LCHS class of 2010

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Gray and rainy

Quintessential Delaware: gray, rainy, and unseasonable. It is mid May and the high today is predicted to be 50. And rain. Tomorrow's prediction is 54 and showers. Is there a difference between rain and showers? I thought showers were just rain inside your bathroom involving shampoo and soap.

Kent and I were out last night for a stroll around the local mall. Must more upscale that it was when my ilk were of mall-rat age. Fact I learned at the mall: Bose has more outlets in the Philadelphia Airport than they do in my entire state. This astonishes me.

Lesson learned from a day at my parents: there is a tv station that has fake court cases on all day. Again, astonishment.

Stu has texted asking mysterious questions like should he use a flame thrower to get rid of Apache Plume. (see rattlesnake post below.) Not sure what I will return home to...

New home for the rattley snake

Some rattlers just can't take a hint.

This guy had been hanging out for a couple of weeks. He liked annoying places, like where I get off my bike to go into the garage, and by the clothesline. Stu had moved him at least twice, so today, when he started rattling at us from the Apache plume by the driveway, it was time to find a new home for him.


He did not agree. As he slithered further into the Apache plume maze, Stu and Jake trimmed the bush from above, hanging from the desert willow. They discovered a quite large midden in the Apache plume (grocery store for the rattler), but it also also got rather rearranged in desperately seeking the rattler. In the end, the rattler ended up buckled into the back seat of the car in a old bucket for a trip to another canyon where he should be able to live a quieter life. Good fun.

I was supposed to be in Delaware, but a 2 am call from American Airlines told me that Dallas weather stunk and how would I like to go through Chicago tomorrow? So Chicago it is. After a nice dinner tonight with the family.

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Colorful eggs.

Eggs from the farmer's market. Each color typically comes from a different type of chicken. These are just so cool!

Lazy Sunday, New Mexico version

Today's weather: perfect. With all the rain, we have blooming yuccas. Profusely blooming yuccas. By the hundreds. The desert is different every year, and this is the closest to jungle we have ever gotten. Well, a desert jungle, anyway.

Birds are also profuse this year. A curved-bill thrasher is watching me as I write, a scaled quail is lekking nearby, and a cactus wren keeps scavenging the dog and cat hair we brushed from Rosie, Annie, and Nom earlier. I wonder about cactus wrens and using pet hair in their homes. Does this make their young less likely to understand that pets are predators? Not a big problem at my home, but could be in more suburban settings. Rattlers are already out (BIG one dead on Soledad Canyon road last week). Eagles are back, as are vultures. Cactus wren just stopped by for a dust bath. Wish I could photograph it, but it is just too far away.

Quincy, Stu and Jake have just a couple of weeks of classes left before they are off for the summer. Jake will spend the summer in Washington State, Q in Las Cruces. Summer projects are already lining up for Stu. Maybe some tiling and painting this summer.

Q has end-of-the-year rituals to complete over the next month: finals, banquets, AP exams, graduation, graduation party, etc. Quincy will celebrate with Emily. They met in kindergarten and have been friends since. Thanks, Katie, for your inexhaustible hospitality in letting us share the graduation celebration.

Limited biking next week. I will be in Albuquerque Monday and Tuesday for a meeting, and it is a little too far to ride. (but some really big hills between here and there!) The weather has still been cold in NM, but with luck our warm weather will come to stay this week.

I will be back in Delaware from May 15-20. My mother's lung cancer is back, and she is recovering from a repair of a compression fracture in her back. Besides, May is always a nice month in Delaware.

Book recommendation: Currently listening to Citizens of London, by Lynne Olson. About Edward R. Murrow, Gil Winant, and Avery Harriman and the role they had in bringing the US into WWII. Very interesting. I finally completed Atlas Shrugged, and although I thought the book was melodramatic and overwrought, I find that I miss the characters. But not really a book I would recommend to anybody.

Ipad display at Apple store

People were about three deep around the counters with Ipads at the Apple store today in Christiana Mall. Kent and I spent the afternoon strolling around. About the only store that has survived in the mall from when I lived in Delaware is Spencer Gifts. The Mall has gone decidedly upscale, with a Godiva, Williams-Sonoma, etc. During this trip, Kent and I also took in a movie and hit other retail outlets of northern Delaware. Traffic in this region makes me appreciate the open spaces of New Mexico.

I return to New Mexico tomorrow, with another trip planned soon. I was here at a great time, weather-wise, and it was good to see family (brother, sister, brother-in-law, nephew and his fmaily). Got lots of walking around Hockessin, but not much reading. And I set up the parent's wireless network, allowing me to blog from the guess bedroom (hi!).

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Quelle surprise!

Heading to Delaware today for a visit for the family. Stu surprised me with this yesterday for travel. I was VERY surprised, indeed!

Very fun to play with and a great travel companion.

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