An already hot morning at 10:30 on this day 23 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I am on the brink of giving in to the everythings of this world. I haven’t quite fallen in. The sun is unbearably hot with less ozone protection. Researching, I find that Canada’s and the northern regionss ozone have thinned by an average of about 7% since the 1980s. Supposedly the ozone layer is healing. Truth or fake news? Our planet seemed to be heating up every year.
I’ve discovered that cucumber male flowers can become sterile due to heat. My plants in the greenhouse are full of male flowers, more than the female ones. I have pollinated the girls and yet besides the one cucmber we already ate, none came to fruit. So I’m guessing that the males must be shooting blanks. They can recover with cooler weather. If heat can do this to cucumbers, what does it do to us and all living things? Is this not a signal for us to change how we are conducting business on this earth? We can’t eat the greenbacks. Why don’t use them resuscitate this one earth we have?
I probably should stop reading the news. It makes me more melancholic than my natural melancholic self. There’s no fun or use in it. It’s not something I want to bring to the keyboard. I have to pull myself up by the bootstrap, snap out of my old mold, crack the whip and do whatever I have to do. I have to admit that I am a little buried under a little pile of mental overwhelm. Life seems to have no rest stops when you have a 95 year old father. Not complaining. It is what it is. It is not at all the physical thing. He is very low maintenance. It’s the emotional and psychological components that weighs on me.
Enough whining and sighing. Time to get on with the rest of the day. Not sure if my father is being discharged from the hospital today or tomorrow. Will find out soon enough. My brother is there now and he will let me know. Good to have younger siblings. They have more energy and reserve.
onethousandandtwo 
Your honesty about heat, climate concerns, caregiving, and mental overwhelm really resonates. Some days, simply getting through is enough. Wishing you strength and hoping your father’s discharge goes smoothly.
Thank you so much.
Hugs, Lily. You have a lot to think about, especially with your father being in the hospital. I hope that he can come home soon and that he feels much better. Also, it’s okay to whine and sigh every now and then. Sometimes, I want to bang my head on the wall, especially these days.
Alice, rather than banging your sweet head on something, I recommend screaming into a bed pillow. Effective, harmless, and no one can hear you scream! ❤
That’s a good idea and far less headache producing, although, since I sing soprano, I can scream pretty loud!
Thank you, Alice. All is good. I’m trying to keep my cool. Kebba has good advice. Pillow is softer than a wall. 🙂
Much softer, for sure!
Lily, part of me goes deeply somber, when I have a loved one in the hospital. Today, I have one getting a complicated 10-hour surgery with 3 neurosurgeons. I vividly picture the perfect results I want. I do hope your dad has substantially recovered and will soon be able to go home; thank God for your younger brother! Your cucumbers: I did not know any of that. I hope they will recover and create fruit. The climate: in geology classes I was taught that climate warms and cools in 3000-year cycles. So the warming we have been experiencing is not necessarily permanent. Doesn’t mean I have to love it.
Thank you, Kebba. Neurosurgery is a tough one. You need to go deep. And that is hard in the desert. I have to drink more water. I’ve got a heat headache. It’s all good. Just some life irritations which will pass.
very interesting to hear about the male cucumbers 🥒 shooting blanks! 😂 sorry to hear they’re not doing so well atm. Talking about cucumbers I am very fond of the cucumber sandwiches when they’re made with butter and a pinch of salt and pepper.
this heat is certainly a struggle – I’m supposed to do several hours of piano practice each day but I’ve been feeling sick from the heat and so lacking energy that I’ve not been able to find the strength to sit at the piano 🎹 as I should do! Which is frustrating but that’s just how it is, needing to take things slow for now.
It would have been nice to have a cucumber for our salad today. It would be hard to sit for several hours at the piano even on a good day. I do appreciate all yr writings. I can see how they can be very helpful for me. That’s alot of effort and energy you put in.
So thank you very much.
Hi Lily
Best wishes for a quick recovery of your father’s health issues and thanks for great genes providing a long life. Hoping you have inherited them.
As for whining and sighing, children are told to “use your words.”
From the many years I have been reading your posts, I can see that you are very good at using your words. I hope it helps to release some of the pressure. For me, doing blog post is a stressor and requires me to discipline myself and schedule other tasks.
Blog on!
Thank you, Doug. For sure writing is a pressure reliever. This heat is relentless. Hope you are not in the fire and smoke zone.
I laughed out loud when I read your cucumbers were shooting blanks.
Thanks for the cucumber education. I didn’t know that
As for the heat, I hope you’re able to stay cool. We had a cooler day today so it was nice.
I had no idea cucumber flowers could be male and female, that was fascinating to learn! I was also encouraged to read that the ozone layer may be healing. Let’s hope that’s true, and that this relentless heat eases soon, for the sake of your cucumbers and all of us. I hope your father’s discharge goes smoothly.
Thanks Tamara. My father is coming home tomorrow after lunch. I think he was liking his ‘luxury’ accommodation and nurses there. Yes, ozone healing would be good. I still hope for cucumbers.