New Moon

Planting by the moon guides say the new moon is a good time to plant seeds. Just what I was planning to do today. My community garden is looking really good; this is the first year in about three that I've been physically able to fully participate. And I'm sharing the plot with the Food Not Bombs woman who will give produce to the city's soup kitchens. She'll keep harvesting into the fall after I have left town.

My trip with F & R to Niagara Falls was completely fun. R. had made reservations at the two hotels we stayed in for Bindi as well as for the three of us, and travelling with F & R and that little dog was delightful. The ride thru upstate New York -- Syracuse, Utica, Rochester, Buffalo, the Mohawk River -- was lovely, albeit HOT! The car thermometer that reads the temp outside the car kept climbing -- 80, 85, 90, 95, until at one point it was at 99 degrees! Thought it would be cooler further north, but not so. Even Toronto was steaming. We visited Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, which has every crappy tourist attraction you could imagine. By the falls themselves, there is a small well-maintained park, but one block up and you're in the land of, well, here are some photos.

We visited R's parents in Toronto. It was too hot to be outside so we took her mom to one of the better malls and did a bit of shopping. Then dinner at a very nice Chinese buffett. R. said it was rare that her dad went outside the house these days, but he joined us and was on good behavior (those of you with snarky dads know what I mean). He quite liked Bindi who took to him immediately in their apartment. Good dog!!

While still in CT we went to Lake Compounce, a small amusement park in Bristol, CT. I had never been. F. took a friend of hers and they went on all the rides while R. and I sat and chatted. There's a small lake for swimming, and a huge water park, so we were able to cool off.

Managed to get in a trip to Rocky Neck State Park on Long Island Sound, too, where we had gone many times before R. & F. moved back to CA. The water was cold, but refreshing what with the heat wave we've been having. Does this heat reflect the climate crisis change, and will CT get hot for further summers to come? There were days when it was cooler in St. Augustine than it was here in CT.

Speaking of which. About seven weeks until I make the big move down south. J. has been calling me every weekend with updates about the renovation of my house, which he is in charge of. He called yesterday so excited about the new water-efficient elongated 17 1/2 inch high (chair height) toilet he had just installed. He's ordered the flooring, and the custom bedroom doors, and is building a custom back porch door, and is about to move the car port further back from the road!!! Am I blessed or what to have a friend who would allow himself to be hired to do all this? He said he even has some "surprises" for me. I'm doing mostly pale blue walls in the house, with one dining room wall shiny cobalt blue. He used hi-gloss paint, then covered that with layers of clear gloss. His assistant says it looks like water. He's building a marble topped shelf on the reach-through between the kitchen and the dining room. And he's funny as hell! It will be a delight to live near him and T.

Can I upload a cd video to my computer? How do I do that? Why do all the videos I watch on my computer load for a few seconds, then pause, then load a little more, then play, then load a little more then play and pause? Have I lost some cookies I need?

Am in physical therapy again for my feet. Both hurt, in different ways. Not sure the PT is working. Oh well, maybe walking on the St. Augustine beach sand will help. The supplements my naturopath gave me for my low neurotransmitter levels are increasing my energy to the point where I'm up before 8am most mornings and feeling pretty good. What a change from waking up at 10 and then taking two hours to get myself going. Will get some DNA results from my shrink this week about how I metabolise certain chemicals.

So, namaste to all this good morning. Below, a wall in the restaurant Lime.