Footsteps on the Deck and other thoughts

Out early this morning to water a few plants before another torrid day. To reach the ficus, which is doing fine entwined in the butterfly bush, I have to go outside the fence, where the sprinkler has just finished. 

Cooled wet feet coming back indoors 

Out front, the marigolds are making up for lost time, late but welcome

And they're colors I like. There are some bitter yellow ones I'm not fond of, but these came up lovely dark reds and golds.

Waking up very early these mornings. It makes a long day, with room for reading and listening, though I can't yet get back to favorite knitting, oh well. Maybe my shoulder will permit a bit of stitching. That vest won't stitch itself.

Last evening I declined an invitation to eat pie across the street with Gary and a neighbor who I guess is a good person and I can't stand her bellowing voice. Later Gary delivered pie to me! 

Mixed berries and very good. 

Misfits is expected this afternoon, with reinforcements of fruit 

Leaving you today with this wisdom

Onward, happy day everyone. Keep cool. Our 100+ heat index is with us through Monday.

Celebrate Darwin Day with your nearest Beagle

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beagle_puppy_portrait.jpg
 
Today is Darwin's day, his birthday, to be exact, so it's appropriate to celebrate with a beagle.  Long ago in my family there was a beagle, at least that's what we thought he was, found in the road in unrecognizably awful shape, solid with mud, three baths finally showed his lovely coat colors, and his once broken never fixed little legs, misshapen for the rest of his life but not bothering him.

Much later we found out he was in fact a posh dog.  An American Foxhound.  But since those guys can run incredible distances on the hunt, we never did find his origin.  Could have been in the woods of Pennsylvania, nobody knew.  Anyway, he was our Beagle, so there.

So he lived with us for the rest of his life, and Handsome Partner immediately named him Darwin.  Seemed obvious to us.  But then we had Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin, on the shelf. That's how the spine read, so clearly the Beagle's real name was Darwin...well, you had to be there.

Darwin became our five year old son's best friend.  They'd look out of the window together, Darwin being long enough to get his paws up on the sill, and HS would put an arm around his dogfriend's shoulders, very sweet.

So do something intellectual today, and celebrate Darwin and his discoveries.  His kids drew pictures on his manuscripts, did you know that? what a nice dad. I saw a pic of a battle between a carrot on horseback and a mounted knight or something, great imagination, created by one of his children.