Summer appears to have arrived. Yesterday's daytime temperatures were in the mid-80's (F) and it's been sunny and dry for quite a while. So far the garden has been holding its own, but I've been watering to keep the potted plants happy. We could use some rain.
As you can see, the roses are blooming away, as are the bright magenta peonies in the foreground. Olga seizes every possible sunbathing moment.
I spent yesterday morning mostly reading "The Magic Kingdom." I'm within striking distance of the end. I don't dislike the book, exactly, but I am troubled by some things. As I've mentioned before, it takes place at a Shaker colony near St. Cloud in Florida, and that colony really existed at the beginning of the 20th Century. But the author seems confused about St. Cloud's location -- he makes repeated references to Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, which are about 100 miles to the south. He also mentions Tampa being northwest of St. Cloud, which is wrong -- it's southwest. He seems to believe St. Cloud is much farther south than it really is.
On a less nitpicky level, the narrative is very even, and I don't necessarily mean that in a good way. The story is told through the construct of an old man recounting his life into a tape recorder, and that can seem somewhat limiting. But I'd still recommend it to anyone who's interested in Florida.
Dave went to our school's graduation ceremonies in the afternoon, and I took Olga to Hampstead Heath. I thought she might like a swim. It was a very slow walk -- because that's how she moves these days -- but we got there in the end.
I shot this video in "cinematic mode," which is supposed to offer more depth-of-field, for one thing. I've never used it before and I'm not sure I like it. I think I like my videos to be sharper all around. Oh well -- live and learn. (And yes, Olga got her ball back.)
I got some shocking news last night. My friend Christopher, who I met more than 20 years ago when I first moved to New York, died yesterday in Los Angeles. I knew he was ill -- he told me about a year ago he had colorectal cancer, and he'd had other health issues before that -- but I was still stunned by this outcome. He and I were messaging just a few weeks ago and he said nothing about his illness having progressed. I guess this is what happens when you move far away. People are there, and then they're not, and all that happens in between is obscured by that veil of time and distance.
Anyway, I feel genuinely shaken. I visited Christopher and his partner Gerry several times in LA (many years ago) and used to hang out with them a lot in New York before they moved. I always intended to visit them again with Dave at some undetermined point in the future. I guess I mistakenly, rather passively believed that they would always be there. There is no always, is there?
Sorry to read the news about your friend Christopher. No, there is no always. Thanks for the beautiful garden and Olga.
ReplyDeleteI love the way that Olga totally ignores the other dogs..just like my boy! I am experimenting with leaving the windows closed today to see if the house stays cooler than yesterday when the front room was 28c !
ReplyDeleteI giggled when you clarified the 80 degrees was Fahrenheit! We do heat in Australia but even so ...
ReplyDeleteLosses like Christopher seem to hit harder than those you are closer to. I don't know why.
There is always. Sad for you.
ReplyDeleteSimple mistaken detail in a book would spoil the whole read for me.
Your garden is in full summer swing.
Our news broadcast film of falling down soldiers in the London heat.
Olga was disdainful of other doges. She just enjoyed her swim.
Sorry for your loss; it's always sudden, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteI did love Olga in the pond; she seemed to love it.
So sorry about your friend. It's a loss. I love how Olga keeps shaking off even while she's still in the water. She completely ignores all dogs who get between her and her sort of swim.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your friend. Last year I went to post a Happy Birthday to an old friend on Facebook only to find her obit posted there! She had died the month before and I never knew!
ReplyDeleteCelebrate your happy memories of your friend...
I am so sorry to hear about your friend. And no, there is not always a tomorrow. We humans with our large brains and supposedly superior intelligence absolutely refuse to accept that. I guess it's some sort of survival technique. If we were constantly aware that all of our loved ones and ourselves too, were going to die, I'm not sure we could handle it. That was clumsily put but you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteOlga, on the other hand, so perfectly lives in this moment and that is one of the things that makes her so beautiful.
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. Cancer is a nasty asshole.
ReplyDeleteOlga looks very contented in the water.
Sad news about the loss of your old friend Christopher. Reminds me to try and remember to reach and connect with people when I think of it. Those thoughts tend to slip away.
ReplyDeleteOlga looks so happy there. It's very cute to see her with other dogs in the water.
it is indeed summer.hot and dry here too. the next week high 90s. ugh. Olga just wades right in. Minnie hates water. she tolerates a bath because she has no choice but other than that she avoids all contact with water.
ReplyDeleteI guess you're reaching the age where your compadres start to leave this mortal plane. All but two of Marc's friends from high school that we used to socialize with early in our marriage have died and those two are in terrible health. our longest friend as a couple though is still hanging in there with us.
Sorry to hear about you friend. It's always a loss when someone dies, even though it's what happens to all in the end.
ReplyDeleteA couple I know, Ian and Aaron, have landed in London. They are hiking all over the city. I smile to myself to think that they might (at some point) be walking past a tall man with his happy old dog and never realize there is a common connection.
