Blink

In the blink of an eye the weather changes in Texas. Two days ago I awoke to find the icy trees outside looking like diamonds in the light.

The evergreen shrubs in the backyard look so 'southern' somehow against the frozen branches of the trees. Compare these pictures to the sight of my orchids glowing with color, warm and cozy just on the other side of a clear pane of glass.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day after everyone has eaten, my family plays board games and does puzzles or sits around and talks. At this table playing "Boggle" are grandsons Mason and Cameron, son David and daughter Chris looking on.
From left to right with his back to the camera is son Tommy, Jackie, Mari's daughter, granddaughter Ryann, daughter Kathy and Mari's other daughter Mariah and son Dave.
Daughter Kathy and granddaughter Ryann, Chris' daughter. My daughter Chris
My son Tommy. His son Andrew had to leave early and isn't in these pictures.
My son Michael and Mari's daughter Jackie
Michael's girlfriend Mari
My son Dave and daughter in law Marie along with son Tommy who is still concentrating on making words in "Boggle".
My granddaughter Elena, Kathy and Clyde's daughter.

My son in law Clyde, who always seems to be taking pictures instead of being in them.
And Tinker watching the action.

Random Thoughts

I've got a jumbled mind today. Not that it's an uncommon thing but today I've got Thanksgiving dinner to think about. Half the family want the traditional turkey and stuffing (a Yankee tradition) with extra stuffing cooked on the side, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, green bean casserole (yuck), creamed onions and all the trimmings of a very bland dinner. This year I want something different and since I'm doing the main meal, I think I'm going to make the decision. How about turkey with Adobo sauce, a Mexican spin on that plain old turkey? It sounds wonderful and the picture in 'Gourmet' magazine is amazing. The adobo is made with two different kinds of chiles, cumin, allspice, garlic and some other spices and mixed with turkey broth. OR, I can buy it in a jar! I'll marinate the turkey in the sauce for about 24 hours and then roast it (unstuffed) and make the gravy from the adobo. The dressing they chose to go with it is cornbread and chorizo with onions and garlic. Of course I'm going to make our tradition Yankee stuffing and regular turkey gravy for those who don't have an adventurous palate. Of the 23 or 24 people that will be here for dinner only a few won't even try it. Oh and I'm hoping I'm not ripping off pictures from Gourmet magazine but consider this as advertising!

While I'm salivating for Thanksgiving dinner, I'm also reading a book that I just can't put down. I stayed awake until 4:00 am this morning reading and slept late today to make up for it. Couldn't help it, I'm finding this book engrossing and it's thick which makes it all the better.

It's about a boy who was born mute into a family that bred dogs. I'm not giving anything away here, but if it's about dogs I'm going to read it. I'm thinking about it right now and wondering what Edgar is going to do about his suspicions of Claude. I'll have to wait until my housecleaning is done to treat myself to more chapters. I'm on page 300 right now and I'll think about it while I'm vacuuming and dusting. The book? A bestseller called "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski. It's even on Oprah's Book Club list.

An Ancient

When this was first described to me I thought it was an ammonite. After this phone pic was sent to me I'm not so sure. It is a complete specimen but doesn't join like an ammonite and looks a little like it has a head and tail. My son said he can see little scales when he looks closely. Some kind of fish without fins? A sea slug? I'm going to have to do some investigating on the Internet and see if I can find out what it might be or might have been. Texas has so much limestone and lots of these sea creatures everywhere you look. I have a few ammonites found when digging the foundation of my house and the kids have found trilobyte looking things and a piece that looks very much like a razor clam near here. This piece is a mystery to me. It is approximately 16" in diameter and about 4 to 5 inches thick. I haven't seen the bottom, I wonder if it had legs? Well, anyway it will be at my house sometime this week and I'll get a good look.

Two new friends visited my yard this week. One gives me an idea of what very large prehistoric creatures must have looked like and the other a colorful, almost unreal looking lizard that I have never seen before.

China Exposed

Now that the Olympics are being played in Beijing, I fondly recall my trip to China. It was in 2000 and the Chinese were already beginning the long process of making the city presentable
for large crowds of foreigners. Men in white shirts, ties, dark trousers and dress shoes were digging in the heat to open ditches for footings for new bridges and highways. Everyone worked for the government and only a handful of people were allowed to own their own businesses.


The Forbidden City is right across the street from Tiananmen Square where some of the reporters have been broadcassting to the U. S. You can't see it in this picture but to the right and down about 3/4 of the way is a Starbucks.


This is is one of our group marching in the opposite
direction from the patroling soldiers in Tianamen
Square. We were not allowed to look at or approach the soldiers.















The marble boat you see on the left was built by the "Dragon Lady" who was Empress for a short time. The story goes that she spent all the money allotted to the army on frivolous things and when her advisors asked for ships she built this marble boat. This boat is permanently located in the lake adjacent to the Summer Palace on the outskirts of Beijing (then known as Peking).














This is what we called a Chinese Harley with
trailer and the one on the right is a two seater
Chinese Harley.


We visited Beijing first, then Xian, took the
Yangtze River Cruise down the river just before
they finished the dam which flooded many, many old villages causing those people to find other places to live. We went down the Li River and ate lunch on the boat after which 95% of the people got deathly ill. I took peanut butter and crackers having been warned ahead of time that the dishes that were 'sterlized' in the unplugged dish sterlizer had been washed first in the Li River. We finished the trip in Shanghai where we saw lovely gardens and rockeries.

All Living Things

As I was on my way to the pharmacy I happened to glance to the side of my car and there was a rabbit, listening, but not a moving millimeter. I decided to sit and see how long he stayed there. He and I both sat for about 15 minutes without moving although the sun worked it's way around the tree beside him. I don't know if the grass in his mouth was for dinner or to soften the sides of his/or maybe her hutch. Just beyond him/ her is a garden just filled with lettuce that it has never touched.

I drove into the parking lot of the pharmacy and happened to look up and saw the "Sparrow Apartments" complete with playground. I was so glad to see sparrows instead of the usual "gang" of grackles that I had to take a photo. Who knows how long we will have these little birds with all the construction going on, new malls and houses being built and highways cutting through the countryside. Almost all of the song birds that I had in my yard within the last seven years have disappeared and been overtaken by huge crows, starlings and an occasional blue jay.

These little sparrows looked so happy just to be gazing out looking things over instead of shouting and arguing with each other like the grackles.