Tomato plant conversation and why you shouldn't be jealous that people comment on my blog

Last night I was talking to tomato while picking two new red ones. He is the first garden plant I've tried in a pot and was put there because I couldn't figure out where to put a garden in my yard, but also couldn't conceive of summer without some fresh tomatoes. As my neighbor quipped "enjoying our Colorado weather?", I was asking the tomato plant if he had enjoyed the rain. He seemed to say that it was nice, but he really missed the sun. "Me too," I said. The weather guy said that we should see the sunshine today, tomato and I can't take another cloudy day. We've had 4 or 5 in a row, which may not seem like a lot unless you are from a sunny place and then it seems like the world is ending only it feels that way in your soul and you aren't sure why until you look up to say hi to your favorite and he isn't there.

My other conversation last night was with an automated man at United Airlines. To my plea " I want to speak to a human being" he would answer , "you would like to depart from Midland, Texas".

I talked to my sister on the phone for a little while and I went to Bible Study where I succeeded at not talking. Sometimes it's for the best. The ladies did get into a "Left Behind" discussion about the books. Sigh...

My teddy Bear and I read a little out of "At the Back of the North Wind" which we had stopped reading for a little while due to anniversary fatigue, but it was beautiful last night and my teddy bear thought that the voice inside the drunk which was the voice of the great love who had created him and which sounded like misery to him and on Mt Sinai like thunder and to St. John like blessedness was lovely and sad, to the point that I had tears. Teddy bears don't cry.

Tumblin' Tumbleweed

I think this was the best year I've had a Tumbleweed Festival. This is why: I stayed there almost the entire time. I enjoyed a variety of musical styles including a ragtime band (I'm not sure that I've actually ever heard of a ragtime band let alone gotten to just listen) and Edgar Cruz (I think I saw him in college). The skies were cloudy all day yesterday (very out of character on the range) which made things a little chilly, but today the sun came out and I bought two cds which I even had autographed (Brad Cotter and Harvey Reid & Joyce Anderson) . (what a funny thing that is. i always feel weird getting autographs, but when there isn't a line and the artist is willing, it seems like you ought to. i guess it is a nice excuse to say hello and thank you). (The one bad part was the 5 minute errand that took an hour). (ok 10 minute errand that took 45 minutes, it was on saturday and included getting a sweatshirt). The strange thing about Tumbleweed is that there are people who don't go. I paid $7 and personally heard about 7 hours of live music and my drive time to the park was about 5 minutes. I could have listened to a lot more too. Hooray for small town music festivals.

For Pluto

(though we've never actually met)

you are not
what we have named you
too small, though for a time
you were numbered
among the very large
9 of 9
who am i to diminish you?
larger than me
circling beyond my scope

you were styrofoam
you were paper mache

(excommunicated
though the heretics
will forever count you)

you are still what you were
orbital, celestial
you are my planetary heart
confusing and distant, exactly
what you were before
they called you names.

Accidents happen, but should they happen in pun?

The saddest thing about a blog is that people read it. The saddest thing about a diary is that no one reads it.

So I was recently mocked for my version of the Pete and Repeat joke. How does it go?

Also this has been in mind lately and I thought it might be a nice thing to be on someone else's mind as well. No reason, but Art in the Park was this weekend. There was no sculpture for sale, but I did buy some pottery.

Pluto Pacifica

It's nice to know that so many are fighting for Clyde Tombaugh's discovery to keep its status (you know Clyde Tombaugh of Burdett, Kansas discoverer of Pluto). It's funny that people want to argue the definition of a planet, but perhaps arguing over the definition is sort of a fun thing since its all semantics and doesn't change anything. Maybe the change in the solar system's named planetary makeup will be more important than the US switch to the metric system or the killer bees (which according to the papers this summer have illegally crossed the US border from Mexico after years of threats. Why didn't border patrol stop them?) I'm sure the change in our solar system's named planets is also making big news in the Weekly Reader as did the bees.

I learned something else today that changes nothing. After reading about a lost at sea fisherman who was rescued between the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, I couldn't remember ever hearing of Kiribati. Kiribati is an island chain/group near the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. Christmas Island is among its geography and sounds slightly familiar though I can't tell you why. So, just in case you start dreaming that you're in a national geography bee which for some reason is the only way for you to save the world from the evil clutches of Sir Hateful, your long-time villain nemesis, you will know that answer to "what island nation are the Christmas Islands governed under?" is Kiribati.

