A is for…
In the wake of losing 18+ months of photos on my dead hard-drive, I have decided that I should step up my Thankful Thursday postings. You know, Count your blessings, name them one by one…
So here we go, starting with
A
And if you have had as much exposure to Dr. Seuss as I have, please recite with me:
Big A… little a… What begins with A?
Aunt Annie’s alligator… A… a… A
Cleopatra
Ahem.
Today I recognize that I am thankful for time spent ALONE even if some of that time is spent with a cat. 
Leaning back in the recliner, cup of coffee or tea in one hand, petting the cat with the other hand, composing poetry in my head, listening to the wind chimes play a melody — that, for me, is a lovely 10 minute break in a busy day. It gives me time to clear my mind of to-do lists and focus on the beauty outside my living room window.
watching intently
eyes unblinking, tail flicking
bird just out of reach
What are you thankful for today?
You’ve got ten minutes to yourself to spend as you wish.
Describe:
Lilacs on Parade
Saturday night was the culminating event of the Lilac Festival:
The Spokane Lilac Festival 75th Diamond Anniversary Armed Forces Torchlight Parade.
Now there’s a mouthful!
princesses preparing to parade
There was royalty in the form of Lilac Princesses.
Pearl Harbor survivors
There was royalty in the form of a disappearing generation…
WWII and Korean War Veterans
former Prisoners of War
and of course, much recognition for our Armed Forces past and present.
After all, it was Armed Forces Day here in the United States.
Salute
And then there was the very personal reason why we spent many hours downtown on Saturday evening:
Our very own drum major, who spent half of the parade marching backwards.
Tongues of Fire
Not a burning bush
Today is Pentecost and at our church it is also Youth Sunday. SnakeMaster and Humorous-Juniorous are reading scripture, and H-J will also be playing a duet (flute) with the organist.
New law and new life are both celebrated on this day, although the celebrants are different folks.
While I think yellow and orange look much more like flames, it is traditional for Christians to wear red on this day. My own choices are a red t-shirt or red earrings… I’ll go with the red earrings this morning.
Exodus 3:1-15
Acts 2:1-21
Friday Five: Wildflower Motley Medley
Microsteris gracillis, a.k.a., slender phlox
- I went back to the park yesterday to take a few more pictures showing the comparative size of the wildflowers (same earrings as before, made by Cassi).
Okay, I JUST realized that this isn’t the same flower as the above pic… but the sizing *is* correct, so let’s pretend that it’s the same. Okay?
- Folks from several local tribes were there, with loads of gravel to spread on the paths as erosion control. I cringed because they were driving ATVs to bring the gravel and tools to various spots… and driving over some of the wildflowers. I’m cringing again now, just thinking about the smashed flowers and grasses. I like to keep the conservation area conserved.
narrow-leaf desert parsley (This was shown in the field of yellow flowers on Monday.)
- I wish I could take a couple of road trips to meet other bloggers with whom I’ve become friends.
rock sunflower / Arrowleaf Balsamroot
- My older teen nearly laughed himself out of his chair at the dinner table last night. Granted, I did refer to Harvard as a possible back-up school… but only because his first choice is [the much closer to home & family] Stanford. On the other hand, Stanford has only sent him a letter over the winter to suggest he spend thousands of dollars on a 3-week-long summer camp; the older, more distinguished school has sent him a letter asking him to consider applying to attend college there. This kid has a lot of decisions to make in the next few months.
Phlox caespitosa or possibly Phlox viscida (sticky phlox)
- Tomorrow is the ”Breakthrough for Brain Tumors” 5k walk. I’m walking in a group of friends and we’ll be surrounding a mutual friend’s family with love and hugs while we honor his memory. It’s going to be an emotional morning.
Gifts
Petrified Wood (photo from June 2012: would have been lost in my laptop but thankfully rescued from my free flickr account)
Mother’s Day can be fraught with danger, whether that danger comes from unmet expectations or emotional landmines of the past — or a combination of both. But occasionally, it can be filled with delightful surprises, and this past Sunday was one of those occasions.
