Drama among the Pots

My little guys left their soldiers on my porch.

The kid in me took over and arranged them.

The big hulking soldier found himself at the mercy

of the well armed li'l troopers.

All he could do was throw up his arms and remind

his captors of the Geneva conventions.

When Paulo saw the display he said, "OOOOH awesome. Can I have'em?"

I guess he forgot they were his in the first place.

See - this is why kids ask me "What are you gonna be when you grow up?"

And I always answer "This is grown-up as I'm gonna get!"

Nature at My Door

When we were growing up on 58th Street in Maywood

there were Morning Glories in the rusted corrugated tin fence by the clothes lines. To me they were the best thing about the old place. A splash of beauty in an otherwise dismal yard.

In early Spring they had a packet of seeds at the 99cents store

so I bought'em. I had to make a lattice of string and dowel so

they'd have a place to crawl up and now there's a cascade of blooms

that greet me each, very early, morning when I let Taneya out

for her first constitutional. I have a moment to savor their blooms

then we go back to bed until we get up "for real."

By then the blooms have gone back to sleep

through the heat of the day.

Well I'm just glad I got'em !

Karma in da car

Well some time ago, as I was driving around my neighborhood,
I was nearly crashed into by a nun - twice in the same day!
There is a Carmelite Monastery nearby,
they are a contemplative order.
That means they mostly pray,
taking turns around the clock.
They do go out to run errands, groceries, gas etc.
I know this because I've chatted with them in the market a few times.
My 14 years of Catholic school make it impossible for me to walk by
without saying, "Good afternoon sister."
Then she replies, and sometimes asks if I am a former student
of catholic schools and given my chatterbox nature,
and the fact that I have yet to learn the meaning of the word stranger,
it leads to an interesting chat.
Anyway on the day in question I was entering the CVS parking lot
and out of the corner of my eye I saw a car
coming out of the aisle to my right.
The driver didn't see me and just whoosed past.
I saw the white habit and thought. "A NUN?"
Later, coming out of the lot onto a side street,
I was nearly clobbered from the left - different car - Nun driving.
"Huh?"
I've been driving especially alert since then - watching out for
the revenge of the nuns.
There is one nun still alive who had the challenge
of being my 11th and 12th grade teacher,
she'll tell you it was - interesting.
Well - karma is weird!
Just a while ago my li'l neighbor, Paulo, came running to tell me
there was "a cop in front of the house."
I went to see - yea nosey - I know!
Yes, there was a "cop" - giving a ticket to a . . . nun !
I'll just say hmmmmmmm !

lady bug on the corn

There was a lady bug on my corn stalk today.
What am I doing with corn?
Well, the bird seeds are on a tray and when the birds eat, they scatter it.
Some corn kernels fell into the flower bed where the morning glories are, and sprouted.
So, a few morning glory tendrils are climbing up the corn stalk.
There are also three or four sun flowers.
Because this is a spontaneous and neglected patch of nature, I have many aphids,
and snails and slugs and spiders and ants - laisser faire !
Anyway, as I was saying, I saw a little red lady bug creeping up the corn leaf.
Maybe she'll call her friends and they'll come gobble up the aphids.
I made a trellis-net out of strings, and a dowel, and a pulley
The morning glories are almost up to the beam just under the eaves.
There are some little green buds just waiting to sprout.
I can't wait to see the awesome purple flowers!
Watch this space for pics !