Saying Goodbye is Always a Surprise.

I have lost many off my blog list. Too many! It is the way life is. Many if not most of my bloggers are my age.  Oddly a blogger just recently wrote that she hoped we would be around to say good-bye to her! Many of you may have not read Bill's blog about baking and dealing with his love for learning French,  but like a candle's flame, he is now gone.

https://www.malpezzifuneralhome.com/obituary/william-reith

Not What You Want to See

It had been a long and hot day at a booth working with children and teenagers and parents and grandparents. There was a gentle breeze blowing through the large tent that started to increase as the festival ended.  The tractors were back in the barns and the animals were being loaded onto trailers.  Our phones all kicked in with severe storm warnings as we hurried to break down chairs, tables, tents, and put assorted giveaways back into boxes.  By the time we were back in our cars and heading out to dinner somewhere, this is what I saw from my car window!

It moved through rapidly and dumped a bucket or so of rain, but moved on and left sunshine by the time we got to the restaurant.  

I Am Getting Too Old For This

Yesterday was a very full day as I helped out in a food pantry garden during a green festival celebration. Lots of vendors selling organic honey, organic soaps, rain barrels, solar panels, electric cars, you name it! Our table and garden made contact with over 200 adults and children in a five hour period, so I was pretty tired at the end of the day. We joined a friend and her family to celebrate a birthday that evening, and I am sure I was less than coherent throughout the meal, even with only two glasses of wine and a gallon of water.

This was the endcap to an exhausting week of hubby getting a medical diagnosis regarding a new diet and changes to what we eat.   I had warned him about not being more cautious in his outdoor activities, but he seemed to just brag about his adventures.

He has been diagnosed with the "alpha-gal allergy". (It has nothing to do with any females he knows!) This is an allergy one gets to mammalian meat after a lone star tick bite. He had been having esophageal inflammation which they automatically said was acid reflux, and then they said it was probably due to the antibiotics he was on due to a mild infection he got from a tick bite, and now, after blood tests, they have diagnosed this meat allergy. There are various levels of an allergic reaction to mammalian meat products depending on your blood numbers.  Some can eat dairy products without issues and others can go into anaphylactic shock and into the hospital.  It is recommended that you carry an epi-pen in case. 

We had heard about such an allergy and know a few friends that have it in this area, but it seems to be increasing its span. It has been misdiagnosed in the past (unless they run the blood test) probably due to the allergic reaction not happening until 5 to 6 hours after the food intake.  Therefore, some people may have it and because it is a mild reaction, they did not know.  Now of course, they are tracking it more carefully with this blood test.

Currently, his numbers are on the low side, but we meet with the allergist next week.  I have so many questions.  Wondering if he can eat chicken on a BBQ that also has also cooked steak, wondering if he can eat cheese on pizza, wondering if he can eat ice cream!!

Wondering if I have to give up eating lamb!

What Was the Question?

Whether to talk (write) or not, that is the question. Some of the bloggers I read apologize for their political comments when they get to a place in their thoughts where frustration and amazement make them "bloviate". I am of the opinion that as long as you indicate where the post is going, the readers can avoid reading or get involved. It is your blog after all. I am a strong advocate for free speech. How can I consider all sides of an argument if most of one side opts out of participating?

But, having said that you must also honor those who disagree with you in your comments.  BUT only rational disagreement.  Name calling reflects the immaturity of the commenter and does not move the conversation toward a meeting or even changing of the minds.

While I do not like the polarization that seems to be a global disease these days, I am not a fan of retreating into a private world forever and pretending it will all work itself out.

Last week we attended a dinner with friends.  We have known them a few years and they are the kind of people who come from "good stock."  The wife grew up on a farm in a large family and has all the strong skills that were needed and which served her well when she married a man in the Air Force and had most of her life to mold into that dynamic career of his.  Military wives rarely get choices in where they live and whether they can have a career. This is especially true if they are married to a man who becomes a three-star General in the Air Force. 

This couple did many amazing things and still do!  They took in military foster children and saved lives.  They had three beautiful children of their own.  She, like us, loves gardening and was featured in the magazine Fine Gardening a few years ago.

Where am I going with this?   Prior to the dinner on their lovely patio, my husband was drifting into politics, as he sometimes does because he loves this country, he loves the environment and he is depressed at how we are treating both.

I came in on the middle of the conversation where the former Lieutenant General said something very calmly to the effect that he learned while in the military to follow orders and stay out of politics and he was keeping that model.  The conversation moved onto something else.

I was thinking that the retired military should not opt out of commenting on politics.  They risked their lives and the lives of others for this country and certainly should be clearly spoken and listened to as they have an important perspective on so many issues.  He is no longer on active duty.  I do realize that he may feel he could drift into areas of security that cannot be discussed.  I respect his opinion to stay out of the arguments and discussions, but I am so glad that many Generals and Admirals, etc. are clear where they stand and feel free to speak out when the time warrants.

Adding a Little Clarity

Below are two photos which had the same editing as the photos in the prior post. The second photo below got the one additional tweak and since this is architecture I am sure you will see what I was working toward. The first photo in the prior post was not the best subject for my examples and I apologize for my laziness in rapidly selecting it. These two below (back to the book barn) are much clearer in the edited changes.

As I wrote, most photographers use the first version, but I tend to favor the second. It avoids the lens distortion. It makes the building more static and not so energetic. What I did was edit the perspective making the vertical lines fit an over imposed grid in the software.

Do you have a preference?