It's dusty.
It's dirty.
And, we have another smoky day.
There's another "red flag" warning and another air-quality alert.
Have I said before that we need rain?
The possibility was predicted for today, but this morning all I see for each upcoming hour are images of bright sunshine.
On my phone, the weather forecast now has moved the rain possibility to tomorrow.
In the midst of it all, the veggies in the garden are still growing, and we enjoyed some for dinner last night.
I put several garden tomatoes in the food processor along with some other ingredients (homegrown oregano) and mixed up my first attempt at marinara sauce, following no particular recipe.
It was okay, but it could use a little zip.
Bill barbecued some fish for himself and chicken for me and the dogs.
He also enjoyed some new baked potatoes along with his fish.
Overall, it was a good meal, especially with the homegrown items.
The meal almost felt like a celebration because my dentist appointment was over and it had gone well.
Yesterday's appointment was an examination, since I hadn't really been to the dentist for at least three years.
Dr. Prins announced just one cavity and potential removal of a wisdom tooth, if it ever bothers me, which it doesn't.
The emphasis at this time in life is the gums; therefore, deep cleanings have been ordered.
Overall, I'm thrilled to have lived a lifetime with relatively good teeth. I think that I've had only four cavities in all that time, so the dental visits are not to stressful.
When Dr. Prins mentioned that the wisdom tooth had an old filling in it, I told him the story of my first trip to the dentist.
Dr. Malcolm McKinnon did not believe in deadening his patients' mouths when he performed dental work.
He began his pitch early in the appointment, suggesting to me that I had common sense and would tell him if something hurt.
At the time, something did hurt around a tooth, and that was precisely why I was there. In his probing, he soon discovered an abscess and did whatever was needed to lessen its impact.
While giving me the soft sell that no anesthetic was needed, something about my demeanor suggested to Dr. McKinnon that I had dermographia.
If you lightly scratch your skin and it turns red, you have dermographia. The redness disappears soon after the scratch. As I recall, Dr. McKinnon told me that my dermographia meant that I was sensitive.
He was spot on about that.
Nowadays, I feel sensitive because there's no way my weathered, thin skin would turn red nowadays. It just bruises or breaks open---that's especially true if one lives around dogs with claws.
It was fun to reminisce yesterday whenever my mouth was not being poked or my teeth tapped.
Since I haven't had any specific dental work done yet, I don't know if Dr. Prins shares Dr. McKinnon's view that we can tolerate pain and that we don't need painkillers.
I hope not.
It was good to have the dental appointment behind me, and it's especially nice to have a little lull in the fast-paced summer activities.
The next couple of days have nothing scheduled. Over the weekend, Annie will be here after her participation in a Groundspeak, Inc. retreat for the next couple of days.
Yesterday also seemed celebratory because all the family travelers from the past few days had returned home, and I enjoyed some catch-up visits with them.
This is my mound garden.
I had a mound of dirt at the south end of the barn, so I decided to plant seeds indiscriminately.
To the best of my knowledge, it includes marigolds, corn, radishes, beans, lettuce, potatoes, cucumbers and an assortment of flowers.
This morning, after pulling the last of the big weeds, it was much easier to see that everything has done okay.
It should be really pretty when those giant marigolds begin to bloom.
It's been a fun project to water it and watch it over the summer.
Not much else new today.
This day is my mother's birthday, so I'll be spending some time thinking of her and how much she is missed.
Virginia Tibbs would have been 105 today.
Happy Birthday, Mother.💖
Happy Wednesday.
