When President Donald Trump, atop his bully pulpit on Monday, stumbled over the pronunciation of acetaminophen while making his entirely unfounded claim to American women, and, by extension the world, that his administration had absolutely decided without any evidence whatsoever that the drug, when taken during pregnancy, was linked to autism, further instructing that pregnant women should “tough it out” without pain relief or fever reduction, the headlines kept the story aloft as if batting an air-filled balloon between warring toddlers.
Sunday, September 28, 2025
Harm's way
Sunday, September 21, 2025
The Scoop Wars
“I see you got the Whisker 4000 SX,” my neighbor nodded.
It probably wasn’t an exact quote, but it’s what I thought I heard as I tilted my head and stared blankly at her over the fence.
I understood the words individually, but when strung together, they lacked meaning.
“I must have missed an important context. What now?”
“Evidently, you missed the package the delivery truck dropped on your front porch this morning … it looks like you guys got a kitty litter robot.”
“Not guys,” I think sourly. One. Guy.
The H.U.S.B.A.N.D.
He’d be The Guy.
The next realization caused me to erupt into flames.
I know we discussed this ….
We talked about the potential of investing in an automated poop raking machine not only to improve my life (as the chief pooper scooper), but also the lives of our kind and generous neighbors with whom we’ve traded pet care for years. It might also improve the air quality, especially during the summer months when the stifling, odoriferous air tends to stagnate in that part of the house, making the prospect of receiving guests mortifyingly unpleasant.
But aside from the smelly cats, and the man’s guilt reflex being even more reactive than his gag reflex, I had reservations.
The $600 price tag was a big one.
I thought changing cat litter and resolving to scoop at least once a day would be sufficient.
I mean … Even if we didn't have college and car payments and a faltering economy to worry about, I feel like I said quite clearly that I didn’t want to purchase another electrified gadget that measured and analyzed a formerly analog chore that had historically fallen on me to perform.
But the neighbor was right. There it was. On the porch. Blocking the door.
Where would it even fit? The way I saw it, we would have to reconfigure the cats’ powder room (a hallway utility closet) to accommodate its size, which is comparable to a standard washing machine.
I didn't want its smirking, smart technology showing off OR sending reports into the cloud that I would now be required to follow and obsess about.
I certainly didn’t want to be the one to troubleshoot the equipment or re-train the cats.
RE-Train the cats?
I didn’t even have that on my radar until finding a urine-soaked pet bed three days after he’d set up the machine, sans directions.
“One of our fearsome felines is not happy about your new amusement poop ride,” I groused, depositing the sodden textile into a trash bag.
He scratches his head.
“Maybe … it’s the height,” I suggest. The cat is getting older, maybe it's harder for her to make that higher leap? Or maybe the problem is the channeled step, designed to separate the litter from the little paws. Like a grate, the sensation may be something she’d like to avoid?” Perhaps we’ll have to cover it with something so she’ll use it to make the step up?”
With a satirical wink and nod to his mastery over the situation, he was adamant that I should not worry-my-pretty-little-head-about-it.
Which I naturally assured him, I would not.
“You know … I’ve had a think and feel as if I overreacted before. I should have told you how fantastic I think it is that you are taking over the cat poop duties.”
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Untended Consequences
I felt the dryness of the tendrilling vine as I grasped the offending weed and gave it a hard tug. It was only afterward - its withered remains sprawled out in a wheelbarrow – that I recognized the sting of a thousand tiny thorns the “volunteer” had used to try and defend itself from my attempts to tear it, stem and root, from its hiding place beneath my admittedly inglorious hydrangea.
I assume the blame.
Last year, the blooms were so large and plentiful they obscured their own leafy greens. I didn’t take credit for them, though, since the entire neighborhood was brimming with stunning floral poms.
My gardening skills, I will tell you, are, almost in their entirety, knowing the difference between the things I’ve planted and the things that came in on the wind. What I think sets me apart from other black thumbs is how I might decide long after the season ebbs which of the weedy plants I will try to nurture next year.
It’s not pretty, but the planter box is littered with evening primrose, juniper, and any number of seedlings I didn’t plant.
“This is just one of a thousand reasons gardening is just NOT my thing,” I tell myself as I tend to the burning in my hand more closely.
The “burrs” looked innocuous enough. Flat, brown little flakes - like loose tobacco - sticking to the meat of my palm. I tried to brush them off, but only managed to transfer them and their burning sensation to my other hand.
This could be the ghost of a thistle I planted several years ago for its purulent purple flowers. I had the cheeky thoughts back when I’d reluctantly become a gardener that I would only plant risquély named or appearing flora.
I imagined nonchalantly telling anyone who asked after the identity of the pretty pink flowers dipping their clustered blooms over a shrub of leafy green at the edge of the driveway, “Oh, that’s Hot Lips Turtlehead.”
No one ever asked.
I can’t help but think that was the direct result of my directionless care. For instance, I have no idea what pH number my plants would prefer any more than I know how to make the soil measure up. I also never planned for height or color or lighting needs. Which means each season brings a new surprise.
Some are remarkable, but most of the surprises are unbecoming to a garden.
I know it doesn’t take as much effort as I think it will. A few weed plucks here, a few pruning clips there, will give the garden enough shape to look landscaped.
For all the years my children needed tending at the bus stop, the garden looked unlike nature had always intended.
Those days are long gone. And while I miss them, I have found ways to move on.
As I clear away the prior year’s leaf litter —- again — I toy with the idea of scrubbing it all. Scorching the earth…. mowing it all down … maybe even paving it over so the fruits of past labor can’t revisit.
But I won’t.
I’ll just plan my time better and always wear gloves.
Sunday, September 07, 2025
Call, Waiting
We stood on the street corner, full from a late lunch, just looking at each other silently.