News

I printed off a clean copy of the Jason book, and am reading it over. The news with the dogs and other things have sort of thrown me out of the book. Too many interruptions. So, I’m reading, and making notes. So far, so good.
I’m hoping to be done with the read through by tomorrow evening, but we’ll see. I’ve got over five hundred pages to read, though I think at least fifty of it is going away. Though, I’m probably going to add another twenty-five to fifty by the time I’ve put in two new scenes that I think we need early on. But, it’s interesting to watch Jason and Anita interact. It’s always interesting to throw Anita into a situation with just one of the other characters, rather than a crowd. Harder to hide.
Jon, Trinity, Jon’s parents, and I, are Christening the new grill tonight. We’re doing a ‘Cooking Light’ hamburger recipe. So, I’m going to go be sociable. I found myself feeling more refreshed after the weekend, even though I’d been sick, as if sitting around and watching television and reading and visiting with my family and dogs was exactly what I needed. Since I’d rather give myself permission to have fun, then be forced to do it by being sick, today I did some fun stuff, too.
I sat out on my patio twice. It may be a record on a work day. I got to see the first Giant Swallowtail butterfly that I’d seen since I was a teenager. They are the size of a small bird, and bigger by far than a hummingbird. Giant, indeed. All deep chocolate brown and pale, lemon yellow, with spots of color like eyes on the wing, and those lovely sweeping tails that give the swallowtails their name. Swallowtails were my very favorite butterflies when I was growing up. Though my most favorite was the Black Swallowtail. All that velvety darkness with those iridescent colors. So amazing. The Giant Swallowtail loved the potted jasmine plant, and hovered over it flapping those huge wings. I was so glad I was out there to see it, in the late summer sun. Pippin was in my lap, yes my sixty pound lap dog. Darla was sitting in the other chair, so she got to see it, too. Sasquatch was just wondering about our feet. The butterfly was big enough that Pip noticed it. He doesn’t usually pay attention to butterflies. Though, he does have an unhealthy attraction to bees. That’s going to go badly some day.
The butterflies of all kinds have found our garden, just as the toads did this spring. We’re planting more food plants for the caterpillars, as well as nectar sources. It’s paying off now in a wonderful show of fluttering butterflies and buzzing hummingbirds. We also have chipmunks, raccoons, and a fox. How cool is that?