Thankful Me

Photo: A dusting of snow in my front yard The way the wind is blowing outside, I can't quite yet say that March is exiting like a lamb. We still have a few days yet, though (at least we did when I started writing this post), so maybe the saying will end up holding true after all. Even with the blustery weather, though, I am thankful. 1. I nearly hit a tumbleweed on the freeway this week. Of course, I'm thankful I did not, but I'm also thankful for tumbleweeds. They just make me laugh, and remind me of the desert of California where we used to live. While I have no desire to return there permanently, seeing the tumbleweed was like a friend saying "Hi!" 2. Apparently California received a lot of rain this past winter, which helped bring about the super bloom the poppy fields are now experiencing. I'm thankful that I have seen the poppies in years past; the fields are truly beautiful. 3. I'm thankful that my grandchildren (and their parents!) will b...

Photo: A panoramic view of the ruins of the ancient city of Herculaneum One of the days we stayed in Naples, John and I decided to get brave and use some of our free time to take the train to the nearby town of Ercolano to view the ancient ruins of Herculaneum. We caught the early train, so we could arrive at opening "to avoid the crowds." The rain did a good job of keeping the (albeit, off-season) crowds at bay, but our early arrival on an inclement morning did assure that we toured an almost-empty city. Photo: An empty abandoned narrow path in Herculaneum You may not have heard about Herculaneum; everyone seems to know about Pompeii, but Herculaneum also fell victim to Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. According to our tour guide, Herculaneum was a more upscale town. At the very least, it utilized a sewer system that went under the streets, as opposed to the above-ground, free-flowing waste that traveled the streets of Pompeii.  Another major difference between the two c...

Photo: Buds swell on a forsythia branch Jumping right into the list today: 1. It is officially spring! No matter that snow might fall on Saturday; the plants know that soon it will be safe to bloom. 2. Oldest daughter has graced our life for another year. Happy birthday!  3. Two nice walks with my neighbor.  4. Learning about, and attending, an exercise class at the church. Before the class started, the instructor explained that the class was like "old-school aerobics from the 80's but updated." Whenever there were vintage moves (grapevine, anyone?), my muscle memory took over. Whenever we were supposed to be doing updated moves, I was the awkward, uncoordinated person who was at least a step behind what everyone was doing. The good news is, I'm the oldest person there! I'm comfortable in my own uncoordinated skin, and even if I was concerned about what anyone thought, I think they would just be impressed an old person was trying. It's a nice grou...

Photo: Cars travel between parked cars on a crowded Naples street. Four-story residential buildings line the street. Last week, I shared my peaceful vacation day in Como with you. Today, we'll head south to Naples. Both cities are in Italy, but they are as different as night and day.  Photo: A bus and a van navigate the streets, while motorcycles are parked nearby. Naples has a palpable energy. Even in the off-season of January, pedestrians, scooters, and cars fill the streets. If there is space to go, you go, regardless of your transportation method.  Photo: Pedestrians walk on the street, dodging a steady stream of traffic As I reviewed my photos from Naples, I realized that I didn't have any really good photos of the traffic on the narrowest streets, and any photos I had of traffic at all were taken while I was a passenger on a bus. That might be an indication of how vigilant I was as a pedestrian!  Naples is much more than just traffic, tho...

Photo: In a deep blue sky, the moon rises over bare-to-snow-covered mountains  Earlier this week, snowflakes fell from the sky. Today, sunshine is streaming down as if winter never happened. Such is March. I'm itching to get outside and plant things, but also recognize it might be a tad bit early yet. Fortunately, there are plenty of other outside chores that need my attention.  I'm going to leave my computer right now and go soak up some Vitamin D. Excuse me while I head outside.  I'll be back before you know it! (Told you so!) Here's what I'm thankful for this week: Things I Have Accomplished I've transplanted all of my African violets into matching pots, and I love how the colors work with the other items in the room. Photo: A purple African violet in a green ombre ceramic pot I found cute Mickey and Minnie planters at an antique store. (Antique isn't quite descriptive of all the items--the planters were dated 1997!) Anyway, I bought ...

Photo: A little boy stands outside of a blue split-level house Linking up again with the Six Sentence Story blog hop. Go check out the other stories! This week's prompt: flash. ********************************************* Upon entering the split-level house for the first time, she thought it very odd that the stairs led up to the bedroom hallway, instead of the light-filled living room, but even the strange floor plan could not deter her and her husband from purchasing the otherwise-perfect-for-their-family home.  They did want to do something to brighten the dim entryway, though, so she purchased 100-watt bulbs to replace the two 40-watt spot lights that hung on the track on the vaulted ceiling. He got out the tallest ladder he owned, she steadied it while nervously hoping he didn't fall, and he managed to replace the bulbs without incident. When he flipped the switch back on, they were rewarded with a bright, cheery light--that is, until the humming sound, flash, a...

