The Burrow

Caller ID said PNC Branch Bank. My blood pressure spiked.  My hands shook, flop sweat took hold of my armpits, and my voice was tiny as I said Hello? A nice voice identified itself as the branch manager and asked how I was doing.  How was I doing?  I was shaking.  Bank errors are never in my favor.  I've been out of town and uninvested in my real life for two weeks. All sorts of mayhem might have ensued while I was blissfully baby watching. I'm a little anxious.  Is something wrong? I'm sure the pause felt longer to me than it did to my interlocutor.   Then he laughed, said No, no, not at all  and proceeded to thank me for the nice e-review I left n their app after TBG deposited a check for me while I was gone.  He was glad to help me with any future banking needs I might have.  He thanked me for my time and wondered if there were anything else he could do for me..... and I spoke before thinking: Sure.  Don't ever call me again...

The yellows seem to contain more allergens than the reds, although that might be because there are so many more of them.  But the reds and oranges certainly hold their own.  Take a look.   These aloe have been sending out new shoots for 15 years.  They exist on no supplemental irrigation.  And my new next door neighbor was thrilled beyond thrilled when I introduced her to the healing properties of applying the fleshy leaves' inner goo to a fresh burn.  Blooming doesn't seem to affect their medicinal value, and the hummingbirds consider it their own personal juice bar. The red yucca are rescues from Amphi Middle School's front yard renovation.  The animals feed on the spiky leaves, but this year one brave stem arose from the devasation. The ocotillo are the showiest of the oranges.  I've circled the flowers which appear, along with the green leaves, when there's enough moisture in the ground and the air.  Otherwise, they look like dead tw...

It starts out slowly. The Mexican Bird of Paradis decided to join the party for the first time (in 15 years). She's still a little shy, taking it slowly, too. The yucca have no problem announcing their presence, nor do the mature agave. This was the most mature pup I transplanted during last winter's rains. The smaller ones have yet to settle in enough to bloom. I've highlighted them for your ease of viewing. Even the transplant is sending off pups (the arrow at the bottom of the plant).  I will have plenty to share; all you have to do is ask. This is the original mama plant. She's showing off with two flowering stems.   Then there are the Engleman's prickly pear paddle cacti, whose flowers start out like this and end up like this. That's a golden barrel cactus on the left. When it all comes together, it's really quite marvelous. I admit that I'm hiding from current events. I'm much happier thinking about the flora than about the Supreme Court. I...

I saw a commercial last night..... at least, I think it was last night.... I'm so tired from my "vacation" that the clock has lost all meaning.   I do remember the commercial.  It's rare that an ad for a sweet treat attracts my attention, but this purported to have three of my favorite ingredients - a cone, vanilla ice cream, and a butter cookie.  If only that it had been true. On tv, the cookie looked like it was wrapped around the ice cream atop a cone.  In reality, the ice cream was topped with miniscule brown chocolate swirls pretending to be sprinkles; butter cookie colored crumbs; and some kind of goo.   That goo went all the way down through the middle of the vanilla ice cream filling, what little of that ice cream there was.  Instead, there was the cone.  The cone which was the butter cookie, conically configured to confound my taste buds. I wanted crunch.  I got mush.  I was holding butter cookie a la mode in my hand....

My plane was at 5:45pm until it wasn't. Delayed due to airport runway construction at my change- planes-in-Las Vegas, it would arrive after my also delayed connection.  This was not good.  I called Southwest and Carolynn changed my flights (without charge, with a helpful and lovely attitude) to the next morning....at 5am until she realized that one was going through LAS also, then at 5:40am through LAX. Big Cuter motioned to the baby and shrugged, his body language reminding me that we were always awake between 3ish and 5ish anyway so that flight wasn't really as early as it sounded. We drove on empty roads over the stunningly illuminated Bay Bridge,  past the soon to be defunct stadium of the Oakland A's, who will be the Las Vegas A's now, and took the second exit off the empty highway to the airport.  It was less than an hour from awakening to the gate .... including gate checking my overhead bag because it was a full flight and my new boarding number was in the la...

Mr Dreamycakes weighed in I had a few ideas.   Big Cuter's suggestion was close to being acceptable.  But Queen T exercised her maternal prerogative and I was powerless to resist.  Please welcome Honey Bunny, the Easter baby whose mommy greets her that way every day. 

Queen T treated me to a pedicure this morning.  She left earlier than I, because she wanted her nails done, too.  I walked the two tenths of a mile uphill to the salon, marveling at my ability to do so with every step.  I was happy before I walked upstairs to the spa, chose my color, and took a seat in the comfy chair next to her. Cocoon Urban Day Spa An hour of pampering was just what I needed to shed the tired, up with the baby feeling.  Queen T was finished before my toes were dry; she walked home to nurse and pump (because that's her life right now). I sat, chatting companionably with the woman to my left and the technician who'd tended to my toes, until I could put on my bought-yesterday-for $4 at Target flip flops and hobble down the steps to the street. New toenail polish and new flip flops and steep stairs were a challenge, but I survived until I reached the sofa outside the restaurant on the first floor.  I reorganized my phone and wallet around my pers...

There is no denying it. Babies are the original attractive nuisance.  Feeding her the supplemental formula she needs to gain some weight,  changing her delightfully stinky diapers, recording the amount that she swallowed and the color and texture of her excretions, staring at her face, feeling her fingers wrap around mine... it's exhausting.   She's on her own timetable,  which does not synchronize with that of the adults charged with her care.  "What time is it?" is no longer a relevant question.  It's baby time and that's all that matters.  So when I called TBG to say goodnight before I fell asleep at 7:45 last night,  all we could do was laugh. I want to write about Dominion,  and street people in San Francisco,  and Ron DeSantis, and so much more. But I am tired and besotted and already hours late with this post,  so I'll leave you with this and be back tomorrow with worthwhile verbiage.  Thanks for underst...

