I was standing in the kitchen talking to my husband Steven when he noticed me rubbing my foot against the ankle of my other leg.

“What happened to your leg?” he asked as he pointed to a quarter size red lump on my calf.

I leaned over and began scratching the spot he was talking about. “Oh, man! I got eaten alive by mosquitoes last night when the three of us were sitting out on the deck watching the sunset!”

Our son Alex walked into the kitchen and saw me scratching. “What happened?” he asked.

“I was just telling your Dad how bad the mosquitoes were last night.”

“Really?” Alex looked over at Steven. “I didn’t get any bites. Did you?”

Steven shook his head no. “Not a one.”

I stood back up and looked at both of them. “Are you kidding me?” I looked down at my bitten feet. “I must have at least a dozen bites!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders as he opened the cabinet and took out a glass. “I wonder why they went after you and not us?” he asked as he went over to the refrigerator and filled his glass with water.

“Let’s ask Google.” I picked up my phone from the counter and began typing “why does one person get mosquito bites and others don’t.”

I clicked on the first link and scrolled down. “It says the female mosquito is attracted to people who give off more heat and sweat.” I looked at Steven and Alex who both had raised eyebrows but didn’t say a word. “I’m not a heavy sweater!” I cried.

Steven shook his head. “Nope.”

“So that’s completely wrong.” I scrolled down further. “Next it says if you’re a larger person you give off more carbon dioxide and mosquitoes love that.” I looked back at Steven and Alex who were both shaking their heads no. “Nope.” they said in unison.

“Good answer.” I grumbled.

I took a deep breath and looked at the next bullet point, “Okay now it says that it could be perfume or lotions I might be wearing.” I started to laugh. “They say if you want to be serious about not getting bit you should switch to unscented.” I laughed even harder. “That makes complete sense. I’ll switch to an unscented perfume.”

Steven nodded his head. “Lucky for me I’m wearing an unscented perfume right now.”

Alex started to laugh. “Me too.”

I was still scrolling. “Okay, here’s one I can live with.” I turned the phone around so they could both see. “It also say that it could just be my blood type.”

“See, you just have the wrong blood type.” Alex patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t you feel better now?”

I reached down to scratch another bite. “Not yet.”

“You’ve got to stop scratching!” Steven said. “It’s only going to make it worse.”

“I can’t help it!” I tried rubbing the spot instead. “It’s driving me crazy!”

Steven came over to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Maybe tonight when Alex and I go out on the porch you could watch the sunset with us from the kitchen window.”

“That doesn’t sound like much fun.” I sighed.

Alex reached over the sink and opened the window then pointed to their chairs. “See, you’d only be two feet from us.”

“Sure. I’ll just sit on the counter top with my feet in the sink and it’ll feel like I’m right there with you.” I complained.

“Hey,” Steven shrugged his shoulder. “You could always fill the sink with water and soak your bug bitten feet while you talk to us.”

Alex started to laugh as he looked at the grin on my face. “Yup! She’s in!”

My son Alex and I were walking in our neighborhood when I happened to notice a tree in someone’s front yard. I stopped and pointed to one of the berries hanging from the tree. “Is it just me or is everything starting to look like the corona virus?”

Alex started to laugh. “Nope. That certainly looks a lot like the pictures they keep showing us when they’re talking about it.”

“I’ve never seen this berry before.” I took out my phone and snapped a picture of it. “Or maybe I just never noticed it before.” I checked the screen to see if I liked the shot. “That’s a keeper.” I slipped my phone back in my pocket as we continued our walk.

“Why did you take a picture of it?”

“Because I want to post it to a nature group I belong to on Facebook. They’re really good at identifying different plants and trees.”

Alex laughed. “You could just Google it yourself.”

“Nah.” I shook my head. “It’s more fun posting it. The people in the nature group have so much information and they love to share!” I reached in my pocket and took out my phone again. “You know what?” I began scrolling through Facebook until I reached the group I was looking for. “I’m just going to post it now.” I attached the picture with the note, ‘Does anyone know what this is?” hit post and looked over at Alex as I put my phone away. “I bet I have an answer before we even get home from our walk.”

