The Bench

On a concrete bench beside a lake
A mother sits in grief’s heartbreak.
Words carved in granite at her feet.
She pays no mind to summer’s heat.
She pauses here in autumn’s chill
Alone she sits in winter’s still.
Alone she sits in quiet peace,
Glad for the honking of the geese
Intruding on her reverie,
Bringing back sweet memory
Of young hands tossing crumbs to ground,
As ducks and geese would crowd around.
The boy is gone; the man has passed.
The bench beside the lake will last.

Too Much Stuff

In a city I recently visited there are 3500 - 5000 square foot houses spaced ten foot apart, no yard. Rows and Rows of these huge new houses. I have traveled to the city to see other peoples' stuff. What in heaven's name is wrong with those people? What are they thinking? Why would anyone want to live like that?

Three car garages and cars parked outside are common, too much stuff in the garages. All the houses are new and maybe not just alike, but very similar. The people in the houses have lots of stuff. They probably have a TV in every room, stereos, game players, computers, and more stuff. Like as not, it takes both parents working to pay the mortgage.

I just do not see the point. This is a juvenile attitude -- my toys (stuff) are better than your toys (stuff). Or even worse - the guy who dies with the most stuff wins. Yeah, but he is still dead. And someone else has to deal with the stuff left behind.

Maybe this is just overreaction to moving into my parents' house. I had to move my stuff on top of their stuff, and now I have way too much stuff. And if I had a bigger house, I would have more room for more stuff. I can see why people do not want to move; it is just too much trouble. And the more stuff you have, the more trouble it is. And worse yet -- my stuff, it is good stuff, the kind of stuff you can't really throw away.

My parents had been married 59 years when my mother passed away. In that time they had acquired lots of stuff. My mother liked to entertain and in the 50s and 60s that meant china and crystal. Entertaining meant sterling silver trays and flatware - fancy stuff. She had (I have) stemmed glasses, and sherbert glasses, linen napkins and tablecloths - delicate stuff. There are crystal toothpick holders, silver place cards, mint dishes, butter dishes, salt cellars, and I could go on and on. There are 12 silver goblets (shiney stuff) used exactly once -- on their 25th anniversary. Mother had crystal flower vases in all sizes, tiny individual silver salt and pepper shakers, and a, for Pete's Sake, silver candelabra. Who was coming over, Liberace? What do I do with all this stuff?

Kauai - the Garden Island.

Just back from a week in the most amazingly beautiful place I have ever visited. Kauai, Hawaii - I didn't get a bad meal in the 7 days I was there. I met many locals, women who are doing what they need to do to create their own Paradise. I met 3 artists, a jewelery artist, a massage therapist, and my friend who owns a health food store here. I LOVE YOU DEBBIE! Saying that it is heaven is maybe just a tad of over praising. I swam in the Pacific, walked on the beach, ate, drank, and enjoyed myself to the max. Friend of mine from Carlsbad was working there, and she was the ultimate guide, "What do I do here?". "Calm down, Shelby, you are on Island time." Remember how we call NM - the land of manana? Island time is not manana - it is "hang loose" we'll get to it. And for all you die hard NM taco snobs - fish tacos are great - to die for. Muy bueno! Verdad!

The New Year

Thoughts on a new year


The New Year is an opportunity to remind ourselves that change is not only possible, but a fact of life. Change is the only thing in life that is guaranteed. No matter how good or bad things are right at this minute - they are going to change. So, what can we do?

We can commit ourselves to positive change. We might not be able to stop bad things from happening in our lives, but we have control over how we react to the things that happen. We can react with caring and kindness. We can do our best to make everyone with whom we come into contact feel a little better because of that experience.

We can love, forgive, help and heal. We can make our world a better place to be........

Lunch from the Garden

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes, green beans with a small chunk of salt pork, sliced tomatoes and cantaloupe, how does that sound for lunch? I grew the green beans, tomatoes, and the bell pepper in my garden. I make really delicious meatloaf, not to brag or anything. The cantaloupe was so sweet and the tomatoes were juicy. I made a pitcher of sweet tea and for dessert, pound cake. What did ya'll have for lunch?

First Fruits

This is the first basket full of the bounty from my garden. I have had tomatoes for breakfast every morning for at least a week, and cooked one pot of green beans. I have already harvested seven zucchini and made them into zucchini bread. I've cooked one pot of collard greens and made green chili cornbread to go with it. This is really satisfying. It makes me feel good.

Delicious Zucchini Bread

Fresh from the oven, my extremely delicious zucchini bread. It smells wonderful. Hey, what else can you do with all that zucchini? This recipe makes two large or three medium loaves. I prefer the medium - you can make more neighbors happy!

Zucchini Bread Recipe
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 c. shredded zucchini
1 c. chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray pans with Pam for Baking. Assemble all ingredients. Sift together dry ingredients in one bowl. Cream together eggs, sugar, and oil in larger bowl. Mix in dry ingredients. Add zucchini, nuts, and vanilla, stir until well blended. Divide batter evenly between 2 large or 3 medium loaf pans. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool loaves on wire racks. Cool completely before wrapping in wax paper to give away or slicing to eat.

Dirt Endorphins

Gardening is Therapy. I heard on the news that digging in the dirt releases endorphins. Which makes sense, did you ever see an unhappy kid playing in the mud? Gardening is expensive. Someone wrote a book titled "The $60 Tomato". Mine probably cost that or more, but growing things makes me happy. In the backyard, I have tomatoes, peppers, okra, collard greens, green beans, eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, rosemary, lavender, basil, thyme, and giganto sunflowers. In my front flower bed, I have roses, daisies, delphinium, daliahs, marigolds, carnations, lavender, mint, and May night sage. I have been taking pictures of my progress. It has been money well spent, just counting the pleasure and personal satisfaction that it has given me. I totally dig gardening.

Impression in Time

Today . . .
A gift from friends--
Impressions,
Sean's foot-prints
and hand-prints,
His name, a date, 1988.
Sean . . . happy,
Age 7, in wet cement--
Today--rock solid,
In concrete,
Eternal.

Nikki and Ralph,
brought the house--
years ago -- Today,
In kindness -
Unbidden, unasked,
Brought to me
A concrete affirmation
of Sean's existence.

In the rain,
They lugged and dug
And set it there--
In my back yard,
Under the rose tree,
One moment of life -
Frozen in time.

And with only words,
I try to express
How profoundly
It helps me heal--
This lasting impression.

Sean 1981 - 2006

He was my son,
Not my only son,
But my oldest one.

He was difficult;
He was different;
He was beautiful;
He was gifted;
He is gone.

Not gone like,
"I’ll see you later,
Mom."

But gone like,
Ashes in a box
That I keep
On the table
By the sofa
In the living room.

I should call it
Something else now.