Sunday Edition: The Poolside Paradise and the Shack By the Zoo

And a letter I'll be sending out every month

My Martha Washington geranium, determined to make my shack by the zoo look like Mount Vernon.

The old joke is that Buffalo has two seasons, winter and the Fourth of July. My brother George and I have a new joke now — we just say the summer’s over.

“It was fun,” George texted me. “Hot, but fun.”

Of course we are kidding — but darn it, doesn’t that time just fly?

This summer, I’ve been living life a little more consciously. I think it’s because I’ve been writing these posts. When you’re exploring, it takes you out of your routine. And time, well — it takes off like a deer in a neighbor’s yard, which I will get to shortly.

One treat on my Summer Bucket List is to go swimming. I finally checked that box last night when I went swimming at the halcyon Grand Island home of my friends Mari and Dave.

What an evening! It was 92 degrees, birds singing, and a pool that felt like another world.

The garden was Eden, with tiny signs with plant names tucked among the flowers. The sound system played soft summer pop. The yard next door looked like the English countryside. A deer wandered in, wagging its tail like a dog. Mari’s and Dave’s perfect coal black dogs ran to the fence and barked at it politely. There were even adorable plastic poolside wine glasses. And I got to drink Diet Coke, a treat I never get to have. Heaven!

Then I come home.

Don’t get me wrong — I love my house. But over the years… it’s gotten away from me. That’s an expression I love. I said it once to my mother and she blinked and said her mother used to say that. When something gets away from you, it is not quite your fault. It is the thing’s fault. It ran.

The Author’s house getting away from her.

When I’ve just come from someplace perfect, my house on the park can start to feel like — well, to use a phrase a few of us coined floating around Mari’s pool, it can feel like the shack by the zoo.

I got out of my car and the first thing I hear is the guy next door in the group home screaming like Hitler in the bunker.

“I DO NOT HAVE HER NUMBER!” he was ranting. “I DO NOT HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!” Like Hitler screaming at Eva Braun.

Then he sneezes. He always sneezes theatrically, at top volume.

“AH-CHOOOOOO!”

I hear that and I start noticing the weeds that surround my house. The disorder. the overgrown garden. The shack by the zoo, I am living in it.

However, something’s shifting. Just a little.

This week, I deep-cleaned the bedroom. I’m prepping to pull up the old carpets, like I did downstairs. I’ve started picking up after myself — daily. Same in the bathroom. I know, I know — most people learned this in childhood. I did not. My parents tried, let’s leave it at that.

But here I am, going step by step.

Progress!

And when you start making progress, God sometimes gives you a sign.

Last night, with the neighbor ranting and raving about the girlfriend he did not have, my eyes landed on the Martha Washington geranium, the one I bought last week at the Clinton-Bailey Market. Those purple flowers!

And then — a surprise.

One of the African violets I got at Home Depot a year ago last spring is actually blooming. Two small purple blossoms!

The African violet in bloom. Photo by the Author.

I don’t think it ever flowered before. But it is doing so now.

Is change taking root?

We shall see!

My New Monthly Letter Initiative

Photo by kevs on Unsplash

Speaking of challenges, I am launching a new one. Every month, I am going to create a handwritten, hand-illustrated letter and mail it out to my paid subscribers. My patrons, as I like to call them.

Today I wrote the first one. It is going into envelopes — and then I am going to have too good a time addressing these envelopes.

After that you will find me at the post office, overthinking the stamps. Do I go floral? Patriotic? Jazz musicians? Fruit? I started consulting AI, asking about stamps, and AI said it was like I was choosing wallpaper for Versailles.

What’s in this first letter? That’s a surprise. Hint, there’s a drawing of something Buffalo. If you get too curious, and you are not already a paid subscriber... well, now might be a lovely time to join in.

The Summer Bucket List: Taking Stock

Catnaps are on Jeoffry’s bucket list. It’s a warm one! Photo by the Author.

Remember our summer bucket list we began back in June? Back in June, ha. It really was just a few weeks ago. Click here to revisit it.

How is everyone doing with it?

I did the boat ride, the picnic, the farmers’ market. I want to return to the farmers’ market in high season.

I still have to pet the goats at Goat Island, though I did do that once.

Swimming was actually not on the list. It should have been!

Back when we put together that bucket list, summer was just beginning. It seemed so sudden. Now, high summer seems sudden. The waves of cicadas — one day they weren’t there, then they were. The heat.

What goes on our summer list going forward?

Ideas welcome!

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