We haven’t had much snow this winter, until now. Today about 6 inches fell, and they’re predicting a couple more inches tonight, with falling temps and blowing snow tomorrow.
I chose this photo, actually taken on the last day of December (a Sunday!), because it came out so clear – I was able to capture the snowflakes against the background of the intricate tangle of tree branches, still holding onto some dead leaves.
Camera used: Samsung S21
Cellpic Sunday by Johnbo
PCGuyIV https://pcguyiv.wordpress.com/2024/01/09/truthful-tuesday-january-9th-2024/‘s Truthful Tuesday question for this week is:
2024 is just nine days old, but that’s been long enough to get a good first impression of how the year will be. Is 2024 shaping up to be a good year, or is there room for improvement? Are you holding on to the belief that this year will be better than last, or have you already thrown out the “New Year’s Spirit” with the other after-holiday trash?
I have not written in this blog since last summer, and I hope to get back to posting more often but probably not as regularly as before, due to the number of activities and events that I am involved in. But I decided answering this Truthful Tuesday question is a good way to start the new year.
Recently, I attended a discussion in which the facilitator suggested that, instead of making New Year Resolutions, choose a word, a single word, to be one’s personal guide for the year. I thought that was a good idea, so I chose the word
HEALTH.
This word encompasses a lot of things, and can be interpreted very broadly. The most obvious one is my physical health. To start this year, I am having knee replacement surgery on Jan.15. My left knee has been a nagging problem for several years, the pain getting worse until finally I decided to take action. When neither a cortisone shot (in both knees) nor a gel injection had any effect whatsoever, and an X-ray showed that my knee was “bone on bone,” my doctor told me to schedule surgery. I did this over a month ago, choosing this date because I was planning a vacation in December that ended up not happening. I figured when I got back near the end of the month, I would have enough time to prepare.
Finally, my surgery date is less than a week away! After that, I am going to a rehab center for a week rather than going straight home, because I will get more therapy in a rehab center and Medicare pays for it.
HEALTH in the physical sense also means eating healthy and exercising regularly. So far, I’ve been doing this and hope to continue after my surgery because I’m tired of having all my clothes feel and look tight on me! I think I will feel better too, have more energy. I also have to be mindful to end my “screen time” early. I have NOT been successful with that so far! Maybe it’s why I am having trouble sleeping.
HEALTH is also my mental health, my satisfaction with my life. Travel is very important to me and we (my husband and I) try to take at least two trips a year. In 2022 (post-COVID), we took two trips, both partial cruises, both in Europe. In 2023, we took one trip, to southern Africa. I had planned this trip in December that we decided to cancel, because it was to the Middle East. Need I say more? So, I would like to take multiple trips in 2024, even if they are just weekend trips to another city or state. In May, we are taking a train trip across Canada, and I am deciding on a trip to Southeast Asia for later in the year. Travel is a vital part of my mental health so I’m hoping for a better year this year!
In 2023, I started making greeting cards using my artwork. This has generated more positive feedback than I expected, and people have been buying my cards and excited to get them as gifts from me. So continuing my artwork is another health-related goal, because it is relaxing yet challenging and I really enjoy it!
Aggravation and fear also affect my health. Then we get into the political realm. I don’t want to make this post a political essay; suffice it to say that we must do whatever possible to keep Trump from getting back into the presidency. I still believe he is an existential threat to the United States, and that in a second term, he will surround himself with absolute loyalists and destroy what is left of our democracy. The health of this country depends on the Democrats regaining the White House, at least! Enough said about that.
To myself, I say welcome back to blogging, and may 2024 allow me to post more often! I especially love answering questions and doing photo challenges.
Denzil’s Nature Photo Challenge #24 is “plant edibles.” Here are some early photos of what I’ve brought home from my garden. (I don’t take any more because my tomato plants are going so wild with tomatoes that I don’t bother!)
I am now eating a lot of salads, and I put tomatoes into everything I can! The chard is growing nicely, but I don’t pick it often because it’s a bit bitter, so I don’t want to use it as my dominant salad green. Note to self: Plant regular lettuce next year! My onions are done, unfortunately, but I’m still getting a lot of peppers, of which I planted three different varieties in the sweet category.. The bell pepper plant produces these large green ones (people say if you wait to pick them, they turn red, but that takes too long!), another pepper produces smaller peppers that are striped. These turn red and yellow rather quickly. The third variety is shown in the photo above – long and skinny, once they turn red, they look like a hot pepper! But they aren’t, and now I wait for them to turn red also.
I had hoped my son would come over today to pick tomatoes, and take home whatever he picked, but he didn’t come and now I have way too many! I will have to pick them again tomorrow and share them with the community. The residents here who have gardens leave whatever they can’t use across from the dining room, and whatever they leave is snatched up very quickly! I left some tomatoes today and will have to leave more tomorrow, along with chard!
On the campus of my community, there is a round barn, leftover from when this land was part of a farm.
Cee’s CMMC this week has the theme “old brick colors.” Here are some items found inside the round barn, which is used for storage.
Sometimes gardens produce surprises – especially when you haven’t looked closely at the little plastic tag stuck in the soil when you buy the small plant! In spring planting season, my brother-in-law thought he was planting cucumbers. Well, he was – sort of! He didn’t look at the little tag that he’d already stuck in the ground next to the plant until he saw the most unusual cucumbers – if that is what they really were!
In fact, these very long, fat “fruits” are called “Armenian yard-longs.” Yard-long is descriptive, because that is about how long each one of these cucumbers are. The photo here is one of the last ones, and not nearly the biggest! (My foot is in the photo for scale – I wear a size 8 shoe.)
When my brother-in-law pulled out the little tag to find out what kind of cucumber these were, he had to look up “Armenian yard-longs” on the internet. Wikipedia has this description: The Armenian cucumber,[1] Cucumis melo var. flexuosus, is a type of long, slender fruit which tastes like a cucumber and looks somewhat like a cucumber inside. It is actually a variety of muskmelon (C. melo), a species closely related to the cucumber (C. sativus). It is also known as the yard-long cucumber, snake cucumber, snake melon. It should not be confused with the snake gourds (Trichosanthes spp.).
The information my brother-in-law found said that the yard-long is a hybrid between a cucumber and a muskmelon. It really does taste like a cucumber and inside looks like a cucumber – and nothing like a melon!!
Weekly Prompts Colour Challenge is greenish.
Here’s the same photo after modification on SnapSeed.
Debbie’s Travel With Intent‘s One Word Sunday this week has the theme curve.
Photos taken in Warsaw, Poland in April 2022
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is to post Man-Made Items.
Humans have been creating and building things for thousands of years. Some are monumental and awe-inspiring, some are fun or functional, and some are ugly. Everywhere people go, they leave behind something, carelessly or with a purpose.
Wanderlust & Wonderment 