Happy Thanksgiving

H-Bomb and I are working today to give staff a break for the holiday. And, to alleviate guilt I may have when I announce that I am "outta here" at Christmas time to go be with family. We will have our traditional dinner tomorrow and included, among other guests, will be our friend Marvin, who, with Harry's assistance as his sponsor, is moving along on the road to United States citizenship. Harry obtained the lawyer for Marvin a couple of years ago and now there is no more looking over the shoulder and worry about being deported and having to leave his US family behind. Harry "walks the walk and talks the talk" as I have said before.

The dinner will be what has been whittled down from favorites over the years. My favorites! Hey, I am the cook. The usual turkey, cornbread stuffing, etc. Braised brussel sprouts. Green bean casserole (I do use fresh beans but the classic recipe remains king). Cranberry sauce. Homemade rolls. Also, probably several pies so that there are leftovers. We will take plates to our neighbor Kirby and his wife Martha, who are pretty much housebound these days. Martha is on oxygen and Kirby is losing sight and hearing. Such lovely neighbors. I hate to see their world shrinking.

What am I thankful for? My life. It has been a great ride so far.

Are You This Brave?

My youngest son, Samuel Eli, has always been a mechanical whiz. He certainly is his father's son. As a toddler, his favorite toy was the vacumn cleaner. When he was in elementary school, his Halloween mad scientist costume had light up effects in his pocket, created by him. He blew out an electrical outlet at my friend Peggy's house when showing off one of his moving creations. And, when he was involved in the Odyssey of the Mind, in sixth grade, he motorized a cart and another prop and the judges took off points because they felt there had to be parental involvement, despite the coaches assurances that he had been the sole inventor. He never owned a toy for very long, because he took them apart to see how they worked. In fact, he almost lost the sight in one eye when he incurred a serious laceration from a piece of plastic flying off an tear-apart and had to wear goggles from then on. He was (and is) fun, inventive and interesting. Also, highly hyperactive as a child and definitely a challenge at times when he got "wound up." Sam, at age two, winged a heavy silver fork off a balcony at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and it just happened to land on an employees head two stories down. He also left a goose neck lamp lit that he was playing with when he was perhaps 5 or 6 at a Jersey shore rental house and it just happened to catch a beach towel on fire, and then burned the carpet as his Grandfather, who fortunately was nearby, smelled smoke and raced to throw the burning towel in the tub. That event cost me new carpeting for the house. I love to tell these stories, not because I was upset with Sam. I couldn't be. He was just like the monkey George in the books "Curious George" and to me, just as cute, likable, happy and charming. Even when he was driving you so crazy you wanted to find duct tape and wrap him up.

Now Sam is into cars. Big time. He repairs friends and family's vehicles and has done quite a bit of audio customization. He created his own touch screen computer for his former car. Now he is doing a huge project (which just happens to be taking up every conceivable bare spot in the yard and under the house). He has purchased two BMW's, each for $800, and is placing all the interior in the car that has engine problems into the car that has the great rebuilt engine but a crapped out interior. Then, he will sell all the remaining parts on eBay. He laughed and told his friend Jim, when I looked at the project, that I would say exactly what I said..."Sam, you are scaring me." But, every time he takes these cars apart, they manage to get put back together in perfect order and in perfectly working condition. Including mine.

Not Your Mother's Easter Corsage

Meet a LC - Laelia Cattleya. I do not know the hybrid name - the tag was lost a long time ago. This beauty is blooming for the first time, thanks to Harry's lath house creation, and my finally learning, somewhat, how to fend off the myriad of viruses, fungi, and snails, and to adjust the light and water issues that determine plant success. If you are thinking "big deal" - my marigolds are loaded with blossoms - than consider that an orchid plant takes about 7 years to reach maturity where it can bloom, and many bloom once a year. And, the light, and nutrition has to be correct for it to happen. So when plants that I have had for literally years finally throw out a little bud, I am ecstatic. I watch the tortuously slow growth daily until, like this morning, I go outside and see this beauty in nearly full bloom. Each flower has an iridescence that does not show on camera, as though dusted with a frosty fine glitter. Many have heady fragrances, but this one does not. I will get hopefully a couple weeks of enjoyment in the house until it wilts and then goes out to the yard, until, hopefully next year.

The above Dendrobium, and above it, Cattleya, are examples of sticking a plant on a tree down here. I mean, literally sticking it on with liquid nails, wrapping a wire around it for a day until the glue dries and then watching it slowly send its roots out to wrap around the tree and live in symbiosis, like in nature. These two plants took over two years to send out inflorescence and bloom.