Wednesday Hodgepodge

June is National Great Outdoors Month. Have you spent any time appreciating the great outdoors this month? If so where, and if not do you have any plans to enjoy the great outdoors before the calendar turns?

I've spent a good amount of time outside working in my yard, pulling weeds, putting down mulch, planting flowers, cleaning out my raised beds, and planting vegetables. As much as I enjoy doing that, I really enjoy experiencing the outdoors on a rainy day. We have had a lot of those lately, and I grab a cup of coffee or tea and head to my front porch to soak it all in (no pun intended). I love the watch the birds and squirrels when it is raining. It quiets my soul.

What's a current hot button issue for you?

Parenting styles, most of which involve the parents sitting on their butts and yelling at their kids/grandkids. I realize I live in a neighborhood with some colorful folks. But I have started to see a trend! Nobody talks to their children, discusses things with them, teaches them. Instead, they sit in one spot in their front yard, never getting off their butts, absorbed in their phones and/or cigarettes, and then scream at their kids to do or not do certain things. It makes me want to scream! I can't imagine sitting somewhere and screaming at my kids, especially outside for the whole neighborhood to hear.

What's a food or treat that 'disappears like hotcakes' in your house?

Frozen waffles. We go through boxes and boxes of frozen waffles, and have for years. It seems to be that one thing that everybody likes to eat.

How hot is too hot?

I would prefer for temps to not get over 80 degrees. I would rather a freezing cold day than a hot day. I don't do hot.

Do you have an artistic outlook on life? What does that mean to you?

In some ways I would say yes, in others no. I do find joy in the things and experiences around me. I really enjoy things deeply and internally, taking things in and holding them close. But there is also a rigidity to my days, a certain order that I require for peace.

What's one question you'd like to ask your father, or one you wish you could ask your father?

I'd like to know what my dad wanted to be "when he grew up". He went into the Navy right out of high school and after his enlistment period came home to work in plumbing construction with my grandpa. That is what he has done his whole life. But I wonder what he really wanted to do with his life. I've never asked him. Perhaps I should.

Something you learned from your father?

How to make gravy. It's an art, and he taught me well.

Insert your own random thought here.