it bloomed!!

About a month ago I purchased a hyacinth bulb "planted" in a vase of water (see indoor gardening). For about a week and a half it did absolutely nothing at all. I changed the water every three or four days and still it did nothing.

Then the green sprout on top began to grow a little. Soon I began to see little cracks in the bulb and thought I had broken it when I was lifting it out of the vase to change the water. And I continued to wait and watch.

Finally, about two weeks ago the green sprout started to open up and I could see green, tightly closed buds. I eagerly checked it every morning to see if, finally, there was a flower. But each morning it looked pretty much the same as it had the day before. Still I continued to change the water and talk to her.

And then, four or five days later, the green, tightly closed buds began to open revealing the softest baby pink petals. Over the next few days more and more opened up.

I HAD A BLOOMING HYACINTH IN A VASE IN MY KITCHEN!!

She has a delightful fragrance that makes my kitchen smell like a garden! And the shadow of the leaves and bulb/vase looks like a bunny! ;-)

She has continued to open up a little more each day. What a delight it is to walk into the kitchen each morning and not only see, but smell, a beautiful flower!

I just have one question. What do I do with the bulb after the flower is gone? Oh Google....

wacky wednesday - electronic thin mints?

It's that time of year again. You can almost smell it in the air. That's right, I'm talking about Girl Scout cookies. Whether your favorite is Thin Mints (the best-selling cookie nationally) or Samoas or even Trefoils, just about everyone buys at least one box from the cute little Brownies or the enthusiastic older Girl Scouts trying to raise money for a trip.

I sold Girl Scout cookies when I was a child. My children were Girl Scouts and they sold cookies. Valuable lessons and skills were learned through the process of selling cookies. Things like "Stand up straight and look them in the eye if you are trying to sell them something." And "Talk clearly and know your product." Or "Some people will say no. They aren't rejecting you, they just don't want any cookies. Say 'Thank you for your time' and move on." We learned how to make and count back change. We learned that you sold more cookies if you wore your uniform and smiled than when you wore your grubby clothes and looked at the ground.

I have personally bought Girl Scout cookies for over 35 years. I don't buy them because they are the best cookie ever made or because they are a great value (they are NOT!). I buy them to give girls a chance to practice talking to an adult they don't know, to feel successful when she's "convinced" me to buy another box of cookies, and to learn the things I learned selling cookies.

But things are changing in the Girl Scout cookie world starting this year. They are going digital. That's right... on-line ordering is available in some areas now with more being added each successive year. Individual Girl Scouts can invite customers via an email to visit their "virtual cookie store," order cookies and pay with a credit card. You can choose to have your cookies delivered by a Girl Scout or shipped directly to you.

The spin is that this digital option better prepares girls to live and work in the digital age and is a safer alternative to door-to-door selling.

I am not so sure.

People still need people skills in "the digital age" and you get those by interacting with people, not by sending them an email. And who is "doing the work" in this arrangement? The girl who sends a mass email to everyone in her parents' e-address book and waits for the orders to roll in while she's off playing with her friends? Or the customer who clicks on the link, fills out the form, trustingly enters their credit card information and then picks up their order from their mailbox?

And is it really safer than door-to-door selling? I would not want my elementary school-aged child's personal information on a website. It doesn't matter what security precautions the Girl Scout organization has taken with their on-line program, it can, and will, be hacked. When a parent accompanies a girl doing door-to-door selling, the safety risk is practically non-existent and the girl is engaged in an activity with her mom or dad.

A neighbor girl we had not yet met rang our doorbell a few weeks ago and was selling Girl Scout cookies. She was accompanied by her mom and brother (who ran back to their house to get more cookies!) but she did the selling, told us how much we owed and counted out our change. We chatted for a few minutes and then she was on her way to the next house. About a week later, I found this on our doormat when I returned home:

Shea is learning and demonstrating valuable life skills (the art of writing a thank you letter, letting people know you appreciate what they have done) as well as business skills like good customer service. And you better believe I will buy the bulk of my cookie purchases from her next year!

I will continue to buy Girl Scout cookies when a Girl Scout shows up on my doorstep or if I see girls selling at a cookie booth (there is an app - Girl Scout Cookies Finder - to help you locate cookie booths near you!). Maybe I'm old-fashioned but I like personal interaction and will not participate in digital cookie sales.

wacky wednesday - for the person who has everything

My sweet hubby and I went to the same high school and had many of the same friends. Our group was kind of an eclectic mix of people - band nerds, science club nerds, Boy/Girl Scouts or not, those who had part-time jobs and those who didn't, those who got straight A's without much effort and those who had to really work at getting good grades. But the thing that tied us all together was our love of fun and a good practical joke was golden!

We remained friends through college although we got together less frequently as jobs and school dictated our lives more and more. Several of the guys liked to go mineral hunting and on one of their mineral expeditions they found a "sculpture" in the desert. They gave it to the next guy in the group to have a birthday and it was passed around from birthday to birthday as a gag gift throughout college.

After graduating from college, as often happens, we drifted a little farther apart. Work and families now took most of our time and some years all we did was exchange Christmas cards. The silly "sculpture" still made the rounds although it would sometimes stay with a recipient for a year or so rather than a few months before moving on.

Then, as we approached our 40's, we made more of an effort to stay in touch. We'd get together for one big birthday bash for everyone or make sure we all went to a high school reunion. Email, and eventually FaceBook, made this easier to plan and implement. But the passing of the "statue" had more or less ended. The guy who had it moved out of state. And besides, weren't we getting a little old for such a silly thing?

