Tag Archives: squirrel

In the Pursuit of Trivia and World Peace

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Life in the Emerald City has taken a turn for the worst.  The water well has gone dry several days ago and rain is no where in sight.  The water well on the ranch of the Tin Man was dug in the 1800s and has never stopped flowing…..

…..that is until now….. 

Shall the Emerald City one day look like the surface of the Moon? 

Every week the water truck pulls up to the house and pumps water into the holding tank and the Tin Man wonders how long he desires to live in this place, the place of his ancestors. 

It fills the heart he got from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz with great sadness.

 

Recently, someone wrote a history of the area and presented him with a copy of the book; the Tin Man was quite touched as he sat and read the stories of these brave immigrants to a new world, a world belonging to Mexico and how these early immigrants relied on the help and protection of these original owners in order to survive. 

He looked into the expectant faces from the old photographs and envisioned the dreams the ancients had for creating a better place. 

He read the stories of how the original people of this land, the Mexicans helped them and protected them and wonders how and why today the people of this new land turn their backs on the original owners and want to build giant fences to separate themselves from these giving people, why today the inhabitants of this new world want to show disdain for the beautiful, melodic language spoken by the original owners of this land. 

The Tin Man wonders how this ignorant hatred found root in the hearts and minds of people whose ancients would not have survived this new world without the help and care of those original owners. 

So his heart is heavy with sadness and he wonders if the great gods of the ancient lands have decided to take the water away from these new people as punishment for their arrogance and hatred birthed out of self-serving ignorance and self righteousness.

So in order as to not become overwhelmed by this arrogance and ignorance he has decided to try and focus on some trivial facts of our world to lighten his heart.

Did you know that Buzz Aldrin’s Mother’s maiden name was MOON?

Nobody knows where Mozart is buried..

85% of all Life on Earth is Plankton

Ants do not Sleep

The Oldest Known Vegetable is the Pea

To See a Rainbow You must have your back to the Sun

Millions of Trees are planted by squirrels that bury their nuts and then forget where they left them……

…….Thank You squirrels

Monaco’s National Orchestra is bigger than its Army

Every year the Sun looses 360 Million Tons

The average 4 year old asks 400 Questions a Day

 

The Creature with the Largest Brain in relation to its body is the Ant

A Chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in the mirror, but a Monkey cannot

Panama Hats come from Ecuador

Charlie Chaplin once won Third Place in a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest

Shrimps are the loudest thing in the Ocean

The Fruit Fly was the first Animal in Space

The Largest Man Made Structure on Earth is “Fresh Kills”

The Rubbish Dump on Staten Island, New York…..a real tribute to mankind

So until a time when every Country’s Orchestra is bigger than its Army…….
…….and we realize that Ant’s have bigger brains than us…….

The Tin Man wishes for…..


…..a bit more care for our fellow humans and respect for their hearts…..and to celebrate our differences…

Visiting the Neighbors – Enjoying the Garden

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The Garden Gate

  We have a big garden and try to grow plants that we can harvest and enjoy all year round.

Today, I decided to see what the neighbors were up to….

…I had seen them busy with their homes over the past few weeks…..

They were all occupied inside so I went on to visit the other neighbors………….

They expressed their dismay at my not bringing any vegetable scraps or at least some weed pullings so I moved on…..

the magnolia has been blooming so wonderfully this year…..

We have had several years of very harsh weather and this Spring and Summer have been filled with mild temperatures and wonderful rain so you can see the flowers giving thanks…….

 

The Gardner found this beauty on the property and brought it home to enjoy.

We are still harvesting Artichokes, so many that we have decided to let some bloom and enjoy the wonderful flowers…..
………..you do remember The Demoniac Vegetable – Artichokes blog post don’t you??!?

………but enough of all this let’s go to the garden….

all sorts of wonders…..corn, green beans, okra, white onions, yellow onions, red onions, cabbage……oh my!

………and then yummy cabbage…..when you garden organically, even the bugs get to eat a little…….


………almost ready for the kitchen…….


….the Fennel so prolific, we are unable to eat all the bulbs….

..now blooming and producing seed…….yum, more for next year……


..the carrots peeking out…..


….beautiful peaches…hopefully the squirrels won’t eat them all……..


….Figs…..they never make it out of the garden….we eat them right off the trees..

..this tree is from a cutting from my Great Grandmother’s tree……sigh…..


..even pears this year……..yippee….

More Sqaush growing

Elmer beat me to the Garden and has harvested this morning’s Yellow Crook Neck Squash and Honduran Beans. Here they are nestled in his shirt.

The Herbs are going wild…….for years I so longed for fresh herbs and now I have a jungle of them….

..sometimes I wish I was a cat so I could just roll around in them and enjoy the beautiful fragrances……

Beautiful Basil

…….Omnipotent Oregano……..

…..Timid…..yet Terrific Thyme……

…..Tender Tarragon……..

….Powerful and Potent Papalo….

…………back to the kitchen…….the rains are starting again……

………the counter full of garden goodies…….green beans…….

 
…….marvelous……..magnificant………beets….

……..cabbage already in the steamer……..

……then the final creation…….Augustine has worked his magic on the wonders from the garden and produced a Magnificent Vegetable Soup…..complete with garnish of Jalapenos, Fresh Lemon and Avocado………

…..I saved you a bowl…..wish you could join me……