What's Growing On?

Pistachio trees - aren't these nuts pretty, in their early growing stage? They grow in bunches, like grapes.



Tractor tire patterns - I like these tracks.



Pomegranates - More and more pomegranate orchards are popping up around the county. They're pretty trees.



September 10, 2010 - Cotton flowers blooming





October 21, 2010 - Crop dusters have sprayed a defoliant on the field, so leaves dry up and drop off, leaving the cotton bolls exposed for easy picking.





Cotton has been picked from these fields. I wish I'd been able to get pictures of the cotton picker machines in action. They're massive!





These are cotton modules. These can be seen along side of every cotton field after picking. From here, the module is picked up by a module loader(I'm sort of guessing on that name) and taken to the cotton gin. At the gin, the seeds will be removed from the cotton and the raw cotton will be packed into 500 lb bales.

Cotton is white. Snow is white. I'm more comfortable around cotton.

Steve Perry & 43,000 Friends NEVER 'Stop Believing' in the GIANTS - NLCS...

I think this is such a great video, taken at the Giants' play-off game. Steve Perry, of Journey, is a Lemoore homegrown boy. Journey got it's start in the bay area, so believing that he is a die hard Giants' fan isn't much of a stretch. I love this.

Would you like to sing my song?

I was in the mood for some Janis Ian music. In college I had three or four of her albums. She sang songs that whispered the torments and confusion of young love and relationships. In listening to some of her music tonight, I felt sad to realize that her songs rang true to a corner of my being in those days.

"At Seventeen" -- I privately related to this song. I think some would be surprised to learn I connected with the soft lament of the unpopular high school girl in the song. I could see it through her eyes, and feel some of her hurts from being overlooked.

"In the Winter" --- Feelings of loneliness, love lost. Being on the outside, alone, dramatic reactions to a failed relationship.

"Love Is Blind" --- Okay, now I'm realizing I was obsessed. Geez, get over him already!!

http://www.janisian.com/albums/aftertones.php
Check out the URL above, so you can listen to some of the next songs.

"This Must Be Wrong" and "Boy I Really Tied One On" --- Um, thank goodness, I'm coming out of my heartache dreariness.

There are so many of her songs I really loved, and I'm revisiting them. I hope Janis found a happy life and love. Now, I'm able to listen to her songs for their beautiful melodies and the soft, gentle voice of a fragile woman. Through some of her songs I look back at a time in my life that included youthful drama, silly choices, and high voltage reactions. Truthfully, that was just a sprinkling over a lot of fun, good friends, new experiences, and a girl finding her way into adulthood.

They're back!

Today marks the official return of my prism rainbows. I'm documenting. I was walking by their room, rushing to get ready to leave for an English Learner Literacy conference, when I caught sight of them. I gasped and stopped in my tracks! They were not here yesterday, but this morning bright, brilliant, mini-meteors of color were splashed upon the west wall.

The Earth is tilting, approaching its outer oval orbit around the sun. These beauties will visit me every sunny morning until spring. They are welcomed visitors.

Sunday evening

We were working in the yard as this sky was being painted. We stopped our work to walk into the street to appreciate the beauty. I went into the house to get my camera, and heard my phone chime that a text had arrived. It was a text from Jake:

Go take a pic of the sky

I smiled.

An aged soul is beautiful

I've made a decision about aging. My new attitude is this:

My outside is evolving to catch up with and match the centuries of wisdom that my soul has gathered.

So, as my body softens, it is just creating a more comfortable earth domain for my soul. My soul is speaking through the lines in my face. My body is simply the book jacket.

Awaiting the rainbows

One more month until we turn the clocks back an hour. It's always sad to say goodbye to the summer evenings and late sunsets. But, I think I'm reading to "fall back" an hour, and welcome back my rainbow faeries. The prism hanging in my tiled living room displays the most wondrous splashes of rainbows all over the wall, when the sun is shining. The positive, uplifting energy these rainbows initiate in my heart and home is warmly welcomed and appreciated. I'm getting so excited for their return. It is a rainbow sundial in my home. They are at their brilliance at 7:10 in the morning, reflecting against the west wall. In the afternoon, about 4:00, they are dancing on the east wall. Quite delightful.