Apr 22, 2012 by Naomi.

Dan’s postcard from London where he and wife Deb are celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary prompted me to take their high school yearbook down from a dusty shelf to recall stuff which led to a whole lot of memories of my own. A close friend remarked that I also had traveled many places in the world. I visited England twice and I viewed the tower of which Dan wrote, and my most favorite recollection is of the time I walked around Stonehenge and touched the stones. Just trying to imagine the Celtic reverence in which these stones were held was awesome and really quite impossible for me. People had to be superstitious to have believed there was power there. Yet the power seemed to hover within the stones even after centuries of standing desolate on the Salisbury Plains. Dan is my fourth child and he has many stories of his travels as I do. My other kids except Thomas have been happy to remain close to home. I have monthly income with which I could travel but long hours aboard airlines are not appealing. Not that they ever were but now I am content with my house, yard, trees and shrubs. The only postcards I mail are to remind that March is Autism Awareness month and people might want to send dollars that will benefit the families and kids who face that problem on a daily basis and will for many years. Autistic people very rarely become self sufficient.

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Apr 17, 2012 by Naomi.

Just sharing my bushes just planted. Evergreen broadleaved called Laurel. Evergreen means that the bush will not lose it leaves - at least not all at once, just that old ones drop off when a new bud comes out. Great Huh? These are supposed to be shorter than Laurels can be. So maybe they will only get about five feet high. But like all plants that come into my domain, they are subject to pruning. Probably not for a few years. I think I posted them on Facebook, but then I am still learning this technology.

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Apr 12, 2012 by Naomi.

How delightful it was this morning to see my backyard trees sunbathing. The full previous week was overcast with the sun occasionally coming through as a white spot leaving a gloomy grey atmosphere. Now the scene seemed to take on a cozy golden glow. Not at all sunbathing weather for this lady but  warmth on my cedar rocky for sure. I must face front and work some more on settling in the two laurel bushes I put in. They add beautiful character against the native plants on the opposite side of the front walk and will likely take gallons of water along with the tender loving of the sun, and me of course.

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Apr 11, 2012 by Naomi.

A blotch of red on my right cheek bone is the result of running into a door. Yeah right! You must have heard that story. Maybe more than once. But so help me, I reached to open my car door and the effort pulled me forward right into the sharp corner. Just under my left eye glass. Did it ever hurt! Still does. Looks awful too - a small red scab. I had no meeting today or in the next several days so maybe it will heal over before I have to deny a fistfight or mugging or whatever. Then again maybe no one will even notice.

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Apr 9, 2012 by Naomi.

Plants might ache but since they don’t belly ache out loud, at least not that I hear them, I do the best I can to make them happy. Today I bought two lovely laurel plants, well developed and too heavy for me to handle. Two nursery workers loaded them into my trunk. I couldn’t lift them out, nor even roll them out so I called the city clerk and asked for help. Some high school boys came primed to do heavy work and they lifted the burlap wrapped plants, one into the hole that Nancy had dug.The second plant was put where I wanted the hole so I would only have to pull it in. I did however have to dig a hole and that was hard work. The hole isn’t as big as it probably should have been but I dragged the laurel plant in and it will just have to do. I can ache at leisure while watching them grow. I paid $35 for each plant and wished I had asked if the nursery would deliver and plant. Silly me. Nevermind they are planted and I dare them to be happy for the loving care I gave and will keep on giving. They look perfectly happy!

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Apr 7, 2012 by Naomi.

Not exactly an ideal temperature during which to transplant. Oh the plants might approve but my hands prefer something warmer and besides that the water might freeze in my hose and refuse to cooperate. Therefore I will gladly put off my trip to the nursery for the laurel plant for which Nancy dug the hole along my front walk. And tomorrow being Easter, an holiday in this area, I will not be able to obtain the plant. So it seems I have no pressing tasks and can lounge as the wealthy would on this day. With temperatures like this folks will have to wear their richest, thickest furs when walking in the inevitable parade. Since my buffalo hide presents no such comfort I will forgo the pleasure of a walk in the sun and enjoy looking at my backyard plants through the glass of my sun room. How else can I enjoy the freezing temperature?

