Drowning in the Midwest

 That's right. It's raining. Again. For at least 2 days they're saying. This poor land is so saturated that you can't walk across the yard without squishing. The fields look like lakes. All the creeks and rivers are at their limits. I can't get my garden beds finished so I can plant.  The chicken run smells like a sewer. The septic is acting silly because it can barely leach. And the sun is gone.

 On the bright side, yesterday was beautiful. Sunny and blue skies almost all day. And then it started clouding up and rained last night. I spent part of the day with my baby sister and we had a nice time together and I didn't do a lick of housework. Well~~ I did put all the canning jars that have been collecting on the kitchen island away. Empty jars that we've eaten all the goodies from.  I am inundated with canning jars. I will never have to buy another canning jar for the rest of my life. I have a storeroom full of them, pantries full of full ones, and a garage full too. We, not full maybe. But certainly at least a hundred and fifty jars. I am a jar magnet. People keep giving them to me and believe me, I am not complaining. Not at all. I kept saying that I wanted to can more and dry more and rely on the freezer less. And the Universe said, well--OKAY!   


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  And staying with the drowning theme...if you have never read Amy Tan's book "Saving Fish From Drowning" do it. It is a wonderful book. Amy, you might remember from her first huge bestseller, is also the author of  "The Joy Luck Club".  

  Oh. I am in that limbo today of wanting/needing to spend the day cleaning (we have company coming on Saturday for  supper.) and wanting /needing to just be a slug.  I know that if I would just get off my derriere and get STARTED I would probably go like gangbusters.  But...here I sit.  I just finished a bacon and egg sandwich a bit ago, took some of my vitamins, and chatted with the boy. I have found a gazillion things to read on the computer. I have strolled out to the henhouse twice between showers to gather eggs.  I haven't even made my bed this morning, something I usually do as soon as I roll out.  I thought--well...sure I have company coming Saturday, but can clean all day tomorrow...and as luck would have it, I got a call to sit with my neighbors husband from afternoon until late evening. Still...I will have all day Saturday. Sigh. I am such a procrastinator. In my defense though, anything I did today would be completely UNdone by Saturday anyway, so I might as well wait. There are a few little things I can probably do...some decluttering,  some rearranging...finish that spare room (it's almost done--I swear!) Deep clean the bathrooms.  But it's hard to get motivated when the weather is so gloomy and the house is so dark. 

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  We have our discussion group tonight, and I am the opener. All that means is that I am to present a short 5-10 minute ice breaker to lead into the discussion. This is all about community, and responsibilities we have as citizens of a community.  So...I have no idea what I'm doing, although I did print out some information about one of our local watersheds, and how it came into being as a result of a group of community members  volunteering to make a difference in the place they live. We also have a relatively new trail system that came about the same way. Talking about saving habitats and reclaiming heritage might be a good opener. We'll see how it goes.

  Discussion night means I have to get inventive about supper, as it has to be something mobile for the Irishman to eat while I drive.  You know that old story. He gets home less than an hour before we have to be there, 30 miles away.  He comes home filthy.  Yada, Yada, Yada.  (Remember that from Seinfeld? The only reason I know it is that one of my employers got me a sweatshirt with that on it once. Not having a tv, I'd never watched Seinfeld and had no idea what it meant. I just assumed it was something to do with yammering away.).  

  Anyway, supper. Hmmm...lots of leftovers in the fridge that I should do something with. Not all particularly mobile (chili, for instance).  I need to clean out my fridge too, now that I mention it. Arrggghh.  Well, I'm sure I'll think of something.

 I was thinking that Saturday night be a good night for kabobs. I could make some basmati rice, make up a bunch of steak, chicken and shrimp and vegetable kabobs. And a nice green salad. That would be easy and a little glamorous, I think. And maybe make a strawberry trifle for dessert.  I have 3 people coming and I think 2 of them are diabetic, so whatever dessert I make needs to be low in sugar.  I am going to make dandelion-violet lemonade...just because it's so pretty.


Alright. The thunder is getting pretty loud, so I am sure I have at least 2 dogs right inside the front door wanting in.  The other is here by me already.  I'm going to get off here and maybe even unplug it in case the storms get bad...

Hey, maybe I'll get some work done after all !!!!!



Namaste.