Macro Abstract

It rained all night and was still raining quite hard this morning, so Ozzie's walk was an abbreviated affair. Well, more abbreviated than usual and definitely faster as we suddenly realized we were late for Kathy. John gets very nervous about being late, and it is a drive that includes every terrain (hills, freeway, rural roads and overflowing creeks). Not exactly the stuff of a Grand Prix, but he tends to drive that way when he thinks he's late. Allotment of time to get places is another point we tend to disagree on....If we have to go someplace together, I usually tend to go along with him since he starts herding me like a sheepdog if I'm not quite ready. 

We were one minute late to Kathy's and pronounced ourselves out of shape and regressing after a month of holidays, visitors and colds. She set us straight, patched us up and sent us on our way with smiles on our faces. She has been through so much I always feel like a bit of a fraud complaining about my funny knee or my sore neck. She is unfailingly cheerful and is a real gem.

I resorted to my little dish of curiosities for a macro shot, since everything outside was pretty sodden. It's the skeletal remains of a tomatillo which has been drying nicely on the shelf for several years....I don't know how abstract it is but if you don't know what a tomatillo looks like, you might find it unrecognizable....

I got my haircut today and Amy and I had our usual wide ranging conversation. Sometimes we talk about vacations or new purchases or politics, but today we took on the 'problems' of the unhoused, and climate change. Her daughter, a freshman in high school, belongs to an organization that works to get young people to  think about ways of making peace instead of war. I have always believed that most problems can be most effectively approached through education. I think that as a culture, we tend to think and approach problems as individuals and give up on solutions because we feel helpless as individuals to have any effect. In fact, many cultures where people see themselves more as part of a larger group might have a better chance of working together on solutions, rather than fighting amongst themselves. (I certainly wish the Democratic nominees would take this approach to beating Trump.)It is our connectedness we need to be thinking about.... 

We didn't solve many problems, but we had a good conversation. And I got a good haircut....