What is This?

We thought it was just a dogwood tree, though it acted nothing like the real dogwood trees I have planted elsewhere in the yard.

The leaves look right, the shape is right for a wild dogwood (that's what I'm calling it, as I don't know), it blooms differently from the other dogwoods, and it is a fast grower. This tree arrived at our home in a packet of other similarly scrawny and less-than-a-foot long sticks.

Now? It is covered on the south side by beautiful, orange red fruit balls. Nothing like dogwood fruit.

Perhaps it is not a dogwood after all, though it was labeled as such.

Any ideas?

The hiatus required for our household switchover for internet carriers was indeed a very long time. It's amazing how much one can depend on something that is totally invisible. Oh, we have plenty of cords, boxes, and a huge bill, but the actual internet is floating around like lint in a gnats' eye, unable to be seen by the naked eye.

You might be surprised, maybe alarmed, at what else has been going on since the pause in action.

I sliced the side tip from my left pointer finger. Perfect little scoop going into the second layer of skin, whoosh, and there it was, staring at me on the cutting board. Blood. Oh, the blood. Typing became an acrobatic and quite edit-intensive endeavor, first with a bandage-fat finger that tapped every key but the one I wanted, and then with more accuracy when using a smaller bandage, but less feeling in the remaining fingertip. Now I am finally down to a slowly closing gap and maybe permanently misshapen finger.

My handsome, though quite sick, grandson shared a strong nasty cold with me. He seems all better while Nana is still fighting a sinus infection.

Deadlines abound. This was one reason having no internet was quite helpful. I couldn't easily communicate with friends and co-workers, but I also wasn't distracted by every little message notification or opportunity to 'just for a quick minute' check my social media.

Fall-ish weather was much appreciated, though it is only September. The change is coming. Cool nights, shorter days, the beginnings of color. Autumn is a feast for this writer's soul. After our intensely hot and on-fire northwest summer with plenty of smoke-filled days and falling ash, I am completely ready for a cold, wet, and long winter.

The season of squash is upon us. It's time for some of my favorite recipes. I have indeed already visited a produce stand and filled a basket with spaghetti, butternut, and delicate squash. A few pumpkin varieties were ready, but I just can't quite get those yet. That would be kind of like seeing Christmas decorations in September. Oh, wait. I've seen them. Pumpkin time is coming, but not quite yet.

Have a wonderful day after Labor Day! Happy back-to-school!