Sunday Letter: 07.17.22

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Yep. We survived another steamy hot week. And, since my last letter, I celebrated a milestone birthday—the Big 6-0. Sounds serious, doesn’t it? Like it’s time to get on with things; the sands in the hour glass are slipping through at an alarming rate. Well, to tell you the truth, I look forward to birthdays and see them as a positive, a time for celebrating another successful trip around the sun while reflecting on memories and anticipating new things ahead. Sort of like New Year’s Day, but in my case, with way hotter weather and bucketloads of sunscreen.

😎😎😎

 Good Things That Happened Last Week

In addition to my birthday, lots of good things happened last week. Simple things that made me happy. I believe when you start noticing the tiny simple things, you really begin to live life to the fullest.

A few of my happys…

• I saw a zebra swallowtail in our backyard. These unique butterflies aways catch my eye because I don’t often see them.
• My squash and pole beans are healthy and growing.
• The aroma of birthday flowers still fills my house today.
• The birth of a friend’s first grandbaby:))) How exciting!
• Eating Strawberry Cake for my birthday. My sister made it, and it was as delicious as always.
• Noticing a nature-related art exhibit at the library; returning home with a stack of books to read—yay!

What would really make me happy is rain. We desperately need it. And I wouldn’t turn down a few seasonable temperature days too. These 100+ degrees are not fit for woman nor schnauzer nor hydrangea.

Maybe we could all do a little rain dance together? Say at noon?

It couldn’t hurt.

An Announcement

I’m having surgery soon. And I wanted to let you know so that when I go radio silent for a while, you’ll know I’m in recovery mode.

I don’t want to get into the details here; I’m sure you understand. While mine is a rather common surgery, it is considered major. Thank goodness for advanced medical care!

Let this serve as a reminder to get your annual exams. You never know what might be lurking or growing or happening to your body.

Also, because I’m having surgery soon, I will be self-quarantining beforehand. I certainly don’t want to show up at the hospital for my surgery and test positive for Covid. The newest variant is the most highly transmissible yet. I have too much coming up—our son’s wedding and a book launch—to risk having to reschedule. Not to mention, I need to get it over and done with for my health. So I’m back to wearing a mask and mostly staying home until go time. Not ideal but I’m a homebody anyway, so there’s that.

Monarch Conundrum

This time last summer, my butterfly hotels were filled with monarch caterpillars. This summer, NONE. Other than a few caterpillars from eggs laid during the early spring migration, I have found no monarch caterpillars on my milkweed. And I look every day.

I have several beautiful stands of swamp milkweed ready and waiting. Look at all that good eatin’!

So far, I’ve found a few aphids and milkweed bugs. We have a variety of other butterflies flitting about, but where are the monarchs?

Is the heat to blame? Has anyone else noticed a similar situation?

Maybe they will head our way during migration to Mexico.

Things Momma Says

It’s too bad we couldn’t be singers.

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Thanks for reading this rather brief Sunday Letter. Please send prayers, good vibes, or whatever positivity you can spare my way during the next few weeks. Thanks a bunch!

Talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.