It's been really difficult to feel happy about much of anything of late. But even the darkest days have their moments. I thought I'd share two of those from the past week.
Late last week, when it was still too hot to do much in the garden and the air quality remained poor, I decided to spend an hour pulling up and potting several agave pups I'd spied in various locations of my garden. When done, I labeled them and others I'd collected earlier and put them out on the curb for neighbors to take if they were so inclined.
 |
| This was the group's class picture, taken before I placed them on the curb. The group included: Agave desmettiana 'Variegata', A. funkiana 'Blue Haze', A. 'Jaws', and A. pygmaea 'Dragon Toes'. |
 |
| I'd only just put them out and grabbed my camera to take a photo when the first car pulled to a stop in front of them |
About an hour and a half after I put them out, all but three were gone. Another two went the next morning. Poor Agave funkiana 'Blue Haze', admittedly the runt of the litter, didn't find a new home but I've put it aside in the hope it'll bulk up before my next give-away.
Yesterday, it was the birds in the backyard fountain that made me smile. There was a steady steam of them but catching them bathing isn't always easy as they usually fly away as soon as I get close to the window. However, one fellow was so caught up with his bath, he paid me no mind.
 |
| Most of the bathers were house finches and lesser gold finches. I think this one was one of the former group. |
 |
| He splashed about a half dozen times before deciding he was done and relinquishing the fountain to a trio of the smaller finches |
 |
| I was happy to bask in his pleasure, if only for a moment |
The United States reached the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths associated with COVID-19 this week. The US accounts for 4.23% of the world's population, yet our total deaths currently represent 21% of the total attributed to COVID-19 worldwide. That's not just sad, it's pathetic. We're the richest country in the world and our per capita death rate from the virus is the 11th highest in the world. The number of lies that have come directly from the horse's mouth regarding the virus are incredible. While the occupant of the White House can't be blamed for importing the virus, he, his minions and his apologists should be held accountable for their monumental failures to manage the response to it. Are we prepared to allow them to compound their failures and continue to lie? VOTE.
For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party