At my apartment overnight and today, I found lots to do.  I got paid, paid a bill, ordered some basic health and food staples to be shipped from Target, potted a few of the larger hydroponic herbs, walked up to DollarTree to get more of the bare necessities on my list, and other puttery.  [Puttery: the art of puttering.]  Also, I finally relented and turned on the AC a little for the first time this season, just to clear the stuffy, humid air from the latest tsunami.

[Eccentric aside: I’ve started to think of my apartment as a motel.  I’m one of those weird people who likes motels, no matter how modest, or even a little seedy.  It’s like a blank slate, and appears clean and orderly, if you don’t look too closely.  It’s efficient and convenient for spending short periods of time in.  You can put your own temporary personal touches on it, but since it’s not really yours, you can’t make significant changes or claims to it.  You’re just passing through, so you don’t get too attached or bogged down.  It’s like a homey space away from home.  Neutral but cozy and private.  It even has its own dicey ice machine!  The only difference is, I do the “cleaning” myself, and the only downside is, noisy bigfoot neighbors, but you get used to it.]

Anyways… later, Avdi picked me up to come spend the night at his place.  He made spaghetti and meatballs with fresh herbs from the garden, and I made a big fresh salad from same, with a homemade balsamic dressing.  I want to point out that as you may recall, these mountains of leafy greens of all kinds started their lives as tiny seedlings in tiny cells in flats in my tiny apartment (or motel room, as it were) propagation station!  I think that’s pretty damn cool.

The STL thundergods must have had mercy on us, because we were able to hold the first B&B of the season in between storms.  I walked over and helped Avdi set up.  A small group of familiar friends gathered on the patio with drinks and snacks, surrounded by “the ring of fire” (tiki torches) much of the afternoon.  Right before the floodgates opened back up, a few folks even played some badminton!  I can assure you it wasn’t me!  I was busy presiding over the beer, socializing, and trying not to melt.  It was a very pleasant Mother’s Day with my extended chosen family.

I got home just in time for another big t-storm, with the usual flash flood warnings.  It was a river outside my patio window.  Of course my internet had to go down as well (though not an outage this time), which always makes me crazy.  But this time with the help of a friendly Spectrum tech girl, I figured out how to reboot my modem and router, and now know how to next time.  There will be a next time, I’ve come to find out in my short time here.  But I will not be defeated by the STL thundergods.

Avdi and I drove a fair distance west to the 2400 acre Shaw Nature Reserve, an extension of MoBot.  It has many trails, large ponds full of wildlife, huge old pines, cedars, and bald cypresses with their remarkable “knees”, prairie/wetland areas, a beautiful old brick serpentine wall, and meadows full of native bee balm and columbine.  It was really hot out, though Avdi’s used to it by now, but quiet and pleasant.  We left the park just in time for a big t-storm to blow in and out.  Just a typical MO day.

I was exhausted, in a good way, nothing that a shower and a tall icy drink back at my apartment couldn’t fix.  I’m still trying to get a feel for MO and STL, so I’m grateful for Avdi showing me around and introducing me to some of the pleasanter aspects of my adoptive home.  Between the mowing and the hiking, I’m definitely getting my exercise.  Whether or not it storms on Beer and Badminton tomorrow as predicted, I won’t mind just “guarding” the beer while other crazy people do all the sweating.  I am The Mother Unit.

It is now a hot, muggy tropical rainforest here in STL.  It was already almost 80 degrees when I got up early to mow the lawn “before” it got hot!  Lawn-mowing is kind of zen for me, so I didn’t mind.  The clover was so high, bunnies were hiding in it.  Every pass I made, a rabbit would jump out and head for the next thicket.  Now the yard is ready for beer and badminton in any weather.

Here’s Jess enjoying a drink with her own special radish garnish!

It’s still a hot, wet jungle out there.  I ventured outside a few times, to harvest greens and take photos, but scampered back into the AC to cook and bake!  It’s seriously summer here.

On tonight’s menu is tequila lime chicken and cilantro lime rice with a large homegrown salad of like a dozen different greens, sampled and approved by Percy.  And of course the renowned challah, better than ever.

Avdi and Jess worked in the office most of the day, and she’s coming back for dinner.  At one point they went out to try a new local bagel place–the bagels seemed authentic and excellent, especially with scallion cream cheese and smoked salmon.  I died and went to nosh heaven.

This Sunday will be our first Beer and Badminton of the season, for those not already doing Mother’s Day.  I the Mother Unit will preside over beer.  I’m practicing by drinking a Victory right now.

This will be my first motherless M-day.  It happens to us all, but the first time is weird.  I keep forgetting I don’t need to send her a gift.  It’s a sad first.

OMG, I think I live in !@#$ Florida!!

It finally rained, and suddenly it’s a muggy humid jungle out here at Avdi’s.  I keep expecting to see alligators cruising down the drainage lagoon behind the houses.

The veggies in the garden just doubled in size overnight.  The seeds I replaced the eaten-by-varmints seedlings with have suddenly germinated!  All the peas are flowering in pretty shades of pink.  It’s like veggies on steroids!  We might have to get out there and start grazing like cattle, to keep up.  Not a bad problem to have.

I was running out of nothing to say at my apartment, so you can tell I’m not there now!  I finished all the busywork I could think of to do there, which wasn’t much.  Now I’m back in the house (and garden) of busywork!  I guess I’ll go find some more to do.

