I did work all day yesterday and loved it.
My entire lawn is freshly mowed and several areas are devoid of weeds and tall grass.
Mowing hasn't been as pleasant as usual because of our earlier mid-summer dry conditions.
That rain over the weekend and partway into the week made a big difference.
So, yesterday's mowing job was a pleasant experience.
Next comes some much-needed weeding.
Some of my potato plants are blooming, and I've seen two yellow blossoms on one of the cucumber plants. Beans are forming runners and the lettuce is abundant and beautiful.
All the earlier work is paying off.
And, the beautiful and colorful flowers keep coming.
In the next couple of days, the black-eyed susans will pop open and their color will really enhance the manure spreader planter.
The sentence below from this morning's New York Times is what disturbs me about A.I. What and how will we be capable of truly believing?
A.I. fakes: Misleading content is already tainting elections around the world.
I can see and appreciate the many advantages and efficiencies of A.I.
That said, however, its potential for completely messing up our ability to discern what's true and what's not true is about as scary as any development we've experienced in our lifetimes.
There's something distinctly old-fashioned about me: I like to know THE TRUTH.
Just sayin'.
I threw away the seed packet for this orange flower. Can anyone tell me what it is?
I think it's awfully pretty and would like to plant more next year.
Lefty already had snatched a mouthful of grass when he came to the gate to his pasture this morning.
Happily, the pastures are holding up for the horses. I don't think we'll have a shortage unless it gets really dry.
The color jumps out at you from clear across the garden. I can't wait for it to really take off.
It's already the last Friday of June.
Next Friday we'll be celebrating Independence Day and enjoying the eats, treats and fun of the annual Fourth of July weekend.
Time seems to be on an accelerated march this year.
And, when you have lots of "to do's" before hosting the holiday activities, time flies by even faster.
Off to work. Happy Friday. Be sure to read the story toward the bottom.
Last night, a Facebook friend (football great Jerry Kramer's sister Carol) posted the following blog topic which I had written around this time 19 years ago.
We said good bye to my mother 12 years ago. The community said good bye to Skip Pucci this past weekend.
With that in mind and thinking of two people I was blessed to have in my life and how this particular memory made me smile, I thought it would be fun to repost it today. Hope you enjoy, and thanks, Carol, for reminding me of this heartfelt story.
from Carol Kramer Anderson:
Last Saturday we said farewell to Skip Pucci, father of Jacki Pucci-Dorris and her sister Gina [and brother David].
There were some great stories about ‘One of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.’ I hope you all will add your stories.
If Marianne Love had been there she might have shared this story about her mother and the 2006 4th of July Parade.
There's another countdown going on in our family, and it has nothing to do with moving. Just six shopping days remain until the Fourth of July Parade.
Well, actually no shopping is necessary for our excitement dealing with this year's big event.
My mother didn't even need to rely on her Mastercard to get prepared for her upcoming priceless experience.
She will need to go practice, however, and that's scheduled for sometime tomorrow at Evelyn Pucci's house in south Sandpoint.
Before long-timers get too concerned, I'll issue an emphatic "No, my mother's not gonna dress up in yellow silks and a fancy hat and twirl a baton like LaVerne Hebert did for so many years back in those parades of yesteryear."
She's got a bad knee, so she won't be marching to the beat of the Town Band.
Mother is going to be part of an entry in the parade, however, for the first time since at least the 1970s when our Schweitzer Valley Dwellers 4-H Club used to dress up to different themes and ride through the streets waving at the crowds on Independence Day.
Before that, she rode with the Bonner County Horsemen's Assoc. and before that, it was aboard her Sadddlebred mare Adare's Countess Largo, riding matched pairs with Catherine Racicot who was on Largo's father Danny A'Dare.
The idea for my almost 85-year-old mother's appearance in this 2006 Fourth of July Parade occurred one summer day last year when we had cousins from Washington who had come to town. They called us and said they were just passing through and enjoying lunch at Ivanos. So, Mother and I jumped in the car and went down to see them.
While we visited with the relatives, Skip Pucci and his daughter Gina sat in a booth behind us having their lunch.
When they finished, Skip got up, walked to our booth, looked at Mother and said, "You and I have a date next Fourth of July." Of course, my mother was both giddy and flattered with his announcement. "You're going to ride with me in a doctor's buggy in the parade. Now, don't forget."
After several "why's?" Mother accepted the fact that Skip was totally sincere and that she'd definitely have to mark Fourth of July, 2006 on her calendar.
The date has been mentioned a few times since, especially after we heard that Skip, who's 63, had suffered a stroke in Seattle a few months later. When Mother and I saw him again one day after his stroke, he assured us he was doing just fine and the buggy ride was still on tap.
Skip called the other day to make sure Mother was still up to joining him. She had entertained the idea of having a knee replacement but learned from the doctor that a knee brace may give her the support she needs.
So, with thoughts of that surgery out of the way, she was good to go for the doctor's buggy. She's especially good to go since my sister Barbara suited her up in a fine Western ensemble, complete with a rhinestone shirt and fancy hat.
Of course, with my mother and her faulty hearing, there's a good story to be told.
Skip called me first the other day and informed me that she'd need to wear her Western clothes.
Then, he called her, and, according to my mother, he said she'd need to wear her "wedding" clothes. We corrected that notion right away and suggested that her 95-percent hearing loss in one ear may have caused some confusion.
Now, we just have to figure out how to get her in the buggy. Mother does still ride horses several times a year. A few years ago, my brother Kevin built her a mounting stand with stair steps allowing her to get even with the saddle, raise her leg just a bit and she's on.
I don't know if she's ever climbed into a doctor's buggy even when she had two fairly decent knees. So, tomorrow we're going to Skip's mother's house to talk about logistics and getting into the buggy.
I don't know if he's going to have it there for practice, but we'll figure it out, and if we have to haul that mounting stairstep down to the parade, we'll do it.
Mother is still giddy about this adventure and still asking why Skip picked her. We've told her that Skip's just that kind of guy.
There's not a nicer, more thoughtful person in Sandpoint, and for him to come up with an idea like this----that's just vintage Skip Pucci.
So, we family members will be clapping, yelling, snapping and filming this special event. If you're reading today and planning to attend the parade, be sure to look for that doctor's buggy with Skip Pucci and Virginia Tibbs (definitely some vintage Sandpoint folks) and give 'em a big hand.
I'm sure it'll be a scene almost as good as Cliff Irish bringing his logging truck to a halt during the parade in front of the Tam O'Shanter to go grab a beer.
Speaking of the Tam, I wonder if Skip has plans to stop there and buy Mother a tall, cold one.
Below: my daily reminder of my friend Helen, another Sandpoint treasure.
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