It was a beautiful day out, full sun with a nice breeze. While we were about half way through our walk I decided to check my phone.

“Do you really think you’re going to have an answer this soon?” Alex sounded doubtful as it had only been a few minutes.

Looking at my notifications I could see I had indeed gotten a reply.

“Yup! I got an answer.” I held up my phone out for Alex to see. “It’s a Kousa dogwood.” I went to Google and typed it in. Clicking on the first link I showed the picture of the flowering tree to Alex. “Now I remember them. They were the ones we really liked this Spring with all the white flowers on them.”

Alex took a closer look. “Oh yeah. I remember them.”

Feeling very satisfied I tucked the phone back in my pocket. “See I told you I can always depend on that Facebook group.”

Alex nodded his head and laughed. “I guess I shouldn’t have doubted them.”

We were almost back home when I pulled out my phone again.

“What are you doing now?” Alex asked. “Didn’t they already answer your question?”

“They did. But sometimes they add extra information I wouldn’t have thought about.” I scrolled through my notifications again. “Yup! I was right! More people answered!” I began reading them when I couldn’t help but grimace. “Yuck!”

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked.

I held up the post. “It says the fruit is edible.” I gave a quick shudder and shook my head. “Nope! Not eating one!”

I scrolled down further. “Here’s someone else saying he heard you could make jelly out of them.” I looked at Alex who was shaking his head no.

I quickly went to Google and typed it in. “It’s a thing!” I showed Alex the link to Dogwood jelly.

Alex looked at me with a questioning look on his face.

“Don’t worry. I’m right there with you on that one. No corona tree jelly for us!” I could sense Alex’s relief as I tucked the phone back in my pocket and we headed back to the house.

I was in the middle of washing dishes when I looked out the window and saw a beautiful orange tabby walking down the path we had in our woods.

Quickly shutting off the faucet and grabbing a towel I called out to my son. “Alex! Come here quick!”

Alex came into the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I pointed to the cat that was in our yard. “Doesn’t he remind you of Curly?”

When my sons were little we’d adopted three orange kittens from the same litter and named them after the Three Stooges, Larry Moe and Curly. We lived at a house where the kittens could be outdoors, but in bad weather were able to have access to a heated room off our porch. It had been the perfect setup for them and us.

“I miss having cats.” I sadly said as I watched the tabby walking through our yard.

“Me, too.” Alex patted me on the shoulder. “But we’re all allergic to cats, remember?”

“I know.” I sighed. “I just liked when we’d sit out on the porch and they’d come around for some head scratches.” I smiled as I thought back. “Those three brothers were so crazy.”

Alex laughed. “When I’d come home from school they’d all be waiting for me at the end of the porch.”

We watched as the tabby wandered around our yard.

Alex looked over at me. “You know, it’s not the first time I’ve seen that cat in our yard.”

“Really?” I was surprised.

Alex started to laugh. “You know you could just start feeding him and maybe he’d come around more often.”

I looked over at Alex. “Oh my gosh!” I clapped my hands together. “That’s a great idea!”

Alex looked confused. “I wasn’t being serious.”

“But I am!” I looked back at the cat. “It’s a perfect solution! No cat box, not cat hair on the furniture and I’ll still be able to enjoy a cat!”

“You’re going to starting leaving food out for him?” Alex didn’t look convinced.

“No, I’m going to get some cat treats.” I was getting more and more excited. “This way we’ll be the house that gives out the special treats and he’ll stop by all the time!”

Alex shook his head. “You do realize he belongs to someone else?”

I pointed to the tabby as it rolled around in the grass. “He’s someone’s outdoor cat. I’m sure they know he roams the neighborhood, so you’d think they’d be happy he was making friends.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Complete sense.” I looked back at the tabby and began tapping my finger against my chin. “So

what do you think we should call him?”

Just then my husband Steven came into the kitchen and saw the two of us looking out the window. “What’s happening out back?” he asked.

Alex looked over at him. “Mom’s planning on sharing the neighbors cat by giving it treats so it’ll come around more often, and now she’s trying to think of a name for him.”

Steven looked out the window. “What about Shemp?”

