Saturday Snapshot: Fairy Tale Walking Stick

Sticking with the fairy tale theme, here is a photo of my old man in a stick. This walking stick was carved by a gentleman in Utah. A shimmering ribbon of poetry is inscribed and wraps around the stick all the way to the bottom. This old man usually gets quite a few compliments when I take him out for walks on the trails!

Saturday Snapshot hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.

Nectarine Tree Blossoms

They are so beautiful now and will turn into delicious fruit this summer!

A Non-bookish Post

Since I still haven't written any book reviews to share with you, I thought I'd share some food thoughts instead. Food is indeed the next best thing to books ... right? *smile*

Have you ever had cucumber water? No ... really ... hear me out on this one. Some restaurants serve a slice of lemon in their water, but there is a bistro near my house that serves it with a slice of cucumber. I know it sounds weird, but it really is good (unless, of course, you despise cucumbers). I like it so much that I decided to make up a pitcher here at home. I sliced four very thin discs off of the cucumber (wash first and leave the skin on) and tossed them into a 2-quart pitcher. I let it sit for about an hour in the refrigerator before serving into a glass with ice and another thin slice of cucumber. You might like it with either more or less cucumber.

Summer is the season for berries and we are having an excellent strawberry year here in California. I went to the farmers market this week and came home with all manner of fresh fruits and vegetables. Here are the strawberries I brought home; all sliced up and ready to eat.


They are so sweet this year that they don't need any sugar sprinkled over them.

Do you have any foods you especially like to eat in the summer? Are you having a good summer fruit year where you live (those in the Northern Hemisphere)? Do you grow any of your own fruits and vegetables? Do you have a farmers market near you?

The Trail

I thought I'd post a few pictures of the lovely trail that I've been spending much of my time on lately ... instead of blogging. And it's just a short walk from my front door!

(Click pictures for larger views.)

The eucalyptus trees near one of the trail heads.

Homes border much of the trail, but you rarely see them. Some of these nice folks maintain gardens with benches and water spouts for the enjoyment of those using the trail.

One of a number of trail branches.

One of my favorite old shade trees. The trail is just covered with oak, eucalyptus, and elm trees.

You've got to watch out for horse traffic when you're on the trail. This nice neighbor stopped and posed for the camera.

Miles of loveliness. You can forget you're in the city.

Wordless Wednesday: Tombstone

Tuesday Tidbits

Well, the downtime went very well. I hope you all had a great weekend and Memorial Day.

The photo is posted for Amy since she hasn't seen me since I lost all that weight. So how do you like Skinny Me?

I'm about to embark on a Shannon Hale reading fest (for all of you fans of young adult literature). I've got Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Princess Academy all lined up and ready to read. I don't often embark into the YA field of reading, but I decided to "preview" these books before passing them along to my 12 year old granddaughter. Thanks to Janssen of Everyday Reading for introducing me to this author. She has posted some commentary on these titles over at her blog. You will need to peruse her older posts to find them. Thanks Janssen!

I will be out of town for a couple of days to San Francisco. I know ... poor me! Lest you get too jealous, it is a business trip and I probably won't have any time to blog. So I'll see you all at the end of the week!

Flashback Friday: Disco Baby

Imagine. It's 1978. It's Saturday night and you're not yet old enough to think that tucking in with a glass of wine and a good book is the equivalent of a party. Saturday nights are for going where the action is and in 1978 the action is at the disco. Yes, mirror balls and "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor; clubs that never ask to see ID if you're a young cute female; tequila sunrises until sunrise. Yes ... I remember 1978 well.

I still remember the purple dress with black polka dots in these photos. The skirt of the dress was just right for all the swirling around on the dance floor. And the purple glitter eye shadow that you can't see in the picture? Perfect for catching all of the flashing lights from the strobes and the mirror ball. I loved the black patent platforms. They were surprisingly easy to move around in ... though it wouldn't have mattered since I was 17 and it was all about fashion, not comfort.

These pictures were taken by my Dad before I went out one Saturday night. I'm not sure where he thought I was going or what I would be doing, but he never let on that he was worried. He was either blissfully oblivious to the ways of 70s youth or he was scared to death and determined not to let it show; maybe a little of both. I have to remind myself that he spied on people for a living, so he probably wasn't as clueless as I imagined. Oh the arrogance of youth!

Well, the disco days are in the past but I do occasionally go along with Mr. Distortion when he plays the clubs, and as I look around I can't help thinking, "Do their parents know where they are"?

I must be getting old.

