This is surprising. Hope it does something.
The successful liftoff of Artemis 2 yesterday was a unifying moment for many. We drove to the coast to see it from about 100 miles away. The vibes from all the people watching were so positive. -- Here's a photo
About eight years ago, mom planted a bunch of cedum plants in the back yard. There are dozens of varieties, and she just picked out some that she liked. One of them is an American Agave, also known as a century plant. The legend is that it only blooms once every 100 years, which isn't true, but blooms are rare, on the order of between seven and thirty years.
Ours started growing its flower spike about three months ago, and it's finally in full bloom. The patio roof to the left is about 8.5 feet tall, so you can get an idea of how big this thing actually is.
Unfortunately, the flower is the plant's swan song, and once the stalk dies, the rest of the plant will go soon after. However, we do have several of the mature seed pods to plant if we want to do it again. :-)
My niece’s family is facing difficult physical and mental heath issues. Her name is Mary… she faces her own issues in addition to taking care of her elderly mother, her former husband, and her nephew. ALL are dependent on her financially and as their ONLY caretaker.
Her mom suffers from mental illness and dementia… she is currently in a nursing home recovering after having broken her hip (and then had to have additional hip surgery after falling again). The doctor has said he cannot do anything to help if she falls again because it is too dangerous to do more surgery.
Her ex has stage 4 metastasized cancer that the VA failed to diagnose after months of lost tests and incessant delays. Mary is his primary caretaker, too.
May’s sweet 20-something nephew had a sudden mental breakdown this year which required suicide watch twice while under two recent hospitalizations. Mary is his primary caretaker.
All three live with her.
Mary herself has a demanding job as a mental heath counselor and oversees a clinic She herself has multiple health issues including the most serious form of Lupis
She needs help.. her family needs help I no longer can assist due to my own health issues; nor can I assist financially
I humbly request prayers and healing energy for them Thank you for “listening.”
A warm heart and strong sense of responsibility has left your niece with a heavy load, indeed.
One potential bright spot on the horizon is that there are multiple effective new drugs and treatments for Lupus of which your niece may or may not be aware. As a health care consumer I am constantly shocked by how behind many providers are in offering the latest and best treatment options despite incredible resources like Open Evidence, a free AI program for medical professionals.
The newer drugs may be more accessible than the immunotherapy treatments but I hope there is something that could help her feel as well as she can first, for herself, but also to help her shoulder these burdens. A quick online search will reveal some of the new offerings but medical centers like Yale have fresh-off-the press new research regarding Lupus. She may be on top of all of the new treatments but she might also be too tired and preoccupied to give herself adequate attention.
Meanwhile, will send buckets of positive energy.
Have been getting into feeding all kinds of backyard birds this summer. Was surprised to discover that woodpeckers are sugar-holics sitting sometimes for hours rocking back and forth as they dunk their peaks into the hummingbird feeder like little hobby horses. Turns out that there are even larger animals that like hummingbird feeders. Check this out.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1137923395218668
@tgraf66 So strange that you showed us your once in seven-30 years 8 foot century plant bloom when you did, because the next day, our town posted about the once in 8 to 35 years blooming corpse plant, rising to similar heights. Thousands of people came to see this phenom which also smells really bad, hence the name corpse plant, and looks a bit creepy https://www.instagram.com/reels/DMtHn4yuC5M/