Category Archives: My wise old grandmother
Look! Up in the air! It’s a silk floss tree!
When I was a young boy, I was always tripping. Didn’t matter what I was walking on or what kind of shoes I had on, or no shoes. If I walked more than ten steps, I was going to trip. I had bruised knees, torn jeans (my wise old grandmother despised torn jeans), bloody elbows and hands….
My youngest uncle (still living at home and going to college) used to blame my tripping on my feet…. feet and tripping…. Hmmm. Logical…. He was reading “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at the time, and one of the illustrations in the book was of Ichabod Crane, a tall, gangly man with huge feet. He took to calling me Ichabod Crane because of my tall (6’3″), skinny body (150 pounds), and my huge feet (size 11). What my uncle did to me might be considered verbal abuse in today’s world, but I survived.
My wise old grandmother blamed my tripping on me not looking at where I was going. She would always say, “Pick up your feet! Get your nose out of the air! Look down to see what you’re about to step on! It might be a rattlesnake!”
Alas, I have solved the tripping problem by picking up my feet and looking down to see what I was about to step on.
However, when I’m out and about, like at the Zoo or SeaWorld, I do like to look up often to see what’s above me, what’s sitting in the tree and about to poop on me. The fun part about doing that is that if you stand there long enough looking up, people will gather round you and look up, too. They don’t want to miss anything! If only I could train a bird to sit up there and wait until everyone is looking up and then, when I look down, let go….!
The other day I was at SeaWorld. I looked up and saw a huge (probably size 11) cotton ball hanging in the tree:
That’s a seed pod of the silk floss tree (Ceiba speciosa). I was quite familiar with the silk floss tree’s flowers but had never seen its seed pods, especially bursting open with cotton like that.
I stood there gazing upward and took a few more pictures of the seed pods in different stages of growth:
By the time I finished snapping my pictures, I had a crowd of about 15 or 20 people standing around me looking up to see what kind of animal (at SeaWorld!) was up in the tree that I was taking pictures of. One lady asked me and I told her, “Just the tree and the huge seed pods.” At that point, everyone left in disappointment. Folks, it’s okay to appreciate flora at a fauna park, or fauna at a botanical garden!
Here is the flower of the silk floss tree:
The flowers look similar to some orchids, and I have heard it called an orchid tree although I could find no sources that use that name. Maybe it’s just a San Diego thing.
The silk floss tree is native to South America. It is drought resistant (which explains why we have lots of them here in San Diego) but grows very rapidly, even in spurts, when water is plentiful. The trunk of the tree has huge (probably size 11) thorns on it which store water for those droughts:
At the entrance to the San Diego Zoo, just to the left of Flamingo Lagoon, is a huge (way bigger than size 11) silk floss tree that looks really strange during the winter when there are no leaves or flowers, just a tree full of seed pods, looking like this:
If you really want to have some fun with people and this tree, skip Flamingo Lagoon and go stand under this tree and look up. In the afternoon when the Zoo is really busy, you can get a hundred or more people standing around you looking up. It’s a lot of fun!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
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James Frimmer, Realtor
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If you’re looking for a home inspector,
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Developed by Monsanto?
I developed most of my gardening skills courtesy of my wise old grandmother. Our home in Kingsville, Texas, had about an acre of land surrounding it, and the land was full of flowers, trees, and grass. Here’s what the house looked like a few months ago courtesy of Google Street View:
The two oaks in front of the house were planted by the one and only me in 1970 after Hurricane Celia destroyed all the trees in our yard. Apparently all of the flowers, bushes, and shrubs are gone. She had mostly oleanders, poinsettias, crowns of thorns, snapdragons, pansies, and petunias.
All around the back patio, though, she had strawberry plants. I used to love picking strawberries (and eating them) as they ripened. Every time I buy strawberries at the store, I think back to the days of my youth when I would pick strawberries off of our own little strawberry plants. The strawberries of 40 years ago were small, certainly nothing like the strawberries we get here in San Diego from Oxnard and Watsonville (California). The strawberries I bought today look like this:
These strawberries come from Oxnard. I bought them at a Walmart Superstore, four pounds for just $5.98. The smallest one is about the size of a lime, and the largest is about the size of a lemon. And they are sweet! Sweet, sweet, sweet! A little chocoloate syrup, or some vanilla ice cream, and it’s heaven on earth!
