Consolations prizes of nature and prayer; basil pesto on noodles; water bubbles and peaches; discomfort and seeking comfort after learning of scandal; lily, coreopsis and sweetpea

How do you find comfort? What do you do when something or someone in your life, community or in world news causes you pain? Today is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, the fast day of Tisha B’Av.

Water photos for Watery Wednesday, taken in a wet place in New Jersey

When the basil grows large enough in the garden, it’s time to make basil pesto. Add nuts, olive oil and salt to basil leaves, and you have a pesto that can be served on pasta or with steamed vegetables such as cauliflower.

Every Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the summer and early fall there is a farmers market in Highland Park. You can buy organic parsley, lettuce, beets and kale; sugar plums and peaches; flowers and corn.

Lilies, dianthus, rudbeckia, sedum and coreopsis are in bloom. Basil is now growing in quantities for pesto. And a pink perennial needs identification.