The grass is Riz…

It’s warmed up to 15C today and beautifully sunny.  It began a little cool, but it was a lovely spring day.  There are even daffodils beginning to bloom in a corner of the garden.  I woke up this morning for the first time without pain since last Wednesday!  That felt remarkable.  I’m still pacing myself so I didn’t undertake a lot of high energy activities— in fact, I managed to take a nap this afternoon for a couple of hours.  I feel better, more rested and ready for tonight’s onslaught 😁  Don is clearly missing me because he’s got mildly sick again (always happens when I travel) plus he’s been working on his melon list (“honeydew” 🤪) and every item there requires that I have to be home or in the car for them to be completed.  Almost all of them he’s been delaying — partly because of the weather — but now he’s got my time booked up when I get home.  No comment on that!  Jerry has ignored me during my calls today; he turned his back on me and wouldn’t even flick an ear when I spoke to him.  He’s in full-on sulking mode, and he’ll be in a less than cooperative mode for a few days… I will probably have to grovel for a while when I get home.

The little ones are outside playing in the back yard as it’s warm enough for them to be outside in light sweaters.  My niece is “mowing” the lawn, while my nephew is “driving” around.  Lots of shrieks and happy yells as they burn off some excess energy.  It’s great to see them playing so happily; although in the time I’ve been here they’ve generally been busy and enthusiastic about life, so that’s great.  I love watching my niece dancing.  When a video comes on where there’s a dance, she gets fully involved— to the point of finding her sunglasses to match the look of the performer.  Auntie has had to learn such songs and dances as Baby Shark and the hokey-pokey because the little girl gets so wound up that everyone has to join in the excitement.  The fact that I do this tells you a lot about my level of involvement, doesn’t it?

After some discussion and examinations, we’ve cancelled Netflix.  They locked down the accounts to a “home” network, and any logins out of that have to have a code generated (which they’ll only do a few times) to permit the account holder to “visit”; any other accounts now need to pay a fee (which is only about $2/month less than a full subscription) to “share.”  We realized that many of the shows we watch are not on Netflix, neither are the shows there of much interest to us, so the subscription fees will instead go to other purposes.  I haven’t yet decided on the replacement, so if anyone has a streaming service that they really like I’d be delighted to hear about it.  I’m not inclined to add too many services as I really don’t watch huge amounts of TV and having more choice isn’t going to increase my watching habits.  

Am I the only person who gets involved in the lives of book characters?  I’m going to assume that I’m not, as I’ve discovered a wealth of fan fiction of various genres (of varying levels of quality in storytelling) but then I sometimes feel silly when I’m more interested in a fictional character than in my own life.  I found a story recently that I really enjoy — it’s not great literature, although it’s an engrossing story — and I find that I’m highly annoyed by one of the characters and I’d like to yell at them.  It’s a sign of engagement, I guess, where the individuals take on real personalities.  I considered that in the situation written about I’d have a stronger reaction, and I’m surprised that none of the fictional characters have expressed that opinion, instead they just excuse it.  It’s like watching children in many “family” movies where they are actively disobedient and jeopardize the lives of their parents and siblings.  After that, they’re all too often rewarded and never have to face the consequences of their actions.  That doesn’t sit well with me; if in real life you never face up to what you’ve done, you turn into one of those dreadful, entitled bullies who think that the world revolves around them.  It’s a slippery ride downhill… and frankly, parents really should ensure that they communicate personal responsibility and accountability to their offspring.  The worst examples of what happens when this isn’t done wind up on the front pages — like a 6-year-old who deliberately shoots a teacher; or teenagers who swarm and kill a man for his shoes.  Then there are those who suffer from “affluenza” — where they believe that their money is an absolute shield for them and again, they turn into bullies.  Other headline stories with those, too — like killing a man instead of paying him to buy his truck.  In lesser cases, these are the kids who grow up to complain to the media that they couldn’t travel because they didn’t know they had to have a valid passport before getting on a flight, or those who whine endlessly that they were “never taught” X or Y in school (when it was covered but they were horsing around.)  Yes, I see my curmudgeon peeping out (get off my lawn!!) and I honestly try my best with my many nieces, nephews and godchildren to instruct them to be decent, honourable people and not bullies, whiners or deadweights on society.

That went a little sideways… I just meant to say that sometimes the lives of fictional characters reflect our reality, and a well-written one can spark strong feelings.  Ah well, show, don’t tell!  It’s now bedtime, so I’m off — there is a puppy tummy here to massage, but he’s off playing with the kids, and I’ll join them shortly.  Good night!