Photo: The snowy Swiss Alps stand behind a villa on Lake Como Early in our vacation to Italy, we visited the lakeside town of Como. We had no idea at that point in our trip how much Como would stand in contrast to Naples. In a future post, I'll try to convey the almost-tangible energy that is in Naples, but first, let's relax in Como. We started our day with a boat tour of part of Lake Como. The driver pointed out villas owned by the rich and famous and locations where movies were shot. I couldn't keep the names and villas straight, but I did enjoy the beautiful scenery.  Photo: A lakefront villa has many arbovitae plants growing around it Photo: The perspective from the back of the boat: the wake, and the villas on the side of the mountains The temperature was brisk, but it wasn't raining (nor snowing!) I very much enjoyed time on the lake, and I also enjoyed the couple of hours we spent exploring the town of Como after the boat ride. We tried to v...

Photo: A size 20 basketball shoe is displayed, sole-up, under the floor of the Utah Jazz store. John puts his size 11 shoe next to it, for comparison. Though last week's TToT was filled with many things about RootsTech , this week, everything is relative! 1. I'm thankful that we live close enough to family to visit "just because." Sunday night, John and I spent the evening with his parents. We showed them some of our Italy photos, and we ate lemon pie that John's dad had made.  2. I'm thankful that it's convenient for my youngest daughter and I to get together. Every time I drop Drexel off for his monthly bath appointment (whether he needs it or not! haha) , I swing by and pick up my daughter for a quick brunch. We get together more than once a month, but it's nice to have that standing date. 3. I'm thankful that John's sister invited us to go with her and her husband to a Utah Jazz game on Monday night. Even though the Jazz lost a ...

Caption: A clip-art blue ribbon that reads, "Most Unusual" My dad was a junior high school science teacher, and I knew he was famous. Anywhere we went around town, current and former students would greet him. They were happy to see him, but they always asked how Richard was doing. My dad's name is not Richard.  When I learned that "novel" was the prompt word for this week's Six Sentence Story , it didn't take long for me to select a topic: I might only be 9-1/2 years old, but as soon as I saw the flier advertising the public library's upcoming pet show, I knew I had a fighting chance to earn a prize. Sure, I could take my goofy black lab, Prince, but those obedience school lessons had taught me that he and I were in about the same weight class, and if he wanted to go visit another dog, I would end up with sore arms (at the minimum) trying to keep him under control. No, better to go with a different pet, one that could be carried and that was...

Photo: Tourists flock to the huge, multi-spired cathedral in Milan Our introduction to Italy began in Milan. We arrived at the Milan airport on the morning of January 20, after a red-eye flight. We had just enough time to check into the hotel before our tour began. That first day was a bit of a blur! One of our first stops was to the cathedral, or duomo. It is the largest duomo in Italy. (St. Peter's Basilica is bigger, but it is in Vatican City, which is separate from Italy.)  Photo: The line of tourists waiting to get inside is dwarfed by the massive, ornate Milan duomo Once we got through security, we entered the building. A priest was leading mass, but the duomo easily held both tourists and parishioners.  Photo: Smoke rises from a mass service inside the Milan cathedral Our guide pointed out a very detailed sculpture of St. Bartholomew. She said that sculptures helped teach muscular systems before dissections were allowed.  Photo: A statu...

Photo: A screenshot of the homepage for the Digital Public Library of America As I mentioned in a previous post , last week I attended RootsTech , a major genealogical conference. I spent my days absorbing new information, and learning about available resources to help me learn more about my ancestors. I thought I'd share one of those resources with you today.  The Digital Public Library of America   holds an enormous collection of "images, texts, videos, and sounds from across the United States," according to their home page. I started typing in surnames of my ancestors, and it didn't take long before I found something interesting. When I typed in "Telfer," one of the results that came up was labeled, "Fowler and Telfer families at Fowler's Prairie, Juneau County, 1898." It is an old photo of a large family gathering, but even better, it has a list of names of the people in the photo!  I know that my Telfer line was living in Juneau coun...

Photo: A patio table and 4 chairs are covered in a dusting of snow "In like a lion, and out like a lamb," is the motto for March, and so far, it seems to be holding true. The photo above was taken this morning; the yard has no bare spots now. While the snow swirls around outside, let's take a look back at this past week: 1. I'm thankful to be feeling much better. The hacking-until-my-sides-ache-and-tears-roll-down-my-face has subsided to the occasional, not-so-alarming cough. I told the church choir director I'd even show up for practice tomorrow, and Monday, I plan to start exercising again. It's been so ridiculously long since I've run, I'm going to have to start with a couch-to-5K training program. Sadly, my recently-adopted fitness plan  hasn't really done much for my stamina (nor my physique, either, to be honest!) 2. I'm thankful for sweet new friends who have offered help over the past weeks. One offered to share a pot of soup sh...