I have a mystery. But it has a backstory you need to hear first.

If you’ve been following me for some time, you know I moved to West Virginia from Colorado to care for my elderly aunt who was living alone on the family farm. We tried it out for ten rather long and, dare I say, miserable weeks for both of us. She was a strong willed, independent woman who expected you to do what she said, when she said it. I’m not the type to take orders well, so when she invited me to leave on Christmas Day, I took myself on a totally different adventure for the following couple of years. 

I have really missed getting out and camping this summer. We did get some good camping in during the cool nights of spring, but once the summer heat index started creeping up, and night time temps didn’t go down enough for sleeping in the camper without air conditioning, we were kind of stuck sleeping inside. We could take the camper to a campground nearby, but there are a few reasons why that’s not optimal. Mr. FixIt is still having physical therapy and medical appointments. We have the cat...and the garden needs watering daily. And, why should we pay to camp in a noisy campground with potential Covid exposure when we have five free acres and our own electric? 

It won’t be long before these tasty treats will be showing up in farmer’s markets everywhere, because....Marshmallows are in Season!!! That’s what Daughter #1 told her little sister when she was about four years old. They grow them big like this, then they cut them up in little pieces, put them in bags, and ship them off to stores. The weather has to be just right to get a bumper crop like this one. I was driving out to the farm yesterday, came around the turn...and there they were. Oh, there is NOTHING like fresh, vine-ripened marshmallows!

I went out to the farm again yesterday because our internet went out...again! Another call to Frontier...another scheduled visit from a tech. The last time he told us there was nothing more he could do for us and we really don’t have much of a choice out here. We are paying for something we aren’t getting so we’re going to have to have a little chit chat with the business office next week.

I was chilling out on the couch last evening, watching the news when I realized...today is Friday. I remarked how quickly the weeks seem to be flying by. And, in other ways...it seems like we’ve been in this Covid mess for-ev-er! I can tell time is passing because my garden gets bigger every day. The “Day ___” here on my blog is getting higher every day. And if I don’t quit eating a whole pie (with Mr. FixIt’s help, of course) in a day’s time, I’m going to be as big as the broad side of a barn.

We are just a couple of weeks into summer and the heat is oppressive. When they say it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity...they’re wrong. It’s both. I remember all those summers I flew home to West Virginia with a child in tow, arriving to the welcoming arms of my loving family. It was usually late July, early August and I would disembark the plane and step into what felt remarkably like a full fledged sauna. When you can SEE the air and you know it’s not pollution, you know your skin is going to be “dewy” and your clothes are going to stick to you before you can drag your suitcases to the rental car.

I had a little break yesterday when Mr. FixIt went to physical therapy without me. I worked on the taxes a little...till the internet went out again. The service tech was just here on Friday and put in new wiring and a new router. Ten minutes after he left, the internet went down again. It comes and goes. I can’t seem to figure out why. I hope he can because he’s coming back today to take another stab at it.

It was nearly 90℉ by 10:30 yesterday morning. I knew I needed to get the mowing finished soon or it would have to wait till evening again. The risk of waiting is the sudden thunderstorms that often crop up when it gets this hot outside. The humidity works like an old fashioned coffee percolator. The heat causes the moisture to rise and percolate up through the cooler air above, causing those tall storm clouds and resultant downpours. Once that starts, mowing is done for the day. The longer you stretch out mowing, the less of a break you get before it’s time to get out on the mower again.

I was just a child when President Kennedy uttered those famous words. I am not a strong student of the political climate of the early ‘60s, but I do know the times were changing...much as they are now. But, the big difference is...we are a more divided nation now, I think. Everything seems to be pitting us against one another, driving a wedge between us. But, is it really? Or is that the illusion? Is that what the enemy wants you to believe? And, by the enemy, I am NOT pointing to anyone politically. I am referring to THE enemy...the ULTIMATE enemy. 

Oh, this is my absolute favorite time of the year...when you can go outside and sit at night. It’s warm, it’s clear, there aren’t too many bugs. And, when there’s a great big moon? That is just a bonus to me.

We went to the farm yesterday and mowed. We were prepared to stay all night, but the window AC stopped working out there and it was hotter than a firecracker...pun intended. I made a nice meal and packed up the truck. And as soon as the mowing and trimming was done, we loaded up the tractor and headed home.