This year all the guys turn 60 and I was anticipating a get-together sometime this year. What I didn't expect was this sitting on our doorstep when we got back from church Sunday morning:

If nothing else, it was a magnificently original wrapping job using two different boxes, red and gold sparkly spray paint and yards and yards of duct tape. It had a card and a sign taped to the side.

My hubby's 60th birthday is this week so it was clearly for him but who is S.P.O.B.?? We scratched our heads. And wrinkled our brow. But nothing was coming to us. So we moved on to the card.

Once he saw who the card was from (thank you, Helen & Dave!), he knew exactly what it was. And then began laughing so hard tears leaked out of his eyes.

It was Bacilla (aka the "statue"), a glob of melted, white plastic containers of some kind that stands  about 30-inches high. The propellor was added later - it's not too hard to believe that several of the guys are engineers of one kind or another!

So where was Bacilla for the past two decades? The guy who had it last moved it out of state when he moved. And then moved it back to Arizona when he returned years later. He passed it on and that guy kept it about five years before passing it on to the next guy, Bill, who then moved to California. Bill brought it back to Arizona last weekend and passed it on to my hubby.

And what does S.P.O.B. stand for? The Society For The Preservation Of Bacilla. Bill made up the name when he made the sign so it's no wonder we couldn't figure it out!

Two things about this story make me laugh. First, not one but TWO people moved this discarded blob of melted plastic out of state and then brought it back again. Clearly, it has great sentimental value as well as being whimsical yard art. And second, four decades later these guys still love a great practical joke among good friends.

A friend loves at all times.   Proverbs 17:17 

wacky wednesday - spring has sprung

As a nearly-native Arizonan, I learned a long time ago that "our" seasons don't correlate in any way to most of the rest of the country's seasons. Winter coats and wool sweaters come out in August while we are still floating in the pool hoping for a breeze, cool or otherwise.

Just a little over a week ago Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. And for much of the country that has been the case thus far. New England has received record-breaking amounts of snow in the past couple of weeks as one winter storm arrives on the heels of the previous one with little time to recover. And more storms are predicted. Even balmy southern California had a rare snowstorm this year.

Richard took this photo during a recent business trip to the Boston area where daytime temperatures were still below freezing. You can see snow drifts nearly reaching the top of the picnic table in the lower left corner.

But here in Arizona, and particularly the Valley of the Sun, the temperatures are warming up and spring has sprung. 

Deciduous trees like this evergreen (what a misnomer!) pear tree lost all their leaves just a month ago and are now leafing out and budding.

Weeds are popping out everywhere - some pretty and some not so much!

The only signs of winter are the birds. The "snowbirds" (aka winter visitors) typically arrive sometime in October and stay through March enjoying our mild winter while their home state is buried under snow. 

American Coots also join us for the winter enjoying our many lake communities through late March or April.

It occurred to me this year that perhaps Arizona needs their own "spring forecaster" rather than relying on Punxsutawney Phil. Maybe a prairie dog named Arizona Annie... or a gila monster named Desert Dan... 

wacky wednesday - carpet conundrum

My sweet husband and I graduated from the same high school in the seventies. Our alma mater was closed in 1983 and soon after was demolished to make room for condominiums and a hotel. I regret, now, not purchasing a brick when the town offered them to the public. It would be a nice memento to document that part of our history. But at the time, as twenty-somethings just starting a family, buying a brick seemed like a silly thing to do when there were other things we really needed.

It was with an equal mix of empathy and amusement that I read a recent article (The Wall Street Journal, 1/30/15) about Portland International Airport (PDX) and their carpet dilemma. When an internal audit revealed the carpet was beyond repair and needed to be replaced, plans were set in motion to find a replacement for the almost 30-year old carpet. The airport certainly did not expect the public dismay that ensued.

To say Portlanders love their airport carpet is a gross understatement. They compare it to the St. Louis Arch or the Seattle Space Needle. It's an icon that uniquely represents their city. It has become the background for more than 31,000 Instagram photos of feet and has more than 1,500 followers on Twitter. And yes, I am speaking about the CARPET, not the airport in general. At least one Portlander had the pattern tattooed on her back. People dress up as the carpet on Halloween. Are you getting the idea that it is a very big deal?

So what does this rug look like? It is 28,000-square feet of teal background with "large, dark blue, purple and red X's that resemble the pattern of the airport's criss-crossing runways as seen from the control tower." The designers, Jon Schleuning and Laura Hill, never dreamt it would have a cult following nearly three decades later.

So why didn't airport officials just quietly replace the old carpet with the same design? Because they never noticed the carpet mania! The new carpet had been designed and ordered before they realized
how wildly popular the old design was. Oops.

In the meantime, enterprising businesses have capitalized on its popularity and products with the iconic pattern are springing up everywhere. Everything from key chains, socks and t-shirts to an Adidas (whose North American headquarters are in Portland) PDX carpet shoe are available to remind Portlanders of their beloved carpet. The airport will give away sections of the old carpet to businesses whose proposals on what they will do with it meets airport approval. According to FaceBook (The Carpet at Portland Airport), the businesses/vendors selected will receive 1000-square yard rolls with the expectation that they will be cut into smaller blocks and sold to individuals.

After all, everyone wants their own piece of history.