Joe did not care for the modern change in gardening. All these ring holders for hoses stretched over holes in the soil, fed by a tank up a man made steep bank for gravity feed looked disgusting. The beast of a tank was an ugly structure and you needed a key fob to get it to open up. Twice Joe had to go to town to replace the fob and those days meant no water for his plants. Every leaf of mace not yet opened completely suffered. Joe took a list of complaints to the agricultural board but was denied permission for dismantling the tank.
1. The sun is shining as I type this, so my first question is: After the cold weather of Winter, what is the first thing you like to do when the sun shines? Go flower/plant shopping
2. Do you tan easily?Absolutely not, I’m a redhead
3. Have you / would you use a nudist beach? OMG NO🙄😃
4. Were you any good at building sand castles? Not a beach person
Gratitude : This week I’m trying to plan a shower for the new mom.
I do both. I have a one year old great grandchild in June and a new great grandchild in a week! I look back on pictures of the moms or dads as children and it’s difficult thinking, wow time really does fly! I find the future looms these days with doom, but have to concentrate on the positive of new babies. But then I think, what will the world be like when they’re toddlers, or teenagers? Thinking positive only takes your mind so far.
Approaching a touchy subject like what we have for our theme today requires planning, empathy, and directness to ensure the conversation is productive rather than confrontational. Difficult conversations matter because there’s usually something meaningful at stake that we deeply care about, and I appreciate everyone showing up for this and I want to listen to what you come up with.
***
Drugs have always been a touchy subject in most households. When I was in constant pain, I was taking more advil and hydrocodone than allowed, and I was also on a fentanyl patch that increased over the years from a 15 every three days to 150 every other day. This took fourteen years and didn’t actually work, after two failed back surgeries. Then living in Colorado, the rules changed and I had to visit a pain clinic 45 minutes away and get a triplicate prescription. Sometimes it was not available so I thought pumping up the otc would save me. It didn’t. I was offered marijuana but I wouldn’t take it. I was afraid my grandkids would know or find it – basically I was scared of it. This is only a part of my experience but if you’re in constant pain and cannot get rid of it no matter what you do, you’ll understand. I ran out of the meds, my patch fell off in the shower and it was two weeks before I could get another, so I went into something like cold turkey. I don’t remember it all. This experience makes me empathetic to others in pain. Please remember you can’t always see pain like a cast or bandage. I don’t listen to much music and “drug”songs don’t appeal, but I found this one.
***
“Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd is primarily about a intense, destructive addiction to cocaine, masked as a love song. The lyrics use a double entendre, where the “numbing” effects of the drug are compared to the overwhelming, disorienting feeling of being with a captivating, yet dangerous, lover.
The summer rush of passion shone in the students eyes. Hand in hand, a young couple fled the campus confines to turn their expectations into experience. The snap of forest twigs as they melt into the tree lined paths, leaning against the bark’s resin, feeling the strength of the tree’s trunk behind them. Joe and Mary couldn’t wait to taste each other’s sweetness, and Joe pushed Mary softly back into the trunk. The luck of being secluded suddenly turned half disappointment as Mike and his girlfriend curiously walked by. Joe grabbed Mary’s hand and they ran further into the forest to be alone. Spring break began.
He thought it would be easy. Unfortunately for the rest of us, he learned the hard way. You don’t enter the schoolyard ready for a fight with no backup. He shouldn’t have challenged the biggest, already sore from the last fight, boy in school, especially after calling down all your former friends. But that’s what bullies do; big, crazy boys who think they’re omnipotent.
Childhood mission, pick some berries Gathered our pails for well worn trails Picking berries Our favorites being Strawberries tiny On green grass hills We knew so well But no, the order was for gooseberries Sweet spiky orbs that prick little fingers
**we dared each other to eat them, sharp but sweet😎
The Bag Lady 
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