How does my garden grow?

I don't know about silver bells, cockle shells, and pretty maids, but how about these specimens. I am certainly no green thumb, but over time I have a few plants I'm proud of.

The first is my newest addition this spring. Hanging my head, I have to admit that she replaces a beautiful yellow hibiscus my dear neighbor and friend (we yell across the street to each other 'hey baby'!) gave me and it died of thirst due to neglect in my care; I was so ashamed! I should have removed it from the container and planted it in the ground.

I also have a favored orange variety - I believe the 'desert wind' (now isn't that an awesome name) that is particularly lovely, however not in bloom at the time of taking these pictures. I picked up these specimens at Trader Joes - they have a wonderful assortment of flowers and they deliver too!

Then I have my roses. This velvety orange rose I found at a nursery not far from the house. My guess is it is like the bright fire rose - A modern climber ... blooms of orange vermillion ... foliage is tough and large ... a real powerhouse of a plant. Coral or orange roses denote enthusiasm and desire. Check the link for meanings designated to the color of other roses like the pink variety below.

One of the things I like to do when I have time is support the local nurseries. While I also look in Home Depot and Target and even the floral department of Stater Bros., my favorite places to wander are Trader Joes' during the week and these local nurseries who have a far more varied selection, better than comparable prices and guess what - no sales tax. There are several in the Riverside/San Bernardino areas. I've used one just up the street. There's one in Riverside where I acquired a nice white star jasmine plant, now located under my front window so its lovely scent can come wafting through on summer breezes.

This bud, which came from another nearby nursery, becomes this georgeous bloom. I believe it is the ‘Kordes Magenta’ - a moderately vigorous shrub bearing flowers of an unusual shade of lilac-pink to mauve with a good fragrance. I also have a regal violet variety I'll share next time, also acquired nearby.

I have a favorite quote from the movie made of Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple' -

Shug: I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it. More than anything God love admiration.
Celie: You saying God is vain?
Shug: No, not vain, just wanting to share a good thing. I think it pisses God off when you walk by the colour purple in a field and don't notice it.
Celie: You saying it just wanna be loved like it say in the bible?
Shug: Yeah, Celie. Everything wanna be loved. Us sing and dance, and holla just wanting to be loved. Look at them trees. Notice how the trees do everything people do to get attention... except walk?
[they laugh]
Shug: Oh, yeah, this field feels like singing!

In fact, as I recollect, in Terry McMillan's novel 'Waiting to Exhale', Savannah reveals her favorite colors are red, orange, and magenta - I so agree! In the movie, you see the ladies walking out of church, each wearing one of these colors while the fourth wears white - which is an exquisite bloom, itself.

I would not be so bold to say I'm a gardener, and I hate (while at times oddly therapuetic) weeding - its existence and removal). Upon reflection, while it's to our own therapuetic value, weeding is probably not a favorite activity of God's either. I boldy do say God has allowed me a little beauty in the garden of my corner of the earth!

You Are Worthy Doe

I'm often prompted to pray for the people in an accident when I hear of or pass one by - the people, their families and friends. That is not the case here, although I was driving home the day of this accident and heard about it on news-radio. It had happened earlier but traffic on the freeway in that area was still disrupted. But the fact that I received no prompting doesn't mean that God wasn't at work - He doesn't really need me anyway! This accident didn't effect me, bother my traffic conditions, nor require my prayers - or did it? What is surprising all the time is however remote to my own life something may seem to be, the fabric of it may be stitched more closely to me than I think. I take that wee bit of information and apply it to everything I observe.

Today my sister in the Lord, colleague, and fellow-commuter, shared with me about her nephew. Her sister had been called back from a cruise because her son had been in a serious accident and not likely to survive - the earthbound powers that be were going to try and keep him alive about 48 hours to give her time to get back.

He was at work driving what they call a light truck when the big rig jack-knifed in front of him and he was unable to avoid slamming into it. His vehicle became engulfed in flames and he was trapped inside for at least some 20 minutes. Although ladies, unable to themselves extricate him from the vehicle - the steering column had come forward and pinned him inside - screamed to nearby officers for help. A passerby who walks with the Lord heard the screams of the ladies and clearly the directive to circle back and assist the person he saw was trapped, and was able to remove him from the inferno. Immediately thereafter there was a final explosion - and if the picture is still with the story under the link, you can see how the vehicle faired. He, himself, had 3rd to 4th degree (to the muscle) burns and was rushed to UCI burn center where he is now under the care of the chief of staff.

He, himself, had a relationship with the Lord where he felt unworthy; after all, he had mis-spent times of his life. At UCI he was given his prognosis, and he gave a call to his brother and one more person - he was urged to have a good talk with his Maker. Now in the midst of organs shutting down, smoke burned lungs breathing being assisted, skin grafts healing, comatose, among a myriad of symptoms, he hangs on with a wing and a prayer of many. A police officer, maybe one of ones standing by possibly following procedure, came by to share with the mom don't think me a hero 'but I was able to pull your son to safety'. However, the ladies who screamed for the young man's life, the gentleman who obediently came back for him, and his mom constantly, are often there in support.

