After so much rain you would think the ground would still give moisture to the flowers but not so. Each day makes them suffer terrible heat so I water early morning or in the evening. I swear they drink up the moisture and thank me.

The television is full of warnings about “the elderly” who may be in homes without AC. Those that do don’t use it because of high electric bills. Since it feels strange to be thought of as “elderly” I get a wake-up call with heat related warnings. I’ve had severe problems with the heat so I stay in through the major part of the day. Good thinking to remind us because I throw caution to the wind and suffer the consequences at times.

When I think I used to pick, prepare and can green beans in July in a small kitchen it leaves me shaking my head. No AC at all and most of the time with no fan. We didn’t think anything of it. The end result was the focus. Can up all you could for a long hard winter. The old pressure cooker spewed hot steam and the pressure release would jingle a little tune.

It was still better than the way my mother and grandmother’s canning went. Same heat, different place……a big kettle full of boiling water with jars rattling around in it to make the contents safe to eat. Later on Mom had a pressure cooker which made her life easier but she was ever fearful it would blow up. She walked around it with the same respect given dynamite or an atom bomb.

Well, the old memories seem just like yesterday. Time is an elusive thing. I’m thankful for the experience of growing food and canning it but now that I’m a household of one I find memories are as satisfying.

Today is a good day to make memories so you will be enriched down the line. Make each day count to the fullest…….it is, after all, a gift.

Essentially Esther