I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills

Our goddaughter Karely is here visiting for a week. I asked her what she wanted to do yesterday and she answered, "Dips." So we all piled into the car and drove down to the frontage road west of Ruby Road which goes up and down like a roller coaster. The driver is then compelled to drive at great speed breaking all limits, while passengers are compelled to gasp, laugh and say, "oh my stomach, that one was really good". Doesn't that sound like great entertainment? I don't know what it is about that road, but I think most of our kids would remember and relate to Karely's request!! And I as the driver!! Super scary. HA HA

Dinner!!!

Tonight we had chicken grilled with fresh broccoli and tomatoes (also grilled) from our garden. And it was delicious. I waited a little to long to cut the broccoli, but it was still wonderful. And I read abut it before I cut off the florets--more will grow from the stem. What a great veggie. So, yes I like this garden.

Reading

Twins???

Okay, who am I quoting??? It could be several of my children, but it's not. . . if you recognize yourself in this quote you will know why I thought it worth posting!

"I loved fairy tales and their richness in the grotesque. I read them all--Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm, Aesop, whatever was on the library shelf--a book a day, many of them devoured at bedtime, which, my mother said, was how I ruined my eyes and why I had to wear glasses at a young age."

I know we completely devoured at least 2 copies of the Brothers Grimm, not the watered down version, but the complete and grotesque stories. Those stories were read in the car driving through various states and foreign countries to the south, too riveting at times to let the exotic scenery passing outside the window interrupt the ending of a story.

"The stories we love to read may very well have to do with our emotional obsessions, the circuitry between our brain and our heart, the questions we thought about as children that we still think about, whether they are about the endurance of love, the fears that unite us, the acceptance of irreversible decay, or the ties that bind that turn out to be illusory."

"I also read Bible stories which I thought were quite similar to fairy tales, for they too contained gory images, gut-clenching danger, magical places and a sense that things are never as they first appear. By the end of these stories much had always changed. . . . I love these stories because, along with the horrific, they contained limitless and amazing ways in which people, places, and curcumstances changed. . . They gave me a sense of wonder that mirrored my own life."

So, to you, who like Amy Tan, grew up reading the Brothers Grimm and scripture stories, how did they impact your life???

Never forget there are limitless and amazing ways in which life changes. . . . And I hope it is always for the better--even when in the midst of change it may seem completely grotesque.

Mother's Day flowers

Megan and Charlie and Steven and Graham surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of roses on Mother's Day. I worried that the flowers would not make the trip home in the back of the car without drooping.
But my worries were unfounded. Here they are safe and sound, as gorgeous as ever. Thank you, thank you, very much. The roses were greeted by my Margaritas, hungry for water.

The pampas plume had popped out blossoms just trying to stay in competition. . .

And since this is the "Mother's Day flowers" posting, here are a couple of more pix. Nice.

I've been stalked!

Welcome to my Garden...

This is the pampas grass plume. It looked like a stalk last post.

Next post it may be a plume!!!

This stalk is growing like a beanstalk. It really overpowers the plant

And this one has doubled in size in 3 days!!

Closer up of the stalk. I thought it might just spread out into a huge agave in the air!!

Sorry you can't see the top for the tree.

SPIKY!!!

Walk

carefully

among the cactus

and other thorny plants

Stay safe!!

I hope it isn't contagious. . .

My roomba is sick. I don't think it is swine flu. The battery doesn't charge fully even after days on the charger, and when it runs, it just goes in circles, moves forward about 6 inches, backs up and then starts on its circles again. That means I get a very clean spot about 2 feet across. Maybe it has a worm in its brain. I know that's what happens to infected wildebeasts. They just run in circles until they die. Sounds like the roomba. Is there a Doctor in the house???