The marshmallow test

 

dinner plate hibiscus. I had bought it a few weeks ago. At first the buds indicated it would be white, irritating as I already have 5 white hibiscuses but fortunately it was pink

I went to an estate sale of a local artist. While I didn't buy any of her original art, I did buy parts of her collections

Miss Hannah

Steve's almost 96 year old mother. We had a Zoom session with her which she hated and was trying to escape it but when her daughter visited (through a window the next day, she was more engaged.

This doll sort of looks like Naomi

A katydid

My moon flower has quadrupled in size. All will die down but I've been told it will reseed

Our house early in the morning. Now all the front gardens are encircled by the almost 100 glads I planted

Lots of vegetables I've been harvesting. Aside from these, eggplants, peppers, chard and various lettuces

Columbine

The nearby lake at dawn

immature Cooper's hawk honing his skills at my bird feeder He is a teenager but huge, the biggest accipitor

He missed on his first pass though he caused a panic. He is hiding in a tree here waiting for the birds to return. He missed the second time too but the next day I saw him probably being successful

infinity mirror to amuse grandkids

Maya at her Dad's

There is a test administered to 4 year olds called the marshmallow test. A child is presented with a marshmallow and told he could eat it now but if he is able to wait 10 minutes, he will get two marshmallows. Then the child is left ten minutes or so alone with the marshmallow. Some find the marshmallow too tempting but others wait for the bigger pay off.  It turns out they have tracked theses kids. Guess which ones are more successful in life?

I suspect the ones who can't wait turn into Trump lovers.

So his latest desperate hare brained scheme is to stop payroll deductions for Social security and medicare. A win-win situation because the worker will get a fatter paycheck and the company doesn't have to contribute its share. More money now! But when these workers need social security and medicare, there will be nothing for them. And are these the responsible people saving up for their retirement on their own? No way But these people lack executive functioning and just want instant gratification, damn the consequences.

Can Trump get away with this? Hopefully not. And I don't think they are chiseling his ugly mug on Mt. Rushmore either as he has requested.

Covid continues to spread no thanks to incredibly poor leadership. Our neck of the woods isn't so bad but we are surrounded by covidiots. None of my grandchildren will go to school this fall in person. NYC public schools surprisingly are opening. My sister in law worked for a private school which was going to have in person classes. She quit.

We had a blissful week of cool weather so I was able to run semi comfortably. This week it is back to being hot and humid so I have been bicycling early in the morning. I am gardening alot. Flowers and vegetables galore. I have been seeing friends and family. I got out my old ice cream maker and made fresh peach gelato. I spent some time going to an estate sale of a local artist and bought lots of art glass along with the folk dolls pictured.

The days are getting shorter which is sad. I leave in the early morning in pink skies. Nice sunsets and sunrises. I was out late for me the other night with a friend. We still have fireflies and I saw a few bats. Cicadas and crickets were making their calls.

Running while white

some of my harvest including world's biggest patty pan. Also Swiss chard, eggplants and spaghetti squash

Daniel's hamster Chewybaca, an elderly little guy. We have him for a bit

sunrise over our house

best find garbage picking: two cement urns. I was 10 miles into a 26 mile ride when I saw them on a curb. Do I abort my ride or call Steve to fetch them? No I waited until the end of my ride fretting that they would disappear. But yay! still there. However they were about 50 pounds a piece and I could barely lift them

Naomi lives in a condo we bought about ten years ago. A child, a dog and a cat really wrecked the carpet so we had it removed and replaced with Perrgo floors. Would bitchy downstairs neighbor complain even though there is cement between them? She said the new carpet must be nice as she doesn't hear a thing

our pond with the Freddy the frog floating on a lilypad. Good for insect control

close up of Freddy, named by Maya

Back to thrift stores. Looks better in person. Don't know where to put it however

Maya and her friend catching bubbles

balloon flower

Indian feather

have 4 big white hibiscus I just bought a red one too

early one morning at the lake our community is named after

tiger lilies did fine this year. Asiatic lilies, not so much Still have my daylilies too

Swan family at a park we met up with Josh and his girls

Josh and his girls

I was running early one morning  on a deserted road when a sheriff slowed inched his vehicle towards me. What could he possibly want? Was he going to enforce the mask law? (no people around)No he just wanted to see if I were OK. Apparently I look like I am in distress while running. even though I was on a downhill section of my run. 

