Heat, humidity, repeat daily

I'm constantly amazed by the power of blogging.  While I sit and swelter in actual temperatures in the high 90Fs and "feels like" temps in the 105-115F range my blogging friends down under are freezing.  We are both getting rain.  While I always knew in a sort of "oh yeah" way that their seasons are the reverse of mine it really hits home when  you feel as if you know someone via their blog.  I don't really know them, of course, have only the barest idea of what they even look like, still they are important to me-wierd.  We're like the pen pals of the 21st century.  Unlikely to ever meet but caring at a distance.

Speaking of the heat, it's a good thing I took the photo of the many bells in my header when I did because they look horrid now.  Wrung out by heat and too much rain.  My veggie garden looks pathetic as well, lots of tomatoes on the plant but nothing is getting ripe, green peppers but not even a start on the red pepper plant.  Then there's the oak trees.  The two pin oaks will be naked soon, so many leaves have fallen.  I sit on my deck and watch them fall just like in November.  The fungus hits pin oaks really hard but isn't supposed to kill them unless it hits in consecutive summers.  I do have REALLY green grass, especially for this time of the year.

Last week I did something that for most of my life would have been unimaginable.  I got a tattoo.

A Celtic symbol of courage, it's to remind me to have courage and also to mark a new beginning in my life.  Since Larry passed in 2009 I've been trying to find myself and to put myself on firm footing in the life I want to live.  I've done lots of thinking and there is much work to be done but I think I'm at a point where progress will be made.  I'm mostly finished with just slipping along from day to day, mostly finished with hiding in books and projects.  I'm ready to dig in and make a new life.  So a tattoo on the inside of my left wrist where I can't miss it.  A constant reminder of what I'm trying to be and to have the courage to stand up for myself. Onward.