A tribute to our soldiers - borrowed from anysoldier.com's website today

The Things I Carry The old train lumbered up the track amid a hoofbeat clatter, its cloudy windows streaked by rain that fell in gentle patter. With duffle heavy on my back I trudged along the aisle Until I saw an empty seat next to a welcome smile. A stifled groan curled in my chest beneath the weight I bore; I shrugged the duffle off my back, it thudded on the floor. "That pack looks awfully heavy friend" he said with narrowed stare, "You got a load of cinderblocks or something tucked in there?" My gaze fell to the weathered bag, its corners taped and patched, the olive drab a faded grey, one canvas strap mismatched. I forced a smile that in my heart was anything but merry and through my gritted teeth replied "Its just the things I carry." Perhaps it was the lonely night, the thunder and the rain, a sense of kindred friendship that I couldn't quite explain, but with a snap of rusted clip the duffle opened wide and reaching in I showed him all the things I had inside. A heavy armored vest was first, its kevlar torn and frayed the gaping hole stained dark with blood was caused by a grenade. "My best friend's life" I whispered, fearing that my voice would crack; "He gave it up to save me in the desert of Iraq." "We grew up just like brothers ever since the age of nine, fishing up on Grady's Pond or flyin kites on twine, our first car was a Mustang, man we made that baby slide. He always calls me 'slick,' I mean... he did until he died." A brick of granite followed, dark and grey as stormy sky, engraved upon its polished face, a date in mid-July. "I wasn't home the day I lost my dad," I muttered low, remembering that awful day so many years ago. "Our unit drew a line that month in deep Afghanistan protecting little schoolgirls from a bloody Taliban." My somber gaze fell to the floor and fixed on muddy shoes. "Dad was gone two weeks before I even got the news." The silence hung a moment broken only by the rain, the beating of my heart over the rumble of the train, before I heard him ask about the thing I left inside, a mason jar that wads of dirty laundry failed to hide. "Don't open that," I said too fast, my voice now tinged with fear. "There's things in there that, trust me, you don't ever wanna hear." I thought about the demons bottled up inside that jar; some things are better left alone... left just the way they are. "I've seen a lot of people die, and let me tell you friend, the sounds, the smells..." I bowed my head, "sometimes they never end." I don't know why the lid slips off, it mostly does at night; and it can take me hours just to get it back on tight." The man then spoke in earnest tones that tugged my memory, "It seems a lot of weight to haul, but why I cannot see. What makes a fellah like yourself lug such a load of pain?" A furrow crossed my tired brow, I struggled to explain. I spoke to him of duty, of the things a man just did, of old regrets that in the darkness of the heart lay hid; the ghosts of fallen friends you just can't bring yourself to bury, the bridges crossed and moments lost are just the things I carry. Instead of being saddened now he seemed a bit amused, "I admire your resolve bub, but you've got it all confused; The memories you're s'posed to keep aren't those that weigh a ton," and handing me three items said "I'll trade you one for one." The photo showed two lanky guys in t-shirts and blue jeans, both leaning on a Mustang like a pair of Steve McQueens. The memories came flooding back of racing 'round our home in an overpowered yellow wedge of spoilers and chrome. The letter was a short one folded carefully in thirds, my dad had never been a man of very many words; In careful print it said his greatest pride since life began was watching me grow up to be a soldier and a man. Through misty eyes I looked the last upon the ocean shell, if it had a hidden meaning I'd be damned if I could tell. "You know the trick," he softly said, "just hold it to your ear, and listen to the things in life you've earned the right to hear." I heard the sounds of my home town where screams were shouts of cheer, as kids ran up and down the field without the need to fear; the ring of freedom's many voices blended in the air, the sound of open singing and the sound of open prayer. I turned to find an empty seat, just air and little more than dust that slowly settled down upon the wooden floor. Yet on that evanescence hung a voice I knew at last a whisper from my memory, an echo from my past: "Remember slick, the way to honor those of us now gone; is searching for the best ahead in each and every dawn. Hold on to the good times, not the moments dark and scary, I'm telling you to let 'em go... they aren't yours to carry." Michael Marks ©2007

Tomorrow is Veterans Day!

I've decided that I'll branch out into other topics on my blog, especially in the late fall and winter months!  Tomorrow is the day to honor our veterans from all branches of the Armed Forces...

I, personally, have a number of adopted "sons and daughters" and medical groups who are provided up-to-date magazines that range from US and People to Rider and American Rifleman, Golf Digest, Sports Illustrated, Self and whatever else someone wants to donate to me to send over to them!

I also have Benny in the Phillipines and he doesn't care how "old" the magazines are or where your little newspaper comes from!  He's anxious for news written in English, I'm suspecting...???

I've been remiss!

Okay, I've been away from my blog, because I've started back to work... and the Time has "fallen back" to regular time or whatever it does!!

