Hi All You Luna/tics!!

"Ain't it cool?" (To quote John Travolta...)

The weather I mean? Sweaters or t-shirts? What should we be wearing? And with this weather we can see who really has those fake sprayed on tans and how "natural" they look. Ha! Weather in the 80's.....who are they trying to kid?

UPDATE: Tomatoes plants at house: 56 on one bush, 39 on the other. But who's counting? (ME!!!)

So as we start out on the month, I am perplexed as to what we should be looking forward to. The weather, yes, of course. The new menu: a given. New and improved wines? My Holy Grail. Older wines just getting better: the dream and the reality.

But the forecast? Don't know so much about this one.

As a raging optimist, I must say, it is beginning to get me down. To have so many people that we personally know without a job, or getting letters of "intent" to be possibly layed off -- well.........optimism has a tendency to get pushed way back on the burners. And to have people that you love being let go:::::
what are we able to do for them?

Gary and I can at least feed these friends because we do believe that a good plate of good food helps to heal wounds -- for at least the moment you are eating. And maybe pour some great wines that will take the edge off of what we are all encountering daily.

But............
What can we do to get us away from the "ottimista/pessimista" margin?
We walk around and just hope? We talk and we keep this quiet rage inside that helps to balance the sheer dread that is becoming a part of daily life?
We cut back. We cut back. We cut back.
And in the end, we save.

But:
What are we saving for?

I do believe that it is getting to the point of people getting more involved in what we are experiencing in the country - possibly understanding that we do not "need" all the excesses that has become our symbol of "America". Not when so many of our friends and family are part of the citizenship that is looking for a job or hoping to keep their jobs at what ever costs. We are not used to this here. To have people you know wondering WHY did they buy that certain thing or WHAT WERE WE THINKING when they bit off the bit they finally could not chew, the one that put them over the edge. We have all done it at one time or another, made the leap on future faith: in our wages, our ability to pay or what ever.....
And yet, here we are.

And so, on a daily basis, I personally am getting a bit more numb. I am appreciative for what good things happen in our near future, but then somehow, expecting the bad news that seems to be delivered daily.
The cute monkey on our backs.
And with that, the numbness of America.

And with that bit of bouncing off my chest, here is the best thing for me about July: Gary's BIG BIRTHDAY!!! I will let him tell you his new age this month, but just let me say that my Blue-Cross/Anthem bill will be significantly reduced because of this new age!! He has already told me that we will not be changing anything in the house, no ramps in the bathtub, no magnifying glasses next to his books, no big necklace with a big red button on it to wire him into the medics in the event that he falls and cannot get up......
Nooooo not for him.....(sometimes he just sucks the joy out of some of the things I am planning....)

But it will mean another man at a certain age that people look at and say "Damn, he looks good."
I think so.......and that matters.