Thursday Thinking Leads to Life in My World and Vice Versa

I planted sunflowers in the two front flower pots by the garage. I don’t know how they’ll look. In my head, they’re going to look unique, stately, admirable. But experience nags that there is probably a reason you don’t see sunflowers planted singly in large pots in front of people’s garages. It’s like casseroles and desserts. Every now and then I’ll create a new one with the combination of leftovers in the fridge and think, “I think I’m on the cusp of something great. People will want this recipe” only to later feed three-fourths of it to the chickens and understand why I’ve never seen a recipe like its kind before.

Even if those sunflowers do turn out unsightly, I’m still glad I planted them. Sunflowers forgive and obey. They are a living object lesson every time I walk by them. They were wilted and whipped when I planted them, but they are back to normal after a little water. And I purposely planted one with his back to the sun and he turned right around to follow it.

Sunflowers in pots by the garage. I just might be on the cusp of something great.

&%#!@*

I have discovered this week that swear words are less abrasive to read than they are to hear. I listened to a great audio book written from the perspective of a 15 year old boy with Asperger Syndrome this week. It got me through two trips to Spokane and ironing fifteen shirts.  Oh my, I’ve enjoyed it but I don’t think I should recommend it because the swearing is so bad (not the boy’s, but rather the adults who are around him). Which is really, really, really too bad on so many levels.

emeraldish waves of grain

Last night we went on a drive through the dry land farms. I love dry land farms. If ever my functional mind can fantasize, it is when we drive through the acres and acres and acres of wheat. Houses are miles apart. I imagine life with the big red barn or by the massive silos. The rolling fields look like ocean waves except they are green not blue.  They remind me of a line from Edna Ferber’s So Big—“There are two kinds of people in the world that really count. One kind’s wheat and the other kind’s emeralds.” And that may be true, but in the dry land country in the spring when the wheat is green, you can be both.

Clara continues to grow. The ultrasound technician thought Abe would enjoy this picture of her arm.

A couple of weeks ago Ty and his fellow cadets had to climb a lot of stairs to a building, temple, or something. Ty wanted to see if he could hop up all 374 stairs on one foot. He did. He said it killed his leg.

A week later they were at the Great Wall of China. Again, he was confronted with stairs. 454 of them.  He decided to see if his other leg could do it. He hopped up them as well.

Three days later I received this funny blog comment from Robyn: On Saturday I saw your son on the Great Wall of China! I didn’t know it was him. I watched as he hopped up an enormous set of stairs. He was so handsome and looked so familiar. My husband and I joked with them and as we walked away I kept thinking that I knew him. Michelle told me tonight that it was Ty! I nearly died. Oh how I wish I’d have asked where they were from, I would have figured it out and taken a picture. He is a handsome boy. And competitive. No one else hopped as far as him.

Blogs continue to make the world smaller, one comment at a time. Thank you Robyn for taking the time to write and tell me of a ty sighting.

I asked Ty why he hopped and he said, “I don’t know. If someone dared me I wouldn’t do it.”

Ty, I dare you to hop with both feet up 586 stairs.