So, it's too dark at night to remember that I need to water my new little Johnny Jump-up plants!  Snuck out there this morning before work only to find that they were in dire need of water!  Got a drink into them and I'm hoping they'll survive until the weekend when I can plant them in something bigger.

Finally - sunshine this afternoon!

I didn't realize how much I LOVE the sunshine!  We've had a gray day for two days now, and I am so tickled to see the sunshine this afternoon!  It really invigorates me, and I sincerely doubt if I could survive in the rainy days of the Northwest. 

Here's a photo of my little mums who love this weather!

Time to move or transplant!!

Well, this is the perfect time of the year to transplant!  Of course, AFTER the rain quits for today!!  Remember that crepe myrtle that the previous owner planted in the wrong place (not enough sunshine during the day) or those rose bushes that are still in their buckets because you cannot figure out where to put them?  Well, now is the time!

So, here's how it looks:

November - Very best month to transplant
December - 2nd best month
January - 3rd best month
 and so on...

The problem is that this is when the rain starts and it gets cold outside and who wants to go and dig in the ground when the holidays are just around the corner!?!

Just lettin' you know, that's all!

And down came the rain...

So, I see that it's now raining that slow steady rain that makes you want to curl up with a book and some hot chocolate...

Welcome to North Texas in the fall!

Fall in North Texas - 50 degrees and chilly!

Brrrrr - I have never figured out why it's so cold in Texas when it's just 50 degrees out!  Maybe it's because that's when it's overcast and rain is threatening - particularly at this time of year.

Gone is yesterday's sunshine and bright cheery day!  Today is yucky and gray and who wants to go outside?!

Plus -- no mosquitoes outside!  Yeah!!!

My post for November 1st - a day late!

Today (November 1st) was absolutely beautiful - sunny and warm and a nice breeze blowing!  I was admiring my begonias who are still blooming beautifully, as well as my mums.

However, Neil Sperry (Texas' expert gardener) says that one must dig up/throw out the begonias to make room for the pansies and my most favorite flowers - the little Johnny Jump-ups!!  Miniature pansies - little violas!  But, now is the time to buy them and plant them.  They need time to "weatherize" over the winter months and they will be so beautiful next Spring.  But, if you wait until January or February to buy them?  They will wilt and die at the first ice storm that we get.  They need to develop good roots and get used to the cold gradually -- from this point on!

So, go buy your pansies (and little violas) and plant, plant, plant them!  I've posted a photo of mine, but haven't decided which pot of begonias I'm going to give the boot to...  It's so difficult to throw away living plants! LOL!

Remember your daffodils, as well.  Now is the time to put those bulbs in the ground!  On sunny days like this, for sure!

Vibrant 4 o'clock flowers - seeds, anyone!??

When I was growing up in the sandhills of New Mexico (little town of Corrales - just north of Albuquerque), I remember that my mom grew some 4 o'clock flowers!  I don't remember them being very tall or even how many years we had them... I just remember that I've always wanted to have some of my own. 

A few years back, a friend of mine gave me a few seedlings from her yard.  And, now I have LOTS of these flowers growing and blooming in my garden!  They would take it over - given the opportunity.  However, they have the most beautiful fragrance and I am a sucker for anything that perfumes the air!  So... each year, they populate a new corner of my (already) small backyard garden.
This year, I am harvesting the seeds.  Perhaps that way I will avoid the little seedlings that pop up everywhere in the Spring??  If you are interested in me sending you a handful of the seeds, be sure to let me know.  Send me a comment and let me know if you want some.  You, too, can have these prolific plants growing and blooming and perfuming the air -- in just one season!

Butterflies are gone...

I am sad...  The butterflies have gone where?  Further south?  More than likely.  The winds have kicked up even more today and they definitely have a "northern" bite to them!  I absolutely love this weather!  My favorite holidays are all coming up and Mother Nature is getting ready to sleep for a period of time.

Just like us - there are parts of us that can lie dormant for awhile and then, re-emerge in all of their glory.  Nature teaches us that there are seasons to everything.

If I saw my butterflies every season of the year, they'd become a sort of ho-hum sort of thing.  But, since I see them just a few weeks in the Spring and sometimes in the Summer, and these glorious weeks in the Fall, it is like a gift that I know is on its way, but never sure just "when" it will get here! 

A lone honeybee was buzzing around my spider's wort this morning.  I wonder if he knows where home is.  I don't know where they come from to visit my garden or where they go -- but I've been delighted to provide them with nectar!  More flowers to plant next year to feed more honeybees!

Leaves beginning to fall

Well, it looks like the official "fall" is on its way!  My mulberry tree is dropping leaves with every strong gust of wind that comes through here this morning and early afternoon.  It's overcast with a temp about 73 degrees, and rain on its way.  If I'm going out in the yard to work on my compost pile, I'd better get it done soon!

