By Phyllis Galowitz
I’m not much of a Facebook browser, but sometimes, when I open my “Mail”, I get hooked by an announcement that I have “Notifications, Pokes or Comments” on my Facebook page. Then it could take two hours out of my day to explore photos posted by friends that lead me to comments by others, who, like me, got hooked. Usually, I don’t even know the people in the photos and wonder how friends are matched up with other friends who have no business being together.
If my grandson, Ian, knew that I saw what he wrote to his friends, he’d be appalled. That’s not the image that he presents to me personally, but I must admit, it’s fun to learn a different side of him. Don’t tell him I peeked! However, if he didn’t mean for all to see, why would it be on Facebook? Not only that, but he’s the one who signed me on; I could never have done it myself. Anyway, it is a good way to get to know him better. Yesterday, on a long auto trip, with Ian sitting in back and me driving, he was plugged in to his earphones for the entire 4-hour trip, listening to his music, which is not my music, while I was talking to his Mom. I do wish I knew better how to engage him. When he was little, it was easy. We baked brownies together or read stories or took walks, and he’d open up. Now it’s more of a challenge, I guess for both of us, so I peek!
Haven’t we been lucky with the weather this summer? Beautiful, sunny days and rain after dark, enabling us to play all day and not have to worry about watering the garden. I’m having sugar snap peas ’til they’re coming out of my ears and the lettuce and parsley, picked fresh for every meal, is superb! I’ve really been quite the lazy gardener this summer, only growing what fits in the containers on my deck, but that’s enough for me to care for and for one person to eat.
The wrens, who were nesting in the nearby birdhouse, seem to have completed their mission and I don’t see them flitting back and forth anymore to feed their babies. They’ve flown away without so much as a “Good-bye”, or a “Thank you for the use of the house!” Well, I did get the pleasure of watching this exciting time for as long as they stayed.
Did I tell you about the meteorite?
One day a couple of weeks ago I opened my front door to check the hanging basket for watering, when I noticed a rock about 8 inches long embedded and partially protruding from the siding, near the door. I couldn’t imagine how it got there. After much pulling and being unable to dislodge it, and giving it a great deal of thought, I decided that it had to be a meteorite that fell from the sky and with help from a strong wind had forced itself into the siding. I told my neighbor about it and he told his son-in-law, who, kindly, mows my lawn. While I was out, he came over and pulled it out, replacing the siding with another piece found in my garage attic. “It could have been tossed up by the lawn tractor,” he said. I preferred the other explanation and was sorry I hadn’t taken a photo of it, both for this story and to show a geologist before the evidence was destroyed. Oh well, believe what you will!~