In San Diego, with enough rain in the season when it is supposed to come, the country is beautiful because of the flowers.  This year we had more than the usual amount of rainfall, and there was even rain when Margaret and I were away from Southern California for a couple of weeks.  The hills east of where I live seemed to belong in Ireland, but when the summer really sets in and the landscapes in the foothills to the east of here turn brown and the deserts on the other side of the mountains become blistering hot and look as if there never has been rain there, then I know the lush greenery that came with the rain has become the stuff wildfires feed on...

Flat Stanley and I went to Scripps Memorial Hospital today to pick up our friend Irene Fudge who has been there for a week recovering from a case of pneumonia.  Irene and Jim are good friends indeed.  I'm thinking it is important to tell Flat Stanley and all the third graders in the world that good friends like these were once young and to find a way to tell them without spoiling their childhood that they will grow old one day. Of course, it's important to remember that even young people can get pneumonia, but it's also important to know that older people take longer to recover even from a bad cold. People who love each other are especially careful to be sensitive to times when friends are needed to help get through a rough patch of illness.  It's important to remember too that daisies and other beautiful flowers help level out and make better a person who is struggling with an illness.