In my home town...

Today is May 8. What's so special about that? I'm glad you asked.  There are many, many things that can be celebrated on May 8. Some serious, some just for fun.   

It's the 81st anniversary of "V-E Day" marking the end of  WWII in Europe, obviously serious.  

It is also "Fintastic Friday" which encourages the conservation of sharks skates and rays.  It happens that I have a great niece-in-law who has her doctorate in marine biology and spends a great deal of time in large pools filled with water and sting rays.  She loves it.

On the fun side it's "No Socks Day" and "World Donkey Day." I didn't see any donkeys today but it was warm enough to go without socks.  It's always fun to start wearing sandals.

But my favorite day locally is "National Public Gardens Day." Over a hundred years ago generous benefactors contributed a very large amount of money to the city of Fort Wayne for the development of public parks and gardens throughout the city.  There are now 97 parks (open daily from 6:00am to 11:00pm) covering 2,840 acres of parkland and 120 miles of trails. 

My favorites include Headwaters Park, Promenade Park, Johnny Appleseed Park, Moody Park and the Rose Garden. Not just pretty to look at, our parks offer picnic spaces, golf courses, splash pads, sites for festivals and much more.  So get out there.  It's a great time of year to start enjoying the parks.

packing my bags...

 Today is "National Tourism Day."  This one I found on my own because my west coast brother was still too busy contemplating his very own D*****mit Dolls, received from our mutual friend, to think about special days.

"National Tourism Day" is a perfect day for my wonder spouse and me to celebrate.  While most of our tourism is being done internationally these days, we each have our own fond memories of travels throughout the United States from our childhood on.  

In fact one memorable trip was a shared experience with our first spouses while they were still alive.  Our friendships go way back. We were all newlyweds at the time (aka before children).  The trip we took together (four people and our luggage in a rather small car) involved sleeping in a large green boy scout tent, put up, with some interesting expletives, at a different campground each night, and by daylight enjoying the natural wonders of the rocky coast of Maine.

For thirteen years my first husband and I travelled throughout the US with our two children and two dogs in our faithful VW bus camper conversion.  We took them to all of the contiguous 48 states.  We camped in national parks and forests and KOA campgrounds.  My spouse had similar experiences with his first wife and two sons (minus the dogs).  We were reminiscing over coffee this morning and agreed that those travel times were excellent.  We also agreed that these days we prefer cruising with Viking.  A very different kind of travel adventure.  

In two weeks we will be leaving on our next cruise.  While our accomodations and dining experiences will definitely be a cut above camping, we will still be national tourists, at least part of the time with several stops in Alaska and a family visit in Washington state. 

As a national tourist I have been to all 50 states.  After this coming trip to Alaska my wonder spouse still needs to add Hawaii to his list. 

I am anxious to help him reach that goal.  Aloha, everyone.

What is it??

 Actually "What on earth are these?" is what I asked when I opened a box that arrived in the mail from my pen pal yesterday.  I know that sending snail mail is an old fashioned idea but my friend, who lives on the other side of the country, doesn't use a cell phone or computer so we are pen pals.

This is what was in the box. Four very peculiar looking dolls (for want of a better word).  At first glance I thought they were Voodoo dolls but they are not.  According to the letter she enclosed her latest hobby is making these "theraputic (get rid of agggression and frustration) 12 inch tall Dammit Dolls."  She is making a whole bunch of them and keeping them in her truck to give to anyone she meets.

Each stuffed paper doll has a message in a heart on its chest.  The message reads 

"Whenever things don't go so well 

and you want to hit the wall and yell 

here's a little dammit doll you can't live without. 

Just grasp it firmly by the legs and find a place to slam it,

 and as you wack the stuffing out yell damn it, damn it, damn it."

I will never be able to use these.  My mother will be rolling over in her grave just knowing I'm typing such words, let alone saying them out loud.  So if any one can use a doll or two, or four, please let me know.  I will send them your way.

I must admit I think it's funny that my friend is keeping these in her truck and carrying them with her.  Can you imagine being stuck in a traffic jam and having someone tap on your window and hand you one of these, or being given one while standing in a long line at the grocery store? 

Depending on your mood, it might or might not be well received. Either way there might be some slamming going on....

A tale of two plants....

 This all started a few days ago when my brother-in-law asked me if I would like a cutting from his Dieffenbachia plant.  It was getting too tall and he needed to cut it down.  Years and years ago I had a lovely Dieffenbachia plant which I remember as being pretty easy to take care of. My kind of house plant.  So I said sure.  He said that if we had a pot and some dirt we could come and get the plant this evening.  He was also offering part of the plant to his great niece.  

