As I have previously explained, Hubby and I are still unclear when it comes to certain gardening things and it looks as if one of the orchids may have died after doing well. It  for months. It happened rather suddenly and the others are okay, so perhaps it was some sort of bug. One of the other plants (the chocolate raspberry) we thought was a goner has re-bloomed and is looking great.

That leads me to the milkweed. Last year we had a few caterpillars, chrysalis and butterflies. I mean we have different types of butterflies flitting about every day, but these were some we felt certain came from the milkweed plant. It was devoured though and seemed to be down to bare stem. We left it alone and sure enough it has also grown a great deal. We haven’t seen any caterpillars yet, but then again, we don’t know what the cycle is. There are quite a number of black “dots” on the underside of a couple of the leaves toward the back of the plant. Perhaps those are eggs although I can’t be certain. We will pay more attention this year. I know we can order chrysalis through the mail, but it would seem in this environment it makes more sense to allow nature to take over.

Oh, a related topic is the bananas haven’t ripened yet even though they are growing. I say haven’t ripen as in they haven’t turned yellow or softened very much. We’re still not certain as to that process either. Yeah, I know. You would think after being in this house as long as we have been we would understand how these things work.

A friend recommended the TV series “Yellowstone”, but our tastes don’t always mesh. I watch DVDs when I work out on the stationary recumbent bike and decided to give it a try. I don’t recall which cable network it airs on and we don’t have a streaming service, so I can’t advise that part. Kevin Costner is the main “name” and character – John Dutton – father of four Dutton adult children and fourth or fifth generation to own the sprawling Yellowstone Ranch. It’s actually filmed in Utah although it’s “Montana” on the TV. This is very much an adult series with complex characters, violence, some occasional nudity, and constant profanity. The cinematography is breath taking and the music is great. An advantage of watching the DVDs is the behind the story segments. The sense of authenticity brought to screen is because all the actors do go through “cowboy camp”. There are lots of horses in every episode and often cattle. Anyone who has lived in cowboy country understands the portrayal.

As for intricate plot and sub-plots, they can be difficult to keep up with. In one telling scene between the Governor and the soon-to-retire Attorney General, she says of John Dutton, “He still thinks it’s the 80’s when no one is looking over our shoulders.” A new Chairman of the Indian Tribe, a developer wanting to build, others seeking to carve away part or all of a legacy they deem as, “too much for one man to own”. The shifting of stances, the intense dysfunction within the Dutton family, the readiness to use violence to achieve a purpose and few characters who are not flawed. Layers are peeled away slowly and steps that seem to go forward take periodic turns. Like many dramas these days, this one can provoke thought and conversation. The casting, acting, writing, and production are all well executed.

As I’ve previously explained, me going into the Army was supposed to have been for only two years to allow me to then use the G.I. Bill to help pay for law school. I would have then entered the family law practice with my grandfather and uncle. As I also mentioned, even though I stayed in the Army 22 years, my two cousins did carry on the family tradition. However, of all the pre-law classes I took, my actual favorite was Constitutional Law. This was back in the day before computers of course so there was a particularly difficult aspect to deal with. Aside from reading the Constitution, the class is devoted to reading and understanding the impact of Supreme Court cases. To do so, you read huge volumes of material and write a subsequent “brief” to answer specific questions about the specific case chosen during the course. I don’t know how they teach it now with the availability of the internet and computers, but at the time the brief was to be typed single space.

If you follow the blog you also know I spent what would have been my senior year of high school in France instead. Now, even though I was on the college track, I had already figured out knowing how to type would be a useful skill and I planned to take the class as a senior. Since that did not occur, here I was in Con Law – that being the time of manual typewriters – with zero typing skills. Reading through and comprehending the legal arguments, opinions – both majority and dissenting – and ultimate rulings was laborious. Typing the briefs was painful. It was, however, the most fascinating of my classes and why I have such respect for the Constitution. The changes within the Court itself is another factor that was important to understand and discussed during the semester.