The above oriental lilies bloomed tall and bold this year. Amidst a hodgepodge of rampant perennials and weeds, they are a bright spot in my yard this week.
Unlike so many of my friends, we have no deer in the area, so I have not had to spray or defend them.
I don't know what skunks eat, but I had a frightening encounter with a skunk this week, however. I forgot my rule of never walking in the yard after dark without a flashlight. I came within a foot of the critter and screamed in surprise, but he/she remained un-alarmed. Possums (we had a resident opossum a few years ago) are scarier, but the thought of a skunk spraying me...
We were without hot water for three days, so cleaning up with cold water would have been challenging. Is tomato juice what one uses to clean up pets who have been sprayed? It was a good thing that I did not get sprayed!
Yes, our hot water heater failed and leaked into a section of the basement. Water heaters have become more expensive, too, we learned. The new one has an alarm in a pan, so if we are home, we will be alerted next time. That is a good thing.
Many in the area were without electric recently in the last wind storm while we were spared. But not having hot water to do dishes or bathe made me feel like I was camping ... and I did not want to be camping in my own house, or anywhere!
A tree fell this past winter, our electric system failed this past spring ... it's always something! We have only one house now and there is still constant trouble. The good thing is, we have enough money now to fix most things. But it is still annoying.
I probably need a new tire or two on the Subaru. I saw that my tire was low again on Thursday as I was leaving for church gardening. It is $1.50 for the air. The happy thing was that someone had left 6 quarters for me at the air pump!
Speaking of looking for the good side, I went to hear and meet Shannon Bream of Fox News recently. She was signing her book "Finding the Bright Side" at Schuler Books and I was able to speak with her briefly. She did not have her TV makeup on, but she is beautiful inside and out. She won beauty pageants in Virginia and Florida when she was a young girl, become a lawyer and is now a Fox News anchor.
Whether it be a gorgeous lily or an inspirational personal story, there is always something good in a day to temper the bad things that inevitably occur.
Looking for the bright and beautiful side of life is a challenge for me. I tend to get bogged down with wet basements, skunks in my yard, overgrown weeds and flat tires.
But I have cold air in my old car ($1000 last year) and cool air in my house ($2500 last year) and have screens on my windows (unlike in Europe, which we experienced recently!) should we ever decide to actually open our windows!
Life is mostly pretty good.
From that beautiful Casa Blanca lily blooming in my garden (and in the church garden) to the opportunity to meet a beautiful women and hear her story, most days have more good than bad ... if only I can see it.
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