Autumn Joy Sedum is now in full bloom in the garden. I'm quite amazed at how well the garden did even in drought this summer. I did water lots from my rainwater cistern. Colorful blooms are about done for the year and even the wild flowers are browning and shriveling. Leaves fall when the wind picks up, gathering to decompose in sheltered places. It is getting chilly at night and I am reminded that the cold, dark, sleepy season will soon be upon us.
On Sunday night we watched the documentary film, Maxed Out. Released 3 or 4 years ago, it is about credit card debt ... how the banks try to maneuver us into paying those astronomical interest fees and our own use of the credit card to keep us in clothes, food, jewelry, cars ... whatever our hungry little hearts desire, when we have little or no money to pay for it all. It is a sad and tragic look at the greed in the banking industry that has recently brought us to our knees.
If you are interested in how we got to where we are today, with banks folding, the market tanking and our government falling into pieces, see this film. Although it is not the about the events of the last couple of weeks, it surely shows how the problems we have today came about. Yes, there has been greed and criminal activity in the higher ranks of our banking industry, but as consumers, we have played a big part in the collapse of our economy as well. The film is available to rent at Netflix or at most neighborhood movie rental shops.
There is also a book, Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit, by James D. Scurlock. Although I have not read it, I intend to. My husband has read it and gave it as a gift to our daughter a few years ago. She immediately stopped using her credit card. Both the book and the movie will make you angry at the way business is done in this country and around the world.
Where have I been, you ask? I've been tending to myself ... my heart has been heavy with the vibrations of the exterior world ... it's trying to hold its own ... feeling grateful for all that I have ... the wonderful people I know ... saddened for the state of this country ... the violence in the world ... the hungry ... the homeless ... and most of all for those who don't see or feel the consequences for what they do.
It's been hard for me to write anywhere about anything, including my journal that I normally jot in every day. I've been saying a lot of prayers ... asking lots of questions and trying to stay as positive as I can.
I know I'm not alone. there are many people feeling the same way. I remind myself on a daily, sometimes hourly basis that I cannot control what is happening in this world and that this too shall pass.
I take solace in meditation, the garden, simply living and the gifts each day brings.
Jerusalem Artichokes
Last week Tropical Storm Fay brought us over 4 inches of rain and things are looking healthy again, though I am noticing today that a few things are once again getting droopy. I'll water them from my full rainwater cistern this evening and look forward to a visit over the weekend by Tropical Storm Hanna, who should slide by to the east of us and leave us with some moderate rainfall. The coast is supposed to get the worst of it, though one really never knows with these storms. The river is fully restored to its normal level and soon the water fowl migration will begin and I'll be on the lookout for interesting sitings.
The heirloom tomatoes are beginning to slow down now and once it cools off I'll replace them with brussel sprouts and broccoli ... two of my favorite cool weather crops. With winters growing warmer here in Virginia I'll hopefully have a bountiful harvest of those.
This computer is going to the shop for about a week to have it's contents moved to another new one, so I'll be off line until I get the new one back and begin to understand its operation. I am such a dinosaur that this is giving me lots of anxiety. I've been putting this move off far too long. I'm getting a lap top this time that I can take with me when I'm off visiting. I don't need this big clunker that takes up so much room.
The other thing causing much anxiety in the household is the political climate. I am so tired off listening to negative attacks and untruths. Double speak abounds this week and we're once again teasing about leaving the country should a certain party remain in power. The problem is that we love this country and in truth we can't escape the stuff that drives us crazy no matter where we go. So it seems best at the moment to not watch or listen to the rhetoric and pray that things will soon be changing.
There are still lots of things to be grateful for, especially that Hurricane Gustov didn't cause the damage and destruction that was possible. It seems great lessons were learned through the Katrina experience and more were learned this time as well.