ReplyDeleteMy elderly dog loved to swim and it was such good exercise for his old aching joints.
Oh, crumbs! I forgot to say that I'm sorry about Christopher. You are right. 'Always' is not always. There is something sobering about the death of a contemporary.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your loss. I always think I have all the time in the world for people I know, but as you say "There is no always." It's always a shock to the system.
ReplyDeleteMy sympathy for your loss. It's never easy when those we care about die.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the author of your book will give a reason for relocating St. Cloud in the notes at the end (if it has any).
Love the photos and video of Olga!
I love your garden (as usual). And I also love how Olga seems completely unfazed and uninterested in the other dogs. Life goals for me! Ha!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your friend - cancer really is an asshole.
I'm sorry about your friend and your loss, Steve. A death really does shake a person up when you don't realize their poor health has turned to actively failing health and then suddenly - or so it seems - they are gone.
ReplyDeleteOh, Olga :) I love her tail wag when she reaches belly depth, and her evident enjoyment of sloshing around. Glad you told us she got her ball back. Was there drama?
So sorry to hear about your friend. I can totally understand the shock and pain of such a loss.
ReplyDeleteOlga looks like she's enjoying her swim and she certainly looks content with her patch of sun in her beautiful garden.
I am so sorry about Christopher's death. Jim and I are of an age where our age cohort is beginning to shuffle off this mortal coil. So, no, there are no guarantees that people will be around. Olga wading was fun to watch, glad her ball was returned.
ReplyDeleteOlga in the pond is just what was needed this day! Thank you and I agree about the sharpness of the video but still, very good!
ReplyDeleteI too love Olga’s composure around other dogs.
ReplyDeleteWhen my mom was dying, she too didn’t tell others about her diagnosis. She wanted people to not treat her differently and thus remember her as she was without a terminal disease. My condolences are offered at the loss of your friend.
Steve, so sorry about the loss of your friend, I got a call from one of my cousins last week to tell me of the death of her youngest sister. Passed from a catastrophic abdominal bleed. Collapsed at 10:00PM and died in hospital 3 hours later. You are so right, there is no always. Glad Olga got her ball back.
ReplyDeleteOlga looks fearless.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for your loss of Christopher.
There are times that we have regrets. It takes some time to pick yourself up and carry on.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad about Christopher and I'm so sorry. I'm dealing with that "I should have done it feeling" right now as a good friend is in Hospice, quite possibly end-stage. I'd like to visit (they are in Ohio) but it's a bad time -- and I wonder if there will be a good time before he dies. Yes, regrets. So very sorry.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about Christopher. Sometimes there is no later. You have many fond and special memories of him though.
ReplyDeleteMitchell: It's important to enjoy the everyday aspects of life!
ReplyDeleteFrances: I noticed when I opened the windows that it was significantly warmer outside than in.
Caro: Yeah, I guess that would be self-evident to anyone who knows temperature scales. LOL
Andrew: It's true -- that one little geographical detail drove me crazy, and it kept recurring.
Bob: Yeah, that's the thing. It really WASN'T sudden, as it's been coming for months, but it still FELT sudden.
Boud: Maybe she shakes to more evenly distribute the water on her body?
Ellen D: Oh no! That had to have been a shock.
Ms Moon: I remember reading that very point in a book or magazine years ago -- that if we could fully comprehend our inevitable deaths, we'd all live in fear and be unable to function. The denial enables our lives.
Pixie: A colorful way to put it! LOL
Robin: Yes, I wish I'd been in closer contact with him, particularly recently. I feel a little like I dropped the ball.
Ellen: I guess so! I suppose death will inevitably start to hit my age group harder.
Tasker: As Ms Moon said, we just deny and deny it until it happens. And then we're surprised.
Debby: How funny! I hope you're getting reports about what they're up to and where they're going! Maybe I'll be in the background of one of their pictures. :)
Colette: It IS a shock, even when it shouldn't be.
Kelly: He didn't, but it's such an obvious mistake I have to wonder if it WAS intentional somehow.
Bug: Olga is not easily fazed by other dogs. She generally plays well with others. She usually only growls if I've got her under restraint, and then she feels emboldened.
Jenny-O: And Christopher really DID have nine lives, or at least several. (See next post.) So I started to see him as sort of indestructible. There was no drama about Olga's ball -- the other dog's owner gave it back to me. :)
Sharon: She has become such a sun worshipper!
Allison: I suppose, as Ellen said, it will happen more and more.
Linda Sue: Yeah, I don't really get the appeal of the narrow depth-of-field. I suppose in certain artsy circumstances it might be cool.
Ed: I can understand that. I wouldn't want to be fussed over either.
Jim: Well, although no death is really good, dying suddenly (or relatively suddenly) is not a terrible way to go.
Catalyst: Thanks. :)
Red: Yeah, I only regret not being in closer contact toward the end.
Margaret: Oh, I do, no question. I hope they stay fresh in my mind. The blog will help in that respect!