My butterfly bush with the white blooms

When I bought my butterfly bushes about 5 years ago, they were just those little perennial plants that you could purchase for about $2.97 apiece.  There was no way to determine what color their blooms would eventually become.  They sat in their pots for several months before I could figure out where to plant them in my backyard. 

Here I am - 5 years later and my butterfly bushes all stand 6-8 feet tall!  However, the most desirable and magnificent one has large white blooms.  These seem to be a magnet for the swallowtail butterflies earlier in the summertime and especially, the monarchs when they migrate each September and October.  They choose this bush over the ones with the purple blooms.

I have not been able to find another "white" bush, since.  But, I plan to search diligently this winter for a nursery that offers them online.  I would like to provide my butterfly visitors with many more blooms to feast upon, come the summer and fall of 2011.

Beautiful Butterflies

Today, my garden was graced with not only the monarch butterflies who are migrating, but by my most favorite butterfly - the yellow and black swallowtail!  The reason I love this butterfly so much is because she is not camera-shy, at all!  I can get as close to her with my camera as I'd like and she just keeps crawling over the blooms!  And, if she does flit away, she is soon back.

Whereas the monarch butterflies are really skittish and I have to stand a considerable distance away and use the zoom function on the camera, in order to capture their beauty.

So, here are two of my favorite butterflies!

Weird tree fungus

I took a photo of this interesting fungus growing on the side of an upright dead tree at my girlfriend's home.

North to Whitesboro, TX

So, yesterday, I was gone from my blog because I was up in Whitesboro, TX visiting my best girlfriend and her family.

They live on 13 acres in a beautiful house that they designed and oversaw the construction of 5 years ago.  They are surrounded by about 11 acres of woods.  It is one of my favorite places to go "hang out".  I tell them that they are "living my dream"!

One of the advantages of living in Grayson County, Texas, is that there is this beautiful sandy loam soil that makes everything grow like it's on steroids!  I hadn't been up to see her since April.  We had transplanted domestic and wild strawberry plants from my garden to theirs, and, sure enough - they have become a beautiful ground cover for their yard on the north side of their home.

Additionally, the Knockout roses and the lantanas grow like there's no tomorrow! 

Every time I go to visit them I bring back a bucket or two of that sandy loam soil to mix in with my own black clay soil here in Collin County.  Next time, I'm bringing a U-Haul trailer...

Outside the garden

I took my camera out with me these past two days and went to see what else was blooming this time of year!  First - I found some beautiful morning glories blooming on my neighbor's fence, just a few houses down the alleyway.  Just a lone bee hovering over these beautiful blooms - unlike the native Texas "tall weed" growing on the south side of my house.  (I am trying to post a couple of photos of these, but I'm still trying to figure out this blog and exactly how to do this!)

My goal is to plant more of these larger morning glory seeds next year.  I have the little wild morning glories blooming profusely in my garden.  I've been cautioned about letting them get out of hand, but they are easily identified in the springtime and I can pluck all the ones that I don't want to continue growing. 

Another reason why I don't pull all the fledging morning glories in the Spring is because of the fact that in late September and the whole month of October, I welcome anything that blooms for the honey bees.

Assassin bug identified!

Well, okay, I found out what this beetle is that's sucking the life out of my honey bees! 

It's called the assassin bug or wheel bug.  This information came to me via a phone call to Dr. Mike Merchant of Texas A&M University.  And, since this is supposed to be a beneficial bug, I will leave him/her in the garden!  I just wish it weren't my bees that were the current victims... :o(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_bug

Do you know this bee-killing beetle?!

Day 1

This is the first day of my blog!  I am so excited!  I have always wanted to start a gardening blog and now, thanks to Tracy, my inspiration and mentor, I have begun this journey!

This is the final weekend of the Texas State Fair and it is perfect weather for this time of the year!  The temperatures have been in the 80's and the nightly lows are high 50's to low 60's.  We could have this weather all year long and I would be happy.  A friend of mine says that April and October are the perfect months for this North Texas area.  He is so right!

Yesterday, I created a few videos on my iPhone and hopefully, will be able to post them on this blog.  One shows the honey bee that was visiting and tasting the little purple/periwinkle blue fall asters. 

Now, on the south side of my house, I have some sort of a native Texas plant that I believe is milkweed.  My sister assures me that it is just a "tall weed"!  It's currently growing to about 7 feet tall!

However, I have had multiple visitors to this tall weed - in particular, many honey bees, wasps, green flies and this one particularly creepy beetle that I call the "Honey Bee Killer" or "Predator Beetle".  I will also post a photo of him, just in case someone has a clue of what he is!  I have seen him in the last two days devouring my honey bee visitors... (sad face here - honey bees are in such jeopardy, already, that I hate to think I might have to appreciate anything that kills them as easily as this beetle seems to do).

Well, it is getting a bit late, so I'll catch you tomorrow!