National Parks

Read an interesting article about how the National Park Service is trying to attract younger visitors to the national parks because those visiting now represent an aging population.  They're afraid that if the younger generations don't come that the parks will become irrelevant.
The average age of out of state visitors to Glacier National Park and Yellowstone is 54, at  Death Valley the average age of visitors was 45-64, and overall visits to national parks is down for the 2nd year in a row.
A Kaiser Study found that people aged 8-18 spent about 7 1/2 hours a day on digital media, and a study in Personality and Psychology found that 3 times as many Millenials (people born in the 80's and 90's, don't you just love these designations) are doing less for the environment than Baby Boomers.
Seems they're all just staying indoors texting each other or perhaps taking virtual trips to the parks.
We, like many others our age, have a yearly pass to the parks in Georgia and try to visit some each year.
It's rather scary to think that the younger generation has no interest in the parks, if they don't, what will happen to the parks in the future, will they have to put in flashing lights, video games and interactive animal encounters?  Won't that be fun!

Lazy Day

Bee Bushes in Bloom

Lazy day because I have absolutely no energy, I feel like a stuffed animal who's had their stuffings pulled out and is awaiting restuffing.  So I've just been lazing around.  Baked some banana nut muffins, played a little piano, read a little, cut out a little bag, stuffed a pillow and wandered around outside.

The lagoon

Kitty Acting Like an Herbivore

Beans For Lunch

Potatoes, Tomatoes, Onions, Oh, My

Roses, Roses, Roses

Miss Kitty was eating grass, her favorite herb, Mac was picking fava beans for lunch, the potatoes and onions are doing well in their tubs, the bee bushes (I have no idea what their real name is, but they really attract the bees) are in flower and driving my allergies wild,  the lagoon looks drowsy and the roses on the fence smell wonderful.  Just a quiet day in Georgia.

Holey, Holey, Holey

No, not a misspelling, just a description of all my favorite jeans.  I have nice jeans, dress up jeans, and best of all wear around the house, dig in the garden, clean the floor jeans.  I'm not making a fashion statement with my jeans, I don't buy them with holes in them, my jeans earn all their wear and tear.
Well all of my wear around the house jeans, you know, the comfortable ones that let you bend over without having to suck something in, have developed holes and  stress points.  If I wear them to walk in the neighbors would gawk and if I garden in them the squirrels would be sniggering.  So I've spent the morning sewing them up, hope they hold together a little bit longer.

Just a Walk in the Park

Mac had to take his car for an oil change this week so we decided to do our daily walk at the park in town.  Such a beautiful place, former rice paddys that were part of the Henry Ford estate, so water everywhere.  Always quiet, peaceful, full of wildlife.

Saw a young blue heron that we got a picture of and an older one that was so blue its bill was blue, but we couldn't get a shot of it.  Saw a small alligator soaking up the sun, loads of swallowtail butterflies sipping up nectar from the honeysuckle that's in bloom everywhere.  Did about a 4 mile walk, my knees talked to me about this later, but it was a perfect day for walking.

Life in the Crying Baby Section

We travel a lot, and lately that means flying because I just can't sit for long periods in a car any more.  And our last move cross country showed me lots of beautiful country, but about a million reasons why I don't want to spend days in a car.
So that brings us to flying, any flight that lasts for more than an hour and a half we've decided has to be done in first class, the seats are bigger, the space between seats is bigger, they serve you food on china with actual silverware, they actually treat you like they're glad to see you there.  So it's worth the added expense.  And best of all there are fewer children.
On our flights to and from D.C. recently there were children everywhere, happy, noisy children, loud screaming children, crying children, children who wanted to be entertained, held, walked, bounced, well you get the picture.  Sitting near children in the close quarters of economy is not fun.  They need a special section on planes for parents flying with young children.
Oh, I can hear the outrage over that.  As a parent I know we see our kids through rose-colored glasses and think everything they do is so smart, entertaining and a delight. But that's not what the rest of the world is seeing or hearing.  On our last flight Mac had earplugs and could still hear the kids across the aisle from us, I had no plugs, I heard everything.  The 2 kids and Mom across from us and Dad and toddler behind them.  It was even worse for the elderly couple sharing the row with Dad.  The hour and 20 minute flight must have felt like forever  for them as they huddled towards the plane wall.
I also got to listen to the screaming crying child several rows back.
I know traveling with kids isn't easy, I know some parents try very hard to keep them entertained, I know that flying makes some babies ears hurt.  I know all of that but I still wish I could fly without them.
I read where Malaysia Airlines is banning all children under 2 from their first class section and that British Airlines and Virgin Atlantic are considering it.  Here in this country there have been several instances lately where parents of unruly children have been ordered off plane before take-off.  Maybe there's a trend towards quieter flights.

And I Have Been So Careful

Sad but true, I have poison ivy again.  Got it for the first time in my life 2 years ago, turns out our immune systems change as we age.  I definitely didn't enjoy the experience and knew I'd have to be extra careful when gardening. And I have been because the yard is just full of poison ivy.  So any time there was any poison ivy plants near where I'd be working I'd have Mac pull them  out before I'd garden, plus I've been wearing 3/4 sleeve shirts and gardening gloves.  Did that help, well, yes and no.  I didn't get it on my hands or most of my arms.  But the 2 inches that were bare between sleeve and glove got it.
It started as a tiny little bump, it itched and I hoped it was an ant bite, noticed it just before our trip to D.C., but by the time we got there it was obvious what it was and we had to go in search of calamine lotion.  That kept it from spreading too much and my doctor called in a prescription for some ointment when we got home.  It'll take time for it to dry up, but in the meantime, I have the itchies!