Thirteen years ago I broke my arm while running. In the ER, the attending could not believe I would be running for 'no reason' He assumed I was in an abusive relationship though at least I had the foresight to get into running clothes and shoes while being pursued. Finally the orthopedic guy showed up and said he sees me running all the time as he lived and biked on my path.

I was stopped by a sheriff once twenty five years ago while running on the state line of Indiana and Illinois. An Illinois criminal might have passed me fleeing into Indiana. Did I see that? No.

But when I was stopped the other day, I was puzzled but not afraid for my life. I guess that is white privilege. The night before Dontae's and Naomi's wedding, Dontae and his groomsmen were stopped by a cop in the town Shanna lives in, which is mostly white. Noone was speeding or driving erratically but not only was Dontae given an alcohol test, so were the passengers! No one had been drinking but if they had complained about being stopped for no reason other than being black, there would not have been a wedding the next day. Which might have been for the best given how short the marriage was.

Our country goes downhill daily. It is too depressing to listen to the news though I was amused about Trump bragging about passing the Alzheimer's screen. So like most two year olds, he can identify an elephant. I was given a similar test as part of the 'welcome to medicare' exam and was insulted. Can't they tell by speaking to me for a few minutes that I had all my marbles. A friend last year in the ER was given a quick test. Do you know what day it is? 

She said Bastille Day which although true, wasn't a day the staff had heard of. No extra credit like Trump insisted he got for remembering a list of words in the right order.

School will not open for Maya this fall though Ann Arbor is the least infected area that my grandkids live in. Tough when you are a single parent and need to work instead of monitoring on line classes. So we will be called into service more

If only we had good leadership instead of that buffoon, we could be back to normal.

We continue to be rainless  And  bonus, many over 90 days.  I spend a lot of time watering my gardens. I have been biking more as I need it to be below 65 if I run. And I usually start my runs in the dark.

I have seen my Mom's group a few times including the other night when I threw a "hamilton' party  as we have Disney plus. I had a high school stop by who I haven't seen since high school . I was a bit nervous about her as she had posted on Facebook about masks should be a personal choice like seatbelts and motorcycle helmets. Fortunately others pointed out to her that someone not wearing a helmet only hurts themselves, not others whereas her not wearing a mask could possibly spread disease. She does wear a mask to keep others happy even though she did have Covid early on. She hasn't had an antibody test.  She and her cousin showed up with masks. But I did suspect she was a Trump lover. I had started to say something negative about him and her cousin mouthed to me (no mask on by then) that she indeed was but the cousin was definitely not.

But despite our probable political differences, it was a fun afternoon.

If it weren't for covidiots.....

A kestrel As it was facing me, I had a hard time identifying it though it was making lots of kestrel noises They are beautiful golden birds. Forner name: sparrow hawk. I have lots of sparrows for it

leopard lily aka blackberry lily as it forms masses of blackberry like seeds. Really an iris

Yellow columbine. My now deceased friend had plenty of these which I tried to grow from their seed pods unsuccessfully. Finally just bought the plant.

moon flower

lots of unripe spaghetti squash

and various summer squashes

I have three areas where I am growing dill far from the butterfly bush, which hadn't even bloomed yet, a swallowtail favorite. I found swallowtail larvae on all of my plants, two kinds of swallowtail at that. Fortunately they were too small to do that much damage but in just a few days, the dill would have been gone and I would have caterpillars the size of my little finger.

Kaya looking regal

the girls came over on the only day in 2 weeks that it rained here, thus indoor activities

cleome smells like a skunk and has thorns on it but very pretty

my running road and part of the deer family

twin bambis

morning view from my cabana

My cabana at night lit with a solar globe

If it weren't for Covidiots, I would be up north doing my bike ride. Alas canceled as so many things are and will be no thanks to extremely poor leadership at the federal level. I can't fault our governor, the best there is, but these covidiots are impossible to stop. She (the governor) will now mandate inside public place mask usage or the store and maskless one gets fined $500. The fly in the ointment is if you have a medical reason, you don't need a mask. But you don't have to prove the medical reason. Some stupid woman says that she has a heart condition so she will continue to go to stores maskless. And if we don't like it, we should stay home. I so hope she get it.  This is what I have resorted to, wishing hideous diseases on people. To be fair, these individuals are killers spreading their disease around before they succumb. I delight in cautionary tales of idiots who say they aren't wearing any f**king mask and then are dying painfully of the disease a few weeks later. My favorite was some county commissioner down south who was the deciding vote against his county wearing masks. He got it and his daughter on Facebook with send prayers as he is in the hospital dying. Some answered, prayers wasn't what he needed, the mask was. And if he is relying on prayer, please free up the hospital bed for one of his victims.

