Weird, weird, weird!

Today (Wednesday) as I was puttering about, I remembered to print the tickets to the spring football game. I had forgotten we needed to get them ahead of time, but when I began to look for information about the game, I was reminded to print them.

Fast forward about an hour. I sat down to read the comics, do the word jumble, work the cryptoquip, and read the bridge column. Then I glanced at my horoscope. Funny, the last piece of advice was: Get tickets to a ball game. Really? Usually those things are very general - take some time with someone you love; listen to a friend; slow down and enjoy the evening. But "Get tickets to a ball game?" I have never seen something like that . . . and that I had just done it was just too weird.

I guess I was supposed to get tickets to a ball game.

Figure it out, NFL!

I love football. College football is top on my list, but I also like professional football, especially when some of my favorite players are doing well.

Why is it, however, that lately, everything about NFL screams greed? Some of the players appear to be greedy; most of the owners appear to be greedy; the broadcasting companies seem greedy. I appreciate each party's stance in the scheme of things, but because it has become so contentious, their arguments seem small and petty.

I just want them to figure it out: without drama, without name-calling, without lock-outs. Be big boys, talk to each other (oops . . . maybe that's the problem), and get this taken care of.

Ahhh. Rain.

It seems as if rain comes in two proportions: too much of it or not enough. This year, we have been in the "not enough" category. The wheat in the fields is in bad shape, and the lawns in the city are suffering. Even those of us who have turned on our sprinkler systems notice that our lawns are not as green as perhaps they should be. Maybe that will change today.

Last night, about 3:00 a.m., the lightning started. Babs noticed, and within about 5 minutes she was snuggled up at our heads, trying to escape the flashing light outside. Soon the rain started and continued off and on for the remainder of the night. This morning we awakened to the fresh smell of rain, created by about 1/2" of falling water. I can already tell the difference around the neighborhood. Ahh rain. Just right today.

Happy Easter!

It was a beautiful Easter. Although the weather was uncooperative, at least in my opinion, the rest of the day was glorious. I love singing "Hail Thee Festival Day" - all eight verses of it. I love having another baby baptized into the church. Little girls in their fancy dresses, their moms in beautiful hats, little boys all dressed up in their vests and pants. They all make me smile.

Our Eastern brunch group is growing smaller by the year. This year we had three "yung-uns" with us - Kelli, Rich, and Joe - so we had eight, but several years we had twenty.

And then there was the year that Susan hung a spoon on her nose during brunch. Soon everyone at our table was hanging a spoon on their nose. Trevor and others put plastic eggs on their ears. Needless to say, the next year, we didn't have spoons at the table and the Easter bunny wasn't passing out plastic eggs with candy. I miss those fun times.

The opportunity to share Easter with our friends, to celebrate God's promise to us is not something to be taken lightly. I am grateful for good friends and a loving God.

Farmer's Markets

We were in Santa Monica last weekend, and during that time, we went to two farmer's markets - the Brentwood Farmer's Market and the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. They were amazing!

The availability of gorgeous fresh fruit and vegetables amazed Don and me as we walked among the booths. In addition to beautiful strawberries and blueberries, numerous kinds of citrus filled bins, including some we had never heard of. The biggest artichokes we have ever seen, greens of all shapes and sizes, and potatoes graced other tables. I understand how much easier it would be to eat healthily if we could walk to the farmer's market and pick up such fresh food.

The walk through the market has inspired me to consider using other kinds of vegies that I have never tried. Today some Chinese cabbage was at Dillons. Am going to see if I can find a recipe for it. In the meantime, we have planted spinach, lettuce, onions and potatoes - rather mundane compared to what we saw in California, but they will taste good nevertheless.

And We Used to Have to Use Flashbulbs!

While watching Hawaii Five-O, one of our favorite new "unreality" shows, a commercial for Progressive Insurance came up. Flo had her old-fashioned camera with its flash. Don reminded me, "That's back when we used to use flash bulbs." Carrying flash bulbs was a pain in the neck. No wonder there aren't many indoor pictures from that era.

But then, Don reminded me, Kodak invented the cube . . . that had FOUR flashbulbs in the same little cube. After one flash picture, it would rotate to give the picture taker a new bulb. It was miraculous!

With the new digital photography we all use now, sometimes it is fun to reminisce about how it used to be . . . with film for which we sometimes had to wait two weeks for it to be returned from the developer; with big flashes that we had to carry with us.

The advantage? Pictures that we could put in albums and keep for years. Will people 100 years from now be able to print all of the pictures we have stored on CD's or on hard drives?

Spring Is Here!

Despite my fears that freezing weather will return, the trees and flowers are popping open at amazing speed. We have two gorgeous trees in the front yard that for 11.5 months just look like trees, but for two weeks are stunning.

The snow crab starts with pink flower buds that bloom white. This year, they all popped open at once to create a snow-laden tree. To its side, the red bud tree is rife with blooms, creating a gorgeous purple and white scene.

If I didn't know better, I would think K-Staters lived at this house.

Whether We Have Weather Is the Question

Kansas spring weather invariably surprises me, even though I have lived here for 36 years. We have had a roller coaster February and March - warm, cold, warmer, colder, medium, warm, and then cold. Saturday, it was about 75 but so windy. I worked outside and it wasn't too bad, despite the annoying wind. Today, it was 90. We broke a record that was set in 1893. Besides it being so hot, the wind was blowing 35 - 45 miles an hour, all day long. Of course, the wind made it possible to be outside without sweating to death, but we could have done with about 20 mph less wind!

Then about 7:30 tonight, a cold front started through. The wind blew even harder and lightning raced across the sky, all the way from south to north. Luckily, it was east of us (and Babs can no longer hear or see it). By 8:00 the temperature had dropped to about 60. From 90 to 60 in less than an hour. It is supposed to nearly be freezing by 7:00 a.m. and Monday will only be in the 50s.

Stay tuned. You never know about the weather when it is spring in Kansas.

Words of Wisdom

In reading the most current Reader's Digest (May, 2011), one little article lists memorable lessons people still remember from school. Most of them are the same stuff we all learned: persistence pays off, hang in there, be curious, etc. But one, from a person in the Philippines, I thought was particularly good. It's one I hadn't heard.

"Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color." (p. 10)

How much better our world would be if everyone had been taught that one!

How to Win An Argument

Have you ever had a discussion with someone and you both thought you were right? And no one would budge? Well, I have the answer for you.

If I were to agree with you, we would both be wrong.

Try it sometime.