Picture: close up view of the inside of an orange nasturtium flower.
Nasturtiums are one my favorite flowering vines. I love how cheery the blossoms look as they tumble over fences and other garden spaces. And fortunately they aren’t as invasive as morning glory or trumpet vine. :)
Picture: a cluster of small blue flowers
Happy Easter my friends. I hope this day will be one of renewal, peace, and joy for each of you.
Dear GameBoy:
So tomorrow is a big day for my big boy. Another birthday! I’ve loaded up a few fun pictures here for you to enjoy, to tell part of the story of how special you are to me and to our family (click on the photo above to see more pics).
You have many passions, but the one that seems to override all of them is your love for other people. You’ve been a devoted big brother and a joy to your Dad and me. Above all, your smile can melt away any grumpiness around you. You have the gift of making others feel happy. And you tell great jokes, too!
One of my favorite memories of you happened when you were just a wee one. You appeared one afternoon in the living room with a cowboy hat and vest on and announced that you was no longer yourself, instead you were “Cowboy Weejeeham!” We soon discovered that the cowboy had many adventures. He appeared often and shared his stories, some of which we’ve recorded in a book. Cowboy had a sidekick, a young boy named Kree, and a horse, and a bird that followed him everywhere. When we relocated from Utah to California, Cowboy Weejeeham and his posse went on ahead of us to clear the way of any potential dangers. We felt so happy to have the brave Cowboy as our loyal family friend!
One thing that makes this birthday year particularly bittersweet for me, is that I can’t help but reflect back to when I turned your same age. Just five days before my birthday I was diagnosed with bone cancer. The day before my birthday I received the news that my leg would be amputated soon. When I was released from the hospital on my ‘special day’ I came home to a house full of balloons, gifts, and friends who’d gathered for a surprise party. What I remember about that day was that I was so ill (having already started chemotherapy) that I was unable to even take a few sips of 7-Up, much less eat cake or any other treats. I couldn’t open my gifts because my arms & hands were bandaged with thick layers of gauze (the chemo caused swollen red lumps and sores where it had leaked from my veins into the surrounding tissue). I appreciated the attention of my friends and family members, but what I most wanted was to rest, to be away from the celebration. To have time to make sense of how my world had completely turned upside down and would never be the same.
Many years later my world completely turned upside down again when you were born, Buddy. It has never been the same again and that is precisely what brings me so much joy now. On the day you were born your father and I learned just how big love can be. And we continue to learn that each new day we spend with you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)
Love,
Mom
Picture: closeup photo of a small white flower
This past year, because of no rain (whatsoever) during the winter, the blackberry vines that line the garden fences have not grown. I had pretty much given up hope of any blackberry cobbler this spring (usually this time of year we are bringing home berries by the bucketful–we even have the last cup or two of last year’s crop still in our freezer).
However, yesterday I found a small area of thriving blackberry vines flowering near the left side of my front garden fence. So we may not get berries by the pound, but I suspect we’ll still enjoy a few blackberries before the spring is over.
We’ll experience the joy of quality rather than quantity.
Picture: close-up of an orange flower
I found this flower, a poppy I believe, in my neighbor’s garden. I just leaned over the fence and snapped this quick photo. It wasn’t quite open all the way, perhaps because the sun wasn’t shining today.
Picture: a close-up of a cluster of bright pink roses.
These roses are from the garden at the Musee Rodin in Paris. CatGirl snapped this photo while John and I were relaxing on a nearby park bench.
It’ll be just a few more days until the buds on my rosebushes open. I can’t wait! :)
If you were a young girl who insisted that her favorite animal was a platypus, because you didn’t want to like dolphins or dogs or ponies like everyone else, and because you knew the name of your favorite animal should be nearly as fascinating as the animal itself–just saying platypus evoked its uniqueness (this was before you learned of echidnas, but is it a surprise that your son would someday count them as his favorite creature?). If this is you, then you might understand why this girl was delighted to receive the gift of a plush platypus from a Mom who just returned from exploring the underside of the globe. :)
I love how the bits of pollen clinging to the one of the stamens of the top flower look like an eye.
