From today

Since Margaret's arm is badly broken, she needs someone to stay with her most of the time to help with daily activities.
Today was my turn. She ate and napped, but we also had some good conversations. There was something I was curious about and wanted to see if she thought the same. I see our family as being somewhat formal. Like the British. She agreed. Formal or not, everyone is treated with love, respect and good humor, and I think I like it that way.

One of her neighbors brought her these pretty flowers. My iPad captured a nice picture of the arrangement and its reflection in the mirror  it was on.

and in the other direction

A huge development is in the works for miles along the river. New streets have been laid, trees have been planted, and construction has begun.
This is today's photo of one of the two roundabouts that have been constructed in preparation for all the new activities and traffic.

coming soon to a street corner near me

It is hard to believe how much building is going on around me.
For a couple of miles in each direction, lot of huge building projects are going on.
This is just the first of what I think is to be a shopping, business and entertainment complex.
It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Ashley and John

We enjoyed at nice lunch at Zoe's Kitchen. Fun to have them around!

pitcher plants revisited

The free magazine with the small distribution that I have written two articles for asked if I would write another, this time about the carnivorous garden. You may - or may not - recall that I blogged on May 1 about my first visit to it.

For about fifteen years, I loved the art of writing. Now I am into pictures and painting.
So to find some literary inspiration, I went back to the garden today to try to find words for what I was seeing and experiencing. Mostly I was hot. Sweat was dripping down my face, and I was dragging when I got back to my car. It is a beautiful, natural place though. A real gem not too far from downtown.

Over the next few days, I hope I can write about three hundred words to tell its story.

Doctor's Orders

Because of my two new medical adventures, last week was a little weird.

On Monday, the skin cancer that popped up on my shin in May was totally removed by a very nice dermatologist. After the thirty minute surgery, he instructed me to take it easy for two weeks until the stitches are removed. "Be lazy," he said. Permission to be lazy! Love it... 

On Wednesday my dentist extracted a tooth that has given me problems for years. Though I really wanted it out, I dreaded the actual event. Who wouldn't! Not to worry. After the usual painful but quick injections, it took less than five minutes to yank out. Post-pulling orders? Ice cream would be the best thing to eat. Love it...

So for the past few days I have been a good patient, being lazy and eating ice cream.
I am beginning to think I am milking it.

Cousin Mary

A week ago, my aunt took a tumble in her bedroom and ended up breaking her left arm right below the head of the humerus. It has been painful and is severely restricting her ability to care for herself, so her daughter Mary came from Maryland to be on mom duty this week.
I so enjoy the rare times I am with my cousin.
I was an only child of five when Mary was born. I was old enough to have language and feelings and memories that are still in my head. During those first couple of years, she felt like an extension of me, only prettier. She was delicate and ladylike while I was rambunctious and curious. Her skin was very fair, almost pure, not like mine that browned in the summer sun. She had beautiful white blonde hair, and I had golden curls. She was a work of art, and I loved her.
Sadly we didn't get to grow up together. Both of our families moved away from Wilmington, hers to faraway Phoenix and then to other places North and South, and our paths crossed only when our mothers could visit.
During those times when we have been together as adults, I notice how much we are alike. One important thing is our children. She has four sons whose ages (though younger) are spaced apart like my four sons.
Once when we hadn't seen each other for about ten years, we met in a lobby and were dressed almost identically. We even had the same color toenail polish.
I sat with Margaret this week so Mary could go to the grocery store. Among the items she brought in was a big box of kosher salt that she said she will take back when she leaves. I did the same thing in Florida in May! Today as we were ending our visit, I caught a glimpse of us together in the wall mirror. We are the same height and about the same build now, and were dressed in the same casual style, unadorned with accessories. Our haircuts are similar, but she colors her white hair a very light blonde while I color my gray hair a darker shade of blonde. Her skin was still much lighter than mine. (And I think I am very white!)
Because I am older, our memories are different. I was seven when our lives parted, and she was just out of toddler years. She must not have any memories of me except for later when we visited, but I always remember how it was to be a child and have this awesome cousin I loved so much.

Hot hot hot

Along with other parts of the state, Wilmington has been experiencing some steaming hot weather this year. It reminds me of my childhood days here before air conditioning, when there was no place to escape the heat but outside. The women would get their household duties done early and then take their cardboard fans and their glasses of cool beverages out to the big metal chairs under the trees and sit and talk. We children never had problems entertaining ourselves. I remember making lots of beanbags that we actually played with! When the sun went down and bedtime neared, it was still so hot it took me a long time to fall asleep. Several years later, after we moved to Charlotte, the new invention of window air conditioners became available for homes. How nice they were! Most stores started installing air conditioning, because they would lose customers if they didn't. Eventually of course, homes would be expected to have air conditioning just as much as a heating system. Being without AC in the early part of my life sure makes me appreciate it today.