Oh my!

I had quite a tough day with having lots to do around the "Ranch" so to speak while dealing with a stomach  bug that kept me running, All I really wanted to do that day was get lost somewhere in God's creation and enjoy the skies, trees, smells and sounds . It was one of those rare perfect autumn days in Houston. Well, that evening I thought I had things all wrapped up with work and had visions of stretching out in my bed under my cozy covers and sleeping. I dove into my bed, relaxed totally and was down to stretching out my toes when Teresa popped her head into the room and told me she had prepared a great pasta. All I had to do was poke my head into the dining room and check it out.
It is a promise I made to myself long ago to always appreciate a child's work of art so I bounced up out of bed with great pains to make the move seem effortless and enthusiastic. I found myself in the midst of a surprise party just outside of my bedroom door. I thought my burthday was all over a few days earlier!
 So, does that mean I have to be 60, instead of just 59?
My very favorite friends just happened to be there in my living room and didn't even seem to mind that I was disheveled and funny looking. Amber and Teri not only had pasta ready but all the fixings. Yummm.
Jeannie had sent along a wonderful custom made cake to compete with Teri's special lemon merangue pie.
I always love stories and it was a special gift to hear of Johnny and Ruth's camper travels in the Middle East. What pioneers and exciting times. Those were definately crazy and fun days  but what joys to just follow God step by step and mile by mile. I found myself thinking," You really did that!"

 God is so good to give us not only our daily needs but all the trimmings.
Thanks to some very sweet friends for making my 59th (not 60th) birthday special.

Just a few pictures

Dolph finally got his wings!

for Perla....it's just a bit.

Being born and raised in Northern California, I have to say that I always have had a love for anything to do with water. That is amazing as water almost got the best of me in the flood of '55. My mom was so terrified to make a escape without my dad. He was  busy sandbagging the levee with the rest of the men, trying to save te city.  Somehow she did manage to get us in the car and  out of the flood waters at the last minute. Seeing the raging flood waters and the  aftermath will stick with me forever but I still love water.
I loved spending my summers rockhopping down the streams at Castle Crags high up in the Sierras. As long as I was on a stream, I wasn't lost and it seemed I could go for hours. I'd ride my horse along the Feather River and marvel at the amazing currents and the river life and wonder how ocean ships ever managed to get that far inland in the Gold Rush era. Now I love salmon but then I only saw them in a compasssionate light. I would spend hours searching them out and lifting the heavy orange fish out of the pools they'd become trapped in and throwing them back into the river. They'd finished spawning and at the end of their life but I only had "rescue"on my mind.
 I loved the wildness of the Northern Pacific coast  and the seals and sea lions and the trees that clung to the rocks, leaning almost totally sideways from the ocean winds.  I discovered a very old small house on a cliff once.It stood alone in a sea of tall grasses and flowers and totally engulfed in pink climbing roses. I just had to find a way in and explore the few rooms. Someone had tried to keep the cold out by gluing old newspapers to the walls so I spent a lot of time reading old news articles, peeling off layers, trying to get some idea of the people that lived in the area. I couln't imagine why they had lived on the cliff in a field with no pathway.
 I loved swimming in Shasta lake and pondering the depths of Crater lake, imaging what monsters lurked in that bottomless lake. I didn't even dare put my toe in Crater lake. My mom was an explorer so we ended up seeking out old ghost towns in the Sierras. I always had spooky thoughts.I loved the  hidden SPA that had once been a playground of the rich in the Roaring 20's. The abandoned  vast tiled pools intrigued me and I could only imagine what they must have looked like with movie stars and European Royalty lounging in the hot pools with mineral packs and plush bathrobes. I imagined I could still hear the laughter of flirting couples. We could scarcely find the roads to the once famous spots but the thought of getting lost was a great part of the fun.
My mom loved visiting the fish hatcheries. The long pools were teeming with all kinds of fish in all stages of growth. I had nightmares of falling off the narrow paths and becoming part of the food chain.
Back home, I was hard to keep indoors. I just had to be outside doing something. I almost always had some tool in my hand, scrounging around for any wood and nails I could find. I always had something in mind that I wanted to build. This was my dad's fault. He was a builder and I was his shadow as much as I could be. I stole the  tomato farmer's  crates to build condos for my baby chickens. Somehow my sister and I  made a bridge across the drainage ditch and any tree that had a few big branches, had a perch or the beginnings of a crude tree house. My dad took to hiding his hammers and nails and I have faint memories of a few spankings for messing up his wood piles and carting off stuff.
As I grew older and developed an interest in my dad's desk, I would unroll the house plans I found in his desk and study them. Somehow, I  had  illusions of  upgrading my building skills! I really can't build much. I just always had dreams .
I also loved the Yuba River and the feel of the stones beneath my feet and swimming inthe cool waters. Of course I always had my eye out for the glint of gold and tried my hand at panning often enough. It was actually quite fun for about 5 minutes at a time. I even tried to construct a sluice.
Well Perla, you asked me to put a few memories on my Blog for my birthday. How's that for now? We are a colorful family. Life is such! I was thinking of when I was in labor with Teri and walking unerneath the ampitheater in Pozzuoli. I sat down on something and it turned out to be part of an old elevator they used to lift things up for the games. I wanted to know the people that had sat there before me and what they experienced. I love history and sometimes I feel I could just burst. I can't stand the thought of how many people throughout history that I have missed knowing...at least for now. I am praying I will someday be able to meet everyone and catch up on their lives! That will take a while! Meanwhile, lets all take advantage of the present and love who and what the Lord puts in our pathway today!
Oh, and yes, Perla I will write a bit more on another day.

The Children of Huong Shi

I hope I got that name right. I stumbled across this 2008 movie about the life of a young Oxford graduate that visited China during the Japanese take over of pre-WWII , saw a need and became a hero to a group of 60 Chinese orphans, leading them over mountain passes to safety near Mongolia.  It is quite an amazing story.  Researching the story, it touched my heart to see what just one person can do in spite in insurmountable odds. He was a "given" life. See the movie  if you get a chance.

Dare to be a butterfly!

We have had our Pentas and Mexican Milkweed for  a few years now. We went to a class at the nature center on butterfly gardens and the speakers gave us all free baby plants to start a garden. At  first Jason and Teri got sidetracked and dug a 3 foot deep hole in the back yard and filled it with water. They were going to do it right and start off with a Bog Garden. It was a mosquito nursery so we filled it in and  proceeded to simplify our project. We embarked on making our own  Butterfly Garden and were quite successful in that we did attract a herd, gaggle, flock????? of butterflies laying an "ocean" of eggs.  We have tried numerous efforts to observe the whole amazing process but this year we just tried the window sill in the kitchen and it worked out amazingly well. We have had butterflies emerging for the last 2 weeks. We just escort them outside and they fly off to other destinations- like Mexico! It has been fun. If you check out thte pictures closely, you will see a little red bug. He has been there the entire time, checking out the caterpillars, cocoon and the butterflies. Once 2 caterpillars met head on and appeared to actually fight for a bit and it certainly looked like the little red bug was intent helping settle the dispute. For lack of a better name, I will call him Speedy Red Bug.Tonight he is still there and still on guard. Anyone know if he is an offical companion?Well, this is just one of the many odd things we do at our house.