As spring slips away...

Spring is a time when hope pops up in the form of flowers. As summer comes creeping in and stealing away the beautiful colors of spring, I thought I would share one example of what makes spring my favorite season.
I saw this pink dogwood tree across the street from a training symposium I attended back in April. The colors were so intense that I had to cross the street and take a closer look. We had pink dogwoods where I grew up, but the colors were much lighter and in the pastel end of the spectrum. I love this version even more.

As a child, the dogwood was one of my favorite trees. I was so excited when we dug one up from my grandfather's woods and transplanted it in our yard right outside my bedroom window. I have often wondered what that tree looks like today.
For some reason, I despised Crepe Myrtles as a child. Our current home has several crepe myrtles. I now recognize that they are a useful food source for the birds that I love to watch so they will remain (and I no longer despise them).
Did you have a favorite flowering tree as a child, and is it still a favorite?

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In Memory of...

I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Washington DC during National Police Week . While there, the Hubster ran the Police Week 5K and we visited the Law Enforcement Officers Memoria l. The memorial is a sobering reminder that so many have given all in the pursuit of public safety. Unfortunately, it was raining so the pictures aren't great, but the rain seemed fitting--almost as if angels were mourning with those gathered there. The memorial itself is surrounded by a beautiful park setting with trees and seasonal flowers and is composed of two curved marble walls engraved with the names of the more than 19,000 officers who have died. Each of the memorial walls is flanked by a lion protecting its cubs and keeping silent vigil. Seal embedded in center of the memorial plaza It seems that every day a new name is added to the list that will be inscribed just before Police Week begins. The park and memorial are beautiful and worth a stop if ...

Ferret Friday #5-Rice box

Ferrets are curious creatures that need a variety of toys and activities. Our ferret loves to dig, and one of his favorite activities is digging in a plastic tub filled with rice. We make sure it is not available at all times so that it remains a special treat. As much as he loves the rice, if given a choice, he would choose to dig in the dirt of my ficus or citrus tree. He also loves to "tunnel" under the covers of our bed. He is not normally a biter, but for some reason, he will bite any toes under sheets. My theory is that since ferrets are tunnelers and are carnivorous, then he must have some instinct to eat what he finds while tunneling. Maybe the toes are "earthworms" to him. When my kids were small, they also loved to play in their rice box. Their rice was multi-colored though. We have added a few PVC pipes (we smoothed all rough edges with sandpaper). Occasionally, we add some cardboard mailing tubes as well.

Queen of the Dairy

Did you know that the Dairy Queen Blizzard turned 25 last year? I remember when the Blizzard was introduced which makes me officially...old. Anyway, there was no Dairy Queen in the town where I grew up but there was one where my great grandfather lived. Do you remember when a trip longer than 15 minutes lasted fuh evah? When I was little, the 65 minute drive to my great grandfather's small town felt like an eternity. Maybe it felt so long because I was hoping for that extremely rare occurrence of a stop at the Dairy Queen. My parents were teachers and the budget was always tight, but occasionally we would stop at DQ and we could get a small cone. We never got to choose--it was always just that small vanilla cone, but it was a treat nonetheless. Once I was able to drive and had a job, those stops at DQ were almost mandatory when I ventured on my own to my grandparents house. I probably tried something different each time-...

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