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Apr 6, 2012 by Naomi.

Noon on Friday, April 6, 2012, Danny called packed and ready for their trip to England. They fly direct from LAX to Heathrow, London, arriving midafternoon. They had an itinerary prepared from Debbie’s experience when she was an airforce brat (that was the term she used) as her family had gone where her Dad’s orders sent him. I took Ashton on one of my trips there and have some pictures and great memories of it. I met Dorice, a Kenya student I had partially funded for her work toward a college degree when we did an Earthwatch project “Lakes of the Rift Valley”. I will have to look back at my records because I can’t recall much more than we visited at her apartment. And went to look at Warwick castle or some such edifice on the Salsibury Plains.  All those memories of great adventures make me ponder more before it becomes too late for me to travel. Danny promised to send journal stuff to keep me informed.

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Apr 5, 2012 by Naomi.

Well we humans have to have some way of paper tracking to be sure what day it is. Past folks counted days and when the spring celebration was set they used the moon to remind them. Just think how we set our “new dress” show off day as the first Sunday after the first Friday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. There were parades down fifth avenue for that purpose. Many small towns celebrated the day with the type of parade where women could dress “to the nines” and show off in public. The object - way back when - was to “give up” all pleasures for a few months to prove their humility and then splurge and dress for a parade to showoff what the best that the clothing industry could produce. I know nothing about social habits in my community and have no intention to attend a church to peruse the results. I did unpack last year’s summer clothes because the stuff I have been wearing is scratchy and sticky. I sat watching the full moon from the comfort of my “sun room” last night and marveled at the science humans have brought to light not just from telescopes but by landing men on that ball of dusty rocky stuff the ancients thought of as cheese. It does look like it might be full of holes. I haven’t thought of going anyplace on Sunday but I will shake out my favorite outfit to wear if I only go out to water the plants. The water is cold but my flowers respond to the sun and perk up with colorful blossoms. Their calendars are very reliable.

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Apr 1, 2012 by Naomi.

Not a good way to start a new month and it was not my choice to wake with a nasty belly ache. I was in agony (as much as I have experience with bad stuff) and I massaged my gut area for long and painful moments to get through it. A terrible April Fool joke, if the gods would stoop to such childish actions. The nausea I felt made the decision to stay away from Freethought this morning an easy one. Didn’t inspire me to have breakfast either. I cannot account for the episode. I can recall nothing I ate last night that would cause the problem. Sitting in my cedar rocker did leave me a bit chilled but I had hot chocolate indoors to put a warm glow on my outlook.

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Mar 31, 2012 by Naomi.

Just bid adu - that should be goodbye in French - for another month - March - one of the months that have 31 days.  Recall the rhyme “Thirty days hath September, April June and November. All the rest have 31 excepting February, which has 28. Well usually that is, except for leap year like this one, when it has 29. It seems that in reckoning sun time a year is really a bit longer than 365 days and to catch up, Poop Gregory, I think the culprit was, added an extra day, why in February, I don’t know, but there it is. Today began with warm sunshine and I sat with my first cup of morning coffee in my cedar rocker (it has to stay outside) to enjoy the coffee and the sun. I was dressed and wrapped in my bathrobe because the temperature was a seasonably 45 F and not sunbathing weather. Nice, though. I went in to get lunch and clouds rolled in and rained on the situation. I withdrew to my sunroom. No raking wet weeds in the crushed rock! I am such a whimp. A squirrel went tippy toe on the top of the cedar fence. A big fluffy white cat stalked it having a tough time balancing on the top edge of the half inch boards. No end to the animal show in my back yard. I appreciate my sunroom at either end of the day.

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