A Case of Summer Blues

     Well, here it is, nearly summer again, and for some of us it already feels like it is and I already have  my case of summer blues.  I would like to pretend it is  some pretty little box I have taken out from cold storage and dusted off, full of pretty blue items, kept just for summer but unfortunately that is not the situation.

     The weather is finally warm, with nights that aren't too cold as to damage seedlings earlier planted in the house, so I finally got  a variety of peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, some zucchini and 2 big pots of  flowers planted outside this weekend. That would normally be a very positive thing, and it in itself was, covered by several long shadows that preceded it and now one that has come after it.

     The shadows that have preceded it are that it has been so freeking dry and windy here, and the population of rabbits has seemed to simply explode, that my entire crop of garden has disappeared, dried up and or been sandblasted by the dirt and wind in the nights. My husband took me shopping and asked me if I wanted  several new flowers to plant and I picked out only worth, he says to me, 

" You can pick  more if you like" and I replied " Pick the ones you would like to see me kill off next".

    

     Because of being ill, I have quite a sensitivity to sunlight. Yes I can go out in  the sun, no I will not burst into flames or anything like that, but yes I am quite sensitive to it, I burn incredibly easily and suffer skin problems due to that.  Yesterday, after being sick for a week and spending most of the week in bed with  a respiratory illness, I was feeling pretty good about finally getting out and doing some work and planting those veggies and flowers.  I wore a long blue jean skirt, a long sleeve shirt, my hat, my hair was down to cover my neck, and I wear sunblock 50 to 80, depending on what  I have on hand. I was in the sun  off and on for 3 hours, and in the shade for 3 hours, thinking I had spent  enough time  covered in the sun, or at least taken enough precautions while in the sun to be alright.  When I got undressed to shower, not only was I a little heat drained, but I was a little *cough* sunburned as well.  The only parts seems spared from the sunburn are my legs, and they are simply quite bruised.  Yes, I bruise like crazy.  So today, I am all greasy from  aloe and lidocane, and keeping lotion all over me, as well as another  nice afternoon that I will be spending IN the house.  Yes the house has AC and yes there are a lot of things I can do inside, but I was looking forward to going outside and doing something again today.

     I do have a wonderful life, I have an incredible husband, we have food on the table, bills are always paid with money left over,  we can always pick what we want for dinner, instead of being stuck with what we can dig up from the closet, we have wonderful pets, we aren't cold in winter and aren't hot in summer, etc... I truly to love my life, I just have a case of summer blues :(