Who is to say that this young man in the prime of his life is in God's plan to go on with his life which will include months and months of healing or to go home to the Lord. Only God knows. But the Lord brought those ladies, and that man, and has miraculously sustained him to date.

Because of the HIPAA laws, the hospital listed him with a fictitious 'Doe' name to protect his privacy. Not ficticious to God, this man who felt unworthy of the Lord, by the grace of God was called 'Worthy Doe'.

My prayers are with you Worthy, and with your family! God bless the agape obedience of those who were there for what He considers of worth!

An Exciting Time

"I got to tell you, I'm fairly excited to see what you are capable of. I mean if Morpheus is right and all. We're not supposed to talk about any of that but if you are, well then this is an exciting time." The Matrix

As September reaches its autumn and October rolls in, we have a pastor at church and I had to send him my favorite congratulatory quote. Our church has in its origins been and has even now the potential to be such a light and he seems just the shepherd for the remnant of a 'rag-tag fugitive fleet'. Pastor Dale - alter ego Earnhardt, Jr. ;-) - comes cup overflowing with determination, and intuitivity that smacks of spiritual discernment, and people skills, among what appears to be an array of talents - doesn't seem he buries them in the ground either.

We've met with him a few times and the congregation embraced him along with, of his family, his wife Connie and daughter Grace today - it was a great time of fellowship after the service. I'm excited for our church about the Lord's leading. For me, I'm so glad to have taken the red pill.

This I recall to my mind,
therefore have I hope.
It is of the LORD's mercies
that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3

old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new
2 Corinthians 5

Wallaby - a monkey's uncle?

Not! The face of Fontana is changing all of the time, but I never expected exotic to come to mind. At least in the animal arena, yesterday Fontana was put on the news map for a day with a wallaby on the ruse! (the puppy part is not easy to watch - sorry!)

Well, I'll be ...

An odd mix ...

Do you mix up people - a set of two people you always confuse? I've done it at work but for example I'll use move stars with whom I do it a lot.

Take Meg Ryan and Melanie Griffith - why those two? Still I've seen some comments on the internet about similarities between the two.

How about Bill Pullman and Jeff Daniels? This article on Bill Pullman's face addresses the similarities and also made me realize it was Bills I was confusing, him and Bill Paxton; yeah he's the one I meant - its worst than I thought.

Their names even have similarities! Is this some sort of visual dyslexia? Strange huh? Well, truth be told, I have that dyslexia common among mother's of several children as well - when you call one by another's name in which cases no immediate pattern of similarity comes to mind. When there are eight kids one can be quite creative with this tendency.

Oh well, nobody's perfect. Just thought I'd share.

odd; who' da thunk?

My sista blogger commented on how weird it was that we both used the phrase "who'da thunk it " in a post on the same day. Certainly, isn't that odd? I'm not sure why, but I'm feeling a little Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure now. Where's that guitar sound? Scary!

Still I found that thunk usage is more popular than I thought.

as far as we go

If you haven't seen Conspiracy Theory; it should be on your list of movies to see. The cast headliners are Mel Gibson, and Julia Roberts whose films are nearly all favorites of mine. Mel, with an extensive portfolio, shows a knack for playing crazies - i.e., the Lethal Weapons (here's a tribute to the collection), Hamlet. I have Conspiracy on video only and it doesn't air very often, but it was on tonight. It is always enjoyable viewing.

A line in the movie stood out to me, strangely enough - "This is as far as we go, Alice" (someone no longer wants to help Julia look for Mel's character). Why this line? Well, as I have mentioned, being a frequent viewer of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I realized it was said almost exactly in the same way - "This is as far as we go, Babe" when Jane Smith's associate lets her know she can no longer work with her. Something about the way it is said makes the line catchy and memorable, or maybe I'm just plan crazy too.

This, then, is as far as we can go with this post ;-)

What are the odds?

I just realized if you look at two of the last 3 posts, in each I mention stars of two movies - and both times they are they same two stars but of two different sets of movies - Ben Affleck and Nicolas Cage in first Christmas and then disaster flicks. What are the odds of unwittingly doing that? Hmmm...

Isn't it odd

that the giant made a reference just prior to this weekend to something being very akin to Cujo, and that very night Cujo aired on TV?

I didn't view it from the beginning (but have before), however I relived the part where the woman was trapped in the car with her son until the end; emotionally intense! Once upon a time I read every Stephen King book I could get my hands on and, as usual, the book far exceeds the movie. I like King's style, especially the way you encounter aspects of other books in the one your reading.

But, still, that night; wasn't it wierd?

Now this is odd...

the day I focused on Natalie Wood and the discovery that she was the precious little girl in A Miracle of 34th Street, that evening West Side Story aired; how odd! I wasn't able to watch it all; but I for a moment I re-entered in the once familiar world of the 'Jets' and the 'Sharks' and, once again, the innocence of yet another Natalie Wood role.