End of July - gardenia blooms

The day lilies are almost spent; and I regret, as usual, not having more blooming flowers for August about the house. My encore roses have failed to flourish as they seem to do for everyone else; the deer were rough on them and the horrid grass in the front of the house has starved many plants of nutrients and water. And then there is the gardenia on my deck blooming! I cannot complain.
I have nearly completed work painting my front deck, second one this summer. I have almost "enjoyed" the brush strokes, glopping on the thick medium to cover a deck neglected too long. And the repetitive task has been company to sad happenings which bother. Like my good friend's grandson who at just 5 has developed aplastic anemia. Or the sudden death of a wonderful man of the community - a man who was committed to social justice. A man whose death doesn't allow anyone who knew him to waste time mourning, but whose life prods at us to do more. To act when we see need.
And the heat today prompted me to join the floating world and follow Pearl to the river with tubes balanced on our heads. Little True in his own little inflated bloat tethered to his Papa's tube. Wonderful!