Too Much To Do

The air was not fresh Monday morning; there was forest fire smoke in the air. I found it quite a nice smell; it reminded me of Fall when I was a kid and people burned their leaves—a nostalgic smell. Even at six am, it was hot. The day was a scorcher because the air was so still. Wednesday it is predicted to be very hot—possibly 34°!

Sheba and I went for a long walk early in Monday morning. Wish I could communicate my feelings about the beauty of being in the woods effectively. It was exquisite. The still, warm air had a hint of wood smell, probably because of the fire, but as I passed through groves of deciduous trees, the smell of the dried grass and decaying leaves was like perfume. It’s the smell of summer.

And it was silent except for the sound of my steps and the birds. I felt like I was floating in the air because the air temperature made it impossible to “feel” the air; it was as warm as my body.

I spent almost a year in India and six months in Africa. I have sixteen months of memories of wonderful moments in heat, dryness and blazing sunshine—just like summer here. When I walk, I am constantly reminded of my travels and I relive favourite moments and the feelings they aroused. That’s part of the appeal of my extraordinary morning walks. It’s a privilege to be able to begin a day with such a blissful experience without having to commute to it.

Afterwards, when I watered the garden, I saw so many things I needed to do. Several of my plants have died. It’s heartbreaking. I failed with many of my Azaleas so I will not get any more. Instead, I have become a huge Hydrangea fan. They are hardy lovely plants. 

There are weeds everywhere, holes to fill in the yard, things that have broken to fix and lots of things to replace.  Eventually I will get to them all. First though, I have to get through this festival and raffle. Thank God Bill found my play deficient. I’d just have more work to do and that’s the last thing I want or need right now.

All the yard duties have to wait. I’ve the cat palace to finish so I worked diligently on that much of the day and night—the windows take forever to make, but it’s coming together.