keeping the elephant ears up

Standing outside the fence, near the mailbox, policing the area for trash day, I survey the elephant ears that I just pruned, and Mother sneaks up behind me.

~~~

”Looks pretty good!”

Hey, maybe you should wear a bell around your neck or something.

[She punches my shoulder.]

”I’m no cat." She looks back to the elephant ears, "You’re still keeping the elephant ears up.”

Yup, it’s probably the best thing we have in our little landscape. I just wish you hadn’t planted quite so many of them.

”I didn’t know they were going to be that many.”

I remember. With some pruning, they can look real nice though. But it takes a lot of water to keep them up and breathing, especially in high-summer - three waterings a day. When Pop complains about the water bill, I can wonder whether we would do better without the things.

”You’re right to keep them.”

I’m trying.

the Orwell website

Getting set to work on a “1984” post, I go to the Orwell website to do a quick copy & paste job, but all of a sudden I get a big-screen warning that the site is infested with malware. I thought I might have gotten it there.

“As I recall, your favorite theory was that it was that Twitter guy who sent you a private message through your LJ.”

Yes, but the Orwell website was my next best guess, or maybe the next best guess after that. I thought I might have gotten it when I checked out that “Unicorn” essay of his on English socialism.

In any case, it’s really bad news. I still have almost half the book to go, and I was rather counting on those fast copy & paste jobs.

”You’re just going to have to set those fingers to work and do a lot more typing.”

I guess there’s no getting around it. I’m going to have to make smaller posts, I guess, like Ayn Rand’s book. At least Shakespeare is available elsewhere, though I’m going to have to hunt it up.

fire up the grill tonight!

Pop surprises me coming home early from his rounds. And the surprises are just beginning. He says, “I’m going to fire up the grill tonight!” Such masculine pride is carried in his triumphant voice.

Even though he is doing all the work, I still hate these occasions. He did get chicken breasts for me, but I just had my baked barbecue chicken for lunch, so this is about the worst time, even though there is never really a good time. For now, I’m just bracing myself about the prospect for guests. I imagine there was a special at H.E.B. and Pop wants to celebrate July 4th like much of the rest of the nation, get in on some of that communal spirit in the air. I would rather that he felt his age a little more and let the holiday pass in peace, but maybe he is fighting his old age, too, and I can certainly respect that.

* * * *

1930

I am struck by the fact that the HEB chicken breast is clearly superior to the chicken breasts I bake, Tyson’s chicken. I don’t think it’s just the barbecue seasoning, nor the grilling. The meat is fuller and more luscious. Could it be because the Tyson chicken is frozen? I imagine you have to lose some quality when you freeze food and then cook it back to life - food presumably doesn’t bounce back like that. Though, I suspect it is also Tyson. I don’t feel moved to hunt for another brand. The Tyson chicken is a good dozen steps above Swanson, and it is the best thing on my diet. I’m just taking note.

July 4th

Fireworks? I forgot about that. Is it as bad as New Year’s? Should I have kept the cats inside? Should I try to get them back inside? I already have Coco.

I ask Pop and he says, “Nah, they don’t pop that much. They should’ve done it already.”

Coco is crying to be let out, and I go with Pop’s answer.