Like many people, I can no longer watch the news. I used to look forward to the weekly commentaries of Rachel Maddow and Fareed Zakaria but now even they seem stuck on reporting the same inexplicable erosion of sanity.
Our heatwave was broken early Sunday morning by the arrival of sub-tropical clouds. I tried to catch the symphony in the skies above but alas, iPhone cameras are still not up to task (or I really don’t know how to use them which is far more likely.)
Sunrises like this often remind me of the poem which begins a famous though often misused book:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The world was without form and void,
And darkness was upon the face of the deep,
And the Spirit of God was moving over
The face of the waters
And God saw the light was good:
And God separated the light from the darkness
God called the light Day,
And the darkness he called Night.
And there was evening
And there was morning, one day.
When I went to Sunday school we read stories from the Bible about how nice Jesus was, how brave David was, and how the Wise Men followed the star of Bethlehem to visit the baby Jesus who was lying in his crib surrounded by sheep and goats and chicken because Methodist Jesus was like a Disney heroine – all of the animals loved him. Being that it was a protestant church, we didn’t spend too much time on the miracles or the saints. Nor were we ever told we were going to Hell if we had unclean thoughts or doubted anything in the Bible. It was a pleasant hour of hearing stories followed by cookies and juice.
One good thing about the hot spell was this little guy! Generally we get too much fog for tomatoes to ripen properly. I also noticed that our one grapevine is making the effect to produce grapes.
I doubt this one cluster will produce a decent Merlot!
I don’t understand why anyone who’s read through most of the Bible can think it’s an instruction manual for good moral behavior. I don’t understand why they can’t respect it for what it is. But there are too many things I don’t understand. And so I’ll just focus on growing tomatoes.
PS: A while back I wrote about a memorial for a friend who spent the last twenty years of her life battling to save a piece of shoreline from oil refineries and Indian Gaming Casinos. For those who are interested, here is an update on that effort.
Saying nothing in particular 
I read many parts of the Bible and although the stories are fascinating, some are very hard to believe.
They are! To me, you learn to be a good person by example – not by reading Bible stories.
Exactly, that is what parents are for.
I completely agree with you Jam. A great post, lovely pics!
Jam… lol, you are sweet. JAN.
My initials growing up were JAM!!
That’s too funny. I like that 🍯
I agree with all of it (Bible as literature), though I don’t do well growing tomatoes either. My poor avocado tree got sunburned in that stupid heatwave. It’s going to lose its leaves, but this has happened before. I finally ordered a shade tarp for it today, so hopefully it won’t get sunburned next time the heat goes up like that. BAH.
Good to learn that your heat wave was broken. I can’t say the same for southeast Pennsylvania. High temperatures continue here. I haven’t been spending much time outside.
Sorry to hear – generally we get that kind of weather in September.
Hi Jan, your tomatoes and grapes are looking lovely. Our peach tree has nodes and will come into blossom soon. Hooray! Spring is coming.
Enjoy!
Likr all “Holy” Books itd not so much what’s written in them as how badly they are interpreted? Unfortunately priests , zelots and leaders ( men) use them for their own purpose?
Your weather is the complete opposite of ours but as you say you have tomatoes and grapes we have moss and damp 💜💜💜
The Bible is a collection of ancient tales about creation and the birth of civilization which should be respected for what it is. But mankind must have their token idols.
Yes indeed I totally agree with you 💜💜
Growing tomatoes myself on the balcony. The TV is off most of the time.
My tomatoes are also in containers. So much easier!
Indeed.
My husband is a news junkie so I’m afraid I can’t escape the constant drone of insanity. I sometimes wish I were devout and could take comfort from a fairy tale, but alas I’m not.
Those grapes however do look divine.
😉
I think there are many more nightmares and horror stories than fairy tales in the Bible – at least the Old Testament!
… the same inexplicable erosion of sanity.
Boy, you nailed it in that phrase. As for Bible stories, do you remember the George Gershwin song, ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’? It sums up my understanding of the Bible.
And it keeps getting worse… I love that song – The things that you’re liable to read in the Bible …. perfect!
I enjoyed the serenity here of the clouds, tomato plant and grapes, Jan. The respite we’ve had this week from the heat wave has been blissful.
Thanks Jet. It seems we may be going back to normal … at least for a while.
These are so amazing with these photos. Anita
We got a heat break here, too, but it’s coming back. Nice grapes, Jan.
Lovely plaque for your friend. It’s the least after all she worked hard for!
The grapes are just decorative I’m afraid – they stay tiny and are very bitter but decorative they are !
We have those, too. They are lovely and the birds feast on them.
Still, my N asks constantly when the grapes are lush, can’t you make anything with them?
Have a great weekend, Jan!
Being a “wild and loose Catholic” (Or some called us in the South 😉) I never read much Bible…
And I agree about “the example”.
Cheers
Lovely tomato and grapes, Jan. I was very encouraged reading about the success of the Pt. Molate project after so many years of advocacy by your friend and others. Wonderful!