ANIMAL CRACKERS. Saw a newspaper article that said the leading movie at the box office lately has been “The Jungle Book.”
That would probably be a remake of a remake, if it’s the story written by Rudyard Kipling. I believe the new one is a cartoon.
Let me make a suggestion to grandparents or parents who intend to take their children to see the movie.
It is this: Go to the library and check out the book. Read it to the children. It’s even better if the children read or hear the story before they see the movie.
One of my most vivid memories of childhood before the age of 10 is of my late aunt, Virginia Stilwell, reading that book to me and my brothers.
It was probably just her effort to get us to take a nap, but it got to be a regular thing on our visits to her home.
It is such a strong link to my aunt and to the wonderful Kipling tale, that I did the same for my own daughter; and she, in turn, did it for hers. In fact, Julie reminds me that she read the book to her own daughter when she was still an infant.
I hope we never become a society that quits reading and waits for the movie to be released.
A TIP OF THE CAP. If I wore a cap, I’d tip it to Carol Kissman and the Husqvarna Relay for Life Team for their bake sale last week that raised $400 which they graciously gave to my gasoline voucher project for cancer patients. For several years the team has baked and conducted other fund-raiser projects for Relay for Life.
By my calculations, this gasoline project has furnished almost $40,000 worth of gasoline vouchers since late 2007. Every penny goes to the patients or their caregivers who drive them to doctor appointments, chemo or x-ray, lab, blood transfusion, etc. The vouchers are redeemed $20 at a time at Road Mart. That twenty goes a long way for the gasoline expenses. Road Mart even tosses in a complimentary soft drink.
Pray everyday for a cure for cancer, and for the people who are working to find the cure.
THE GOOD EARTH. I have discovered more plants in my yard that may, or may not, be victims of the Mother’s Day Night Tornado of 2015. Outside of my patio fence (which was blown into my pool by the storm) there is a loquat tree which is obviously failing. I planted it three or four years ago and it has done just swell until this spring. Its limbs and leaves are drooping, drooping.
And at the other end of my patio fence, also outside of the boards, are two gardenia bushes which are at least 15 years old each. Their leaves have turned black.
There is hope. All of these bushes/trees are showing new growth despite their other disheartening signs.
The gardenia bushes in particular are treasured. Several times a year they give me lots of wonderful smelling white blooms. They also attracted those pesky little whiteflies, but some nature-friendly pesticide usually cuts into their numbers significantly.
But now I’m waiting to see if any of these three growths have been fatally hurt, and if some other plants are going to suddenly show disturbing signs.
I figger that the tornado blew the trees loose some from their roots, and that the winter — as mild as it was — damaged the tree below the surface of the earth.
Anybody else having similar troubles?
One plant that apparently enjoyed the mild winter is a sago palm which has been in place for 6-7 years. Always before, the winter would make some of the fronds die. I would clip off the dead growth, and wait patiently until June when new growth would appear.
Nothing died this year. Knock on wood.
LOOK UP. Some things to watch for in the night sky (and I know this announcement dooms us to have overcast skies) are a full moon and the annual Lyrids Meteor Shower on Friday night, and in early May the annual Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The meteors are cosmic dust left by passing comets.
Not only do we need clear skies to see the meteors, we also need to get up well before dawn for best viewing. It’s hard, I know.
THINGS I LEARNED from reading email: Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit, and that you don’t “HAVE” them, you “PITCH” them.
HE SAID: “Indulge not thyself in the passion of anger; it is whetting a sword to wound thine own breast, or murder thy friend.” AKHENATON, pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt
SHE SAID: “People are like stained – glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” ELISABETH KUBLER-ROSS, psychiatrist
SWEET DREAMS, Baby
