Happy Saturday to all! Natalie is taking a well-deserved break from hosting this week, so it’s just me.

Not much has happened in the garden this week and it’s going to slow way down starting next week as the day length dips below 10 hours. Somehow, 10 hours is the magic number to get plants to grow and this week, I discovered only a few plants are day-neutral – meaning it’s not affected by day length. Some of them include tomatoes and cucumbers, which won’t do me any good since I can’t grow them in the winter.

Still, I hope I will be able to harvest throughout winter.

Tuesday was election day. My mom and I went to vote in the municipal elections. It’s probably only the third time I’ve ever voted in person. All the other times were by mail. My mom made me walk over a mile to the convention center with her. As we waited in line, she kept complaining of why it was taking so long as the line behind us began to get longer and longer.

Before long though, we received our ballots and were standing in different cubicles. “Psst,” my mom called, “Who did you say to vote for again?” I ignored her while on the inside, I thought, this isn’t an exam, you can’t cheat when it comes to voting. Who you vote for is up to you and you only. No one can dictate your vote. Afterwards, she asked why I ignored her and tried to justify that she simply only wanted to know which was male or female.

I am counting down the days of when I will be taking my mom to the airport, of when she will be in Asia for 3 weeks, faraway from here. My aunt tried to teach her the apps she’ll need in China but she doesn’t seem to want to learn. She always seems to want to rely on others like me to tell her where to go and what to do. I tried to teach her to use Google maps many times before but her attention was always pre-occupied. So it will be interesting to see as she’s always had someone to help her before.

With my mom away in Asia, I feel like a jailbird getting paroled. I want to go on a trip yet I want to stay at home but that’ll be boring, especially with Thanksgiving and short days. I spent this week planning a trip. I’m going south again to Grand Canyon, except this time, my aunt and I are taking a plane tour, to see the Grand Canyon from up high. Then we are doing a off-road tour in Kanab, Utah, basically all the things my mom would never do on a trip.

I want to go alone but I thought maybe it would be a good idea to bring an extra person. Besides, this is the fun aunt, who’s open-minded to try new things, unlike my mom’s other siblings. I only hope the weather will cooperate. 🤞

I appreciate you stopping by, have a wonderful week ahead!