I’m wondering, though, if these strawberries were developed by Monsanto……lol
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Artistic liberty
Pictures of artists being artistic fascinate me for some reason.
Here is the view she was painting:
As my wise old grandmother said, “What comes out of the camera is just the basics to start with.” This painter is using the view of the California Tower and Museum of Man as just the basics to start with as well.
Notice that the actual view has a tall, ugly palm tree splitting the dome of the Museum of Man. The artist has taken the artistic liberty of moving the palm tree to the right, and it looks like her painting will have only four palm trees instead of six. I think I like her painting better than the actual view!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Photoshop can make old pictures new again!
I’ve been cataloging some of my older pictures taken in the early digital camera days, early point & shoot days, and well before I got my Canon 550D. Although they are not the best quality, I saved them hoping that some day Photoshop would help me clean them up, add contrast and clarity, and make them presentable for you to enjoy.
So on with the show, including musical interludes by Three Dog Night, Queen, Pink Floyd, and Moulin Rouge.
Many of us are familiar with the ubiquitous brown tumbleweeds tumbling about in the John Wayne and Clint Eastwood western movies, but have you ever seen a field of growing tumbleweeds? Here’s a field from right here in San Diego:
When I was a juvenile delinquent in Brigham City, Utah, my first grade teacher lived next door to me. She was the first one to get me interested in plants. She had a beautiful garden in her back yard full of nasturtiums. I took such a love to nasturtiums with their beautiful flowers and round leaves.
One day when she wasn’t home I went over to her garden, dug up a plant to make it mine, and then destroyed all of her plants, making mine the only nasturtium on the street. Yes, I got caught and punished severely.
Am I the only one who likes dandelions?
My wise old grandmother had many flowers in her gardens, but I think her favorites were morning glories for year-round blooms, crowns of thorns, which also bloomed year-round and reminded her each and every day of her commitment to her faith, and poinsettias for Christmas.
My wise old grandmother’s poinsettias were the tallest I had ever seen until I came to San Diego. It seems plants grow taller out here. Here’s the tallest one I’ve seen here:
I despised my wise old grandmother’s poinsettias because I was the one who had to prune them each September so that they would bloom in December. Poinsettias are in the Euphorbia family, and I now know that I am sensitive/allergic to Euphorbias. A great general rule of thumb is that if the sap is a sticky, milky white, it’s a Euphorbia of some kind. The sap can cause severe dermatitis and other allergic reactions in many people and can be dangerous for our wonderful cats and dogs, so be careful! The funny thing is that I don’t generally have any poinsettias around the house because of the sap and Zoey the Cool Cat, but I have lots of Euphorbias, such as the Crown of Thorns, all outside where Zoey the Cool Cat cannot get to them.
Speaking of plants growing taller out here, plants that would never bloom for me in Texas are prolific bloomers here in San Diego. The umbrella tree is a great example. I bought a small umbrella tree when I was in tenth grade. It was only about six inches tall. It graduated from high school with me, went to four years of college at Texas A&M University, and lived in Houston and College Station until 1993. When I moved to San Diego, it was about six feet tall and one of my office managers claimed it. Here is a blooming one here in San Diego:
You’ll probably recognize the leaf because they are used as houseplants throughout the world:
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
I want a dog house
My wise old grandmother used to say that if you live long enough, things come full circle. I’m just hoping I don’t live long enough to see the return of bell bottoms and leisure suits………..
Except for short periods of time, I’ve always had pets — dogs, cats, birds, snake, rabbit, mice, rats, pigs, cows, horses, armadillo, monkey, fish, guinea pigs, hamsters. I have always considered myself a dog person, though (shhhh! Don’t tell Zoey the Cool Cat).
Two pictures of Penney (long-haired dachsund) and Sugar (Chow Chow/Basenji mix), my dogs from 1980 when I was living in Houston:
That’s Sugar on the motorcycle. I used to let her come outside with me as Ii was putting on my motorcycle helmet. One day she jumped up on the seat. That gave me an idea, based on seeing people on both bikes and motorcycles carrying their dogs either on the seat in front of them or in a front handlebar basket.
