Yes, the air quality deteriorated and we are back at Very Unhealthy. Between that and Millie's continued anxiety if I step out of the house, I tell you, life has become very indoorsy for me. At the same time that I have ideas for the outside! Work to do! Flowers to move! Holes to dig!
("why cant we go out??")
Well no matter. People have it worse. Try living in hot Cuba without much electricity right now. Or for that matter, closer to home -- in Ontario or any number of places in the US where fires are threatening homes.
I eat a very lovely breakfast on the couch.
I do test the girl (to see if she will protest my exit) while she is settling for a nap. I want to take out that monstrous hibiscus from the front garden. (After that, only one more true lily to take out and give away and I will have basically cleaned out all that my sod remover planted in the corner. Well, except for the couple of day lilies, salvias and irises which were put in as per my request. And the creeping phlox at the edge which is never a bad idea only I wish it were strawberry and cream. Fussy? Well yes: if you care about gardens as much as I do, you're going to be very fussy.)
The plan is for me to put in another rose bush in the place of the hibiscus (and donate the hibiscus to my daughter who likes "warm" flowers). I think about what to put at the feet of that rose. You can feed AI anything these days, including what ideas it may have for comparability with an orange pink blush rose. It's crazy how much you can ask that non-human fake brain. Just now I typed in "when will this putrid air finally move out of Madison Wisconsin." AI is always cheerful and positive and it responded -- "a cold front and incoming thunderstorms late Monday afternoon to bring the much-needed clearing, ushering in fresher and cooler air." Then it mildly scolded me for using the word putrid (putting it in italics as if to mock me), and reminded me that I should be interested in Fitchburg and perhaps not just Madison. (It hints that it damn well knows where I live so I needn't pretend I'm from Madison.)
I venture out again (very briefly!) in the late afternoon -- to get some rose fertilizer and blue plants (nepetas, a lavender -- stuff like that) which, to my mind, are the best match for a rose. I choose to ignore all those YouTubers who push the idea of Lady's Mantle, which I always thought was a shade plant and obviously roses do not like shade. But perhaps I'm providing too much detail here. Most of you aren't going to grow roses. This is what happens when you are housebound and get carried away with a project.
In the evening Ed and the young family come to dinner. No pickle ball for Ed. And not much summer play for the kids either. The heat typically gives them the local pool. This air means stay inside and read a book. It very much reminds me of a winter without snow, only you wear a mask and not a cap and gloves.
The kids have been warned not to engage Millie in lively play. Of course, Millie is no wilting flower right now, but I fed her a nice dose of trazodone, so she is reasonably placid. And so were they.
Let's hope they have some solid rains up north in the next days. And while they're at it, maybe they could send us a sprinkle or two. A drought, hazy air -- I suppose when I was a kid and lived in New York City, the air was always heavy and the skies were never brilliantly blue. And we did not wear masks. And the AC was loud and it rattled the apartment and you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. Such easier times for us now. Still, let's hope for rain and better air.
with so much love...
