Cuppa Guesses Crocus

Thanks for participating, all. Cuppa who has the prettiest Spring-looking Blog at Brown Betty - guessed correctly. She's just turned 60 and you'd never guess it by looking at her pretty face.
I was amazed at the silvery sheen thrown from the deflated crocus bloom. I've never seen plant material giving off such a glow. (Well, except for my glowing fungus - but that's another post :0)

What Is It ?

This is an un-retouched photo. I thought it'd be fun to see if anyone identifies the content. Laurie from Don't Make Me Get My Flying Monkeys inspired me with her car wash window picture riddle. Hint # 1. It's plant, not animal.

Home - Sweet Home!

Dear Friends. Heartfelt thanks for your prayers and good wishes. We're home a few hours and moving forward. So far the reports are very positive. We are exhausted and grateful for so much. Laura of Giggle Fern let her dad know we were in Detroit and he came to us in pre-op. Loren is a Presbyterian minister who teaches world religion at two colleges there. He brought more comfort than I think he knows and I will be forever grateful.
I'm not unpacked yet - except for the medical equipment. I've made a trip to the drug store. Patty, my dear friend brought delicious homemade soup and applesauce. I heard a Robin clucking outside our open window and snapped this quick photo so that I could accompany my expression of gratitude with a picture of the best of Spring - the essence of renewal and hope. Thank you. Thank you. I'll be dropping in on all your blogs as things settle a bit. Hope you are all well and giddy with bloom and birdsong.

Prayers Welcome - 7 o'clock Monday

We just received Keith's surgery time. If everything is on schedule - it's 7 o'clock Monday morning, March 26. We're 'Hanging In There'.
My friend, Anne, dropped this ceramic frog off last week with the kitty card. She explained that the frog is a 'hang in there' frog. (Do click on the picture) The tenacious frog is meant to cheer up my own dearest who now faces his round of gender-specific surgery. I found the perfect perch for his frogginess - a tulip - harbinger of Spring and renewal - of hope. Life is good when you've got friends who give a 'frog's behind' about your welfare. I love the way he's peering cautiously at the patient kitty. There's a lesson there, too. Patience. Things will sort out in their own time.

Keith's surgery is March 26th. We'll probably be in Detroit for just two overnights. That's barring any complications.

Spring arrives tomorrow. Ahhhhhh. It won't look like it weather-wise, but that's OK. It makes it easier to stay indoors and get things done. I've got a lot of winter detritus to set right.

So, dear blogging friends, I'll be checking in on you quite often to fill some anxious hours. I may not post for quite a while or I may post as the mood or need arises. For your kind thoughts and warm wishes, I thank you from my heart.

Happy Spring! Bring on your posts with the pictures of buds and blooms and Spring air laced with birdsong as life celebrates itself again outside your windows. I'll be sighing contentedly.

Signs of Spring

What can I say? Life says 'yes'. Beneath the snow, it stirs. Ice crystals fall away as Spring whispers - 'Shall . . .'

Giggle Fern

Years ago I was Googling a poem by Mary Oliver and was led to Laura's blog, "Giggle Fern". Laura lives near Santa Cruz in her 'tree house' with a family of pets and her husband. She has beautiful children who have left the nest but are always near her heart. Laura is busy in a field that I won't be able to define or describe, but I think it has to do with creating wonderful things through computer magic - like art and websites. Laura isn't a daily blogger but when I peruse her posts I'm always moved, enlightened, entertained or just happy to look over her shoulder as she wrests with the daily problems of life. She recently acquired a Danish Swedish Farm Dog - Yep. It's real and you've got to see the pictures.
Check out the corral cams where you can watch the sunlight dappling the backs of her beautiful horses.

Last Year's Smiles

Last summer I observed this duck feeding under the small waterfalls that drops between the upper and lower ponds at the local botanical gardens. I'd love to know what food it was finding. It must have been yummy as the duck repeatedly . . . uh - ducked under the water.
I think there's a message here. You may find what you need in places you and others might not have imagined. You may have to go through some turbulence to find it, but persistence pays off and when you come through it you'll be all sparkly from the effort of discovery.

Hope

Yesterday I had to take off my long underwear. I've been layering my clothing for weeks and by mid-morning was uncomfortably warm. It was almost unsettling to have to re-configure my morning attire. Guess I'm a creature of habit. Of course the upshot is the astonished awareness that, by golly - Spring is going to make it. We're going to make it.
My dearest one is scheduled for gender-specific surgery in two weeks. After open-heart surgery and a few other niggling concerns, it's not a happy-go-lucky time here for us.
Our son flies in from Boston today to attend his Grandma's funeral. No. My husband isn't getting a break. His mother died yesterday morning after several years in a nursing home close to her daughters.
I can't tell you (but you understand) how that little clump of daffodil leaves in front of the snow bank - lifted my spirits. It's been a long winter hasn't it?

A Fib

If I told you I went on a hot air balloon ride and came in low over the Arizona landscape to get this picture - would you buy it? Well if you really really knew me you'd know I'd never leave the ground in a basket propelled by flame. Would you? The picture is actually a macro photo of lichen on a granite rock.

Cheerier Circle of Life Images

Oh, alright - the expression on this Yellow-crowned Night Heron's face isn't exactly cheerful, but the predating Harris Hawk picture on my previous post was getting to me. It isn't exactly warm and fuzzy. The heron isn't a vegetarian, but he doesn't flaunt his prey on the top of a cactus and come to think of it - I don't think I've ever seen one catch or eat anything. Hmmmm. I guess that would explain his lethargic movements. He's got to conserve energy because he's not eating frequently. (Or duh-uh - maybe he really is moving around at night - as in Night Heron.)
The mushroom is definitely an integral part of nature's recycling program. I guess we'd be up to our chins in dead organic debris if not for fungus. Let's hear it for fungus! (That dewy violet seems so improbable this time of year)

Circle of Life

The Harris Hawks around Carefree Arizona were busy being 'hawks' during our week's visit. From the nature trail behind The Boulders Resort, I glimpsed some activity on a local church's large cement cross. The screen on my camera is murky in bright sunlight and I wasn't at all sure as to what images I was recording. Looks like a bit of a courting ritual. I'm wondering how the male can stand atop the female without damaging her with those talons.
The feeding hawk was plucking feathers out of a smaller bird. I think it was a Mourning Dove. I just can't help feeling bad for that dove. I'm hopeless when it comes to the 'Circle of Life' thing. Hopeless.

Mea Maxima Culpa

If I hadn't been tossing the contents of the mini-bar onto the patio behind our room I wouldn't be posting this photo of napping Javelina. Well I did and I am. For three days they waited patiently behind our room. If our door was even slightly ajar, you could smell them. Yes, smell them. They are very stinky animals. I think it was Mary who warned me to 'watch out' they're dangerous. When one of them stirred from his nap to yawn - I saw what she meant. Still, they don't seem aggressive and apparently I'm not the only one to toss snacks their way. We also saw them nosing through room service left-overs outside another Casita. Wish I could stop feeling guilty. (Please click on these for the full effect. Yipes!)

We're Not In Kansas Anymore . . .

Just sharing today's highlights before crawling under the covers. It's COLD in Phoenix tonight. Lots of wildlife just outside our door. I was photographing mourning doves out one window when my husband spotted the Bobcat out the other. This all makes Toldeo look pretty tame. That's a Javelina going after the crackers and water I'd put out for the quail. That's a cowboy (or a close approximation there of)