Gadzooks (and cukes)

After a long road trip I sit awhile and wait for my brain cells to catch up--I seem to have left them scattered along highways in seven states, or else they're just so tired of watching the world whiz past the window that they've decided to go on strike.

Among the other stupid things I've done this week, I bought eggs and then left them in the cart in the parking lot of the grocery store. I hope someone else grabbed them quickly because they wouldn't have lasted long in that heat.

Heat and humidity provide unpleasant conditions for me but perfect growing conditions in the garden. I wish my zucchini plants had take a vacation, but no: my son picked bags and bags of zucchini and cucumbers while we were out of town, but even so, my husband filled a five-gallon bucket with produce Wednesday morning. I took some zukes 'n' cukes to campus to give away to people who kept thanking me profusely, but I'm the one who should be thanking them. There's another zucchini I won't have to chop, grate, store, or bake.

I used the last of the eggs yesterday to bake seven loaves of zucchini bread, most of them for the freezer. In the past two days I've also made zucchini quiche, stewed kale, green beans, and cucumber salad, and I processed a massive pile of kale and a big bag of broccoli for the freezer. That's just the kind of mindless labor I need after a long trip, even if my multitasking skills are a little rusty.

Today I'm back on campus for the first of a series of meetings on various topics. Classes start in four weeks and I've got to check a lot of things off my to-do list before then, starting with gathering my wandering brain cells and whipping them back into shape. At least they'll be well fed. Zucchini, anyone? 

Just a small sampling of what we're facing