Happy 4th of July

I'm going to admit right now that this isn't my picture. My iMac had a mental breakdown yesterday after updating Adobe stuff. It now won't even turn on. Monday, it will be visiting the Apple store at the mall. You know how I love the mall, NOT.

Our plans for today are simple. Lee went to ride his bike with a man I've been acquainted with for years through Pearl's years in Girl Scouts. He lives just one neighborhood over and mountain bikes on the 366 acres behind our property. I've always wanted Lee to ride with him, as Lee's riding buddies live so very far away from us.

I need to get to the grocery store for some supplies and then I'll be chillin' until my youngest cutie, James, gets home from camp. Hooray!! We've all missed him this week. I hope he had a great time, despite a very sad boy letter I got from him just last night. Broke my heart and made me want to get in the car and drive 2 hours to get him. Tom, my oldest, says he felt the same way at camp without me the first time too. He reassured me that James had a great week despite the letter.

This afternoon, G'ma and G'pa are coming over for ribeyes, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and some grilled veggies. Angel food cake, strawberries and homemade whipped cream for dessert. They've been gone for a couple weeks trying to get their house in Arkansas ready to put back on the market. Anybody want a beautiful house on a lake in Northwest Arkansas? Just let me know!

That's all from here. A simple day to be celebrated with many thanks to all those people that have made it possible for us to have this holiday at all.

What will you be doing today?

The Future

A few weeks ago, I blogged about having to kill one of my chickens because she was ill. I was going out of town, and didn't want my family to have to worry about a sick chicken.

I was going to be a counselor for a week at our church camp. I was going to be out of my comfort zone, as the campers are in Senior High. I normally staff the elementary age camp.

I had been told that this camp was sssoooo much easier to staff, as elementary age kids need your care 24/7. Sr. High campers pretty much take care of themselves, get where they are supposed to be, and stay out of trouble for the most part.

I am here to tell you that I'll never staff the younger camp again! The young women in my cabin were amazing. They were funny, smart, accepting, helpful, kept their stuff picked up, shared their secret stash of snacks, loving, got along, beautiful, silly......the list could go on and on.

What I loved most was seeing them become young adults. By the second day, the campers were taking over the planning of our evening worship time. They participated in very deep conversations regarding peace and justice, their vision of who God is, why bad things happen to good people, and several other theological questions.

I found out that many of them don't live sunny, perfect lives back at home. Camp is their one week of escape each year. Their one week to revive and relax. I think we provided them some of what they needed.

My oldest, Tom, was at this camp. I did what I could to stay out of his way, as I didn't want to throw off his camp experience. What was nice was that when he'd see me in the mornings at flag raising, is he'd give me a hug. He could have gone all week and completely ignored me, but didn't. Moms can survive on very little when they have to.

Two of the girls in my cabin are from my home congregation. They graduated last spring and will be moving to college this fall. Tom and 2 other boys from church will be graduating next spring. Where has the time gone? It's a happy/sad sort of feeling. I can say one thing for sure. If these young people are our future, it will be a fine future indeed.

Where the Idea Came From

Do you suppose this little Plains garter snake is where humans got the idea for checkerboards and checkered tablecloths, and plaid shirts, and brick laying? What about laying tile? What would New York City be without checkered cabs?

This little guy was a bit stunned when he got bounced by a soccer ball in the back yard. He was just probably minding his own business looking for breakfast when a soccer ball fell from the heavens and landed right on top of him. Luckily, my son, like me, likes snakes. He came in to find me and we determined that said snakey was just a bit addle-brained from his encounter and not dead.

He normally would not be so anxious to pose for paparazzi, but was glad to be out of harms way. I held him for a bit to make sure he'd be okay, as anything lying still for even a moment will be found by fire ants and quickly consumed.

When he seemed properly peeved that I was holding him, I put him in my garden. Garters are a major consumer of slugs, snails and other plant eating beasties. He's more than welcome anytime. I just hope he stays off the soccer field that is my back yard. Next time he might not be so lucky.

What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?

People often say that Pearl looks a great deal like me.

What I see is a young woman that looks a great deal like herself, with a splash of me added in. More the resemblance is in our mutual love of animals and interest in pursuing a career in caring for them.

I wasn't able to pursue that dream, but I've made do with innumerable pets (both normal and bizarre) and volunteering as a wildlife rehabber.

Pearl spent a week at SeaWorld hanging out with all things wet and wonderful. She's finally old enough to participate in their camp where she gets to learn more about and interact with the animals. We giggle at the fact that she wants to have a career with sea mammals, but live in the mountains. Something tells me that's not gonna happen unless she opens a SeaWorld of her own.

In the pic above, she's tentatively touching one of the Orcas. The trainers were pretty antsy about it, too. I guess the Advanced Career campers were supposed to have some major hands-on time with the whales, but had to wait two days for it to happen. It seems the whales were in a bit of snit about something and they didn't want the campers near them. I guess it would be bad for public relations if a whale ate a camper.

