In which we celebrate our anniversary, survive a big scare, and make pickles.
TWENTY-TWO REMARKABLE YEARS
July 31, we celebrated twenty-two years of marriage and happily signed up for another twenty-two.
OUR LITTLE HOME
It isn’t much, a thirty-year old manufactured home re-roofed and cabled to the earth so it won’t fly off in a tornado, with peonies and wildflowers out front and a lovingly-kept lawn.
LAST KISS OF THE DAY
The setting sun kisses poplar stump garden and front yard goodnight.
REAL GARLIC AND FAKE MEAT
It was a good garlic year for everyone but us because we didn’t plant garlic last fall. Fortunately, our friends are happy to share. Lyle brought a braid of handsome cloves and we are making good use of them. This month Camille stocked the freezer with meat-free burgers and ribs.
WHITE BEETS
Something went wrong in the pigment department with some of Bob’s beets. They taste exactly like the others but are pure white.
A BIG SCARE
Bob found himself in the emergency room on August 23 after one side of his face went numb. It was Saturday morning and he’d been sitting at his desk with a cup of coffee when suddenly something didn’t feel right. First his tongue and then his eye. Fearing the worst, we called 911. In minutes, a team of professionals with a good sense of humor were clustered around Bob, attaching wires and preparing him for the ride to the hospital. Within an hour his blood pressure, which had measured 199/110 began backing down.
PUMPING LIKE A CHAMP
The next day a nice lady in pink scrubs did an ultrasound of Bob’s heart and found it fully operational. We were delighted when the doctor said both the CAT scan and MRI were unremarkable and showed no evidence of stroke.
SIDEWAYS SMILE
Bell’s Palsy was what had befallen our dear Bob. Unpronounceable by the afflicted, Bell’s Palsy renders one side of your face inoperable. A viral infection compromises the nerve that tells the facial muscles what to do. There was not much warning. In hindsight Bob remembers having an earache and some pain in the lymph glands on his left side. Fingers crossed it’s weeks, not years before Bob recovers full use of his lips, and motor control over his left eyelid.
SCHOOL GIRL PICKLES
These sweet pickles are aptly named because they are an irresistible after-school snack. Haruka and Jason sent over 24 pounds of cucumbers and Camille started a double batch using neighbor Reda’s School Girl Pickle Recipe
SAVING THE DAY
Pickle processing day coincided with the day Bob went to the hospital, so Camille called for help. The Three Musketeers, Doug, Zoila, and Buffy chopped the cucumbers, and Jason (on his birthday!) and Haruka returned six hours later for the next step. Read more on our blog: In a Pickle
WORTH THE SCRAMBLE
Of course, if Bob were in as much danger as we first suspected, the last thing on our minds would have been pickles. Fortunately, he did not have a stroke and we did not have to waste 24 pounds of cucumbers. We split the yield with Haruka and Jason and sent some over to the Three Musketeers.
SUNDAY CHICKENS
Shelley waters her brood after a Sunday morning walk with Camille. Love the fat frog and metal rooster outside the hen pen.
GOOD PARENTS
Good parents Emily and Tyler know how to keep their sweet baby Nolan cool and nourished during the heat of summer.
CUTE AS A BUTTON
Five more weeks until we meet this little guy!
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THIS MONTH’S QUOTES:
“I have heard many people speak of who they believe they were in previous incarnations, but they seem to have very little idea of who they are in this one…Let’s take one life at a time. Perhaps the best way to do that is to live as though there were no afterlife or reincarnation. To live as though this moment was all that was allotted.” – Stephen Levine
“People love talking, and I have never been a huge talker. I carry on an inner monologue, but the words often don’t reach my lips.” – Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
“We live in a culture suffused by low-grade narcissism. Our Instagram accounts, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and personal websites refract our lives into a colored light show for all to watch.” – Katy Waldman
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