The walk from the kids' apartment has many amusements, chief among them (for me, at least) are the informative signs and and pictures along the way.  I finally caught a picture of my favorite one when the sun and clouds didn't obscure the words The clangor of their coming and going comprised a contrapuntal symphony of cosmopolis. It's onomatopoetic, and evocative of the place, even if the current versions of the rail cars are silent. At the end of my meandering today, I sat on a bench, looking at The Willie Brown Bridge, otherwise known by everyone as The Bay Bridge, eating soft serve ice cream and thinking of Daddooooo. When the street lights came on in the summer time, and all the neighborhood kids were in their pajamas, my Dad would wonder aloud Who wants Carvel...... and his car was miraculously filled with lots of hungry humans (this was before seat belts... I'm old) who were admonished to finish the damn things before you get back in the car  by my smiling father ...

Have you investigated Substack ?   It's a long form combination of Twitter and Blogger - the quick response and sharing features of Elon Musk's hulk of what used to be a source of information but which is now just supporting his ego AND the regular postings of people I know and trust.   While my Twitter feed was curated to keep most of the crazies at bay, so many of the people I followed have left the platform that it's no longer very useful at all.  I counted on Joyce Vance's insight for the legal background on Trump's troubles; she's now on Substack , sharing her ideas and opinions and pictures of her chickens and their new coop.  I don't have to open threads any more.  It's all laid out on one page, just like my blog. There are paid and free options for everyone.  Instead of resubscribing to Vanity Fair, I used those dollars to follow her and have the opportunity to comment and get extra posts.  It was a smart move.  Although I t...

I'm trying to comment on your comments and Blogger is not recognizing me.  I may appear as anonymous in the profile picture,  but if it's signed a/b you'll know it's my handiwork. 

I've been walking along the Embarcadero. There's lots to see.  But probably my favorite thing to see was this guy riding high in the very well protected bike lane,  reading his phone.  San Francisco is really unlike any place else.

I don't know how I raised two children to adulthood.  To be honest,  I don't know how my siblings and I survived our childhood.  I have vivid memories of  Sister as an infant, sleeping unsecured in a bassinet that hooked over the front seat.  Today,  the baby rode to her doctor's appointment strapped six ways from Sunday into a padded car seat with an insert designed for her smaller self.  I didn't sterilize anything.  This thing  is installed on the already crowded counter,  ready to sterilize and clean every bottle every time.  I heated bottles in a pot of warm water on the stove. I shook out a drop or two on my wrist to test the temperature.  Today,  Big Cuter used this thing and a digital thermometer to ascertain the exact temperature of the supplemental formula. I've been on laundry duty all day,  which made me very happy.  Why? Because some things never change. 

This sock is much too big for her tiny foot.  The 0-3 month clothes swallow her up entirely.  Queen T threading (insert blogonym here)'s arm through what seemed like miles of sleeve in the newborn sized onesie was like watching a marathon in slow motion.  The fingers, tiny as they are,  kept getting stuck.  She and I spent the morning on the couch,  snuggling,  while her parents got some uninterrupted nap time together. Songs were sung. Stories were told. Kisses were given.  True,  the conversation was a bit one- sided, but when she opened her eyes she looked deep into my soul.  Can you tell that I'm obsessed?

I'm on my way to hug the newest and youngest denizen.   She will need a carefully considered blogonym.  What a lovely thing to think about. Life is good. *****  That was supposed to post on Monday, but in all the excitement and changing my travel plans (she arrived 2 weeks earlier than planned) I wrote it but didn't publish it. Apologies are tendered, but I know you'll understand. Waking up at 3:23am for a 5:15am flight put a damper on the evening; I was tired at 8 but stayed up til 10 and can't remember the first plane taking off.  Walking across the aisle from Gate 13 to Gate 14 made changing planes a breeze, but the early alarm began to take its toll before the second flight took off. I made good use of an empty apartment - I napped until the young family arrived.  Since then it's been watching in amazement as my son's big hands change the tiniest diaper on the newest member of our family. Life is good.  How can you doubt it when these e...

Today, Tennessee expelled two young black legislators for protesting with other young people.  The issue was guns, but it could have been voting rights or reproductive choice.   The white female legislator who protested with them escaped expulsion. Clarence Thomas has been taking joyrides with a rich Republican donor. The 45th President of the United States is facing multiple felonies in multiple jurisdictions. House Republicans refuse to present a budget for negotiation, and they seem to think that's okay. The Women's NCAA Basketball Championship Game was brilliantly played, poorly refereed, and is now mired in racist angst....and Jill Biden's gotten dragged into the fray, too, just by trying to be nice. It does feel like the world's going to hell in a handbasket, but then I remember I've been predicting that as the School Shooting Generation grows up and becomes voters, the world will change.  Maxwell Frost (D, FL) got his start as a  Students Demand Action ...

It wasn't as much fun as we had hoped. The self-guided tour appeared easily on our phones; there were no headphones required.  Without a tour leader to monitor our progress, we were able to speed our way through the rain forest (damp and completely uncomfortable albeit gorgeously fecund) and walk as the project directors and professors and managers described what they were doing in each section. What started out as a can humans survive in an enclosed space  became less enclosed as the plants didn't give off enough oxygen to support human life.  Once additional oxygen was pumped in, the whole can humans survive in a can  thing became moot.   The facility has been owned by a series of institutions, most recently the University of Arizona.  There were a dozen or so stations where, with a push of a button,  a short lecture began.  Were I an interested middle schooler,, looking for a career path, it might have been fascinating.  As a grandmot...