This post is just to prove I can get even more boring than the last apartment post!  Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this post.

I finally figured out what my dishwasher is for–storing food storage containers, lids, and disposable utensils!  Isn’t that clever?  It’s the perfect appliance for it (and not much else).

While at it, I sorted and reorganized cabinets and closets.  Kind of like the proverbial sock drawer.  I actually have room to spare.  I’m accepting donations of basic kitchen equipment if you need more space!

Having almost no grocery money this month wasn’t as much of a hardship as one would think.  I had enough nonperishable staples laid in to fake it, and even to fill a bag for a local nonprofit food drive.  Plus doing Avdi’s garden work provided me with some fresh produce, for which I’m grateful.  (Ironically, the grocery money went toward my ongoing dental construction project which will allow me to be able to eat hypothetical food in the future!)

So far I still haven’t turned on AC.  I’ve managed to keep the apartment quite comfortable by using ceiling fans, opening windows during cooler times of day, and keeping blinds closed to block solar heat.  I save lots of money and energy that way.  (Also by not having or using major appliances like dishwashers!)

If you’re still with me, good job!  Sorry I can’t help you with your job, with all my retirement overtime!  I know it’s annoying listening to someone trying to find things to do with all their time!  To be honest, I don’t miss slaving for an employer (or losing the job to caregive) every waking hour for decades, then having little to show for it or live on.  But the flip-side, idle time on a fixed low income, can also be challenging.  I try to make the best use of it I can.  I’m sure the Gkids will fix all that!

Well, that’s your bedtime story.  Technically, I wrote!  I should turn these blahgposts into a drone-cast!  [evil Vogon laughter.]  I’ve gotten enough exercise gardening and walking to take a break for the next round.   I’m honing my balanced diet skills on an extreme budget (actually easier without superfluous food).  Reading “The Expanse”, check.  Socialization, check (when I can get it, or the occasional dog).  Garden zen, check.  And you thought I was neglecting those infamous Habits!

If you made it through this one, my compliments.  I barely did.  Not exactly habit-forming!  Writing something from nothing is also an acquired skill.

Today’s garden agenda was: water, weed, cultivate between rows, clean up a pile of branches from yesterday, harvest like a bushel of beautiful spinach, plant a few more baby herbs, freeze spinach for Avdi, give Percy his salad of mixed lettuces and greens, and take a few photos, including one of my bunny buddies, who always imagines she’s hidden from sight.  That human will never find me!

Every so often I walked down the new “woodland trail”.  It’s kind of zen.  Now I’m thinking, some LED fairy lights throughout.

Then I walked home.  I was wishing I had a doggy friend to hang out with, but next best thing– the little free book kiosk had a copy of Jack London’s “Call of the Wild”, which I had left mine behind in NJ, so now I have one.  (Yes, I’m aware of controversies surrounding his and others’ attitudes from that era, but it’s still a classic.)

I’m about to start reading James S. A. Corey, “Leviathan Wakes”, #1 in the Expanse series, so I will never be bored again!

Guess what I’ve been living on–you guessed it, fresh spinach, greens, and radishes!  I figure I earned it from all the gardening.  I feel privileged.

I walked to Avdi’s, and since the rain had watered for me, proceeded directly to work on a garden project I’ve been planning, a “secret” woodland trail for the kids through the back natives and trees.  It took some work sawing dead limbs, outlining a path around plants with them, trimming some branches, and filling in the path with dead leaves.  It was a real workout, but now it’s done.  I’ll scatter some shiny “treasure” along the path for them to discover when they’re here.

The okra I planted in a planter is coming up.  The peas must have heard me the other day wondering why they weren’t blooming yet, because now they are.  Many assorted peas may be in our near future.

Here are random scenes around Avdi’s.

How to even describe a zoom shiva…It was led by a very personable young rabbi from IKAR, Robert and Bob’s congregation in L.A.  There were cousins from both sides, old friends of R&B’s going back decades, our next-door neighbors from Fair Lawn (though one of them was in Nicaragua), and so on.  I barely recognized people, they’ve aged so much!  Avdi and I were together at his office.  The rabbi led us in a short ma’ariv (evening) service and the mourner’s kaddish.

Many people spoke about their fond memories of my mother and Avdi’s grandmother, including Avdi.  I held back, not knowing what to say.  My experience was quite different from others’, probably my own fault.  But it was fascinating to hear the perspectives of the others, and anecdotes I had never heard.  It made me wish I hadn’t estranged myself from the whole family and lost that connection.

The main point is that friends and relatives who are unable to travel long distances to reunite and show respect, are able to come together in one virtual space to give support and comfort, and just talk.  It’s casual and come as you are, so different from uncomfortable physical shivas we’ve experienced.  The rabbi was kind, humble, and engaging, not like the arrogant snobs of the past.  In a way it was more intimate, yet not awkward or oppressive as shivas can tend to be.  The people who joined, wanted to be there and were part of a support network, not just a dutiful minyan (minimum required quorum).

Well, that’s my zoom shiva review!  I felt somewhat like a stranger on the periphery, just due to my own past lack of good decision-making skills, having alienated my own self and others.  There were probably people present who still thought I was that old evil self who couldn’t be trusted!  I wouldn’t blame them.

Anyway, this was about my mother, whose life obviously impacted many people for good.  Who knows, maybe some of her good traits have inadvertently rubbed off on me!  I couldn’t say.

Here are some (of course) irises.