There is just so much to see in one ‘simple’ flower. :)
My friend Alison nominated me for the following award:
Wow, I am quite flattered. So now I am supposed to choose 5 blogs that make me think (I actually despise choosing favorite anythings…I’m just not good at it, but I’ll play along anyways…)!
So here’s my try at 5 Thoughtful Blogs (Note: limiting this to people I’ve actually corresponded with, or met in person, so the chances of them acknowledging the award is fairly high. Also, if your blog isn’t listed here it doesn’t mean that I don’t find it thoughtful! I love reading all of your blogs–add your URL in the comments if you’re new to pilgrimgirl and I’ll add you to my googlereader)
200 Things
Even when Brooke isn’t wearing geese on her head, her blog is chock-full of thoughtful and artistic writing and links. Her photos are also delightful.
Catbonny
Bonny’s blog is honest, insightful, and fun to read. I like hearing about her journey and I like that she’s my Friend. She’s also a wickedly good Ticket to Ride player! :)
Bored in Vernal
I like how BiV and I often see eye-to-eye on social issues, feminism, etc, yet we’re at different stages of life and circumstances. I’m grateful for the magic of the internet that’s allowed me to get to know her better!
The Observant Woman
Add this one to your daily checklist of blogs. SL digests important issues related to women’s health. Her commentary is both incisive and provocative.
Readathon
Deborah’s posts on ExponentII are always great, but I’m also enjoying her literary insights. Having been a bibliophile since childhood, with a continued fondness for YA lit, I love reading her book reviews!
For those I tagged, please read the following rules…
The Thinking Blogger Award is also a meme. The participation rules are simple:
1. If you get tagged, write a post with links to five blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. (Optional) Proudly display the “Thinking Blogger Award” with a link to the post that you wrote.
Announcing the winners of the first-ever pilgrimgirl survey contest:
1) Joule
2) rechabite
3) Allison G.
[Note: the most popular name in my survey was Allison, though some spelled it with different permutations of “L”s and “Y”s. I also had several Julie’s reply to the survey. Interesting, the synchronicity of names…]
For the winners: drop me a line in a comment or via email (phddillyat yahoo dawtcom) to let me know if you’d like the $10 donation to your favorite charity (send me the URL for your charity, too) or if you’d like a $10 gift certificate to shutterfly (if you want to order prints of my photos let me know which ones you’d like and I’ll load them into a shutterfly account for you).
So congrats to the winners! And for the rest of you:
1) Feel free to add links to your favorite charities in the comments–maybe it’ll influence our winners to choose yours. :)
2) Thank you so much to all who replied. Soon I’ll post some of the feedback that I received (sans identifying info). You all are just awesome!
Oh, a few of my respondents expressed dismay that I might change my content based on survey responses. That wasn’t my intention at all. Rest assured that pilgrimgirl won’t change one whit, even for those several readers who said they always skip the poetry.
Over the past month or so my readership has increased quite a bit (more than tripled), so the survey was my way of understanding why y’all enjoy reading my blog and also to get to know each of you a little bit better. Thank you! :)
PS: for those of you who like milk chocolate better, you are just plain crazy!
So either later today or early tomorrow, look for the BIG announcement of the winners from the pilgrimgirl survey contest. I’m so excited to choose the winners! :)
And in the meantime, this brief post to give you something to think about today….
–Someone in Egypt typed the following search term this weekend and hit my blog: “in photos how to gag a woman.” Don’t even want to know why anyone would search on such an awful topic. IMO, it’s one thing to search for porn (yuck), it’s a whole separate issue when people are searching for ways to improve their torture skills. I’m feeling a bit sick to my stomach right now.
–some other interesting searches that recently brought people to pilgrimgirl:
Jana in bed
great mormon handmade christmas gifts
this is hell
hairy armpit women photos
former temple mormon book autobiography
walk by faith tattoo
words for feminists
stories women onelegged crutches sex
temple dresses
