I did my erev preps thing, cleaned the house, and got to know Avdi’s friend A. a little.  Shabbat meal went well–lots of conversation between the kids and adults.  It’s fascinating to listen to kids’ takes on catastrophic world events like the nazi holocaust and 9/11 that they weren’t even around for and study as history.  At least their schools don’t ban or leave out subjects like genocide and racism.  You can see their mind trying to conceive of such atrocities and how to feel about them.

We have a Harvest Moon B&B to set up today, so I’ll make this quick.

I was driving home–yes, driving a new friend’s borrowed car–last night and suddenly this gigantic orange sphere was taking up most of the lower sky!  I’ve never seen a Super Harvest Moon so huge!  I parked and then tried to capture it, but no way I could do it justice on Watson Road with my phone.  It was stunning.

Avdi’s friend A is in town from Knoxville, so I finally got to meet her.  I spent the day cleaning up the house.  In the evening we  had drinks together while I showed her the garden.  Then A&A went out for dinner, while I spent some good time with Y, which seems to be a thing lately.  Y came up with this clever and festive answer to lights and reflective tape while biking at night!  The oversized skeleton next door looked on.  It was like a scene from Men in Black!  Then Jess came over and helped K with his homework, and I drove home.

I let the toad go free yesterday.  I just can’t play god and intentionally incarcerate an innocent wild creature for my own amusement.  It’s abuse of power and toads.  Just speaking for myself.  Y was disappointed, but I was the jailer so I got to make the call.  I know I should have waited ’til they got another look, but my conscience (and probable nightmares) wouldn’t let me.  Is there a metaphor or analogy in there–no doubt!

So I didn’t have nightmares, but some stranger than usual dreams, which I can’t repeat, during the excessively long sleep-in I apparently needed.  I literally can’t wake up or get up from those.   And the sweats–night and day–are getting worse.  I felt feverish, but wasn’t.  And more fatigue.  I also feel guilty being able to catch up on sleep when my son can’t.  Like I’m sleeping for two!  If only that were a thing.

I did get some garden work done yesterday.  I liberated the prickly pear from its weedy bondage, so it can revive and be part of the permanent perennial fruit and veg beds, with strawberries, asparagus, and horseradish, so far.  The bees and pollinators are out in force, doing their last minute fall jobs–see closeups.

If I were superstitious, I’d call yesterday an auspicious day for me.  You may laugh at what I consider significant, but this is my life now; little favors mean a lot.

For starters, I seem to have regained my “finding gift”.  I used to be able to consistently find, literally, needles in haystacks for people.  Then for a while I guess I lost the faith or touch.  I have no idea how it works, but anyway, it’s back.  I found Avdi’s and Y’s lost items two days in a row.  And believe me, that house can be the proverbial haystack.

Then, out on the patio, I found a big toad and a snake, one after the other, which is significant, because I’ve never seen either one there before, and now two in a row.  It means Avdi’s environmental habitat is getting healthier for wildlife, which is a big deal.  It’s what I’m striving for as I garden.  (The toad is temporarily in captivity for ed purposes, to be released soon.)

Also, on a hunch, I went into the antique store and finally found lots of nice, inexpensive wind chimes for the garden, which made me happy.  That place needed more wind chimes!

Now, if the “spirits of the universe” continue to be kind to me, like the time I received the big surprise dental refund, I’m hoping to not be charged additional large sums for long-past medical procedures the insurance may still not cover.  It takes them forever to resolve these things.  Just when you think they’re done gouging, they find new ways to bleed you out.  Now I’m reluctant to go to any more doctors unless I really have to.  There are repercussions that go on for months.

Anyway, maybe STL is my good luck charm.

Saturday I spent a quiet overnight at A’s so he could get away–at one point, I think I was the only one still awake, but eventually I succumbed.  Sunday was just the usual getting stuff done and minding the fort.  Eventually I got around to watering the garden,  and prepared to walk home, so you can guess what happened next with no warning–a thunderstorm!  It dumped a lot of water in a short time, then was gone, and so was I.

This one adorable chipmunk is so used to me, it sits right near me, then sneaks around behind me to get to the rest of its home in the porch gardens.  I didn’t mean to cut off its head in the photo, but it was going too fast.  Stupid Martha Stewart says chipmunks are destructive rodents to be eliminated from your manicured garden, as opposed to birds and butterflies, which is a total lie–they’re just as much a part of the beneficial natural chain, and don’t harm or damage anything.  On the other hand, some humans could use a little natural selection.

(In separate but related news, some people need to work on their aiming precision. How hard could it be?  Get it right, people. Don’t quote me.)

