Ghost of Fathers Day Past

A greeting from the heart:

Whirlwind afternoon

Crisis du jour:

In the path of a tornado!

No warning siren, and boy was it fast! One minute the Bradford Pear tree was there, then when I looked again it was in pieces on the ground. Very little structure damage in our neighborhood, but the place is a mess of broken trees, some torn up by the roots.

Thankfully, my brave little ginkgo is standing strong and healthier than ever. It's barely taller than me now, and at ginkgo speed may even reach six feet in several years.

Maggie's first tornado


Tags: · "Olive Branch" · "Mississippi" · "tornado" · "Olive Branch tornado"

Here kitty·kitty·kitty

You know those jokes about the little old lady who has ten cats? Well, there's ten cats around here and I'm evidently that lady. Thankfully, we're only fostering Mama's five kittens, most of which are expected to adopt out to permanent homes. My 16-year-old cat — who hates all other felines — is adjusting to life with Lori's three younger cats, two of which are part-Bengal. Her other cat is the strong, silent type who knows how to throw his weight around but wouldn't dream of actually harming anyone.

Otep's favorite spot atop the fridge

Mojo's found the softest blanket in the house

Brother is the self-appointed Keeper Of The Stairs

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Good thing I'm a Cat Person, ain't it?

Plan B

Of all the wonderful things in the wonderful universe of God, nothing seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the blank earth and the result thereof.

Julie Moir Messervy

Last summer's edible tomato has encouraged me to grow another tasty treat this season. Before I broke my hand, I'd expected to try tomatoes again. The upside-down planter, though, is a "get dirty" contraption that my cast prevented me from using. Instead, I started off a dozen or so watermelon seeds in a starter tray, then transplanted the five surviving seedlings to a front spot on the west side of the house, where they'll get lots of hot afternoon sun. I hope they're as good as the seed package looked.

And four months later:

CarlaCarlaCarlaCarla · 10/10/2009
Unsuccessful, but not fruitless

Clown face

Maggie's first Koolaid mustache:

Day Dream

Never take Ecstasy, beer, Bacardi, weed, Pepto Bismol, Vivarin, Tums, Tagamet HB, Xanax, and Valium in the same day. It makes it difficult to sleep at night.

Eminem

Another narcotic-induced dream

Okay, so there we were flying down the street, minding our own business, when we came upon a group of Men At Work repairing a leak in a roadside creek. The leak had created all sorts of problems with the purity of the water, so that if the Men At Work came in contact with it something terrible would happen to them. Not immediately, but over time, like they would eventually get a disfiguring and painful skin disease. In spite of this danger, getting into the water to repair the creek was the only way to properly fix it, so two men were up to their chests in it. Since they were both considered unimportant to Society though, their safety was sacrificed for the comfort of more important people.

Nevertheless, we ended up flying through the next creek that we came to. This was a foolish and unnecessary risk, but I wasn't given a choice in the matter. Naturally, I hoped the water in the second creek hadn't been infected with Impure Water Disease. And wouldn't you know it, the one time that my feet touched the muddy creek bed, they each fell on broken glass! Although I couldn't see the glass through the dark water, I could tell that it was thick amber glass from a carelessly discarded beer bottle.

Once back on dry land, I realized that the soles of my feet had matching lacerations, but not much bleeding. I treated them both with rubbing alcohol to help avoid infection and speed healing, but was unsure if I'd be able to at least hobble around or be unable to walk at all.

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As soon as my fractured hand healed, I ended up injuring my knee while carrying an armful of kittens around the yard. Last week's surgery to repair a torn meniscus left me with two small incisions on either side of my knee and a promise from the orthopedic surgeon that I'll develop arthritis in that joint one day. Yay meeeeeee!