“Ah, the fourth little known Stooge.” I looked over at Steven. “I like it!”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched one of our chipmunks scurry across the yard, leaping from stone to stone, hiding in our fire pit only to reappear and make a quick dash to go under our grill.

“I wonder if he lives under there?” I asked my son Alex as we sat on the porch and watched.

“I think he lives by the garbage cans.” Alex said as we waited for the chipmunk to come out from under the grill.

“Yuck! The garbage cans certainly wouldn’t be my first pick for a choice spot of real estate.” I leaned back in my rocking chair so I could get a better view of our grill.

Finally the little guy peeked his head out from under the grill and slowly went over to the edge of our sidewalk only to instantly freeze looking over at us.

“Geez, I think we spooked him.” I leaned forward to give him a little privacy.

“There he goes!” Alex said pointing to the empty spot where the chipmunk once stood.

“Did he run to the garbage cans?” I leaned back to see.

“Nope. He went right under our sidewalk.” Alex looked over at me. “He must of made a tunnel under it.”

I got up to go check. As I got closer I could see he’d made a small hole. I looked back at Alex. “He’s so smart he dug it right next to our sprinkle head so you can barely see it.” I walked back to the porch. “I think I’ll give him a little house warming gift.” I went to our bird seed container and reached inside where I kept the bag of peanuts. Grabbing a handful I went back to his hole and placed the peanuts on the sidewalk next to his entrance. “Now he’ll get to feel the same thrill I do when FedEx drops a package at my door!”

I came back to the porch and Alex and I continued on with our conversation.

It wasn’t long before I was putting one finger up to my lips mouthing “Shh.” while I pointed another finger in the direction of the chipmunk. Alex turned to see the chipmunk sitting back on it’s hind legs while he quickly broke open the shells and stuffed the peanuts in his mouth. Once they were all in his mouth he darted back down his hole.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Treasure coming right to your doorstep! It can’t get any better than that for him! I know I love it when I get a present at the door!”

I went and got more peanuts only this time I shelled them for him. “Time to make it even easier for him!” I went back to his tunnel entrance and sprinkled them around.

Back up on the porch we sat and waited.

It wasn’t long before the chipmunk scampered across the lawn and right over to the peanuts. I looked over at Alex. “He must have come from another one of his entrances.” I said as we watched him stuffing his mouth with the nuts.

Just as he was almost finished another chipmunk came out of the hole where the peanuts were placed and began chasing the peanut stuffed chipmunk around the yard. We could hear his squeaks of protest.

I looked over at Alex and shrugged my shoulders. “I guess even chipmunks have to worry about porch pirates stealing their packages from their doorsteps just like we do.”

I was sitting on the couch with a book laid open across my lap, my bare feet tucked under a warm cozy blanket, when my son Alex came into the room.

“What are you up to?” he asked.

“Trying to make it through this book.” I sighed.

Alex sat down next to me. “What’s it about?”

“It about mental illness and ghosts.”

Alex laughed. “Sounds fun!”

I laughed with him. “It is interesting. It’s just that it takes place at a university and I swear the author gets so involved in explaining certain classes that I feel like I’m auditing the courses!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “So why don’t you stop reading it?”

“What?” I shook my head in disbelief. “I couldn’t do that!”

Alex looked confused. “Why not?”

“Because I have to find out how it ends!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders again. “Hey, if it’s not interesting…”

I cut him off. “I didn’t say it wasn’t interesting. I’m just saying the course load this character is taking is pretty intense.”

Alex laughed again. “If I don’t like a book I just stop reading.” He put his feet up on the coffee table. “I remember one time I was on the second to last page of a book and just said nope can’t do it and put it down.”

“Are you kidding me?” I was dumbfounded. “You got that far and you couldn’t push through a few more pages to see how it ended?”

Alex shook his head no. “At that point I didn’t care how it ended.”

“Wow!” I was truly surprised. “I could never do that. I mean, I might skim through some pages hoping for it to get interesting again, but I could never not find out how it ended.”

Alex reached for a pillow and put it behind his head. “The Laundry News by Andrew Clements.”

“What?”

“That was the name of the book.”

