybe that is just a characteristic for men who become daddies.

 

Really don’t know anything worth discussing or even griping about. Yes, amazing, isn’t it! Still reading stuff about the Ukraine and Russia and shaking my head, but now notice that China has shutdown the same province as before when the virus first hit. Feel so sorry for those people. They don’t have any choices in life. We should be glad that the generations that established this nation and have kept it free laid the groundwork for our freedom. Now if we could get term limits on some of the dipsticks in D.C., maybe we could manage to live without so many stupid laws.

 

If we ever begin to replace some of the nation’s infrastructure, everyone out there will have a job—whether or not they like it. It reminds me of the jobs they gave the conscientious objectors. No one had to carry a gun, but they had to do something helpful. Training some of these young women to be nurses or even just decent babysitters might help. And education does not mean only things learned in a classroom. Our colleges right now are not all that good. Back in the 90s we were having to teach remedial English and reading. Pathetic. Not sure if that was the schools that the kids came from or the fact that the universities would take someone who couldn’t get the meaning from a paragraph. Guess it doesn’t make any difference now. It is just sad that our teachers are having it so tough in the schools now. Not sure there is an answer for that.

 

Got my water bill today. It is interesting to note that each unit of water is also considered that much more for the sewer system. Nevermind that it goes in a water trough for the critters and never sees a sewer line. Oh well. At least the old woman does not have a great big pool to fill.

 

Still have August ahead of us, but July is almost at its end. We may make it even without getting buckets of rain for days. But we can still pray for rain to fill the lakes and the stock tanks. The fields are dry, for the most part. And the cattle have been sold off except for brood stock. Hard to live through droughts. God willing, we and all the critters will make it until the weather gets cooler and some rains fall. Let us pray for rain while we are praying for peace.

 

Rest well, my friends. God gave us life and the ability to love. Let’s practice loving others for YOU are loved.