Did you know that SeaWorld also has 'Animal Ambassadors'? Me neither. They appear in public and on TV. Pearl is snuggling a wallaby after she got be a true keeper and clean the cage.

Believe it or not, we have a picture of her at her 4th birthday that's nearly identical to this one. She's always loved snakes. We've had a snake as a pet. This big boa is named Gomez.

Katrina the alligator. She was rescued following the hurricane of her namesake. Who rescues alligators?

I have no clue what kind of lizard this is, and she can't remember. For some reason, big lizards aren't my favorite critters.

She really enjoyed the hands-on with the baby bamboo sharks and the sting rays.

Here she is with Hunter, the sea lion. Gold stars for those that can tell me the difference between sea lions and seals.

While cute and cuddly looking, this Asian Small Clawed otter can be full of spit and vinegar. On the day they were to perform in the Sea Lion show, the two otters decided that having a tiff with one another was more important.

One thing about SeaWorld to their credit---the animals are never made to perform.

One of the many chores Pearl did, was preparing buckets and buckets of fish for the animals. The dolphins were very happy they did.

Another animal ambassador--a Spoonbill.

It might have been 103* outside, but in the penguin enclosure it was 27*. She and fellow campers shoveled 10,000 lbs of 'snow'. They also got to spend a lot of time just hanging out. The penguins were mainly interested to see if anyone had a spare fish in their pocket.

The Beluga whales are what the trainers call, "The marshmallow hamsters of the sea." The are extremely docile and surprisingly squishy to the touch. The campers got a special treat by seeing two brand new babies. One of the Belugas had a calf about 2 weeks before camp. A sea lion had a calf just 2 days before they arrived.

Here's momma sea lion and her baby. Baby is enjoying a snack and momma is enjoying the sun.

I think Pearl liked the sea lions the best. Only time will tell.

I hope she follows her dreams, whatever they are.

A Lesson Learned

Actually, it was several lessons learned.

Yesterday, I channeled my ancestors and gave canning a try.

Last summer, Lee brought home the most amazing sweet/hot pickled summer squash from a preaching gig in a neighboring town. They were having a fundraiser and he buckled. I was so glad he did.

(Lesson #1: Learn how to make this amazing stuff)

In November, I began volunteering at a CSA, Johnson's Backyard Farm. My 'pay' for volunteering is a box of the veggies they are selling to members. I often had too many veggies to eat in one week. My brain fast forwarded to summer--"Everybody always has too much summer squash, I'll bet the farm will too."

I was right!

Summer arrived and I began hoarding the squash that was in my box. Onions and peppers too. I even started bumming squash off other volunteers. "Are you tired of squash yet? I'll take it off your hands. I'll trade you my tomatoes for your squash." They granted me my wish.

(Lesson #2: Strike while the iron is hot, aka, prey on people's over abundance of summer squash.)

I finally had enough veggies to make it happen! I gathered the proper supplies and now all I needed was the recipe. My emails to the gentleman who had the recipe went unanswered. My squash stash was starting to wither a bit. I was getting desperate! Since I know him personally, I don't think it has been on purpose. Maybe I had the wrong address? I hit the internet and finally located a recipe that I thought might be pretty close to his recipe.

(Lesson #3: If at first you don't succeed, try the internet.)

Yesterday was the big day. I set about washing and sterilizing the jars, all the while trying not to get a 3rd degree burn. Success.

I chopped and chopped and chopped veggies. I soaked veggies in salt water for an hour. I boiled vinegar and sugar. I gently tended to veggies as they swam around in said vinegar/sugar mix. I put veggies and the juices in jars. I wiped jar tops before adding lids. I added the filled treasure chests back into the hot water and they enjoyed a 10 minute stint in their own personal hot tub.

I gently removed them, again avoiding severe burns.

(Lesson #4: Use gloves when seeding/chopping jalapenos.)

(Lesson #5: Buying the extra toys used in canning is a must. The jar funnel was invaluable. So was the lid magnet.)

As I waited to check to see if the lids had sealed, I looked at the clock. I had spent nearly 4 hours of my time and got a puny, 3 jars of pickles. Three beautiful jars, but puny nonetheless.

(Lesson #6: Other canners have long said, "It's such a huge task, make sure to make it worth your while. Settle in for a half day at least, and can as much as possible.")

True, so true.

And my final lesson (number 7 if you're keeping track)---waiting 6 weeks to eat the yumminess that swims in those jars is going to be a long 6 weeks, indeed.

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Maybe I'll have you over for dinner in 6 weeks and you can put some of the heavenly squashy-pickley-sweet-hot yumminess on a burger, but don't even think about asking for a jar. Well, unless I begin hoarding squash again. It's a pretty safe bet that I will.

Do you have some squash you want to get off your hands?