I picked up my phone and Googled the book. When it popped up I showed him my phone. “It’s a kid’s book.”

“I know.” he looked over at my phone. “Yup, that was it. I think I was in fourth grade when we had to read it.”

I put my phone down and just looked at him.

After a moment Alex noticed I was staring at him. “What?” he asked.

“I can’t believe you not only remember the name of the book but who the author was from when you were ten years old!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders again and smiled as he got up from the couch. “What can I say. I’ve got a good memory.”

“I’ll say.” I reached down and picked up my book and let out a short sigh. “Well, I guess it’s time for me to get back to class.” I scanned the page to see where I’d left off.

“Have fun!” Alex called over his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen. “Maybe class will be over soon and you can get back to the ghosts.”

I sighed again. “I can only hope.”

I was in the kitchen with my son Alex when I picked up a box that contained an herb garden kit my sister Liz had given me. “Want to help me put this together?”

“Sure. What do we have to do?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s just stick some seeds in dirt.” I opened the box and began setting the contents on the counter. Planting pots, nine different seed packets and soil discs. I held up the little bamboo plant signs to show Alex. “These are cute!”

Alex nodded as he pulled out the direction booklet. He pointed to that saying that was on the front cover. “Plant your way to joy.”

I laughed as I took the booklet from him. “Let’s see if that’s true.” I began leafing through the booklet when I noticed the heading on page four. “Uh-oh!” I turned the booklet so Alex could see. “It’s never a good sign when it says ‘before you start’.”

I scanned down the page. “It wants us to soak the seeds in warm water for twenty-four hours before we plant them.” I looked at Alex and shrugged my shoulders. “I’ve never heard of that before.” I scanned down further. “Oh, it says it increases their chances for germination if you soak them first.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I guess we’ll be planting our way to joy tomorrow.”

“I guess so.” I began opening the cabinets looking for something to soak the seeds in. “This is getting more involved then I expected.” I pulled out a small juice glass. “I’m going to need nine of these.” I put the juice glass back. “Too big and not enough of them.”

Finally the last cabinet I opened I saw my husband Steven’s shot glass collection. “Perfect!”

I began lining them up on the counter while Alex put a little plant sign in each glass. After filling the glasses with warm water we opened the seed packets and poured them in.

“You can’t even see some of these seeds they’re so small.”

I was peering into one of the glass when my husband Steven walked into the room.

“What are you guys up to?”

“We’re planting an herb garden.” I looked over at Steven. “Did you know you’re suppose to soak the seeds before you plant them?”

Steven nodded his head yes. “It’s increases their chances for germination.”

“How did you know that!”

Steven laughed. “Because I’ve gardened before.”

“I’ve gardened before!” I cried.

Steven just stared at me.

“Okay, fine.” I sighed “Maybe buying a tomato plant and putting it on the back deck isn’t technically gardening.” I made air quotes with my fingers as I said the word gardening.

Alex laughed as he pointed to the shot glasses. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t technically gardening either.”

“Hey!” I swatted him on the arm. “You’re suppose to be helping me!”

“I am!” Alex said. “I’ll help you plant your way to joy tomorrow.”

Now that we were spending our pandemic summer at home, I wanted to think of more ways to entertain myself in the back yard. This led me to pick up my phone and order a bird bath.

The day it arrived I couldn’t wait to install it.

While I sat in my rocking chair on the back porch I called out to my husband Steven who was holding the bird bath by the edge of our woods.

“A little more to the left!” I called.

Steven moved it over. “How’s that?”

“Maybe just a smidge more.”

I rocked back and forth in my chair making sure it was always in my view. “That’s perfect!”

Steven staked the base into the ground so it wouldn’t tip over in a wind storm.

I grabbed the watering can and went inside to fill it with water. Coming back out I poured the water in and swished my hand around. “Perfect temperature.”

I stepped back to admire it. “They’re going to love this!”

We could hear the distant rumbling of a storm coming. I looked up at the dark clouds pushing their way in and moments later the rain began to fall. We hurried inside to wait out the storm.

A few hours later the rain stopped and the sun was out.

