Right Now: June 2023

It's always a good time for a Right Now post, especially because I seem to have skipped them in April and May. Here's what's going on Right Now. 

Grateful - That the smoke here has dissipated. The photo above is a smoky sunrise last Thursday, and the one below was taken on our way over to Ryan's last Wednesday. Ryan said that he thought he was leaving wildfire smoke behind when he left Colorado, but that was not the case last week. At least he doesn't need a go bag, packed and ready, and he does not have to sweep up ash and cinders. But the people in Canada are still enduring wildfires and I do hope that many more of them can be controlled soon (and then there is the causal issue of climate change which isn't going to just go away).

Chuckling About - My sister called me last week to tell me not to hang my laundry outside. I think she was just being funny, and I hope she doesn't think I'm senile (yet). Thanks, Jill!

Eating - Watermelon rind pickles! They are delicious and I can see myself making more of these this summer. I even ordered whole allspice berries from Penzey's for the next time I have some watermelon rind. 

Eating With Ryan - John and Justin went walleye fishing in NY last weekend, so I took the opportunity to go to Ryan's so we could eat something that John has no interest in. (Ryan thinks that John doesn't like flavor in his food.) Our choices were flavorful tacos, Thai, or Indian, and we decided to try tacos. They were delicious, flavorful, and just the right amount of spicy. 

Eating From the Garden - Snow peas. They are prolific, and of course, John planted four rows, so I'm also blanching and freezing them. That's good because I have no garden vegetables in the freezer and have been forced to buy them at the grocery store. John thinks this is a sad state of affairs but I'm starting to remedy this. Every night at dinner he asks, "Don't these peas taste great?" and they do (but I like them better raw).

Talking About at Dinner - Besides commenting on how good the peas taste and discussing the merits of raw vs. cooked snow peas, we seem to be talking about carburetors. John bought an old Jeep last year when he retired so he would have a project. It's been entertaining to me because nothing worked for a long time. He's worked on the gas tank, turn signals, and wiring in general, but after doing those things, he still had the issue that it wouldn't start and idle. So he painted it. That didn't solve the not starting problem, but the Jeep is now green instead of an ugly purple-brown. He installed a new distributor and can now start it, but he has to rebuild the carburetor and fix the connection with the gas pedal. This involves things I haven't yet learned about, but I'll be sure to tell you all about them when I do. (Ha! Just kidding!)

Making - Crispy Oven Pulled Pork that Kym told us about a while ago. I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious. John and Justin were returning from their fishing trip and I wanted to have something ready that I didn't have to rush around and make when they arrived and announced that they were starving. This was the best use of a pork roast I've had in a long time. Our dinnertime conversation was centered around fish (which was an improvement over carburetors)!

Grudgingly Keeping Up With - My PT exercises. These are not difficult but should be done two or three times each day and are painful. My hips and back felt pretty good after the cortisone injections and when I began PT but I think I'm working new muscles and feeling some pain. (At least that's what my physical therapist says.) I do usually feel better after doing the exercises, but I have to make myself do them and usually have a good audiobook saved for that purpose

Enjoying - a nice long chat on the phone with a friend who is fixing up a house in Connecticut that she and her husband bought for their son and his wife. Their son is finishing up his PhD at Cornell and his wife is starting her PhD at U Conn. Usually, we try to get together in person, but talking to her on the phone was just what I needed.   

What's going on in your world right now?