Meanwhile one of Steve's many cousins probably has it and pleaded for help as he is the sole caretaker of his disabled adult son. Aside from the Covid possibility, he has so many comorbidities that living much past 60 is a stretch. So you think he would have had a plan in place for his son.. For now his son is being taken care of.

Should schools open? The schools that open early have been n the South but Covid is running rampant there as education levels are very low, Trump support high, trust in the medical authorities non existent. We will see if they open. The Education Secretary says to open them as only a few kids will die. This woman, Devoid as she is called as she is devoid of common sense, empathy, intelligence, made her fortune by marrying into a rich family that profited off of pyramid schemes..Evil all around. And she is from Michigan, a pustule on our state. The west part of the state. We in the southeast, particularly in Ann Arbor, wear our masks.

I have been gardening a lot. As there has been very little rain, a lot of time has been spent watering. My flowers though look nice. We did have a mother's group spaced out on a huge deck watching orioles, grosbeaks, hummingbirds and fireflies so that was nice.

Hugs or masks

One of my flowerpots made by a local artist

Josh's girls looking like twins separated by 3 years

 of the 6 grandkids came for Father's Day The forecasted rain held off

Kaya is now a year old and much bigger

Monkey flower

Tuberous begonia

Sorry about the spastic alignment. Really hate Blogger's 'improvements".

We are now a nation divided by who is willing to wear a mask in public. Such a little thing. Almost all medical authorities agree they will halt the spread of Covid yet idiots insist it's their constitutional right to spread the virus.

Recently a friend's 93 year old mother-in-law went to get her hair done. She had forgotten her mask but the stylists said she doesn't believe in them and wouldn't work on her IF she had a mask. Idiots such as her a why this will never end. She lives in the MAGA area of Michigan.

My daughter-in-law is still friends with a college friend who said that masks are unhealthy as they block oxygen which we need. Besides it is good to expose yourself to viruses and bacteria to build up immunity. We need hugs not masks. My DIL responded that you can't pray Covid away. Well after that, I suspect she was defriended but good riddance.

God has been allegedly telling his minions through various intermediates that masks are the devil's work. Hopefully God will tell them to stay out of hospitals as they are run my 'scientists' and 'doctors' who told them to wear the mask in the first place.

As for cutting off oxygen, they put on pulse oximeters to masked versus unmasked: same reading. Still we have idiots insisting they have a medical condition that precludes mask wearing. So stay home.

The south was initially spared but that is no longer the case. Europe will reopen its borders soon but will keep them closed to Americans because as a whole we are idiots and covid infested though the ones most likely to travel are the ones less likely to have it. Uneducated poor white guys don't do a whole lot of international travel.

We did rebook our river cruise for next May. Hopefully a vaccine will be available then.

So I am still running and biking alot. There is a lot of sweet grass this year so the hot humid air is perfumed with this. Warm weather in the shady wetlands mean deer flies. They are clumsy fliers and take their time trying to suck your blod so I usually can kill them first but annoying to run through clouds of them. But at night, the sky lights up with fireflies so that is special.

I was made a great aunt last week for the first time though it is a step grand nephew. They tried for a home birth so her partner could be at the birth but after 55 hours, they went to the hospital. I saw him on Zoom. Very cute.

I finally got on the scale today dreading it as all my hard work seemed to become unravelled after my operation last summer and th einactivity after plus even more hormone loss. Well I did lose some of it during this Covid crap butnot enough desite my constant activity. I could stop drinking I suppose...

The maskless

Moonflower. Blossoms last only a day but I usually get a new one every day

Turkeys on my ride

 hummer in our delphiniums

Still enjoying these

Northern flicker

still not a fan of new blogger and its icons. At least I now know how to make images bigger. How to format paragraphs? Who knows.