One more thing. Yahoo music has been pushing Ollabelle on me for a month. Yahoo is right, they do match my genre preference. Anyway, everybody should give them a listen to see if they might also match their genre preference.

List from girl who never uses lists except as a time saving writing tool to avoid transitions.

We were missing Luke in this picture, but this is my teriffic family. lobiwan and mllr have more pictures of the anniversary festivities.



I don't really have a camera so a picture filled blog doesn't follow. The reception for the 50th wedding anniversary went off without any trouble. The music was good and the slides were fun. Mom and Dad seemed to enjoy the event and it was a nice moment, sublime in fact. The fam sans Luke headed for Colorado. My personal highlights were:

1. Getting to see Jonathan. He lives too far away.
2. Joanna in the swimming pool. She is a free spirit.
3. Whitewater rafting and amusing each other along the way. My boat was Drew, Lainey, Joanna, Margaret, Betsy and Matthew. Drew should never be lead paddle.
4. Talking to Mark. I really like him and I don't get to talk to him often enough.
5. Hanging out by the pond. I had Cephas, Jairus and Anna crawling on me with my toes in the water. It's great to be loved. I also recognized Lydia and Lainey at a distance before anyone else did (2 skinny, pretty girls. Who else could it be?).
6. Spencer and Levi in the back of the car playing some dog computer game. Spencer and Levi fishing, Spencer and Levi... again and again.
7. Taking Cephas to the emergency room with Shannon wasn't a good highlight, but a highlight just the same. I wore a lead apron and coaxed Cephas to sit up straight since Shannon is pregnant so that they could take x-rays of the little guy. Mary drove to Colorado Springs with us so that I would have someone to ride back with me. Cephas spent rest of the vacation in the hospital and I missed out on helping Jim make the fam sing hyms after supper.
8. One more bad highlight-- Drew's piano playing.
9. Florissant Fossil Beds. There are these petrified redwood stumps in Colorado and the trails lead through a beautiful mountain meadow. We listened to a lecture on volcanic ash, algae, and climate change. When the ranger asked questions, Kathryn got every answer right. I got to talk soils with dad. Ruth, Michael, Michaella, Jeanette, Eric, Jonathan, and Dad let me read the tour book for the stops along the trail (ok they weren't given a choice).
10. Crags trail. Good hiking fun. Jonathan on the baby backpack behind Eric was sweet asleep or awake. Michael drove there, Margaret backseat drove and Drew criticized. Ahhh, family! The drive there was less than 15 minutes from where we were staying. During the hike Christian found a cave and the rest of the crew (meaning people under 21) followed. The views were beautiful and the thin air was fun to breathe.
11. Finney praying for his dad at supper when Robert went to the emergency room. Mom of course said her most famous line "why don't we pray right now". They never figured out what was wrong with Robert, but he was in a lot of pain. Mary's vacation away from the hospital didn't really pan out. The next day Robert joined the family and so I think God was listening.
12. Nerd games. Played with Michael, Eric, Jeanette and Chris. Eric won.
13. Cripple Creek. Dad and I spent $2 in the slots with Spencer, Levi, Lydia and Lauren staring from the outside. And the pistachio gelato was delicious.
14. Driving home with Joanna, Drew, and Spencer. We eventually read Mere Christianity aloud since that was what Drew was reading. It was great.

Writing it all down makes me remember that I didn't get to spend enough time with everyone, but that is the nature of the Disco. I think we all had a long, long list.

Listless

I've been working on lists lately in preparation for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Like on Saturday:

1. Pick up cake
2. pick up flowers
3. check on reception set-up
4. buy new shoes

Also, when feeling a great deal of stress avoid:

1. Calvinism
2. Kansas Board of Education
3. Traffic Court
4. Wal-Mart

I've discovered a new stress symptom. It's the last one on a list that I haven't added to since law school:

1. sour stomach
2. back acne
3. neck acne
4. scalp acne
5. sleeplessness
6. counting your steps (seriously I've taken a little over 5000 steps today, 5320. Did I buy a pedometer? No I've just started counting for fun.)

The original life long list of men never to date (not that I've had the opportunity to exclude anyone lately):

1. jayhawks
2. vegetarians
3. luxury sedan owners
4. non-voters
5. atheists

Finally next week:

1. Relax
2. be happy
3. enjoy your family