June 17

 Half past June already and another Monday. We have errands planned. I checked the plants and they all looked good for water. Beautiful sight this morning as my Asiatic lilies are blooming. I am definitely going to have to thin the stand in the fall. I hope the day lily will perform as well.

Stray thought: the Surgeon General wants some kind of a warning (similar to the kind on tobacco products) on social media sites. I am becoming more and more skeptical of such nanny measures. They say that the warnings on tobacco worked and use of those products dropped fantastically. However, I also remember the repeated hikes in the taxes on tobacco over the same years. A smoking habit will set you back considerable cash. But does the government have to be an ever-present nanny? I also noticed that efforts to mandate some measures during COVID fizzled badly. People didn't like being told they had to wear a mask many found uncomfortable or even dangerous for some of them. And they didn't like the lockdowns from which many still haven't recovered financially.

If China didn't have bad weather luck it wouldn't have much luck at all. Of course, some parts of our own country is in much the same position.

It seemed like every spring we had some unwelcome visitors: proselytizing Christians. For the last five years or so we haven't seen any and haven't missed them. That streak came to an end over the weekend. When I was younger I would politely listen to the spiel and give a vague response. Not now. These two I sent on their way with a firm "I don't discuss religion. And, no, I don't want to talk about it." Then I shut the door. We have gotten in the habit of keeping the screen door locked after one long-ago "missionary" tried to actually open the door and come in spite of our rejection. I wonder why they are back after such a long a hiatus.

Depressing thoughts: discussion this morning on the news/commentary show outlined both the Israel/Hamas and the Ukraine conflicts turning into long running lower intensity fights. They can join a long list of similar conflicts around the world--Myanmar, Sudan, Yemen, etc.