Westward Adventure Flora Lists

(July 2013)
Wildflowers Identified

Lupine

Monkey flower

Mountain pride (Newberry's Penstemon)

Thistle

Milkweed

Cow parsnip

Snow plant

Yosemite aster

Columbine

Indian Paintbrush

Cacti Identified

Cane cholla cactus 

Purple prickly pear

Reframing

(originally written January 15, 2011)

I have been told by many people lately that...

• I need look on the bright side
• It isn't all bad
• It  will all be ooookaaaayyyy
• I should be thankful for what I have
• Focus on the good

You get the gist...I guess I have been kind of whiney this month...ok...year. So to all those who encourage me to stay positive I present a list of awesome events from 2011 (in no particular order.)

1. The litter of Labrador puppies across the street all came running across the yard towards me. My heart actually hurts thinking about it because they were so sweet.
2. Saw my brother and there was no drama.
3. Reconnecting with old friends and lost loves.
4. Reading some amazing books, my favorite being The Tiger's Wife.
5. Saw all the Oscar movies before the Oscars.
6. Seeing Chris Cornell

Just Plain Lucille

While going through my email today I came across the list of names my (insert adjective of choice) husband had sent to me when we were trying to pick a name for our new black female puppy. We decided on just plain Lucille. Which is really not plain at all and is the perfect name for her. Here are his suggested names

• Michelle Obarka
• Lt. Ohura
• Karen Barkenter
• Blackie Joyner-Kersey
• Joan Harris

 

A Random List of Things I Was Reminded That I Love Yesterday

1. Taylor Kitsch
2. Christopher Nolan's Batman Movies
3. $1 Sweet Tea from McDonalds
4. Laughing about things my husband says and does
5. Spring at the baseball park
6. Full moons

Stars on 45s

Photo by Brandywine Photography

I have been a longtime fan of pin-up style fashion and photography. My friend Leanna has recently started a business photographing pin-ups, and I was lucky enough to be one of her first models. Since I was so excited about it all, I have been trying to help out where I can. Most recently that included browsing my parents' house for "vintage" stuff that could be used as props in future shoots. I had seen the photo to the right on a pin-up photography site and loved it so much that I thought I could try to recreate it. I have an old record player, all I needed was the forty-fives. My mom spoke up and said, "We've got some old 45's you can have." YES! So we headed to the 5 or 6 milk crates that now contain my parents' much narrowed down record collection, to look for them. I was totally surprised when I saw that the majority of these 45s were mine! How had they survived all this time?! Mom and I laughed and sang as we looked through the stack. She kept a few John Lennon ones that she couldn't part with, and sent the rest home with me. What follows is a list of the 45's in that stack. Enjoy!

Mine:

• "Jungle Love" Morris Day and The Time
• "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" Elton John
• "I'm Satisfied" BeeGees
• "Conga" Miami Sound Machine
• "Africa" Toto
• "Saving All My Love for You" Whitney Houston
• "Ebony and Ivory" Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
• "Harlem Shuffle" Rolling Stones
• "Count Me Out" New Edition
• "Sharing the Night Together" Dr. Hook
• "Copacabana" Barry Manilow
• "Walk Like an Egyptian" Bangles (2 copies)
• "When Doves Cry" Prince
• "King Tut" Steve Martin
• "Beat It" Michael Jackson
• "We Are Family" Sister Sledge
• "Shame on the Moon" Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
• "The Girl Is Mine" Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
• "Ghostbusters" Ray Parker Jr.
• "Who's Zoomin' Who" Aretha Franklin
• "Unchain My Heart" Joe Cocker
• "Chicken Soup with Rice" Carole King
• "Georgie and the Noisy Ghost" a Robert Bright story read by George Rose

Not mine (that I did not remember singing to in my room anyway):

• "White Christmas" Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters
• "Nobody Does it Better" Carly Simon
• "Shout" Joey Dee and the Starlighters
• "This Is It" Melba Moore
• "Here You Come Again" Dolly Parton
• "Stars on 45 Get Ready Volume III" Stars On 45 (Both sides are more than 7 min long each)
• "The Gambler" Kenny Rogers
• "She Believes in Me" Kenny Rogers

