Wouldn’t it be fun if every couple of nights we could get a nice soaking rain like last Monday? I should not complain about how dry it has been when compared to many places in the world. Our desert southwest has been in a drought for years. There is concern about the Colorado River. It is the winter source for several states. Never mind about some areas in Africa.

Here’s another subject about which I should never complain. There is almost too much food in the garden and too little time for the picking and preparing therof.

I did manage to pick an entire row of the early shell peas — the Knight variety.

At least I could sit down while shelling them. I thought about the scene in Driving Miss Daisy when the cook had a fatal heart attack and spilled an entire colander of shelled peas in slow motion.

It’s odd how scenes from movies stay with a person. The recent train derailment in Missouri brought to mind Harrison Ford running from a derailed train while wearing leg irons in The Fugitive.

I’m so happy with my beets this year. Last year nearly every one was eaten by some sort of rodent, probably voles or chipmunks. This year I put them into an above ground bed with cement sides.

I’ve been using the greens in my morning smoothie. I read somewhere that the Romans only ate the greens and discarded the roots. It’s worth growing them as they can easily be over a dollar a piece in the market.

I’m enjoying the old-fashioned, semi-wild orange daylilies. They don’t seem to be as irresistible to deer as the newer hybrid ones. I even like them next to pink roses. Usually that color combo is too clashy for me but it works with those two, especially near an occasional hydrangea.

Since we are on the subject of nice combinations, I have a weedy area that is very pretty. My rose campion has reseeded itself into a meadow area with some bluestem and fleabane.  Lovely! Rose campion can really get out of hand if you neglect your weeding duties in the spring.

Also, milkweed is running amok in the vegetable garden. Because of my fondness for monarch butterflies I cannot bear to weed it.

Late last winter I seeded several flats of baby perennials and then separated them in the spring still in flats. Yikes! I’ve been trying to get them into the ground for next year’s blooms. There simply isn’t enough time in this life.

Having spent a very unpleasant hour in the dentist’s chair this week I need to tell my favorite dentist joke: A felon stands before the judge who says “Mr. Criminal, I’m sorry to inform you that our prison system is over-crowded so we’ve scheduled you dental appointments instead.”

Where to even start with all the news of the past week? I was all set to rant about the two major decisions from the Supreme Court — you know the undemocratic, non-elected, serve for life group of partisans.

But then, on Tuesday, the special surprise hearing from the January 6 committee took all the news oxygen. The 25-year old Mark Meadows aide certainly gave us a lot more information about the behavior of DJT. I think I said “oh my god” several times. I wait, with bated breath, to see the national response. It’s difficult to get hopeful when Teflon Don is involved.