National Gallery

National Gallery

Being disappointed in the American History museum we walked to the National Gallery of Art.  April, who loves all things Japanese, wanted to see an exhibit of Japanese oil paintings done on silk scrolls.  The exhibit is called The Colorful Realm: Japanese-Bird-Flower- paintings by Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) and was only running till the end of the month, so even though Asian art is not one of my favorite things, we went in search of it.  And oh am I ever glad we did!  it was wonderful, not it was beyond wonderful, it was awe inspiring!
Laying his mineral and vegetable created paints he achieved a depth of color that was surreal.  I could have spent the whole day there looking at them.  Maybe I need to look at little more Japanese art before deciding it's not for me.

These are just a few of the incredible paintings.

Easter

Reflecting Pool in front of National Archives

Flew up to D.C. to spend Easter with our daughter and of course it was wonderful!  The weather though breezy was beautiful.  Lots of catching up on things that you just can't do in a phone call, looking at her new place, she's in a townhouse now, much bigger than her old apartment, and much closer to the Metro line into D.C.

Spanish Tortilla, Brioche, Chorizo with potatoes and eggs

Lunch at the luscious Cuba Libre where we had brunch and ate everything but the kitchen sink.  The highlights were a French Toast Brioche, the Spanish tortillas, we had to have more than one, baby octopus for Mac and April, shrimp for all of us and dessert.  To say YUM, is too little, it was ambrosia, we're already planning our next meal there.
A bit disappointed in the American History Museum, the Julia Child kitchen we wanted to see was under renovation and their other displays left a lot to be desired.

Fountain in National Gallery

Tomorrow I'll tell you about what we did see.

Life and a Few Questions

More Lilies in my Garden

Had my six month, sixty thousand mile check-up yesterday and all is well.  My doctor is so easy going, takes his time, never makes me worry.  As opposed to the doctor we had in California who was way too hyper, would scare me to death and say things like "You're going to stroke out!"
But now all systems are doing well, I no longer suffer from "white coat syndrome" (that's where you blood pressure goes sky high when you see anyone in a white coat), and I feel great.
As to questions, I'm wondering if it's ok to "defriend" a relative who I've just connected with. We connected on Ancestry.com where  she helped with some family history, so we "friended" each other on Facebook.  What a mistake!  The other cousins I've found through Ancestry have been great, always enjoy seeing their Facebook messages.  But not this one, it's not that her posts are bad, but rather that they tend to be weird, about stuff I really don't care about (like horse racing) and they're way too numerous, dozens a day. She's not a true cousin, she's my cousin's widow and I'd like to "defriend" her because I spend way too much time blocking her posts on Facebook.  In the past I've blocked other people, but I feel bad because she did help me.  Should I "defriend" her?
Another question, is Pip (Douglas Booth) prettier than Estella (Vanessa Kirby) on Great Expectations or is he just more feminine looking?
And finally, Mac has lost his glasses for the 1,000th time, should we, when we finally find them, attach a beeper  to them?

Here Come Peter Cottontail

And many of his associates as it turned out.  I made a pair of Easter pillows to go on chairs in the entryway and then asked Mac if I didn't have some stuffed bunnies some where.  He, sniggering, said, "Yes, I think you have a few."

I already had the kitchen table set up, I knew where most of my small Easter things were, it was just the bunnies who were missing.  So it's beginning to look rather Eastery around the old homestead.

Days Fly By...

If I had wings like the days have I'd be flying down the road or at least that's how it feels.  We've spent a bit of time been working in the yard and garden after liberally spraying ourselves with DEET.  The mosquitoes have been particularly vicious this spring, biting through the insect repellant, through clothing, through whatever it's necessary to go through to get to you.  Yesterday was really bad, there were swarms of them, Mac says that as their breeding cycle goes on they get that way and then should die down a bit, here's hoping!
Saturday was spent having a security system put in our house.  There was one here when we moved in, but we never had it activated and all the little bits on the windows have slowly fallen off.  Lately though, and spurred on by Mac's brother who has a system, we decided that with all the traveling we do that we ought to have a security system.  So that was Saturday,  I really like the system, it's very easy to use, and we haven't set it off accidentally, so that's good.




It rained most of Saturday too, good for the garden, even better for the mosquitoes, have to make sure that everything that can hold water is dumped.  We also discovered that the beaver, who obviously survived his encounter with the local alligator, came into our yard and gnawed down a couple of trees.  There must be a couple thousand trees between us and the beaver lodge, so why does he come all the way up here?  Time to paint the trees with chili paste again.
Sunday my lilies had all started blooming, they're gorgeous!  Everything is blooming so quickly that I'm having a hard time keeping up with everything.
Friday I finally finished the afghan I've been working on since last fall.  I like crocheting afghans when it's cool, but as soon as it turns warm they're uncomfortable to have on you.  So  Friday I turned on daytime tv (my God it's bad) and got it done!  I think its colors really match the room well.
Today I'm making bread and doing laundry, and I need to work on the cover for my bread machine, we'll see.