11/06 3eme semaine/ 3rd week

Et bien voila c'est fait.
40 Oleanders viennenent d'etre plantes, de maniere a ce que quand l'ete arrivera, les murs seront couvert et nous cacherons le beton!
La photo du haut, c'est pour mon copain Eric, sceptique comme toujours, qui trouve que l'espacement de seulement un metre, est trop pret, et qu'il va falloir sans doute deraciner quelques plantes!
L'avenir le dira, mais celles qui ont etes plantees il y'a seulement 7 mois, font leur boulot, et nous, on trouve que ca marche relativement bien pour un desert!
Ca c'etait pour cette semaine.
Encore une semaine de boulot qui arrive, et de nouveau 3 semaines de vacances apres ca, dont une destination surprise... Comme d'habitude, affaire a suivre.

Ah, Darwin. He said the key to survival was adaptibility. In fact, most scientists and theoriticians agree that the single most indicator of intelligence is the ability to adapt. So, on that behalf, Richard and I spent the week gorging out the Earth of our backyard and had over 40 Oleanders planted - the world's most intelligent plant. Why? Because it can survive in the worst soil, under the worst conditions, and will not only survive but will thrive. Yes, there are a myriad of plants in the world, but few that thrive in the sweltery, perpetual dust bowl known as the Arizona desert. In fact, Oleanders are so perfect that, after rooted, they can be removed from water and sustained only on what little moisture is offered by the desert skies. Voila!

To continue from before, yes, there are a myriad of other plants in the world, many more beautiful. But most of those will eventually die here unless watered to the point of waste akin to a rich man throwing money out a window. And in the desert, whether the Sahara or the Sonoran, water is a scarce, precious resource. Water is Life.

So, turning our collective marital backs on those other temptresses, we bowed humbly to logic and chose to succomb to the power of Nature. After all, Nature always wins out. Man is but an insect riding her ever present, ever ready to explode back.

And wasn't it so sweet and nice of Richard to give the go ahead for our backyard landscape expansion? (That's not really a question - insert rhetorical here.) In fact, this expansion is multifold with demonstrations of Darwin's adaptibilty because these humble, very inexpensive plants allow us to also block our neighbors, provide sun screen, and, frankly, just make the place more pretty and inviting. In fact, our backyard has already become a haven to tons of birdies of all shapes and sizes. This has the added benefit of creating new friends for our dog.

So, forward we move as we watch our plants grow. Oh yeah, that's another genius of Oleander. The right type grows incredibly fast, up to 6 feet a year. And since they can also be turned into a very pretty tree, which, again, can also grow full in just a few years, they are truly a masterpiece of nature.

Good going Oleander. Good going Darwin.
:)

11/06 2eme semaine bis/ 2nd week

"Company recurrent" cette semaine, ce qui en Francais dans le texte, veut dire que j'ai passe 5 jours a Columbus dans l'Ohio, a la maison mere, pour suire des classes nous rappellant tous ce que doit savoir le parfait pilote de ligne, des choses ignobles comme reglementation, les bonnes choses a faire en cas d'amerrissage, la propagande de la compagnie meme venant du "management", etc...etc...
Bref, c'est une semaine ennuyeuse, mais j'ai pu vole quand meme les 2 derniers jours, ce qui m'a ammene en Floride, pour prendre des photos de la plus grande limo qui doit exister dans l'hemisphere nord! Y'a qu'en Amerique qu'on voit ca!
La semaine prochaine, on finit le jardin, alors affaire a suivre!

Well, it's coming up to Thanksgiving week, when Americans everywhere will gather 'round the table, munch on turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, and the never-to-forget stuffin' and stuff themselves in thanks for bounty - the Fall Harvest. And for those lucky Americans who still work for Americans, they will be forever grateful for a few days respite from work as well.

This week, Richard is at recurrent to be retrained on items he has already been retrained on. But, as they say, the best training is so engrained one need not think to act. And this can be a handy, dandy thing when the proverbial hits the fan.

It's not been a bad week, though never as good as when Richard is around, where time was taken advantage of to put up Christmas lights and the Christmas tree while listening to the Rat Pack sing their favorite 60s rendition of ol' Christmas folk songs. Amazingly, if you read up on it, some Christmas carols date from as early as 129 A.D. Impressive that human faith and passion can survive through the ages to carry through a song in it's original form. Now if only humanity would listen to the words, so peace would really come to all on Earth. Hmmmm......

Well, on behalf of the upcoming Thanksgiving I shall provide a preview of coming thanks and say thank God for Richard in my life. He is my shining North Star from which all the good in my life is lighted and found. Without him I may have been productive in the most 21st century definition of same but yet should have always lacked to produce any moment truly that makes life worthwhile.

And, no, he didn't pay me $5 to say that. He paid me $10.

Good night! :)

11/06 2eme semaine/ 2nd week

Comme en 14-18, nous avons passe le milieu de semaine dans les tranchees. Et ca tombe bien, parce que nous avons finis pour l'instand et j'ecris ce mot le jour de l'armistice.
Il fut en effet decide que nous n'avions pas assez de vert dans notre jardin. Les plantes que nous avions plantees au printemps n'ont pas tenus l'ete torride. or il est moins cher que d'investir dans le jardin, que de demenager et chercher une autre maison dans un coin des Etats-Unis, et de quitter ce paradis du vol a voile, que l'on peut sans doute comparer au climat du Maroc puisque nous sommes sous la meme latitude.
Du coup, nous avons creuses pour trouver le tuyau d'irrigation, ajoutes quelques 4o trous avec raccords, car nous venons d'acheter 40 Oleanders, j'ignore comment on dit la chose en Francais. Nous avons rapiecer, reparer, forer, evider, pousser quelques jurons, suinter, lessiver, detacher, et enfin admirer le resultat.
Je pars au boulot la semaine prochaine, mais rendez vous est pris la semaine suivante pour le plantage, pour qu'enfin on pretende ne pas vivre dans un desert.
Affaire a suivre donc.

