So Long, Barry, and Thanks for the Rain

Gainesville

We finally got a decent amount of rain, thanks to dear Barry. It rained steadily all night and most of the morning. No wind, no thunderstorms even. Just the soaking we needed so desperately. Even the east yard azaleas, all but dead yesterday, have perked up. A miracle! They don't call this the Water Planet for nothing, and Florida's ecosystem has got to be the most water-dependent of all the states.

Bill went along on the Publix run in the late afternoon. They were out of several key items-- I'd think it was hurricane hoarding, but cilantro? Vidalia onions? Smart Balance? Hardly seems like your typical emergency fare.

Got back so late I had to pick the easiest meal on the weekly plan, and even that took some rushing to get on the table by 7:30-- the ever-popular (with me, at least) Chili-Rubbed Ham Slice with Zucchini /Black Bean Salsa. Tropical fruit salad. Sushi. Freshly baked (by Publix) sunflower seed bread. Went rather well.

Spent about an hour on the comics list-- I'm just under 2,000 lines into a 14,000 line spreadsheet. The only way I can make myself face this is to set the timer for 15 minutes. By the time it rings, I'm into it enough that I can keep going.

Here's the next in the series of Before decluttering pictures. This is facing west. The cardboard in the foreground is what I flattened last week, but did not get out to recycle on time. Tomorrow I WILL get it it at least outside so I can flatten some more. The book stacks in the background are on the dining room table. They're all either fairly new, or were displaced in my study when I created the unified Comics Collection in there. Stuff piled on the floor under the table is an earlier attempt to sort the stuff after going through boxes. On the left (not sure I have a better picture-- should take one) are a few of the 17 boxes of Yogi's collection of the Heritage Club Great Books series-- beautifully bound and illustrated volumes that would not fit into the small apartment where she and Leslie live now. I want to empty out enough shelves in the Library area to house them in there. Of course, the books there now will have to go somewhere else. It never ends. (Now, now, Suze: Courage. This CAN be done.)

Let the record show that today I got my Sudoku groove back tonight, after it had gone missing for four whole days-- I'd all but given up hope I'd ever find it again. But today I finished both puzzles that had been stalled all that time in about ten minutes. Go figure.

Hope you're doing well today, Mom. Baby Steps, okay?

Sandy, hope today's planting went well.

Me, I'm going to pour the last drink and read some more Everything is Misc. As indeed it is.