so, if we're not going to turn iraq into a shiny democracy for the middle east: why did we go in the 1st place and why are we still there?!?!?!?!

Most of this summer has been relatively dry 'round these parts. Dry enough that I got concerned before the 4th of July that we hadn't had enough rain for corn (turns out, I was right to be worried). I'm facing thunderstorm #3 in less than a week. The previous 2 occurred in the wee hours of the morning. And man oh man these babies were big. Scary big. Grace leaping out of bed and hiding under the bed big. I'm not sure if it's being so close to the lake or the very very very tall trees on the property, but I haven't lived in a place that highlights storms like this in a long time. My bed shakes. I'm convinced something has been hit out back. It's incredible. The sad thing is that it's too little too late for my beloved farmers. And, if anything, these storms are more damaging than helpful right now.

I did hit the market, of course, this morning: melon, the last of the red Haven and white peaches of the season, dinosaur kale, yellow and red heirloom tomatoes, gouda cheese and eggs, fresh whole wheat bread, and romaine. I'm still working my way through the carrots I bought last week and the green beans. Ohhh! And the purple peppers! Oh hell, I just remembered I even had those purple peppers! I'm starting to get a little sad about the end of the season. I've really had an amazing time shopping and cooking this way. It's been time consuming, but completely worth it. And actually instead of spending a minimum of an hour in Meijer, I spend less time shopping and more time processing and preparing meals. Which is how I enjoy spending my time.

No word yet on the poetry front. It's crazy how crazy it has made me. Tonight marks 2 weeks since I submitted and I've heard nothing. One of the places I'm not expecting to hear from for a few weeks--they have a 2 to 4 month response time. But the one should be any day now. Technically the reading period for the next issue isn't closed until August 31st which means I've hopefully managed to catch the editor's eye enough to keep me in contention as if he really thought it was awful I would have heard. This is good. This not hearing.

If only it didn't make me so crazy!!!!!