Day 5 Journal

Today, as I sit down to write, it is beginning to storm outside. The rain is coming down in buckets, lightning is flashing brightly in the dark sky and the thunder is crashing loudly. I love a good rainstorm and when I am done with my journal, I am going to go sit on my front porch and enjoy it! My garden is certainly appreciative of the water, though it may be just a little too much all at once. Last night it also stormed and this morning I had to set some of my tomatoe plants back up. My pepper plants really liked it, they are standing straight and tall with lots of little peppers visible. I have picked one small one so far, and I cant wait for the rest to be ready. I know that the watermelons really like the rain. I have quite a few of those as well, with the largest ones being the size of softballs. I cant wait until they are ready! There is nothing in the world like a fresh watermelon. Yesterday, I sent my son out to the garden to pick "a" cucumber if one was ripe, and he returned with a large bowl full of them! I think that there were about 8 of them all together. Luckily a friend had stopped by about that time, so I sent several of them home with her. I am beginning to worry about my tomatoes a bit. It seems that the Japanese beetles have finally found the garden and have begun to munch their way through the tomatoes. Now I dont mind sharing with the bugs a little because they have to eat too, but these beetles are like the houseguest that raids your refridgerator in the middle in the night and leaves you with nothing to eat the next day! I dont think I have ever met such a destructive bug. I thought about some traps, but I have heard that they just attract more bugs, so I will take my chances with a little sevin dust. I had hoped to avoid any chemicals in my garden, but if I dont do something, I won't have any garden at all. I had hoped to have ripe tomatoes for my July 4th cookout, but all I have are green ones. I even bought a variety called "Early Girl" thinking they would be ready early, but no such luck. I have picked a few zucchini, and one yellow squash as well as a bunch of lettuce. I even tried something new, and grilled one of the zucchini! Taste of perfection. I passed a church today while driving that had a garden that was easily four times the size of mine( mine is 20x30), and there was a sign posted at the local convenience store that the church was giving away fresh vegetables to any one who wanted them or could use them. To me, that is what gardening is all about. Feeding yourselves and feeding others. It also demonstrated to me what I believe is the Christian way. I know that a lot of people must have put in a lot of work to make it happen. I know that my own garden took many hours of time to prepare and maintain. This group of people did it for the good of the citizens of the community, without regard for the time and energy needed. They did it just because it is the right thing to do. I hope to be able to donate some of my harvest to the community center that is just down the road from my house. They provide clothing and household goods free of charge to anyone in the community who needs it. My harvest can be my way of giving back to my community and helping out someone I will never meet. The idea of my harvest providing a meal on someone elses table nearly moves me to tears. I hope that the beetles find something else to munch on besides my vegetables! Maybe next year I can find a better way to get rid of them besides insectacide. I will have to do some research on organic gardening. There has to be a good bug out there that likes to eat Japanese beetles and wont eat my garden. Looks like the rain is about over now. but it sure did come down hard there for a bit. Still thundering and lightening though. Its almost like mother nature decided to put on her own fireworks display. Just in time for the Fourth of July. I have the scanner on and it sounds like a few places are flooded from all the rain. I hope all the drivers out there use a bit of common sense and dont try to drive through the floods. It seems like every time, someone thinks they can drive through a flooded road and then the local fire department has to do a water rescue. I seem to be running out of things to write about tonight. Didn't get much sleep tonight and got  up early this morning to take the family to the lake. Now that was fun! We even took all 3 dogs with us and they had a blast. They got to chase sticks, tennis balls, and a frisbee. They must have been swimming for about 2 hours all together. Even the Jack Russell likes to go swimming. They were so tired when we got done that all three of them slept the whole way home and then for about 2 more hours after we got home. One of the dogs is an aging black Lab, who is about 14 years old now. But to see her jumping through the water and swimming for hours, you would never guess she was that old. Her grey hair on her chin does give it away, as well as the fact that her teeth are wearing down but she is still a puppy at heart. Sometimes her hips bother her, especially in the winter, so the swimming is really good exercise for her. The third dog is a Golden Retriever who is about 5 now. He tends to be a stick hog  in the water, not letting the other dogs have it and sometimes, if you throw two sticks in the water, he will grab both of them! He has also figured out that the best place to lay when it's hot is right in front of the fan. Good thing I dont have central air or he would probably lay on top of the vent and block all the air from everyone else. Okay, now I really am out of things to write about for tonight. I hope to have more to say tomorrow.