JUST AN ORDINARY DAY IN JULY

 I removed my previous post, Encounter With a Mountain Lion, simply because I thought it was too personal and, partly, too depressing.

Most blog readers want to hear about uplifting things, not gut-wrenching pathos.

I tend to disagree. I much prefer to reveal things about my inner self and stories about my past. I'm an interesting person (a matter of opinion....*smile*) and had a helleva unique and colorful life. Why shouldn't I share it?

Many bloggers hate to share personal things and prefer to write about their blooming begonias. 

I don't give a rat's ass about your blooming begonias. I want to hear about the secret torrid affair you're having with one of your neighbors.

Or the fact that you're considering poisoning your husband.

Confess all and you'll have my heart.

Yesterday, I heroically forced (and I mean FORCED) myself to drive to town. I haven't been shopping in two months, and I desperately needed things that I can't order online.

It was an extremely rare day with NO RAIN, so I took advantage of it.
It is no exaggeration when I say that it rains nearly every day here in Tennessee. If we get two sunny days a month, it's a miracle.

Despite the grim fact that my car is falling apart, and - physically - I'm more than half-dead, I plied myself with homemade wine - -which greatly softened the harsh ordeal.

Despite the outrageous increase in the price of groceries, I got many luxuries that I haven't had in a long time. Milk, orange juice, eggs, bread, hamburger patties, cheese, ice cream, fried chicken, cold cuts for sandwiches. A big chocolate cake that was on sale.

The very worst part is arriving at home and having to carry all the groceries up a rugged hill, through mud and dangerous thorn bushes, to my back porch. It usually takes many trips.

I always bring in the perishables first. I use a lot of eggs, so I bought thirty of them (eighteen in one carton and a dozen in another).
When I got into the kitchen I dropped them on the floor and at least ten of them broke.

And
drumroll here for dramatic effect

as I made my way through the thorn bushes, my shirt got ripped...and one thorn branch hit me in the face and cut my left eyelid. It was dangerously close to getting my eyeball.

I'm getting too old and feeble to endure this Jungle Jim wilderness crap. If I ever revealed all the major problems I have here you would be stunned into oblivion. I think I've already lost half my mind, and I've more than once considered suicide. No lie.

Well, other than all the problems, it's just a typical day in July.

Heck, if I get drunk enough, I might consider reposting my mountain lion story.

Cheers, Jon

Sorry, I don't have any photos or visual enhancements for this post.
But it doesn't matter. I'm fascinating without them.

FAREWELL JULY

I initially thought my Midsummer Elegy had crashed and burned and I was going to delete it.

But then I thought - well hell, how many other people could describe misery with such poetic eloquence? 

The lethal beauty of nature is in concert with the inherent darkness of my soul. Living in this rural area is a preferable alternative to being devoured by the toxic insanity of civilization.

Some innocent and kindly people have recently mentioned that a lawnmower might be of assistance for my property woes. 

Hey, Amigos -  I'm not in Pasadena. I'm in the Tennessee wilderness. The "overgrowth" around here would rival anything  on Mysterious Island.
I need a tractor, a plow, a steam shovel, a brush hog, and a dozen field hands. No lie.

This is the shallow, tame part of my property

(photographed yesterday in the rain and fog)

Here we are on the last day of July. The humidity has been intense. It rains nearly every day. Last night (again) there were Mega Thunderstorms (capitalized for emphasis). 
Donner und blitzen aplenty. 

So, what shall I talk about today? Politics?
No, that will infuriate you. I just lost two long-time readers over my pro-America, anti-mask agenda.

Poetic dissertations and music? Nope. I don't want to scare anyone.
Not much, anyway.

How about boring photos and inane observations? That should generate mass public appeal.

Yesterday my cat Bosco jumped onto the coffee table right next to a ceramic pumpkin candy dish.
I thought it would make a cute Halloween-type photo, so I grabbed my El Cheapo camera.

Bosco yawned exactly as I snapped the picture.
He looks ferocious on this close-up (check out those Dracula fangs).

Actually, Bosco is a sweetheart. He's timid and gentle. And he's afraid of thunder, which inspires him to crawl under the covers on my bed.

 (I should have dusted the pumpkin dish......)

And Kitzee? (also known as Scratch)
She's another sweetheart, but she's lazy now that she's fifteen.

She likes to sleep on the porch near the front door (my cats are indoor felines, but I occasionally let them out on the porch).

Can you believe there's another thunderstorm brewing as I'm writing this?? (it's Friday afternoon). We get them daily (and nightly).
July is going out with a bang.

It's getting extremely dark and the storm is edging closer. I'm anticipating another power outage (we get them often), so I'll cut this post short.
Until soon, I hope......