Happenings

I picked my first strawberries this year on May 9. Since then, not a day has gone by without picking strawberries. I had occasion to share a lot of the strawberries I picked with friends and relatives, but I think I'm done. Most of the strawberries are tiny, although this morning I picked at least two quarts. I told Cliff that if I say I'm going to pick more tomorrow, he is to tie me up to a chair and not let me out of the house. I think this is the longest strawberry season I've ever had. As of today, we've had strawberries on our cereal every morning for over three weeks.

 Cora, the girl we used to babysit for her first five years, will visit us one day every other week while school is out. She was here yesterday and wanted to pick berries, so we went out and did that, then took them to her grandma in town, because we didn't need them. She also helped me shell peas.

We’ve seen several good movies on Netflix lately:  The Judge, with Robert Duvall and Robert Downy.  Worth (What is life worth) is a mostly true story starring Michael Keaton.  It’s about the problems people had with the victims’ compensation fund after 9/11.  And last evening we watched the first  episode of “The Bomb and the Cold War”.  It was scary and sad.  We’ll probably watch the next episode tonight.

Cliff and I have been watching Bill Maher on Max, too.  He’s a comic who has a foul mouth, but he is my favorite person to listen to when it comes to political things.  It’s easy for me to put up with someone who talks about the failings of both parties.  But here’s a thing that surprised me the other day.  I was playing around on Facebook and looked to find him (he is there, of course), and found two old Facebook memories, things I had said about Maher in 2012.  I barely recall knowing who he was back then.  Anyhow, at that time I was griping about him being a know-it-all, a smug person… wish I had saved what I found in that memory, because I can’t find it again.  But I do understand why I’ve changed my mind about him: Neither the Republicans OR the Democrats are what they used to be, and it seems the biggest changes have come since 2012.  He's talked about how everyone is so easily offended these days, and it's true: I can't say anything without wondering if someone is going to correct me for it.  Can't you just have your opinion, and let me have mine?     

                   

I have Bill Maher's new book on hold at the library. He has the same trouble understanding the same things that the rest of us dummies have difficulty with in this upside-down world, so I will listen to him... a comedian.  That's what it has come to at our house.  The world is now a circus.

That's why I spend so much time outside and in the garden. where everything makes sense, good or bad.