News...right?

I did something this morning I seldom do anymore. I attempted to check the newsfeeds as I have been ignoring it for weeks now. I was tired of hearing about who is after Trump this week and how many bombs the US has dropped. All that exercise did was give me a headache and leave me reeling so I stopped reading.

I moved to local news. It was all NASCAR stuff because the local racetrack has reopened. Three top headlines were something to do with that. At the very bottom was a blurb about a man who died in custody in Wilkes County. Wondering if we will ever find out what happened there and deciding not to hold my breath.

Then I received a notice from my doctor's office telling me not to be outside this weekend because of the smoke due to wildfires in Canada. CANADA!?!? According to several different mapping programs, I am more than 800 miles, maybe as much as 30 hours by car - away from the Wildfires.

Then I saw where the local news had picked that up and was alternating between the bad air quality due to smoke and the outbreak of a parasite that didn't get washed off our fresh herbs and vegetables. Mostly lettuce, cilantro and parsley. This little critter causes explosive diarrhea and makes people sick for days. All because they had lettuce in their taco. I saw where one restaurant had also removed pico de gallo from the menu because of the problem with cilantro.

Maybe people should just grow their own vegetables and then this wouldn't be a problem. That sent me down the rabbit hole reading about the victory gardens and the packages of seeds sent to people after the two big wars. They dug up their front yards, playgrounds and everywhere there was a patch of dirt being used for nothing more than grass.

That in turn sent me down another rabbit hole. Why didn't the government suggest gardening and send out free seeds to encourage families to grow their own food during covid. I always figured we didn't suffer rationing because there was little on store shelves to ration. But I never received any seeds or instructions on gardening. Did you?

Finally, I stopped. I closed the website and took a deep breath. Then I went and poured another cup of coffee and sat down on the front porch for a few minutes with the dogs. I was breathing fine. Didn't smell any smoke. Maybe we should pray for rain in Canada so they can get that mess under control. I guess we should keep abreast of what is going on in the world, but it certainly is depressing. After well over an hour scanning headlines, I didn't find one good thing. No happy story. All doom and gloom.

So here is your happy story for today. Mya, my lovely, brilliant granddaughter and I spent yesterday afternoon scouting places to have a book signing and kick off my book tour for Yankee Doodle Daddy. Then of course we had to go eat a meal. I'm not sure, but I think there is a granny rule that says I have to feed her a good meal every time I see her.

Then we culminate our outing with a trip to Walmart. I'm pretty sure there's a granny rule about that too. It was a wonderful day and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I had. That's the moral of the story. Tomorrows are never promised, so you'd best spend time and offer love and support and encouragement while you can. For anyone I should have and have not offered it recently, I love you all. My family, friends and readers. The struggles always continue, but it doesn't mean we can't find something to smile about.

Happy Reading!