This is the week where both Canada and the USA have their national holidays, just not on the same day. In Canada, the national holiday is July 1st, in the USA it is July 4.

I had a great Canada Day. I went with some friends to a local Canada Day celebration in a local park where there was live music by a number of different bands and other live entertainment. On the side were all those booths of people selling crafts, jewelry, books, food, and lots of other interesting things I won’t list. My money and I are soon parted at events like this, regardless of the promises I make to myself. I like to think in advance and only take a certain amount to spend, but I always take a little extra just in case, and so that gets spent, too.

This year one of the things I bought was a Venus Fly Trap. I thought it would be fun until the lady told me the proper way to care for it. I can’t just water it and expect it to eat all the flies in my house. No, it needs to be kept nice and moist, watered daily. Plus I need to mist it daily, and then it must be covered overnight by a plastic dome. It can’t be in direct sunlight, sit in a draft, or be exposed to much temperate variation.

Of course I bought it anyway, not thinking of the maintenance. But now that I’m in charge of the care-giving for this plant, it’s easier said than done.

It’s been almost a week, it’s still alive, but it hasn’t caught any flies yet. I hope it does soon. It’s hard enough to keep watered, I hope I don’t have to feed it, too.