planting time

 I finally got something planted!!!

    I know!!  It is almost June and my seeds are not yet in the ground.

    Hopefully tomorrow.

    We have a graduation party in the afternoon, but I hope to go out in the morning and plant carrots, beans and cucumbers.

    Today I planted 2  tomato plants and a pepper plant.

    I got a late start because I had trouble putting my new hand held cultivator together.  My fingers don't work like they used to.  If I dropped a screw once I dropped it 15 times.

    Frustrating, but I put it together and it works.

    I am almost finished with Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain.

    I was fairly surprised by his opinions of people who were not white or Christian.  I know he wrote it in the 1870s, but some of the things he says are what people are saying today.  I think that is sad.

    I never imagined tourism in those days.  It is not a modern phenomenon and the actions of tourists these days are similar to those 100 years ago.

    People in his group wrote on walls, chipped pieces off of rocks and statues and complained about people not speaking English.  And of course, food was often not to their liking.

    He went on this journey with 40 or so other people, including some women.

    They travelled extensively through Europe and the Mid East.

    He said early in the book that the trip cost him $2,500.  I did an inflation index on that sum and today the trip would be around $45,000, a princely sum in both time periods.

    I enjoyed the book, but I also wondered about some of the places he mentioned.  Are they still there?  

    He mentioned dozens of towns in the Holy Land.....and of course Jerusalem and Bethlehem got a lot of print.

    Strangely, I have never had a desire to go there. 

    But reading his descriptions makes me think it would be a wonderful place to visit.

    That's it!

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace