Can I Keep It?

Cool Front

Nancy in Miami sends me the coolest stuff.  Thought I'd share the love with you faithful readers today.

Unlikely friends!!!

Everbody needs a hug sometime... Life is too short to be afraid to reach out.

 

Polar Bear: I come in Peace   Norbert Rosing ' s striking images of a wild polar bear coming upon tethered sled dogs in the   wilds of Canada ' s Hudson Bay.     The photographer was sure that he was going to see the end of his dogs when the polar bear wandered in.                                             It ' s hard to believe that this polar bear only needed a hug!

 
 

The Polar Bear
returned every night that week to play with the dogs.

Wish It were that cool here in Memphis.  And as peaceful.  Enjoy the Summer Day.

Week's End

Yesterday, we had our favorite neighbors over for some eats and drinks.  A "cold front" had moved through and we were in the mood to celebrate.  It was a mere ninety-six degrees!  Get me a sweater, man!  I'm freezing!

That's Maryann discretely placed behind the beautiful freesia that Dan brought over.  Hud put together some mozzarella/ tomato/ basil bites.  I grilled tender chicken, dense smoky mushrooms, succulent eggplant, sweet colorful peppers and thick slabs of sugary Vidalia onions for some fajitas topped with a Gorgonzola sauce.  There was a lobster dip accompanied by rosemary olive oil toasts and lemony grilled shrimp.  The hit of the night, however, was the grilled pineapple.  Sooooooooo very sweet that everyone thought I had brushed it with honey.  I didn't. It had caramelized  on the heat of the grill  --  naked.  Not me!  The pineapple.  I was fully dressed.

The evidence:

 

Simone was my sous chef out at the grill.  She lounged on the chaise and pouted when I didn't drop the chicken breasts on the ground.

Don't cry for her, Internetina!  She got her fair share.  Lots of morsels during  the noshing hours and a platter or two to share with the other kids.

I know how to treat my friends.

Random Acts of Photography

The lilies light your path where ever you go at Schytherbolle...

Fare the Swell

The Hudarosa fared well in all the madness of the past few weeks. The gardens are as serene as they ever were.  The vegetables are starting to bear the first of the Summer's harvest.  To celebrate, we are having the neighbors over for drinks this weekend. 

This is the only puddle of grass Hud will allow at our house.  I'd like to say that it's strictly for the pet's personal use, but that would be a lie.  Zali learned to do his business in New York. He, naturally, uses the concrete.  He taught Simone to do the same.  The larger girls have followed suit, so I have no idea why this grass is left to torment us.  I suppose it gives the eye a place to rest from the cacophony of blooming blaring from every corner of the place. Aesthetics and all that, right?

When we had a home over on the very busy Poplar Avenue, I threatened Hud that if he tried to mow the steep slope in front of the house again, I would get a goat.  We plowed it up and planted a lovely flower garden instead.  I'm not sure this is enough grass to support a kid, but, lately, I'm rethinking the plan.

Do you think Zali could teach it to poop on the driveway, too?

CRACK! BANG! BOOM!

Hein Park and Rhodes College had their fair share of snapped oaks during the tornado straight line winds  storms two weeks ago.  It came down in a violent rush on our street, knocking down telephone poles and leaving a myriad of sights like this:

These two trees, before they decided to leave, belonged to our brand new neighbors Dan and Dick.  Welcome to the neighborhood, guys!  The grand limbs, once shading the width of the street, blocked traffic for two days.  The yard is still a shambles fortnight later.  The electrical pole downed by the power of the gales is just out of view from this sight.  We were awakened all that first night by the megaphoned voices of the officers turning away  cars. 

"I am NOT standing here because I want to.  Turn your vehicle around.  NOW.  This road is not passable."

Several cars tried to evade the blockade.  There were live wires dancing in the road.  It would not have been a lesson they would have ever been able to test again.

Zali and Simone fired up in a frenzied bark fest for the first  couple of times.  After that, they would lift their heads and plop them heavily back to the mattress in boredom. 

"Idiots!"sniffed Zali.

"Merde!"sighed Simone.

I was just happy to be safe, away from the traffic and snuggled up with my loved ones, aloft in the canopy of trees that surround Schyterbolle.

Not Quite a Happy Ending

Though the house and grounds of Schyterbolle escaped the carnage of the winds, our little family did not.  After the power returned, I found Chicken, upside down on the rocks of the aquarium.  His brother, Gig, was draped over the body to protect it from Freckles, the goldfish, who had nefarious plans for Chicken's disposal.  Frogs are fragile creatures.  Their habitat must be properly maintained or they will pass.  I remember when my father went to work in Oak Ridge, Tennessee at a facility to study the marine life in the waters surrounding the nuclear plant there.  He studied multi-legged frogs and cancer-ridden fish.  I was always amazed to drive by Oak Ridge Nuclear on my way to visit my parents and see the many small boats in its reflection, fishing and gigging frogs.

  

Chicken, not as study as his nuclear wasted cousins, could not survive the hyper-heated water and the lack of filter.  His brother, Gig, is now hanging out with Hoover, the snail.  He puts a hand across the back of Hoover and surfs him around the tank as the snail meanders over the glass.  Hoover had lost his Hazel several months ago.  It seems a favorable match. 

My old hamster friends, Honey and Heneeda Dew, were challenged by the ninety-five degrees temperatures as well.  Nearly five years old, I found Heneeda in bed.  It appeared he had a stroke and passed in his sleep.  Honey was nearby.  She was snoozing fitfully.  I am afraid she will not last very much longer.  They have had a long run on this play.  Honey and Heneeda  have outlived the average lifespan of a dwarf hamster by a good two and a half years.

We laid them to rest with our other friends, under the sweeping branches of the weeping cherry in the bed atop the vegetable garden.  They gave me great joy. 

I will miss them.

Summer Breeze

A week and a half ago, around five-thirty in the afternoon, a mild summer breeze whipped itself into a frenzy in Memphis.  The trees twisted and snapped. Rain rolled in hard sheets on the streets.  Power lines frayed and arced to the ground, spitting fireworks.  One hundred thirty thousand customers of MLGW were left without power.  The Hudarosa was one of the thousands who spent the next three nights int he dark.   We were some of the lucky ones.  Many people did not get to rejoin the twenty-first century until last Friday.

It was HOT.  DAMN HOT.  Zali rethought the intelligence of six inch fur in the South, no matter how luxurious it is.  It is amazing anyone ever chose to live below the Mason-Dixon before the age of affordable electricity.  And they did it in a hoop skirt and waist coats, people.  I wouldn't have judged them if the acceptable attire of the day had been a strategically placed ice pack.  Or two.  And maybe sandals.  But that's it.  Anymore would have been overkill.

In the past, when we have been this unfortunate (because it NEVER happens in a more temperate time of year) we have shown ourselves to be hardy stock, suffering through the dark heat with a bottle of bourbon and some hard won ice.  Sometimes, it was even fun.  Three years ago, during Hurricane Elvis, as freezers warmed and their precious cargo thawed, the neighbors would gather in the evenings for "Use It or Lose It" parties.  My grilled ham is still the talk of the street.

As we lost our hope that power would be restored with any sort of expediency, we heard the siren call of distant generators.  Enchanted by the sweet, constant  sound, we succumbed and bought one.  I have never been happier in my life.  Ah! The soothing hum of gas powered electricity!  To sleep in a cool, breezy room is a luxury of this century that should not be taken lightly. 

Carmen is still enamored of the vortex fan that we purchased with the generator.  Her long blond hair ruffles in the dim light of the television when it's time to go to bed.  Several days, she has chosen to remain there, letting Zoe and Hud go to the park by themselves in the sweltering Memphis morning. 
She'll lie there all day, napping in the cool, comforting breeze.

Carmen knows a good thing when she feels it.  And I do, too.

Random Acts of Photography

A tornado blew through Memphis last Friday.  As a tree fell on a the wires in a neighbor's yard, we were without power for three days.  We have yet to connect back to the internet or cable services.  The Hudarosa is without injury. 

These red lillies bloomed thoughout the devastation around us.  Life is good afterall. 

* The cable may be out for another week.  I know you'll miss me. ;D *

Let's Eat!

The Summer crops are just beginning to come in.  We've been gorging already on tomatoes, green beans and rainbow chard. The crookneck squash are forming tiny yellow fruits. 

 

Soon they'll be joined by the baby zucchini and Itchiban eggplants.  We'll be feasting in no time.  Growing your own dinner is the most gratifying way to make a meal. 

Here at the Hudarosa, we try to stay organic.  I spray away some of the bugs with a mixture of garlic and peppermint oils.  The lady bugs and lacewings munch away at most of the remaining leaf bound pests.   Birds and dragonflies do their fair share of policing the flying variety of ruffians.  The earthworms fertilize the soil with their, well, poop...

"Wait!DidYouSayEarthwormsANDPoop,Mommy?"

 

"NowTHAT'SGoodEatin'!"

Walky Talky

Did you just say what ze Zali seenk you said?  Did you say "Let's go for out WALKIES? Hmmmm?

So alright.  I have proven myself to be a liar yet again.  I have taken up running in the evenings with the Pappies and Hud.  I know, I KNOW.  I said that I would never run unless a bear with a gun was being chased by a monkey with a machete and they both blamed me for choosing the wrong wine to go with the chateau briande.  Oh, the shame of it all.  I have found something to fear even greater than those two.  Yes, I am running from my own buttocks.  By running away from them, I hope to run them off. 

It's the highlight of Zali's day.  We walk over to the park-like setting of Rhodes College and run through the front lawn.  Zali is chases the squirrels and I chase my exasperation at my inability to shed my extra weight.  Simone pulls poor Hud around like a sled dog.  I may have to get him a skateboard for Father's Day.  

To be honest, it's becoming one of the favorite parts of my day, too.  So now, I must hit the dusty trail.  I made the mistake of putting on my running shoes before I sat down to write this post.  Zali, who knows the subtle differences of human footwear, is driving me insane with his constant whimpering. 

Time I got out and chased my big bare behind.