Bits and pieces

I'm a mermaid! There, I've said it. Whew! What a relief to come out of the closet at last.

I just wrote a piece for the Remnant all about it, and someone did the photo for that.

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NERDS!!

"I feel like I'm in science class but I'm getting dumber!"

Solution?

Watch Fringe.

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Since not having internet at home, I find I'm actually starting to revert to reading books and writing things in a notebook with a pen!

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Nature notes:

Fireflies! In the garden every evening. They started a few days ago.

There actually seem to be two kinds. There's the actual fireflies that fly around and flash white, and there's a terrestrial kind, (I've just looked it up, it's Lampris noctiluca) that glows steady and yellow and that looks a bit like a dragonfly larva, with a long segmented abdomen and a few claw-like legs near the head-end. But there's lots of them every night, especially when it's warm, which it is today.

Many of the streets in Norcia, including mine, are lined with Tilia oliveri trees, called "Chinese white lime" which are in full bloom right now and are making the whole town smell like heaven. I keep my studio window open while I'm working and the scent of flowers wafts in on the warm breeze.

The bees love them too, and the other day while the kitties and I were making the long walk up the hill to see Dr. B (just a check-up) I sat on a handy bench under one of them to take a breather, and the air was alive with buzzing.

There's lots of nature in the house too. I've let the harvestmen set up shop in the corners of the ceilings in the hopes that they might deal with the flies which are generated with grim abundance by the cow farm across the way. Their webs just get bigger and bigger, and I see with interest that they develop into a big dome shape, with the harvestman sitting inside. They're also very tidy about their housekeeping. There's never a body hanging about, but a little pile of mostly fruit flies develops on the floor underneath.

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The elderflower champagne was a huge success. I've opened the smaller bottle and it was lovely, sparkly and light, and scented with the flowers. I've got seven bottles left. Next up, mead!

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I remember when I was younger being concerned that the adults of my time, the "boomers," were going to make really awful old folks. When I was a child, the Little Old Ladies were of that generation born before WWI, and, no kidding, many of them still wore white gloves and flowered hats. My grandmother's generation (b. 1903) were still raised and trained to be civilized people.

But they're all gone now and the creatures of the "me generation" have indeed turned out horrible. I was reminded of this the other day when I saw an old woman wearing jeans and a tight t-shirt emblazoned with a rainbow and the slogan, "Love with pride."



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