Monkey Mind

I’ve decided that what I thought was post-project slump is really my frustration with an inability to get a handle on things. I’ve had a string of days when my to-do list went completely out the window and I’ve gotten absolutely nothing accomplished. It reminds me of the time right after DD#2 was born when I thought it was a good day if I was able to take a shower and put on clean clothes. This has been happening for more than a week now, so it isn’t just a disruption due to houseguests. And something similar is affecting other people I know. I said to the husband yesterday that there is a disturbance in the force and it would be great if it would resolve itself already. I was in town yesterday and came upon the aftermath of a car chase through downtown that ended with the suspect driving across the median and running into another car. At 10 a.m. in the morning. Things are happening in Kalispell that never used to happen and I find that unsettling.

I think that was why I went looking for a new sewing project. I did buy the Hipster crossbody pattern and I’d like to make it eventually, but starting a new project is not going to help my brain get out of monkey mind mode and back to higher-level management mode. I need to pick something already on the list and focus on it. Susan said the Duchess of Oldenburg tree is ready to pick. She and I are going to work on that this afternoon and tomorrow will be spent making apple pie filling. Nothing makes me feel quite so productive as a bunch of quart jars full of food lined up on the counter.

[No doubt the universe will take that as a challenge. Bring it on.]

I may also start getting beans in and those rows cleaned up. Some of them are already dry on the vines. I get excited every time I pop open a pod and see the beans inside. (I am so easily entertained.) Our pastor, Jeryl, and I had an interesting discussion yesterday about what constitutes “labor-intensive” gardening, apropos of my bean report blog post. He thinks onions are easy and dry beans are a lot of work. We each come at gardening with a different perspective and it’s fun to compare.

I picked the second watermelon:

This is a variety called Sugar Baby and we grow it every year. The tricky part is knowing when to pick them. My “thunking” test doesn’t always work—last year, I picked one that I thought was ripe and I should have left it for a few more days. If I wait too long, though, we run the risk of losing them to frost. It’s down in the low 40s now every morning and a killing frost is only a few weeks away.

Having DD#2 and her friend here for a few days has had me thinking a lot about food. For dinner Saturday night, we had salad, grilled zucchini, steaks, and grilled polenta. Everything was prepared simply, with no additives, so that DD#2’s friend didn’t have to worry about what she was eating. The two of them hoovered down so much food that even the husband commented on it.

One of my friends posted this on Facebook yesterday:

I know that some people believe meat consumption is destroying the planet. That’s not an argument I want to have here. We raise pork and we do it humanely and with concern for our land. I will say, though, that after looking at the ingredient list in the Beyond Meat patty, I wouldn’t touch one with a ten-foot pole. It has canola oil and maltodextrin in it. Eating one might be good for the environment, but I know that about half an hour later, my joints would start to hurt from inflammation and that’s obviously not good for me. And why would I want to eat cellulose? I’m not a termite.

So you got a bunch of random thoughts in today’s blog post. Hopefully these ripples I’m sensing will smooth themselves out. In the meantime, we’ll just have to carry on and make apple pie filling.