Merry Christmas! :) :) :) :) :)
It's beginning to look alot like Christmas everywhere I go.... Well howdy folks! So, how is everyone? Terrific? Well, that's special, ain't it!?

First, ode to Miss Abby.... Sorry to hear about your recent snip snip operation. Did you know, however, that Auntie Katie had the same operation when she was a bit older than you are now? Oh, it wasn't fun for me either. In fact, it was a pain in the pooh pooh. So, sorry for what you are going through. However, word to the wise, milk the whole "I'm in pain" thing for lots of ice cream! :)

Second, to ma famila, I know your woes and worries continue as we enter this Holiday season. Cheer up! At least now you'll have woes and worries with presents! (Sorry, it's the best I can do. Though I am looking everyday for the cure to cancer through massive use of chocolate and cabernet sauvignon. WIth just a bit more government funding we may either have a cure - or at least we won't feel a thing if we get sick!)

Lastly, my dear sweet husband worked like a dog this week trolling through our yard to dig up our existing irrigation lines first, to find and fix leaks and second, to add to the line for new plants. Boy, it was a lot of work and sweating and we thought it would never end. However, in the end it was more a physical chore than a complicated one. In fact, we were happy to have done the work ourselves (he digging, me fixing and laying new lines) because now we can handle future problems without having to call for (expensive and non-responsive) help. :)

With our additional to the lines we will be planting the grand survivor Oleander all along the two side walls, wherein we will have an entire backyard enclosure of Oleander. The Oleander survive the desert with no issues (drought, bad soil, etc) so they are the best investment for such a thing and, further, the type we selected grow to 25ft tall, so they will not only block our very VERY close neighbors but will act as a sun screen for the house and cut down on AC bills. Since this will only be a perimeter screen, we will be left with an open view of the beautiful sky above from the remaining part of the yard. And we are happy, as birds visit in droves to our yard now, with Pepito happily chasing them. (We have many kinds of birds now that we planted fake snakes everywhere, which scare away the doves. Before, all we had were messy doves.)

So, alas we heartily await the planting of our new Oleander, which will come Thanksgiving week. And since our average growth is 5-7ft per year for the Oleander, it will be in short time that they will be at or above the fence line. Oh yeah - we're also adding a little to the front yard - using Oleander as trees, again, because they are so darn hardy and in short time can be removed from watering.

:) MERRY CHRISTMAS. Send all gifts to Kate and Richard, in care of the AZ desert!

11/06 1ere semaine/ 1st week

Halloween cette semaine!
Kate n'hesita pas a decorer la maison pour l'occasion mais comme je suis pingre pour ce genre d'occasion, j'ai refuse d'acheter toutes les babioles qu'on trouve dans les magasins. Du coup, elle a sortit les ciseaux et la colle pour se confectionner son propre decor.
Etre enceinte n'aide pas cependant, et elle n'a pas mis de costume pour faire peur au gamin cette annee, c'etait deja difficile de repondre a la porte toutes les 2 minutes!
Pour moi, Halloween ce passa dans un hotel a cote de Boston passant en effet ma semaine de boulot sur la cote est des US, a faire la navette entre New York et la Floride principalement.
Brutal, le debut de semaine, car le premier jour, avion de ligne pour Atlanta, seulement 10 hrs de repos, pour partir a 5 hrs du matin sur New-York, ce qui veut dire 2 hrs du matin physiologiquement, a cause du decalage horaire. Ouch! et y'en a qui trouve ca bien, ce metier de personels naviguants!

If you smoke, stop. You're hurried death is only serving to make tobacco companies rich. If you drink to excess (buzz or drunkenness) get a life. This is laziness brought on by the failure to find anything in life worth looking at while sober. If you drink and drive, stop it. You're too big an idiot to even talk to. If you eat badly, get a health test. Fix your cholesterol. Exercise, and eat fruit at least once a year. Life's too precious to waste. Don't believe me, volunteer to die today, then maybe you'll see what I mean. Get tested for your cancers, blood pressure, etc. Again, life is precious. Life has responsibities. If you get your car checked up, maintain your computer systems, clean your air filters, at the very least you can see how your body is doing too. Find a passion - something that makes life sparkle. Doesn't have to cost money. I suggest looking at the persons in your household to start. They tend to be the most taken for granted and, ironically, the most valuable assets you will ever have. Apologize to God for a lifetime of taking Him for granted. You may not believe he created the world, but he has given dreams and hopes to billions for billions of years. That, at least, is something to sneeze at. Smell the roses. Look on the bright side. Follow your heart. Do unto others as you know darn well you should already be doing. Dare to be the nice guy. Dare to let those around you dream. Dare to hold onto something precious, even when it hurts. Dare to fail, cause only then will you succeed. Indulge in forgiveness. Overeat on expressing love. Glutten yourself with happy thoughts. Pet a dog. Smile at a child. And never, ever, ever, ever forget to laugh - especially at yourself. Go forth yet never, ever go gentle into that Good Night.

The End.

Signed, Someone who could have just as well been your Mother as your friend.

The Really End