Purple and unwelcome (but thriving)

Despite the dry conditions this summer in the Mid-Atlantic, it looks to me like this is a good year for purple loosestrife in New Jersey.  The thin vertical stems are thriving in low areas and I even saw some in open fields.  Is the state less vigilant this year?  In past years, I'd see a patch of purple loosestrife one week, and the next week it would be gone.  Last week I saw this patch near the intersection of Route 12 and County Road 579, but couldn't stop. I remembered it this week.  

"What a mess, right?"

Brown-eyed Susan

A bystander asked that question as I took pictures of a patch of wildflowers.  Ma'am, it's 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning, and there's a guy in front of you with a camera.   What do you think his answer would be?  (It was "I like wildflowers."  End of conversation.)

Unwelcome Substitution

Source:  Esquire Dubious Achievement Awards, January 1971

End of the road

A couple of years ago, I posted that the Dollar Tree was phasing out 3-packs of Dial Basics hypoallergenic soap and replacing them with 2-packs.  I stocked up on 3-packs and carried on.  

Then Dollar Tree changed to Dollar-and-a-Quarter Tree and I was flinching at paying 62 1/2 cents a bar for something that had been 3 for a dollar.  

But one day, there weren't any two-packs, either.  The next time I visited, still none, and likewise the time after that.  I guess I was thinking they were gearing up to re-introduce three-packs at the new price.

Now here we are, August 2022, and the shelves have been Dial Basics-free for months, and I steeled myself for the worst.  (Where's that tongue-in-cheek font?  I need it about now.)  Tonight, I got the devastating news:

And the thing is, all kidding aside, there aren't many hypoallergenic bar soaps out there, so it's surprising to hear that Dial has abandoned that market.  Ah well, life goes on...

Keeping the birds happy

On the deck, there's sunflower seed, mealworms, and nyjer, and on a good day there are sunflower kernels too.  Now as summer has grown hotter, we're more vigilant to keep the bird bath filled with cool water.  And in the last few days, we've cleared a patch of the mulch it contained when it was a part of our garden, leaving only plain brown dirt that the birds use to take dust baths.  

 

Good Queen Swirly, Illuminated

This afternoon, she happened to decide to get in my lap, and the golden hour sun just happened to be shining over my lap as she happened to raise her head and face it for a few seconds before turning away.  

And I happened to have my phone within reach during those few seconds.

My Sunday

After going to the Palmer Township Lidl yesterday and spending less than $10.00, this morning we went to the Costco and picked up $100+ of stuff.  Mostly supplements for PG.  I walked by the Mexican Coke without any difficulty.

(1) I read Jane Mayer's article about the Ohio legislature in this week's New Yorker

(2) Watched a worn commercial-free kinescope of Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, from 1962  

(3) Read the 1960 article about Lenny Bruce from Esquire

(4) Finished watching Claire's Knee

There's a folder with a lot of articles I printed, saved, and promised myself I'd read another day.  It's a bit smaller today.