1. I've been working in the yard the past few days. It's getting where I prefer being outdoors. What am I talking about?  I've always rather be outside. It was when I was living in San Francisco that I got used to being indoors. After all, I can walk around without shoes. 2. Speaking of being barefoot. Last night we watched Sayonara , starring Marlon Brando, a 1957 film based in Japan about the prejudice against interracial relationships, in particular, marriage (Heavens to Murgatroyd) between American military men and Japanese women. There was also a hint of lust between a Japanese man and an American woman, which probably drew both an aghast! and a titillated hmmm from the audience.  3. There's a similar theme in the musical South Pacific . In one scene, the American officer, who's in love with an island girl, and the American Army nurse, who's horrified the deceased wife of the man she loves was an island woman, commiserate about having to foll

1. Who remembers the days of the manual typewriters? Clack, clack, clack. And, if you were a proficient typist, clack clack clackity clickclack clickity. . . ! 2. Anyone else glad he or she took typing in high school? Friends tell me we learned on electric typewriters. I remember the manual typewriters in journalism class. Yup, I felt like a real reporter when I composed my stories on a typewriter. 3. During the days of electric typewriters, a few of my friends typed 100+ words per minute and more with hardly any mistakes.  I dilly-dallied around half that speed with several mistakes. (I hated typing documents that required carbon copies.) 4. The fastest I could type was in the high 70s. I remember coming out of a job interview all psyched about that high score. I thought that I ought to insure my hands. They were, after all, necessary for my livelihood. hahahaha. 5. The other day the husband and I talked with friends over the phone for a couple of hours. That's al

1. The Husband and I successfully fulfilled our monthly date for vacuuming, dusting, and mopping the house. Three months in a row. Definitely a whoop-de-doo! for us. The carpet feels so good beneath our bare feet. 2. Here's another thing I'm proud about doing today. I successfully pulled a curly dock weed, more than 60 inches tall, from the middle of a young butterfly bush. Poor guy. The two plants' roots were stuck together, but not entwined, so I was able to pry them apart. Hopefully the young butterfly bush was not too traumatized. 3. I need to go out and check the seeds I planted last week. They may need a drink of water. 4. But, first I need to go cook our main meal for us. I do miss not cooking. 5. Here I am again. The seeds got their sips of water. I saw two sunflower sprouts. Yippieeee. 6. After marinating locally produced grass-fed beef stew in a concoction of spices, vinegar, oil, and whatever else for a few hours, I sliced the meat thinly a

1. What words convey the sounds of walnut shells ricochetting? 2. Crack. Obviously. 3. Zing. A shell flies into the air. 4. Zingg. A shell soars far. 5. Ping. A shell ricochets on something. 6. Thump. A shell hits something. 7. Tinkkk. A shell vibrates on a surface. 8. Crack. Thump. The shell hit a chair.   9. Crack. Zing. Ping. Tinkkk.  The shell ricocheted off the glass tabletop onto the floor.   10. Crack. Ping. Zingg. Thump. Tinkkk. The shell bounced off a chair and hit the wall. 11. Too bad we didn't have goggles. Across the table, the Husband shielded his eyes while he read on his iPad. 12. Could anyone intentionally hit someone with a walnut shell? 13. "A blue ribbon walnut cracker," said the Husband. Check out Thursday 13 for more lists of 13.

1. We went into a mandatory Stay-Home-People! on March 18, under the order of the county public health head honcho. The next day, Governor Newsom decreed it for all of California. 2. Does shelter-in-place work? 3. California's population is nearly 40 million. The total of COVID-19 cases as of April 1, 2020, were 8,155 with 171 deaths. The count for our county was 23 confirmed cases, ten recoveries, hurrah! Alas, one death. 4. I'm glad we have pro-active leaders at the local and state levels. 5. A neighbor sneezed loudly and profusely in his backyard. Could his droplets make its way up and through our hallway window upstairs? I hope he's healthy. 6. While working in the front yard yesterday morning, I felt a very tiny drop fall on my face. It wasn't raining nor was it foggy. Hopefully that liquid was only morning dew. 7. I've been experimenting a lot in the kitchen. That's a good thing. 8. The other day I made flour tortillas, using smushed lentils and sesam

1. Aren't those avocados gorgeous? Handsome? Ooh-la-la? 2. The middle one in the front was picked about two weeks ago. It didn't seem right to take a photo without it. They are from the same tree, after all. 3. This morning, the Husband and I went out to the avocado tree expecting to pick the last one of the season. The tree graced us with four HUGE fruits. Thank you, tree. 4. "They're as big as the ones that grow in Hawaii," said the Husband. Not really, but we can dream. 5. We saw another avocado hanging way up in the tree. Perhaps that's the last one of the season. 6. A couple days ago, our county public health officer called for a shelter-in-place until April 7. We're required to stay home unless we work for stores, companies, services, and government agencies that are necessary to stay open for the community. We can leave our houses to shop for food, see doctors, pick up prescriptions, and do other essential things. We can also go out

"Hello, Everybody!" says Agathe the Aardvark, one amazing wedding planner. "We, the ABC Creatures of the Honalee Bay Aquarium & Gardens, are here again this week to distract you of this and that, and all else from which you need and/or want momentary respite. Enjoy!" That's very kind of the ABC Creatures, who showed up on this blog in 2018 for the then upcoming wedding of Winnie the Wallaby and Thomas the Tree Kangaroo.  I love these guys and gals.  The A to M friends dropped by last week. If you missed them, click here . Nehemia the Narwhal, Noah the Nyala, and Nalia the Napoleon Mastiff are Nfinity x 3 Security who made sure everything was safe and secure at the wedding. Ofelia the Octopus was the officiant who married Winnie & Thomas. Pauly the Pademelon — where oh where had he gone? Quinn the Quokka and Quaid the Quoll hoped they could sing their way to America and the wedding. Cheers to our dear beloved Rhonda the Raccoon

Really? It was only two years ago when the ABC Creatures took over my imagination every Wednesday for 26 or so weeks. The gals and guys, most of whom live at the Honalee Bay Aquarium & Gardens, were all involved in one way or the other with the planning of and/or participation in the wedding of Winnie the Wallaby and Thomas the Tree Kangaroo. It didn't become apparent until week 8 that the ABC story was about the upcoming nuptials. The ABC Creatures don't like that I'm moping about election results. To distract me (and anyone else who wants to be distracted), they decided to take over Thursday this week and next. I don't mind. I love the ABC Creatures.  Agathe the Aardvark is quite an amazing wedding planner. Twins Bingo and Bubba Byrd work hard and party hard, too. Charlie the Camel loves to participate in the cable car ringing contest in San Francisco. The Daffodils—Davey and brothers Dicky and Davey —always take time to smell the flowers.