SUNBURN

MPO is that sunburn isn’t a do or die situation – at least it has not been for me … or for Bob when he walked Earth as my man. And we both burned when outdoors in the sunshine all day long. I freckled; Bob did not. I got lobster red: Bob turned a beautiful, rich, chestnut brown.

Sunlight is important for whole-body-wellness. Sunlight boosts a chemical in your brain that gives you more energy, a positive attitude, and keeps your calm and focused. Aside form kicking the serotonin into high gear, sunlight also generates vitamin D, which is vital for bone health, lower blood pressure (aim to get at least 10 to 30 minutes of midday sunlight – several times a week), disease prevention, and balanced mental health. When exposed to high doses of sunlight, our skin turns cholesterol into Vitamin D; regular sunlight exposure is the most natural and best way to get enough Vitamin D to keep our bodies functioning properly. From March to September is the best time to help your body make Vitamin D from direct sunlight, outdoors. Optimal Vitamin D synthesis at minimal risk of CMM (skin cancer), falls between 10 AM to 1’noon.

I determined to get a light sunburn this afternoon. Why? Because yesterday, after watering the garden area, I came inside and started a New Read …

New Read; the book is humorous ... and takes place in the PNW; places I can easily visualize as I read along.

… and fell asleep at some point in Bob’s recliner – when I woke up (not sure how long I was cutting z’s), my right side was a little pink where the sunlight shone on it through the windows. I didn’t want to look sun-kissed on the right side, and buttermilky on the left side … so, I determined to even things up this afternoon 😉

Temp was in the 70’s when I prepared to leave the house this morning; these shorts get to stay in my clothes cache 😉

Didn't bother getting gussied up - the plan is to go hiking.

Buttermilk color - definitely NOT {white}.

And I knew just where to go: Riverside Park in Lexington 😊

Along the route from my carport to the Park parking slot, the radio taking heads gave me good news 😉

First thing I noticed was that the soccer field is now surrounded by a fence.

Fenced and newly seeded with grass seed; getting a good watering as I drove by.

Fishermen are staking out their claim to beachfront; all the comforts of home ...

Another Supreme Court WIN! Christian coaches and players have just as much right to 'kneel;' as the islamic blm players.

USA Supreme Court Rules on Field Prayers:

(https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3538082-supreme-court-sides-with-high-school-coach-who-led-prayer-on-football-field/)

Shameless pelosi met her match in a little girl who refused to be shoved aside. GO GIRL!

hag pelosi tries to shove little girl out of picture moment:

(https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mayra-flores-nancy-pelosi-push-daughter-photo-op)

No child in sight - it was still in the same place half and hour later, on my backtrack to the parked Highlander ...

Last year's pool is gone, but there is more yard decor added ...

Westside Highway & Cowlitz River.

Sunburn on my shoulders is making an appearance ... and it looks like the left side of my face is matching the right in sunburn hue ;-)

A quick sunburn was 'in the day's Plan', from the get-go.

A surprise atop the fencepost I stopped by to retie my ponytail scrunchie ...

A cute sunburned painted rock. Signed by the artist. LOL

Lexington Bridge & freight train.

Freight train & I-5 Freeway.

Pretty, big, yellow butterflies were everywhere – down on the river beach, fluttering along the dike trail; they were darting everyplace! They were so fast, I couldn’t get a picture of them – not even a video shot ☹

Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Internet pic). They are the size of a Monarch Butterfly; about 3- to5-inches. Big for a butterfly.

I admit my skin hurt (back, back of legs) when I slid into the Highlander driver’s seat … but, everything settled down eventually 😉

I regret nothing.

I had planned on watering my gardens (flower and veggie beds) around 6 PM; and needed more plastic forks to ward of free-roaming cats: so I drove to the Dollar Store to get some, cheap.

Along the route, I topped off the gas tank. It was not cheap.

THIS alone will carry the Day when Elections roll around again ... The People are fed up.

Paying for the plastic forks, I found that they too, were not cheap – ended up paying $2.50 extra, plus 8-cents for the bag. I was not happy about the bag fee. I was not happy about the false store price advertising.

The $-Store no longer the $-Store.

Obamanite mathenomics ... will be another voting issue come Election Day 2024.

I got a phone call inviting me to Supper in the country – I went after the dollar store purchase.

Switched hiking shoes for these before driving to Supper in the country; they remind me of my King Bee's "up" attitude: Bob was always positive.

And, the radio talking heads kept giving me good news reports; the good news reports are welcome after all the negativity the obama-biden-harris cartel have been flogging The People with 😊

Second WIN of the day - the Supreme Court has struck down n.y.'s illegal alien vote {law}; YES!

Supreme Court strikes down n.y. attempt to gather illegals votes:

(https://www.nationalreview.com/news/new-york-supreme-court-strikes-down-law-allowing-non-citizens-to-vote-in-local-elections/)

American Rights are FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS. End of debate ... CIVICS #101

Thank the Lord for Reality Emergency Brakes in black robes!

