Hopefully, in a few weeks we'll be eating these Blenheim apricots from the backyard. It being Friday, I'm participating in The Weekend in Black and White , which is hosted by Dragonstar. To see other participants, please click here .

Today starts another round of the alphabet at Alphabe Thursday , hosted by the delightful Jenny Matlock. My theme this time round is places that I've visited far and near. So, the first place is Aromas, California, which has the distinction of being within two counties—San Benito and Monterey counties—as well as being within a few miles of the borders of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. With a population of about 2,700, this incorporated town is about 18 miles west from Hollister where I live (hence the www.take25tohollister.com signature). But, it was only last year that I first visited Aromas when Friend Jenn and I checked out several artists who were taking part in the annual open art studio tour of San Benito county. These photos were taken then. Five things I like about Aromas. Aromas stays green longer than Hollister. I suppose it's because Aromas is nearer to the coast and gets refreshed by the ocean fog that rolls in.  Aromas is a small town fu

My  ABC Wednesday   theme:  The Mama and Her Authentic Green Thumbs. . .and Fingers It may not look like the Mama is smiling, but she is. She's happy as a lark in the photo. Pourquoi? One reason is that at the time I snapped the camera, it was raining cats and dogs. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was indeed standing in the rain and grinning ear to ear. Rain, as I've said over and over, is scarce in our part of the world. Prepping camote (yam) stems for her vegetable garden was another reason the Mama was gleeful. The previous day, the Husband and I bought her four bunches of camote leaves at the farmers' market.  She had been snipping away for about half an hour before the first raindrops plopped on her colorful clothes. While I was dancing in the rain, the Mama was dancing inside the shed. Not physically doing the cha cha, but mentally. Just look at the sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her lips. Instead of cooped up in the house, the Mama was sitting snug an

It's more photos of last Thursday's rainy day and night. Actually, it's a photo of the Mama's vegetable garden and two segments of that photo which I "painted" in Photoshop.  This is the growing puddle next to the sidewalk. Today I'm linking up with Creative Every Day . To visit other participants, please click here.

Ago  ( Ah-go ) watched the water slowly run towards the end of the bittermelon row. When he was finished watering all the rows, maybe he would drive to the Senior Center for lunch. The food was okay. The best part was talking with his friends. Someone was bound to ask him about Song. "Have you heard from her?" "Where is she now?" Although it has been weeks since she left,  a few of his compadres still shook their heads in disbelief that his single daughter was criss-crossing the United States in her small yellow car. Young, unmarried women don't do that, according to them. Not  in the Philippines. Not even in the United States. "Times are different," one friend, usually Danny or Pablo, said. "Song is tough and level-headed. She can handle trouble." Level-headed, yes, thought Ago, pulling up a weed between the vegetable rows. Tough? Her mother, the Old Lady, thought Song was tough because she talked back. He didn't see it that way.