When I peeked out the front window I saw a foggy mist rising from the blacktop in the street. I looked over at Steven who was sitting on the couch. “I wonder if the rain cooled things down a bit.” I headed for the front door to check.

“Nope!” I called as I stepped outside and stood on the front porch. “Oh, come on! Are you serious?”

Steven came out and stood next to me. “What’s wrong?”

I pointed to the end of our driveway where two robins were splashing around in a puddle. “I get you a beautiful new bird bath and you’d rather play there?” I called to them.

I looked over at Steven as he shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe they haven’t seen it yet?”

I looked back at the robins. “It’s right out back.” I pointed my thumb over my shoulder. “It’s like a day spa for birds back there!”

The robins continued their fun at the end of our driveway.

I shook my head and looked back at Steven. “Seriously? They’d rather splash around in a mud puddle.”

Steven took me by the shoulders and steered me back in the house. “Let’s get you back inside before the neighbors see you talking to a couple of birds.”

I was confused. “I’ve always talked to the wildlife. You’ve seen me do it hundreds of times.”

“I know.” We were standing in the foyer as Steven closed the door behind us. “But it’s usually on the back porch where no one else can hear you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not like I think they’re going to talk back to me!”

“I know that.” he leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. “But the neighbors might not.”

My son Alex came into the living room where I was sitting on the couch having my morning cup of tea.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” he asked.

I looked over at the thermostat that showed the outside temperature. “It’s already 82 degrees out.”

“I know. It’s suppose to go up to 100!” He looked over at the thermostat too. “I thought we could get a walk in before it got too hot out.”

I put my cup of tea on the coffee table. “You’ve got a point. If we’re going to get one in today it should be now.” I got up and headed to my bedroom. “Give me a minute to get my sneakers on and I’ll meet you at the front door.”

Once we opened the front door and stepped out it felt like we’d walked right into a steam room! “Well, that certainly smacks you right in the face!” I said as the humidity hit us.

“The airs so thick it feels like we’re swimming.” Alex added as we looked at one another.

“Do you still want to take a walk?” I asked trying to keep the hopefulness that he’d say no out of my tone.

“We might as well get it in before it gets any worse.”

“Good answer.” I said as I nodded my head feeling that it was anything but a good answer.

We weren’t even at the end of our driveway when I could feel the beads of sweat begin forming on my upper lip.

Alex stopped at the sidewalk and looked both way. “Which way do you want to go?”

“Whichever way has the most shade.”

Once we began our walk I noticed our pace picked up whenever we were in full sun as we headed for the next shady patch. Twenty minutes had gone by without much conversation, just putting one foot in front of the other, when I looked over at Alex and noticed he didn’t seem to be sweating. I looked down at my dark green tee shirt that was now sweat soaked, pulling it away from my skin. “How are you doing that?” I asked.

“Doing what?”

“Not sweating!” I was wiping my forehead against the sleeve of my shirt.

Alex looked over at me. “WOW!” he looked around the neighborhood. “Did you walk through someones sprinkler?”

“Very funny.” I began flapping the bottom of my shirt trying to make some kind of breeze. “How come you’re not sweating?”

“I’m sweating.” he pulled at his white tee shirt to show the tiny wet mark that was under his arm. “See?”

I could feel beads of sweat now rolling down my face. “That’s not sweating.” I looked up the road and could see our house in the distance. “Thank goodness!” I cried.

When we reached our front steps I went ahead of Alex.

“Wow! You should see how wet the back of your shirt is!” he said as he followed me into the house.

The blast from the air conditioner felt like a slice of heaven as I stood in the front foyer.

“I’m getting some water. Do you want some?” Alex asked as he headed for the kitchen.

“That would be great.” I couldn’t move as I waited for my body temperature to go down.

“Maybe we can try another walk after dinner, when it cools down again.” Alex called from the kitchen.

I shook my head no until Alex reappeared and I quickly nodded yes and smiled as he handed me my glass. “That sounds like a great idea!”

My son Alex and I were out for a walk at a local park. As we came around a bend in the path we saw that the tennis courts were filled with players.

“I was never really good at tennis.” I pointed to the two on the court that were hitting the ball to one another. “Even when I played like that, where you’re trying to hit it directly to the other person.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Never mind when you’re really playing the game and you’re trying to make them miss.”