I’m getting behind, what with all the work/sleep/work/repeat.  Not that you missed much, just the usual.  Erev preps and meal went well.  Stuff got done.  Oh, and it rained right after I lied about no rain, of course!

I think we’re having a drought, but it’s probably just what it does here in September–hot with no rain for weeks.  Even the drought-tolerant natives are giving up the ghost.  I finally relented and watered the worst of it.  Lives were saved.

I’m on a roll cleaning up the garden and yard.  The herb garden got a chop and sorting out.  You can see my path again.  Other areas also got made more presentable.

Avdi had a lot of errands to run as well as work, so I stuck around and made dinner–tacos with all the fixin’s.  Now it’s another day and I’m trying to wake up and rinse and repeat.

I don’t need to state the obvious about the Idiot at the debate last night, yet I will.  If his blind devotees can’t or won’t recognize obvious paranoid delusion and dementia when they see it, then a debate won’t reach them.  They prefer to be bludgeoned by a confused terrorist dictator to actual intelligent leadership that serves them.  Let’s hope there are enough of us to outvote the lunacy they deserve (or “insane asylum” they should retire to).

In tamer news, I continued my landscape tweaks yesterday.  It doesn’t look like much yet, but it will be an improvement.  I’m saving the major trimmings for the sukkah.  Meanwhile, Y has been adding some festive lawn ornaments of their own!  Like minds.  Also Avdi has cleaned up the pool, since there’s still lots of summer in September.   Does this mean another B&B is imminent?  Stay tuned…

If you politely follow this boring old grandma Blahg, thank you.  But the real story here is the stoic perseverance of my son, doing the work of ten people every day just to survive.  He’s not doing it to win Dad of the Decade awards, he does it to stay above water (sometimes literally).  It’s easy for others who’ve never been there to tell him to self-care, take breaks, reduce his work load, get some sleep, or throw money at the problem.  If you can lend him ten capable people, that might be useful but unlikely.  They’re busy with their own lives.

I’m not very capable or energetic, but I do what I can behind the scenes.  I’m pretty old-school and analog, also mechanically-challenged, being from my generation and upbringing, but I can clean up a house or somewhat successfully grow food, although lately I’m not so sure about that!  Neurodivergence can also be challenging, but sometimes just being there consistently and learning the ropes seems to make a difference.  I hope I’m helping, not adding to the load.

My son is an example of someone who had a rough childhood, had to grow up early and make a living, and like many people, at a young age made some intentional life choices that collapsed out from under him, leaving him alone with many kids to support and raise.  But he never dropped the ball and gave up, just kept doing the right thing, with or without help, and he’ll continue to work his ass off as long as it takes.  It doesn’t help to know many people are in the same boat, it just adds to his frustration.  But it also makes him empathetic and supportive of others in distress, because he gets it.

I guess this is just a shoutout to my example of an unsung hero, which is my son.  A “singout”?  Or a singling out of someone who struggles every day to do the impossible, often unnoticed.  But I do notice and respect him tremendously.  He’s helped me more than I help him, for which I’m indebted.  I hope my inadequate gestures to at least improve his surroundings and watch kids so he can go out help a little.  So when you politely glance at my latest boring garden or grandkid news, this is really about my son, Avdi.

On that note, yesterday I “created” a new garden space for K, to be continued, and almost completed the “future home of strawberries” plot.  The fall veg garden is coming along, with seedlings appearing.  Flowers continue to bloom and produce seed pods.  I’m methodically working my way around the landscape, making it more conducive and inviting.

My son can still get his leather goth on and look good, which is what he did Sat. night, while I held down the fort.  “Held down” is mostly a euphemism for being there and attempting to sleep.  There are times I just let S wind down on his own and don’t risk triggering a bedtime meltdown, probably not the best approach, but I’m not always up to it.  I’m only a Propagatrix, after all.

Speaking of plants, Y and I hung out in the garden yesterday.  They like to help out.  Then they started chasing butterflies to capture and put in a terrarium they made, so when the latter die they can become earrings.  You’re only a kid once.  No vegetables died in the process, so that’s something.

E has been obsessed with baking cakes, cookies, sweet breads, and other confections that we can’t possibly consume fast enough for them!  I’m not sure what the underlying motivation is, if any, but the results are always impressive.

The other day K and I were observing S having one of his frequent fits, and K reminded me of his own childhood meltdowns and withdrawals, and how he has outgrown them to become a different person.  Good to keep in mind.

The weather has been a relief–not too hot or humid, with a hint of skeletons.