The other night, around 3 a.m., I noticed a light was on downstairs as I stumbled to the bathroom. It was too bright to be coming from the Mama's bedroom when she leaves her door open. I went downstairs to find the corner lamp in the living room shining on Molly the Cat. She was in sleeping pose on the Mama's reading chair. As I went by Molly, she opened her eyes and gave me a t urn-off-that-light-now! look. No doubt, the Mama had a dream about Molly. In the morning, Mama told me about her dream. Molly had disappeared into a field far, far away from the house. The Mama couldn't see her because the grass was taller than Molly. She finally found her when she heard Molly calling out. The Mama woke up from her dream and immediately went to the living room to make sure that Molly was in the house. The Mama has always had vivid dreams that cause her to wake up worrying. When I was a young thing living on my own in a big city far, far away, she would call me early in the m...

One of my favorite things at our county fair last October was the pig races. Sueeeeeeeeeeey! Wow! I had no idea that pigs could run so fast. Number Five soared over the hurdles like she had wings sprouting out of her pink jumper. It's Camera Critters today. Come check out photos of other cute critters with me by clicking here .

Would you like to see other B&W photos by bloggers from around the world? Click here to go to The Weekend in Black and White , hosted by Dragonstar. 

My Alphabe Thursday theme -- The Dude, The Husband The Husband and I were watching Celebrity Apprentice earlier this week. (Yes, indeed, we're hooked on this show even though we know we ought to avert our eyes, but we can't help it.) And, we both noticed that one of the female contestants looked like she had a makeover. "Her mustache used to show," the Husband said. "You noticed it, too, did ya?" "It was obvious," he said. "Not really," I said, turning my face to him and pointing above my upper lip. "This is obvious." "I don't see any mustache," the Husband said. "How can you not?"" "Because you're so sparkly." "What?" "I don't see anything but you're sparkliness." Sighhhhhhh. The Dude is a Keeper! And, a few years ago, this keeper decided to play at being a bell keeper. No. Make that a bell ringer! Today is the letter K at ...

My ABC Wednesday theme: The Mama and Her Authentic Green Thumbs . . .and Fingers Clip. Clip. Clip.  That's what the Mama has been doing among her geraniums lately. Pruning off old and decaying branches so that new growth will take place by spring. Just doing her magic among the geraniums, both in the front and back yards.  Always the recycler, the Mama doesn't throw out all of the pruned branches. No, sir-eeee, Bob. She snips off the geranium stems to plant in bare spots in the yard, front and back. They take root, then several weeks later. . .Voila! Flowers! Which stems have a chance of rooting, you may ask? Because, I surely do. Shrugging is her answer. So, I watch her choose the stems to plant. Her selection is based partly from her many years of gardening and horticulture experience. Part is from a feeling, an instinct. And, part is from the geraniums telling her.  At least, that's what I like to think. The Mama is humble. She is surprised as ever...

On Sunday night, I read The Happy Hollisters , being that it was published in the year I was born (1953), a category in my 2015 Reading Challenge . The Happy Hollisters was the first of the 33 titles of the Happy Hollisters series written by Andrew E. Svenson, under the guise of Jerry West. I had bought the book several years ago at our local thrift store on a whim, because I was born and raised in Hollister, California and now living in Hollister again. As a kid, I remember seeing the series at the public library, but I bypassed the Happy Hollisters for the Nancy Drew series. If I had known that the Hollisters solved mysteries, I may have become a fan way back when. I like the Hollister kids, from 4-year old Sue, to 6-year old Holly, 7-year old Ricky, 10-year old Pam, and 12-year old Peter. Each character has lots of positive energy and common sense.  One of the things I like about the Hollister kids is how they feel bad after doing something wrong, apologize, and seek to...

Lola Julia was my grand aunt. And, a grand aunt she most definitely was. (Lola means grandmother in Ilokano, the Mama's language.) Lola Julia was a one-of-a-kind woman. Once, the Mama said that I was like Lola Julia.  That's one of the best compliments I have ever received. Unlike most Filipino women of her generation, Lola Julia had a career. Her father encouraged her to get an education. She became a nurse. During World War II, she worked at a hospital for mentally ill patients. When the Japanese solders took over the hospital, she and the other nurses pretended to be patients.  By the 1950s, she was in the United States working as a nurse, first on the East Coast and then on the opposite side of the country. In the 1970s, Lola Julia retired from a supervisory nursing position for a San Francisco hospital. Lola Julia married late in life. She was in her late 40s or early 50s when she married Uncle Sam. She knew him when they were youngsters in the Philippines. They...