Questions about animals is the topic on this week's Sunday Stealing , hosted by Bev Sykes. 1. What is your favorite animal and why? I don't have a favorite animal. 2. Are people animals? What separates humans from animals? Humans are a species of primates, a subgroup of mammals. Wearing clothes and handling technological tools and machines are two things that separate us from other animals. 3. Which animal is the most dangerous? Any animal that carries a deadly transmittable disease. 4. What should you do if a bear approaches you? Hope for the best. 5. Do you like dogs? Why do people call the dog, man’s best friend? Yes, I like dogs. They're probably thought of as man's best friend because they don't place any crazy demands nor stress on their human owners. 6. Do you enjoy going to the zoo? Some people consider zoos to be cruel environments for animals. What do you think? I haven't been to a zoo in decades, and I doubt I will ever visit one again. I didn&#

I've blocked myself, from writing that is. Put up a big old red stop sign, I did. Meanwhile. I decided to read our bookcase full of children's and young adult books that are mostly a combination of my collection and the Husband's mom's, who was a school librarian. Oohlala, n'cest pas? I've read six or seven middle school stories and two teen novels. The ones I read when I was a kid I still like.  One of these days, I might just write a post about that. The last several days has been nice, not so hot, not so cool, not so windy, and not so hazy, hurrah! So. I've been tootling around in the back yard, cleaning, trimming, planting, propagating, painting, and so forth and so on. It's good for my soul and body.  Last Saturday, we had a surprise visitor, for us and her. A sweet hummingbird flew into our house and proceeded to make her way up to our bedroom. It took about an hour, more or less, for her to tire out so that we could finally catch her and re

"Summertime and the livin' is easy. . ." So it was, at least, yesterday. We watched a Mama turkey and her two babies amble through a hole in a fence. Not ours, though I wouldn't have minded. A deer stood still in the middle of the country lane we traveled.  We sipped a sappy margarita that I concocted out of tequila, triple sec, lemonade, and guava juice. It tasted like cough syrup but we drank it anyway. Next time, I'll leave out the triple sec and lemonade and maybe I'll come up with a guava margarita. We sat outside in the late eve, the Husband, Missy Molly, and I. What pleasure! The Husband plucked a ripe apricot off the tree for us to share. Deep in flavor, the kind that makes your tummy sparkle and you sigh into a smile.  Figs! Charlie, short for Charlotte, has borne fruit, at least six of them! That's a first for the "Little Miss Figgy" dwarf tree that friends gave us in 2018. Bean vines are twirling their way up and a

1. I've been working in the yard the past few days. It's getting where I prefer being outdoors. What am I talking about?  I've always rather be outside. It was when I was living in San Francisco that I got used to being indoors. After all, I can walk around without shoes. 2. Speaking of being barefoot. Last night we watched Sayonara , starring Marlon Brando, a 1957 film based in Japan about the prejudice against interracial relationships, in particular, marriage (Heavens to Murgatroyd) between American military men and Japanese women. There was also a hint of lust between a Japanese man and an American woman, which probably drew both an aghast! and a titillated hmmm from the audience.  3. There's a similar theme in the musical South Pacific . In one scene, the American officer, who's in love with an island girl, and the American Army nurse, who's horrified the deceased wife of the man she loves was an island woman, commiserate about having to foll

"Hello, Everybody!" says Agathe the Aardvark, one amazing wedding planner. "We, the ABC Creatures of the Honalee Bay Aquarium & Gardens, are here again this week to distract you of this and that, and all else from which you need and/or want momentary respite. Enjoy!" That's very kind of the ABC Creatures, who showed up on this blog in 2018 for the then upcoming wedding of Winnie the Wallaby and Thomas the Tree Kangaroo.  I love these guys and gals.  The A to M friends dropped by last week. If you missed them, click here . Nehemia the Narwhal, Noah the Nyala, and Nalia the Napoleon Mastiff are Nfinity x 3 Security who made sure everything was safe and secure at the wedding. Ofelia the Octopus was the officiant who married Winnie & Thomas. Pauly the Pademelon — where oh where had he gone? Quinn the Quokka and Quaid the Quoll hoped they could sing their way to America and the wedding. Cheers to our dear beloved Rhonda the Raccoon

Really? It was only two years ago when the ABC Creatures took over my imagination every Wednesday for 26 or so weeks. The gals and guys, most of whom live at the Honalee Bay Aquarium & Gardens, were all involved in one way or the other with the planning of and/or participation in the wedding of Winnie the Wallaby and Thomas the Tree Kangaroo. It didn't become apparent until week 8 that the ABC story was about the upcoming nuptials. The ABC Creatures don't like that I'm moping about election results. To distract me (and anyone else who wants to be distracted), they decided to take over Thursday this week and next. I don't mind. I love the ABC Creatures.  Agathe the Aardvark is quite an amazing wedding planner. Twins Bingo and Bubba Byrd work hard and party hard, too. Charlie the Camel loves to participate in the cable car ringing contest in San Francisco. The Daffodils—Davey and brothers Dicky and Davey —always take time to smell the flowers.

Despite the current state of our world and the fruit flies in the backyard, I am enjoying the summer with the Husband, Molly the Cat, and Friends.  Yes, that is a bureau in front of the house. It was Mama's, one of the first pieces of furniture Daddy bought her in the late 1940s. I brought it outside earlier this year but only got around to painting it in June. I like to think Mama's Spirit is okay with that. On Saturday, my high school graduating class held its annual Class of 1971 Scholarship fundraiser. For the past 10 years or so we have awarded a $2,000 scholarship to a graduating senior. We're the first, and still only, class to have established a scholarship at our high school. Pretty good for us, slackers. Yes, we were when compared to the achievers in the class on either side of us. That's okay, look at us now. Go '71 HayBalers! For the fundraiser's silent auction, I donated this one-of-a-kind, perfectly imperfectly handcrafted coffee cup cozy.