Intrigue With Wildflowers in Everyday Ramblings

Not sure what the story is with this wildlife garden. It is a hillside, scrub woods, owned I think by the gas company. There is a small substation thing in one corner. At the top is a popular path that is a parkway so you can see it from up there. It seems like a spontaneous neighborhood thing. Last year as I was walking up on the path this time of year, I fell in love with the cosmos that flower so late in the season and this is the inspiration for me planting cosmos in my own plot this year.

I was quite excited to see it planted, thriving and full of wildlife last Saturday as I was walking with Mrs. Sherlock. I went back early the next morning and took pictures. Some of the wildflowers are the same localized mix I used as well.

After a stretch of rainy days, we are getting mild clear warm days with the trees on speed dial in terms of fall colors. Just in the last week. Whoosh, red, orange yellow all over the place. And gorgeous low light that would be like a chocolate mousse rather than a pudding if one tried to categorize the richness.

Again, I apologize for not noting or being behind in noting. I have been reading more books and it seems like the days get away from me, with all the things. It doesn’t help that library books one puts on hold come in clumps.

Even with that I have been trying to get through paperwork stuff that also seems to come in clumps. And actively procrastinating on a few things. I got a technical problem on one of the areas of procrastination solved today at least.

I had a Physical Therapy appointment on Wednesday, we are winding it down as all the things are being managed, the sciatica, the mild scoliosis, the arthritis but this time my PT had a student with him, and he was telling her I was his favorite patient. I think he meant it. I do what he says, and I ask a gazillion questions many having to do with my teaching more than my own physical condition.

This week I was teaching on osteoarthritis, and so we talked about that a fair amount. About managing it in such a way that it doesn’t limit us in what we want to do.

The woman that I talked about last week, Jackie, sent us a working paper on the Death Festival. It is 11 pages long! This is something that she has been thinking about for a long time. Walt wants her to condense it down a bit and give us a budget proposal to see if as a board we think it is a good idea, starting small.

I mentioned to her that maybe we could do a one-day thing and then out of that have a monthly or bi-monthly conversation about one of the topics for whoever (whomever?) wanted to join in and see where our focus was after nine months or so to see if we wanted to expand. I personally think those conversations absolutely have to be free of anyone trying to sell something. Sort of like the Death Café movement.

The most fun we had this week in the old guy’s coffee group was when one of the guys told us a story about his high school health class led by the football coach. It was only six guys this week but oh my, getting them laughing and telling stories about health class was something. Up to now when the two other women have been there, they have sat next to their partners, but this week due to a quirk in logistics I sat between them with other people between them and their partners.

It was helpful, we had a bit of a bonding experience and at the very least I got to know much more about the first other woman that has been coming. She has a PhD in Art History but never worked specifically in the field. That explains a couple of things though. Certainly, her knowledge of Tea Ceremony is extensive.

As if I didn’t have enough to do, I signed up today for an online course called “Theosophy and Yoga”. I was interested in Theosophy when I was younger and the founders were quite influential in the creation of the yoga we practice here in the West these days.

In context Mrs. Sherlock asked me last weekend what stoicism was. I asked the group for their definitions of it on Thursday and although it did annoy Walt a bit because it wasn’t what he had in mind, it is how we got to talking about health class and what Walt really wanted us to talk about… at what point in our lives did we wake up to the suffering and unfairness in the world and decide to not follow the road our parents had set out for us.

The answers were intriguing.

Last updated October 07, 2023