Every day I think Trump can't do  anything more stupid yet then he does. He insisted on having a rally indoors, masks optional Of course the true believers would never wear a mask. Their leader doesn't. He wanted it completely full. Much more people registered on line than showed up. I think he was a victim of bots Still I am sure disease will be spread. If only if it could be confined to the idiots in the audience and if only they will refuse medical attention.. He missed the adulation. Mindless people cheering him. Such an egomanic!!

Talks about opening the schools in the fall here in Michigan are in progress. A friend has a daughter in high school. Some parents upon hearing that masks might be required wondered if they could have 'maskless' rooms for kids who don't believe in them.

Wearing a mask has taken a lot more meaning than just a step towards improving public health. The maskless claim it it is their constitutional right to spread disease. Mask wearing is very dependent on where you are. Ann Arbor is almost 100% compliant. Less so the closer you get to MAGA land which I will stay out of .

Motorcyclists no longer need to wear helmets claiming their body, their rights. Fine as long as we don't have to pay for repairing your mangled body though an accident would more likely to be fatal and there is a possibility of organ donation  so I guess that choice doesn't impactt he public so negatively. But spreading the virus around because you are too whatever to wear a mask is just so irresponsible and it keeps the economy down even longer aside from putting others at risk.

I have been spending hours gardening even though the weather has been especially hot and dry. I am done. I have been biking alot and running on the few cool mornings we have. I even went out twice to have fun with friends. We sat on a balcony for hrs while the firefires lit up the sky. Beautiful.

We were supposed to have our fist rain in ten days here today on Father's Day. We planned to bbq right when the rain was supposed to hit. Will it hold off?

Their very last photo

This photo of these smiling young men was taken 25 minutes before their death

I have been busy gardening. Don't know what this is called. Initially there was a single stalk of blossoms that fell off shortly after I put it in a container. I was mad as it was pricey. But two weeks later lots of strange appearing blossoms appeared

And my peonies are in bloom

The lake I ride by on my 32 mile loop. Unfortunately construction will lengthen the loop considerably

Maya was thrilled to have her best friend sleep over for the very first time they are eating breakfast on Naomi's balcony

Blogger has changed their format not for the better. Very annoying. Cannot change photo size, change format of paragraphs. The top bar is full of puzzling icons. Why couldn't they leave it alone? Also they no longer have a version compatible with my iPhone. It took me five minutes to figure out which icon meant new post instead of a labelled button saying 'new post'. So this post won't look as polished as previous.

So the first photo is of 4 of Josh's fraternity brothers in a small plane 25 minutes before it crashed. The plane had recently passed a safety inspection, calm clear weather so the cause is puzzling. The plane nose dived to the ground. They liked to test the limits of various vehicles. Perhaps they were trying to do some aerial stunt? Meanwhile the father of the pilot was tracking the flight's progress on an app when the plane suddenly disappeared. He assumed a faulty app. The man that Josh was closest lived in New York so he didn't go to his funeral but 20 of his fraternity brothers and himself when to another brother's funeral fairly close to him this weekend.  Everything was outside. Very sad. That brother left a wife and two young kids.

I did see a plane crash when I was five or so at the Harris Hill glider port near Elmira New York. We lived close by in Corning. I remember it so clearly. How I was on the porch of the glider building next to a Coca-cola machine with the small plane rapidly crossing my field of vision from right to left until it crashed into trees maybe less than a mile away. Firetrucks were rushing to the site. It was not nose diving but it was clear to me it was crashing as it was going way faster than a landing plane.. Did the pilot die? My father said that he survived but I doubt it as the plane was going so fast when it hit.  I tried to look it up on line to no success

Despite it 'being in the middle of nowhere' as my father often complained about where we lived, Harris Hill is one of the larger glider ports n the country.  Elmira had the Schweitzer company, a maker of gliders. Not sure if there is demand   for gliders any more.

Our state is opening up as covid cases drop. They are rising in MAGA parts of the country though. MAGA vote refuse to wear masks so we tend to go to stores that the MAGA people don't frequent. I did host my mother's group on my patio last week. We sat at least 6 feet apart wearing masks

I've been spending hours upon hours on my gardens. Finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately I got poison ivy, a mild case but I was very, very careful. Apparenty not careful enough. It will be 90 today and it hasn't rained in 2 weeks so much time is spend watering. It is supposed to storm all day tomorrow so we will see. I have been biking and running a lot.

Now I can't find the 'publish' button or the  save button for that matter. Why did you wreck this Blogger?