FRIDAY AND WAR DEJA-VU

 At home, I gained 1.06 to 130, which was bad enough, but at T.O.P.S., I soared over my comfort zone to 131.3, having gained .06. Okay, now I'm going to buckle  down and fly right.  Leader Lennie is back from Greece, but the meeting was still a kind of meandering, here and there, this and that, only a fairly small portion of which concerned weight. Sharon outdid herself with this outfit: 

On the sides, her sneakers were edged with the same color blue as in her outfit. I truly wonder where she finds the room to store her clothes and especially her footwear, as so many match; I hate to think how much money she spends on them. Unfortunately, Sharon has great difficulty walking and uses a large walker; she's unable to get out of a car without help.  She has a number of other maladies, too, including diabetes and leg problems. To add to her problems, her husband, Lewis, might have some kind of brain problem, as he just had a PET Scan. They're good people, and I hate to see them failing. Sharon is, however, losing weight pretty steadily. 

Home at 10:00 and the rest of the day was very enjoyable. I had a light breakfast, then Vickie texted Suzanne and me, asking if we want kale.  Her friend has a garden and grew a lot of it. Hey, if it's green, I'll take it and Vickie brought some large bunches over. Of course, like spinach, kale cooks down a lot. I trimmed and washed the stuff, then stir=fried it with oil and garlic. Had a bit after and it was okay, although I prefer spinach. I do feel virtuous when I eat either, though, so I had the rest of it with dinner.

The fun part of the day started when Ellen came about 12:30. We chatted for a bit, then took off for Home Goods, newly opened in Ventura. This place is very large and carries all kinds of imported goods from, it seems, every country in the universe. El bought a few items for her new house, but I passed--just enjoyed looking around. 

We then went to Stone Fire Grille for lunch. I had a yummy salad--can't remember if it was Caesar or Cobb--and good talk, of course. After that , it was off to Lowe's, which is also an overwhelmingly large store. Ellen got a large number of items, including some hardware for her new bathrooms, curtain accessories, and lots of other stuff. I've been looking for flowers that can thrive in part sun, but I didn't see any I liked, so I'll go to Green Thumb sometime.

We were out until 5:15, then Ellen walked me to my door and we said goodbye. What a good, good day it had been and so what if I gained this week?

Today, I'm going to take some things to GoodWill to donate, then hopefully, stop at Green Thumb for clippers and, if I see what I like, perennials that aren't too fussy about sunshine. Tomorrow, I'm going to audition for the Monologue Revue that Fractured Actors is having in August. Must call the Access Van to get me there.   

WIDER:   https://scheerpost.com/2025/06/20/chris-hedges-war-deja-vu/