I’m now going to beg your pardon as I take a moment to brag on my boys.
Acts of Service is my love language; it’s the way I show love to my family and the things I best offer up to friends in crisis (well, that and hugs of course). Packing school lunches, baking pies, and hospital vigils are tangible ways I can serve others. I am going to refrain from analyzing whether or not my kids finally “get me” and simply enjoy the fact that instead of buying me some small gift I didn’t need, the 3 boys living in my house got busy after church and not only went nuts with the housecleaning (clean counter tops! clean tabletop! clean bathtub!) but they also detailed my car! And since they needed time to get it all done, my husband took me on an impromptu picnic for lunch. I call that a winning combination!
My married son wasn’t here to help with any of that, but he did call me in the afternoon and actually talked with me, telling me about his summer job (paid research in the field of his major). He was so busy with work and more credits than most humans can handle this past year that I hardly talked with him while he was in school, so I especially appreciated the time he took to call and talk on Sunday.
____________________________________________
What are you thankful for this week?
Surrounded by Lilacs
Please click on the lilacs to enlarge the picture. It’s worth it!
We are in the pinnacle week of the Lilac Festival here.
SnakeMaster plays the baritone at the Junior Lilac Parade.
The younger teen marched in his first parade four days ago and H-J will be leading his band this coming Saturday for the 75th annual torchlight parade.
H-J at the all-city track meet on Saturday.
My Town Monday: Wildflowers in Bloom
sagebrush buttercup
The last time I took you for a walk in the park near my house, the flowers I was able to show you included Sagebrush Buttercups. Apparently, these were used by some native tribes as poison on their arrowheads — rather different than my own childhood game of “Do you like butter?” as we held buttercups under the chins of our friends!
Now it is mid-May and I am grateful to have taken my morning walk before the rain began in earnest. Not that we don’t need the rain — we do! It has been a very dry spring here — but I am less likely to take a camera into the park and kneel down on rocks for photographs if everything I touch is soggy.
I’ll have to go back out again when we dry off, because this rain is sure to bring on even more blooms. (The rain will also bring on the mosquitoes but I’m going to ignore that for now!)
Bitterroot in bloom — also known as Rock Rose or by its scientific name: Lewisia Rediviva
While photographing these tiny rock roses, I realized I had lost an earring. Luckily, it was easy to find, and I took the opportunity to take a few pictures and show just how tiny these flowers really are:
rock rose size comparison
Please click on any picture to “embiggen” for better viewing.
Other tiny finds include these lovely flowers:
Phlox caespitosa or possibly Phlox viscida (sticky phlox)
Microsteris gracillis, slender phlox
A little fauna to go with the flora:
He (she?) was climbing on an Arrowleaf Balsamroot plant.
Common name(s): sunflower, arrowleaf balsamroot.
Scientific name: Balsamorhiza sagittata.
My youngest son is a Boy Scout and has an interest in survival skills. Back when we had cable television access, he enjoyed watching the survival man shows. I suspect he has joined his 20yo brother in eating dandelions found in the park (pesticide free) and lately I’ve been seeing sites left up on the computer with information about wild edible plants.
Camas
“Camas is an important food source for the Salish peoples of the Columbia Plateau. Traditionally, the bulbs are gathered in late spring and cooked in pit-ovens, often with onions, black tree moss, and other root plants. Cooked camas can be used as a sweetener for other foods, or eaten by itself. This plant is highly valued and respected by the indigenous peoples of this region.” (from http://www.drumhellersprings.net/heritage-plants.html)
I’ll share one more picture today — that brings me to ten photos, and I’ve read that any more than 10 will cause me to lose my readers’ interest.
Common name: narrow-leaf desert parsley.
Scientific name: Lomatium triternatum.
Thanks to Aunt Snow for nudging my latent desire to learn the names of the local wildflowers!