Now, I’m going to make crochet post covers for my new flip-flop-thongs (pulling up an old Blog Post of mine); so they don’t bite the tender skin between my toes, while I cool my heels in this hot weather 😉

Varied hues to match the colors in my closet 😊

Rubber Thongs w-MOD Easy-Peasy Crochet Toe Post Cover: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2018/07/rubber-thongs-w-mod-easy-peasy-crochet.html

And I’m going to finish my new read before dawn 😊

‘THE BENCH’ – Major Victory, Today

I was being lazy this morning: laying in bed and playing Woodoku on the phone – the plan was to lay there and progress several levels up before the phone ran dead and need to be recharged … then go back to sleep for a bit; generally, just being lazy because I could be 😉

Then, an incoming call interrupted my big Woodoku move … request for a hiking partner at 10 AM. I looked at the time – 30 minutes to rise and shine. Last night’s weather forecast had predicted a high-80’s to mid-90’s temperature for today. Perfect for being lazy; I am not a heat lover. My hair wilts, and I physically melt as my scorched lungs struggle to keep my body balanced and functioning in {alive} mode. Lazy works well for me when the outdoor temperatures rise above 75-degrees.

But I do like to hike; and I enjoy company when I can get it, while hiking.

My Lazy Day Plan had been upended …

Mentally I visualized the overflowing clothes hamper (which I planned to empty tomorrow) – and knew my best shorts were waiting, in the hamper. I do have a spare pair of shorts, so pulled those out of the closet and yanked a tee off a hanger: then, I decided I wanted sunshine on my shoulders (for a nice summer tan effect), so I rehung the tee, and pulled a light summery top over my head.

This does NOT work – the shorts GOTTA GO.

I quickly deduced that the shorts will never work for me – I wore them today because they were all that was available to wear, but they are out the door after today: they will never look right with any top because they do not {fit} my figure, or stature. I’m thinking the frilly top will be scrapped too: it’s a nice top, but reviewing the pictures, I’m thinking it isn’t for me. But it’s what was available to me this morning, so I wore it.

I didn’t get any eye-rolling sideways stares while out and about, so apparently the outfit passed mustard with the masses – but I’m still scrapping it because it doesn’t “pass” with me.

The hike was easy, and enjoyable (no pics because my friend is shy). 4 days into summer, and we finally get summer heat: 95-degrees this afternoon. It was actually a perfect day – even though the temperature was high, the humidity was not; so, my hair didn’t melt and my body wasn't thrown into survival mode 😊

After we finished the hike, I came home and watered my flowerbeds and veggie garden area. I could have put that off a day or two, but my lazy day plans had been upended and I was dressed and out-of-house … so I watered all the hanging flower pots, all the bulb containers (to keep the resting Fall bulbs from drying to death), and all the veggie garden boxes. I also swept the carport so it looks tidy: all that activity took about 2 hours.

Tiger Lilies in bloom; I bought this plant last Spring and it will need repotting by Summer’s end.

My favorite Tiger Lily; it has a sentimental link ... my granddaughter Alyna bought it for me, as a Mother’s Day gift, when she was 6 years old.

Because we really had no Spring to speak of with the late-season cold snap and snowfall, and torrential rainfall until recently; I’m not sure my flowerbeds or veggie garden will produce much of anything this year. The apple trees are full of baby apples, and the blueberries are setting fruit – but the strawberries are struggling, the onions drowned, the beans and squash were chewed to nubs by slugs ... and the flowerbeds look spotty. If they rebound, fine … if they don’t, there’s always next year. The earth cycles as it was designed to do and every now and then we get a bum year: maybe the weather will behave next year.

This year, I’ll just keep watering, reseeding vegetable plants that will match the harvest timeline, and not stress about anything. I really don’t need a veggie garden this year (I have plenty in the freezer from last year), but gardening is in by DNA – gotta do it, no matter what 😉

After the hoses were unhooked from the faucets and rolled into their containers under the faucets, I decided this afternoon would be the day I tackled sitting on {the bench}. I’ve been avoiding that – no real reason to avoid sitting on it, other than that the coho bench is “Bob’s bench”: I bought it for Bob (his youngest brother Kerry, designed and crafted it), and it’s almost become a sacred thing since his spirit left Earth 3½ years ago.

But it needs to be used; if it’s taking up space … it needs to be used.

It’s stupid for me not to sit on it – if Bob were still here, we’d both be sitting on it, side by side: and now, Bob will never sit on it again. It’s stupid for me to let my emotions trip me up; so, this afternoon, I mentally prepared my self to sit on it.

The weather is warming up. My lungs are doing remarkably well, and I can be outside without struggling. I’d like to enjoy sitting on my front porch, enjoying the sunshine. Sitting on the coho bench.

Coho Bench.

I am finally sitting on 'Bob's bench' ... B.I.G. moment; major step forward.

Lunch on the front porch: something new - in for a penny … in for a pound.

Bare feet swinging in the river breeze ... feeling accomplished … and fat & sassy 😉

Sun damage; repair needed asap. This should have been tended to last summer …

Before I called it a day, and got laundry underway (‘lazy’ was officially off the radar by now) – I pulled the solar lights I’d bought earlier this year, out of the shed; and got them ready to soak up the day’s sunrays 😊

A solar light stake, and 2 decorative metal pokes.

The solar light was corralled by the dish drainer ...

'ON' (LED light lit), and ready to power-up outside in the sunshine.

I bought 3 of these for the front porch.

Ready to soak up sun rays ...

Twilight ...

They look real nice in the twilight – and they shine nicely when there is no longer any light in the night sky.

Before I came back inside, I noticed a sliver of pink cloud … odd, but kinda pretty, too 😉

A single sliver of pink cloud in the night sky ...

It’s been a good Shabbat – not the lazy kind of day I had hoped for, but the perfect kind of day Elohim planned for me 😊

La'Chiam~Shabbat Shalom!