Going on four-years-old is my estimation of how old I was. I could've even been a year younger because I was lying in bed in the parents' room rather than in the bedroom I shared with Older Brother. I couldn't sleep because my brain was on.  I thought my brain was like a television, except I had no dial to turn it off. So, I thought I could change the channel by imagining a scene at Ninong Pablo's house. Click . My brain was still on.

The greatest thing that happened this past week was Rainy Thursday. It rained throughout the day and night. And, at one point, it came down in buckets. Of course, I had to go outside and take photos. I got totally drenched, and loved every huge raindrop that my tee-shirt absorbed. The Mama loved the rain, too. She was outside when the rain started, and decided to go hang out in the shed as the sky kept crying. On this coming Wednesday's post, I'll share what she did during the rain. Writing Travel Bits Lately, I've been writing descriptions about local places for Mapquest . Once upon a time, I thought I wanted to be a travel writer, but other things came along to drop that thought in the wish bucket. Writing these occasional short pieces is fulfilling that dream. Here are a few of the places I've written about so far: Pinnacles National Park , National Steinbeck Center , San Benito County Historical Park , and the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph . A rock

Today, I'm participating in The Weekend in Black and White , hosted by the delightful Dragonstar. To see B&W works by other participants, please click here .

My  Alphabe Thursday  theme -- The Dude, The Husband This month marks 20 years of the Husband and I knowing each other. Was it true love at first sight? I don't know. I definitely felt an electrical current running between us, and it was a cool, overcast morning in San Francisco when we met. Our first play outing was a week later. We hiked up Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County. Hmmm, I think I mentioned this before. It sounds familiar. So, I'll just say this: We talked nonstop all the way up to the top and back down. And, we've been together ever since that day. A Few of the Things We Had in Common When We Met • We were widowers. • Our first spouse was older than us. • We each drove an old Volvo. • We spent time in Santa Cruz during the summer when we were kids. • We liked puns. (We still do.) Today is the letter Z at Alphabe Thursday , which is hosted by the lovely Jenny Matlock. Please click here to check out other participants of this weekly ABC meme.

My  ABC Wednesday   theme:  The Mama and Her Authentic Green Thumbs. . .and Fingers The Mama loves her roses. They're all over the back yard.  In odd places, such as the middle of her banana grove. Some of the roses started as branches that she pruned from the roses in her front yard. Others are branches that she pruned from those branches that she pruned from the roses in her front yard. I'm sure, there are third and fourth and fifth and so on and so forth generations from either the roses in the front or the back yards. Did I confuse you? Let me just say that it's been years since the Mama has planted a new rose bush. She prunes a branch off one of her rose bushes and sticks it in the ground where ever she pleases. She waters it and that's it. No special food or fertilizer. The Mama's philosophy: A branch takes and roses bloom, or it does not. But, she always hopes it will. From what I've seen, since I often water the flowers now, her