So this morning my wonder spouse and I took a trip to Menards for plant soil and pots.  We bought enough of everything to share with his great niece.  We still have more than half of the bag of potting soil left.  

We bought quite a large bag of potting mix and two pretty pots, one for her and one for us.

My brother-in-law gave us the top of the plant as well as three pieces of the stalk. It turned out that his great niece couldn't take any of the plant home because it's toxic to cats, so we got all of it that he wanted to share.  I was doing a little reading about the plant after we got it home and read that you should always wear gloves when cutting it because of the toxic sap.  I did not know that but figured it out when my left hand started itching and burning.  Happily, after lots of hand washing it's feeling much better.   

The Dieffenbachia is a tropical plant, native to Central and South America.  It likes a warm humid environment and bright but indirect light.

Little did this lucky plant know that it has just come home to the perfect environment.  We have an indoor pool in a room with skylights, shaded windows and a lovely touch of humidity. All of our plants live in our pool room and thrive there.  Doesn't it look happy already snuggled up with some new friends. It's almost like being at home in the jungle.  I'm anxious to see if the pieces will sprout.  

Star Wars...

 Today is 5-4-26, aka May the 4th.  To those of us who have know and loved the Star Wars series it is also known as Star Wars Day because of the well know line in the movies "May the force be with you."

I have been a fan of the Star Wars series since the very first one, originally simply called "Star Wars," came out in 1977.  The subtitle "Episode IV A New Hope" was added to the title for a re-release in April 1981 to align with the release of the second Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back." A series was born.

My first husband and I took our children to see the original movie when it first came out because we wanted to see it ourselves and thought our kids might enjoy it.  We were hooked from the first blast into hyper-space, but the true joy was watching our son.  He was five at the time. Our daughter (three years old) slept through most of the movie but our son literally sat on the edge of his seat through the entire show.  He was hooked.  

Over the years we've enjoyed all of the Star Wars movies together, but more than that.  That first taste of 'space travel' led to 12 years of involvement with Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama first as an attendee, then as a counselor.  Since college every job he has had has been space related.  He never became an austronaut but he has experienced weightlessness, and helped countless children enjoy learning about space.  

If he called me tomorrow and said "There's a new Star Wars movie coming out. Do you want to go see it?" My answer would be an instant "Yes!"

Bloomsday???

 My west coast brother lives near Spokane, and he has informed me that today, in Spokane, is "Bloomsday."  He described it as "a springtime ritual in Spokane where 50,000+ people risk heat stroke while chasing a dozen or so Kenyans around a 7.5 mile course, snarling downtown traffic for several hours." He also informed me that he has avoided participating for the last 50 years.  Since this is the first year that he has ever mentioned this event to me I thought I might look for a few more details.

The Lilac Bloomsday Association sponsors a major 12K (7.456 miles)  road race held in Spokane on the first Sunday in May.  Today's was the 50th running of the race. The purpose of the race is to promote fitness, sports and community well being and to celebrate the enduring spirit of the "Lilac City." I did not know that Spokane is the "Lilac City" but I have seen some beautiful parks when visiting there. The event, which attracts thousands of participants every year, winds through some very picturesque and scenic areas of the city. 

On the other hand today was also "Lemonade Day" and "Garden Meditation Day."  My brother decided, wisely I think, that these were a better use of his time.

watching on TV

 It's a really good thing that I was not at the Kentucky Derby this year.  Of course I never have been to the Kentucky Derby so this year was no different.  I watched it on TV as usual.  It's fun to watch on TV but I would like to wear one of those amazing hats.

The reason it's good that I wasn't there is becaise this way I didn't loose any money.  If I had been there I would have bet some money on Great White, the physically largest horse in the race.  I liked his looks. Sadly all my dreams for Great White were shattered while they were still getting the horses into their gates.  As they were trying to get him in, Great White reared up, threw his jockey, fell over on his back and almost rolled over on his jockey.  Great White was a non-starter, out of the race before it began.  They wouldn't let him run after that fall because there wasn't time for a vet to check him out thoroughly to be sure he hadn't injured himself.  I presume they checked out the jockey also but the commentators didn't say anything about.

It was a very exciting race though.  Golden Tempo came all the way from the back of the pack to win the race.  It was amazing to watch. Golden Tempo was trained by Cherie Devaux, the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby.  The jockey who rode him, Jose Ortiz, had his first Derby win in 11 trys.  Hooray for all concerned.  It was a great day at the races.