Wild Flowers

Trip up Mineral King Road with Deby Cook on Wednesday morning captured many wild flowers.

Tincture Plant (Far left)

2) Slender Larkspur (near left)

3) Queen Anne's Lace (Below)

Daughter of the Heart

Today we celebrate Maria. Kay, step-mother-in-law, Lavonne, mother-in-law, and I, mother of the heart, will take her to lunch at Vintage Press, a nice restaurant in Visalia. Her mom is ill and lives too far away, so we stand in her stead. Alex, the son, will appear for a few minutes, flowers in hand to surprise her. We are bringing individual gifts we each made, and some crisp bills to add up to her 50 years of life, but our main goal is to surround her in motherlyness. Does she need this? Probably not. But we do.

It is shocking to have your children reach half a century. Time moves so fast. It seems only yesterday the 14 year old tiny girl showed up at my side to apprentice me in the infant program. By 16 she called me "Mom," and has ever since. Her son I consider the first grandson. My eldest son is moving toward fifty, his brother 3 years behind. Delia, my step-daughter, is 18 and in college. Decades have past. Six grandchildren call me Granny. I look back and feel so lucky. Ups and downs to be sure, but in general it has mostly been joyful. And the most blessed moments are the young people I call my children, to see them as parents being far better at it than I was, and yet, I see my values were passed along.

So this day is a celebration of Maria and the kind of adult she has grown into. A strong willed, capable, loving, and pretty woman who makes a difference starting with her own family, and working her way out into the community. We are proud and love her and hope today conveys the depth of our love.

Jury Duty Continues...

Jury Duty lasted ten minutes. The Judge walked in wearing his robe exactly at 12:30 when we were all signed in. He announced the case was settled. He thanked us for our service, explaining without the knowledge that a jury is in waiting, sometimes people settle last minute, like doing a term paper at the last minute. He didn't want us to feel we wasted our time. Some people had driven as far away as 250 miles since this was District Court.

Personally I had to contain myself from showing too much glee. The whole drive I sang "Please settle. Please settle. Please settle." Over and over I sang my mantra. I almost danced down the street to the parking garage. To serve, and yet, not serve, that is a pleasure. Onward.