Tribute of Tears

The tears rolled silently down her cheeks where they fell onto the front of her black sweater. They did not soak into the fabric as you would expect. Instead, they floated atop the silk fibers and glittered like diamonds in the candlelight ... a most unusual necklace. The tears, so like those hard-pressed and precious jewels, were a testimony of the love she still felt for the man who had cherished her from the day she was born. In a whisper that could be heard all the way to Heaven, she said, "I miss you Dad."

In Loving Memory
Jack R. Burdo, Jr.
June 21, 1936 - November 10, 2003

The Grandma Diaries

10/29/2005
My Grandmother is losing her mind. Quite literally. I'm angry. Angry at a disease that is stealing away, bit-by-bit, someone I love dearly. I'm sad. Sad that I can no longer sit with my Grandmother and look at pictures, ask questions, hear stories, get wise advice.

Her home is filled with a lifetime of things. Things that have special meaning. Grandma no longer lives among her tangible memories. They sit alone in her house. It is no longer a home ... it is now simply a house. The person who made it a home and brought meaning to the things in it can no longer do so.

11/09/2005
The decision is made to sort through the things and sell the house. Grandma can not enjoy the things and the house needs to be "cashed in" to help with care and medical expenses.

11/11/2005
The sorting is done. I found the process of going through Grandma's "life" disconcerting, to say the least. I felt like I was prying. I felt like I was saying goodbye to Grandma before she was gone. Here but not here.

I took some of my Grandmother's costume jewelry from the 40s and 50s. I will find occasions to wear this jewelry. I want it to "live" again. I also took a few items that my Father brought back from Japan in the 50s. Most intriguing are my Grandma's diaries from the 30s and 40s. Maybe these diaries will help me see Grandma more completely.

11/21/2005
Grandma's diaries sit on my bookshelf. I'm curious to read them yet hesitant to pry.

12/24/2005
I will read Grandma's diaries during the Christmas and New Year Holiday. They will be a last gift to me from my Grandmother.

12/26/2005 - 1/2/2006
I'm swept back to 1937, just two years after Grandma and Grandpa marry and one year after the birth of my Father. Grandma is a young woman just beginning her life as a wife and mother. Through the diaries I meet a charming and winsome young woman who is often baffled by the behavior of men (namely Grandpa), works hard to run a household during the Depression and WWII, spends a lot of time with her extended family, and ... goes to the movies OFTEN. I'm surprised to find Grandma going to the movie theater sometimes two and three times per week. I have never in my lifetime known her to go to the theater to see a movie nor have I heard her talk about movies. I keep a list of the movies she sees between 1937 and 1947; there are hundreds. Not only does she note the movies she watches, but she often comments on what she thinks about them. When I'm not reading Grandma's diaries, I rent and watch the movies Grandma saw when they were new. I have found out where my Grandmother gets many of her affectations and why she has always dressed in a rather glamorous Hollywood fashion.

Grandma's diaries have also become a personal connection to history. Grandma notes the day Hitler invades Poland -- she makes no other notations for that day. She writes about the family and friends that join the military ... the family and friends that never come home from the war. I detect an unspoken fear and intense loyalty as I read. Grandma tends to her Victory Garden and deals with rations. I am drawn close to an era I never saw. I cry as the radio announces the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. I want to know what will become of the grief stricken wife and infant son of a friend named Walt who dies and is buried in France, Thanksgiving 1944.

07/14/2006
There is so much more to this woman than what I've known during my lifetime. This is a woman at the end of her life who was once a girl, once a young woman, once my age. A woman with deep feelings and intense experiences. A woman with a different history but yet very much like myself. When I see her next I will look into her blue eyes and see so much more than I've ever seen before.

Why???

Meet granddaughter number three -- Jeanne Jo. She is 3 years old and LOVES the word "why." Not having raised any children under the age of 13 (that will just have to wait for another post) I had never gone through the "why" developmental stage until becoming Grandma.

Conversations with 3-year-old went something like this...

JJ: Grandma, what color are your eyes?
Me: Blue.
JJ: Why?
Me: Because that is the color God made them.
JJ: Why?
Me: Because He's God and that is the color He decided to make my eyes.
JJ: (silence)
Me: (whew! got through that one)
JJ: Grandma, what is that? (points at my necklace)
Me: That is a necklace.
JJ: Why?
Me: Why what?
JJ: Why do you wear a necklace?
Me: Because it's pretty.
JJ: (smiles approvingly at my answer)
Me: (wonder how long this why thing can go on?)

Well, my friends, the "why" thing can apparently go on for days.
Thank God for bedtime.