Alex looked over at me. “When did you play tennis?”

“In high school.” I shook my head. “Like I said, I wasn’t very good at it.”

Alex started to laugh as we moved past the tennis courts and stepped aside for a couple of bikes to pass us. “Didn’t you always say you hated gym when you were in school?”

I looked over at him confused. “Sure I did. Who wants to get all sweaty then have to head back to class.” I shuddered “It’s disgusting.”

Alex laughed even harder. “So how did you expect to get good at a sport if you wouldn’t practice?”

“I practiced.” I looked over at him again. “We played tennis for almost a whole semester!”

“But you just said you didn’t like to get sweaty.”

“So?”

“That’s not practicing!” Alex wasn’t even trying to hold back his laughter. “That’s standing there hoping the ball gets hit right to you!”

I shrugged my shoulders again. “This being said by someone who was always good at sports.” I reminded him.

Alex was still laughing. “That’s because I spent hours and hours practicing. Don’t you remember all the soccer, baseball and basketball practices you dropped me off at?”

“Oh, yeah.” It began coming back to me. I looked over at him and smiled. “I completely forgot about all that.” I patted him on the shoulder. “You’ll be happy to know I always thought you were naturally gifted in sports.”

“Nope.” he shook his head. “Hours and hours of practice.”

We could see the parking lot, where our car was parked, at the end of the path. “Well, I admire your dedication.”

“Hey, you could still take up tennis now.”

I stopped in my tracks and looked over at him. “Have you met me?” I couldn’t help but shake my head. “Do I look like a person who going to spend hours practicing a new sport?” I began walking to the car again.

“You’re always complaining that you want to fit more exercise in your day.” Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just saying it’s a great way to get some exercise.”

Opening my door I looked over the roof of the car at Alex who was standing by the passenger door. “I was talking about more walks in a day.”

Alex held up his hand. “Hey, I was only making an suggestion.”

I shook my head as I climbed in the car. “Tennis.” I snorted and started to laugh. “Like that would ever happen.”

“Hey, I didn’t know we had a Rose of Sharon bush in our yard.” I was looking out our dining room window at its beautiful purple flowers that had just begun to bloom.

“We don’t.” My husband Steven said as he came over to take a peek. “Well, would you look at that.” he laughed. “I guess one escaped from the neighbors’ property.”

When our new neighbors moved in, a little over a year ago, there had been several Rose of Sharon on the edge of their property. Last fall when they put up their stockade fence the Rose of Sharon were where they wanted the fence to go so, we sadly watched as they pulled the bushes out.

Now I couldn’t help but smile as I slipped on a pair of flip-flops and headed out the back door with Steven following right behind me.

“I’ve always wanted Rose of Sharon in our yard.” I said over my shoulder as I came closer to the plant.

“You have?” Steven came and stood next to me. “You never mentioned it.”

“That’s because I didn’t know I wanted one until just now!” I leaned down to see that the bush had been planted close to our chain link fence and had woven itself through the links and popped out on our side. “How come we never noticed this before?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it was so close to all the others that we just assumed it was on their property.”

I reached up to touch one of the delicate flowers. “Aren’t they beautiful.” I looked along the branches and could see dozens of buds that were ready to pop. “I think this is my favorite color, too.” I pulled the branch with the purple flower closer wondering if there was any fragrance. “Nope. No smell at all.” I looked over at Steven. “I guess that’s good news for you and Alex.”

Our son Alex came out on the back deck. “What’s good news?” he asked.

“Our new Rose of Sharon doesn’t have a scent, so it won’t be giving you any allergy attacks.”

Alex came over and looked up at the bush which was well over eight feet tall. “When did you plant that?”

“We didn’t.” I looked over at him and smiled. “It was a gift.”

“A gift?” he looked confused.

I pointed to the bottom of the plant that had worked its way between our fence. “It escaped from the neighbors’ yard and now it lives with us!”

“All right.” Alex laughed. “I guess, congratulations.”

“Thank you.” I called as he headed back to the house. I looked over at Steven then back at the new addition to our yard. “I really do feel like a got a present today.”