What Not to Write on a Child's Report Card

Last week, while my parents were putting away Christmas decorations, they came across a box, shoved to the back of a shelf,  which contained what my dad would call "memorabilia" and my mom would call "crap."Amongst these treasures were some things that they saw fit to send to my house to live, the bulk of which was a collection of schoolwork and report cards from several grades. The list of comments that follow are all quoted directly from my first grade report card, the 1980-81 school year.I was really wanting to write a whole rant about each of these comments. They really made me upset when I started looking at them. I called my father and while I yelled and cried he laughed...saying this teacher and my mom, Sue, never really saw eye to eye. Am I crazy or are some of these comments really inappropriate?! Now I know our education system has changed a lot. I know that if I as a 2012 teacher put a student's desk out in the hall and closed the door like my 5th grade teacher to me, that I would be fired. But still...

• "She is such a delight when she is absorbed in what we're doing, but she has very little self discipline when it's a less pleasurable task."
• "Sue, You asked not long ago how different J. was from the other classmates? I conclude, very different! She thinks beautifully and has great ability, but public school will possibly be increasingly difficult for her style."
• "I told Dale that Jessica either wore me down or she's changed because I have really enjoyed her this last nine weeks."
• "If I've prepared her in any way for next year, it's been worth our struggles."
• "She has taught me a lot and I feel privileged for the experience."
• "I look for her to be something great someday."
• "For the flowers, the candy, the party stuff, and your constant support, I've never felt so special."
• "Please call me at anytime in her school career if you need me."

 Here is the punchline...a few days ago a fellow teacher told me that one of her Facebook friends recognized my name and knew me from Randolph County. She said that she knew my dad also so I just figured it was someone who knew my dad, as everyone in NC public school system seems to. But my friend kept emphasizing the fact that the woman said she knew ME. As soon as she said the woman's name...I knew. It was the teacher who had written these comments 30 years ago. She still remembered me...and no wonder, right?! Now the last comment she put was to call her any time. She's living here in the mountains now. Think she'd be up for a student/teacher conference? I have some questions for her.

A Long Drive Home

On my drive home from Greensboro today I got really frustrated hitting the "scan" button on my stereo. Ordinarily surfing the radio stations is one of my favorite parts of the trip between the mountains and the Piedmont, but today it was a complete bust. My radio offered up to me bad classic rock, random cute girl singing dance music, several styles of religious songs, and lots and lots of modern country. Bah! Blah! Grrrr!

So I slowed down a bit and while I had my left hand on the wheel I started rifling through my car's various cubby holes for my iPod and its adapter. Several swerves later, I hit "shuffle songs" and waited for my own personal favorites to start. As usual, it did not disappoint. Even though there are thousands of songs on my iPod, it always seems to be able to tap into my psyche and play exactly the right song in the moment. What follows is a list of song lyrics that came on my iPod on the trip. Lyrics that resonated with me today from songs that randomly came through the speakers at me on this sunny drive home.

• "The laws of man don't apply when blood gets in a woman's eye."
• "Now I like nothing better than a pretty girl smile and I haven't seen a smile that pretty in a while."
• "Well her husband he's a violent man a very violent and jealous man. Now I have to leave this town. I got to leave while I still can.
• "Why you act frightened? I am enlightened."
• "But for now we are young. Let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see."
• "To what you wanted to see good has made you blind, and what you wanted to be yours has made it mine."
• "Don't trade your love and goodness for the golden machine."
• "It's the fear that you know, but you gotta let go."
• "Lost in fog and love and faithless fear, I've had kisses that make Judas seem sincere."
• "What the hell am I trying to say?"
• "Glad I have the scrapes to prove it was me who fell."

How many do you recognize? Clue? Six of the eleven I have seen in concert sometime in the past 20 years...and a seventh I have tickets to see next month.