Is it true, gaillardia,
you amazing bit of flora,
that your common name
springs from the bright
and beautiful blankets
made by Native Americans,
pulling inspiration from
Mother Nature’s palette?
Oh! I do hope so!
I’m drawn even more
to your astounding blossoms,
and think of the unparalleled artistry
of Native American weavers
leaving threads of history and beauty
in the tapestry of life.

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Photo – Sharon Vander Meer (c)

It must be the weather. Scorpions (or vinegarroons?) have invaded our home. Yeah, I know, right? Terrifying to a squeamish hater of all things creepy crawly. I know, I know, every creature on earth has its place in the greater scheme of things, but not in my house, thank you very much. And, yes, the exterminator has been here – twice – and the residual effect of the spraying has slowed the creatures down, and in most cases brought about their demise. And yet, even the dead ones give me the willies.

On a related note, my poor husband has the lasting evidence of a brown recluse spider bite on his leg. The reason I called the exterminator in the first place about three weeks ago. The ER doc said the purple-black spot will likely never go away as the spider’s poison killed the cells in that area. Yikes. All the more reason for me to be unwilling to make friends with the creepy crawly world. Strangely, Bob never experienced pain or itching in the small, affected area but it is not a pretty sight.

Curiously, when I mentioned the bite in the company of several women, three said they had been bitten by a brown recluse or knew someone who had been bitten. In a separate conversation on a different day, I got similar responses. So, the buggers (no pun intended) must be on the move. To be clear, these reports didn’t happen recently but spread over time. Still scary to my way of thinking.

Whether the heat has caused robust insect activity is a matter of speculation on my part, but the heat is definitely affecting all of us in one way or another. The day Las Vegas broke the record with a 100-degree temperature is the day I briefly considered getting an air conditioner of some kind. But the question of what kind stymied me. And then it cooled off, kind of, and we had a burst of rain, which really helped. And then… nothing. And it’s heating up again. We have fans going all over the house to move the air around. Insufficient but it works… sort of, more or less. I took the photo at right the day a mix of hail and rain came crashing down. The hail drummed on the roof, knocked branches off the trees and stripped my potted plants. They’re springing back, despite monster grasshoppers taking nips and rips from everything!

Yes, it has been a weird, weird summer.  Despite it all, I’ve managed to find time to be creative. Here’s some recent poetry.

TEACUP
Floral swirls
in colors bright
you hold
the musings of my heart
in each sip
of warm tea,
taking me down
the path of memory.

STAR
Set in the heavens
twinkling a winking glow
alight with your brilliance
ruling the night, star of the show.

PAIN / LOVE
Pain and love,
four letter words
filled with angst.

FLOWERS
Gardens flourish and flowers bloom,
growing hearts and making room
for joy to fill us up,
an ever overflowing cup.

IN THE STILLNESS
Silence beckons;
walk into its solitude
to find peace.

Time stops.
Welcome the comfort
of quiet meditation
full of light

Breathe deep,
slow your mind,
attune your self
to the stillness.

TREES
Trees are said
to come from a single root
that weaves
throughout the world,
feeding, nurturing, sustaining
the forests, maintaining
the beauty we all need.
Did it come from a single seed?
Did it spring from Eden
in the long ago?
Is the root instead
the Root of humanity,
the progenitor of us all?
God, our protector.

SANTOS
Art emerges under the deft hands
of a skilled crafter of retablos and bultos,
images sometimes simple and plain,
other times brilliantly carved,
striking in color and execution.
The artisan chooses; God inspires.

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Photo of spider – UC Riverside website archive
Photo of storm – Sharon Vander Meer (c)