HEY! I’m NOT DEAD!!!!!!

Imagine, if you will, waking up some morning in a cold, wet, muddy trench on the front line over in Ukraine. How did I get here? Where am I? What’s happening? That’s about what it’s felt like for me in the past month or two. All kinds of confusing things hit, from becoming a victim of identity theft to getting a virus installed at a computer-repair place, to struggling with the unfamiliar complexities of Windows 11, to losing both my blogsite and Facebook accounts, to having my email address mysteriouslychange 3 times to having a heart attack and being forced to take a statin drug in the hospital — which made me terribly ill (they wouldn’t listen to me when I told them I couldn’t tolerate statins). Ah — the list went on & on….

Over the years I’ve come to believe that when things go badly, when people mistreat you, when you’re not respected and valued — it’s the Universe’s way to pointing you in a different direction. So I’m wondering right now what the Universe is trying to tell me. Or possibly it may be that I was supposed to connect with someone to give them a new outlook on something.

I remember the cardiac doctor in the hospital. He sat on a nearby bed and said, “You were dying in the ambulance!” I sat there, smiling, which he apparently didn’t expect. “Aren’t you afraid of dying?” he asked.

No, I wasn’t. “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve traveled all over the world, seen all kinds of things, I’ve painted on the French Riviera, hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, hunted wild, edible mushrooms on extinct volcanoes in Mexico. I may not look like it, but I’ve seen and done quite a lot! And when I die, my energy will scatter again out into the Universe!” He had no reply. Maybe my answer gave him something to think about.

So anyway — Ash, the kind person at the Verizon store in Charlevoix helped me get my blog site back this morning! Thank you, Ash!

OK — back to this painting. Of course it was a struggle and once again, I vowed never to use that fabric again. Yadda-yadda. Promises, promises. As I’ve said before, I love a good struggle. The Indian corn I’d saved from last year. I was lucky to find any even then. Nobody seems to want to grow it around here. About that pumpkin — Google sez:

A peanut pumpkin, or Galeux d’Eysines, is a unique French heirloom pumpkin known for its salmon-pink skin covered in rough, peanut-like warts, which form from sugar oozing out as it matures, making it super sweet and ideal for baking, soups, or roasting. This decorative yet delicious squash offers moist, orange flesh with flavors of sweet potato and apple, perfect for pies, breads, or savory dishes, and stores well after curing.