Instead of going wherever it was I was going, I let Sugar stay there, got on the motorcycle (A Yamaga 700 Virago), started the engine, revved her up to see if Sugar could tolerate the noise (she could!), and took off slowing down the street and around the neighborhood. Sugar had no problem and was as happy as could be.
Eventually, she was riding with me to Dallas, Waco, and Houston. The speed limit then was 55 mph, but we got up to 59 mph. Going 4 mph over the speed limit was a habit of mine based on hearsay that the highway patrol didn’t give tickets if you were doing less than 5 mph over the speed limit.
Now, with the newfangled dog houses that I’m seeing, I’m thinking I need a dog. Or maybe I just need a dog house:
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Evidence
My wise old grandmother always used to tell me that if I ever came to a fork in the road, to take the one less traveled because I would learn more about life.
I have always tried to do that.
I also expect the road less traveled to have less evidence of those who might have gone before me.
Unfortunately, though, too many people leave evidence that they were there, and some of the evidence is so unexpected.
Even when I find an unknown beach, it obviously is known to someone!
The following picture is of a “ghost bike,” a memorial to a bicyclist killed at the site. Ghost bikes are fully functional and painted white; they are not the bikes involved in the accidents that killed the cyclist. Rather, they are provided by family and friends of the deceased cyclist.
And, of course, there is the ubiquitous pair of shoes on a utility wire. Doesn’t matter how far out into the boondocks you go, they are there. I guess they have more money than me; I wear my shoes until the soles fall off.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
If you feed them, they will stay
Usually I have to go elsewhere to watch the squirrels frolicking.
However, on Thanksgiving morning, a little squirrel came to visit me.
Before I left to go visit relatives for Thanksgiving, I threw some bread crumbs out for him.
Yesterday morning he was back.
This morning he was back.
Hmmm.
I guess it’s like my wise old grandmother said, “If you feed them, they will stay.”
Do you have food for me?
I’m waiting….
Prayers before the meal
Thank you! I’ll be back!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Too much of anything is bad for you
Yesterday I used my new health insurance that I got courtesy of the Affordable Care Act (also derisively called “ObamaCare”) and went to the doctor for the first time in a year. Blood pressure and my osteoarthritic knees were on my agenda.
I’ve been exercising my knees but the problem with osteoarthritis is that it’s kind of a Catch-22 situation in that exercise will help strengthen the knee muscles but the exercise is painful. In discussing exercise, this doctor suggested that I find some uneven stairs or set up some uneven stairs so that the complete knee would get exercise. He also suggested that I do my walking on sand rather than concrete or asphalt. The sand gives, making it easier on my knees, and because it gives, it also works the complete ankle and knee muscles.
I knew just the place: Black’s Beach.
The stairs from the top of the 300-foot bluffs are, well, “uneven” doesn’t do them justice:
When I first came to San Diego in May 1992, the bluffs at Blacks Beach were one of the first “vista points” that I visited. In looking out over the beautiful bluffs and the Pacific Ocean, I told myself that some day I would retire to San Diego. Just eleven months later and I had done exactly that. From April 1993 to March 1994, I did nothing but climb up and down the bluffs at Blacks Beach, lay out on the sand, and read about the world’s great and not-so-great religions, trying to determine if there was a place in any of them for a soon-to-be openly gay man. There wasn’t.
After I reached that decision, I put myself back into the work force, mainly because the beach can actually get boring. Reminds me of what my wise old grandmother always told me: “Too much of anything is bad for you.” I had too much beach.
Once Jim and I got Domestic Partnered in July 2004, I quit going to Blacks Beach, mainly because he’s not a beach person. Today was the first time I’ve been since July 2004. Not only did I climb down and up those 300 feet of uneven stairs, but I also walked three miles north and back on the sand.
There was a nice low tide while I was there, so I walked out quite a distance and took ten pictures to create this panorama (click on the image for a larger picture):
That panorama covers about seven miles, from Torrey Pines State Beach at the far left to La Jolla Beach at the far right. Those trees at the top center of the bluffs are at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course where Tiger Woods won his last major championship, the U.S. Open in 2008.
I should also say that Blacks Beach is one of the world’s great Naturist beaches, meaning that clothing is optional.
I’ll have more pictures of Blacks Beach in a future post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Once I give my money to the government, it is no longer my money
During the Summer of 1975 when I was a Junior at Texas A&M University, I pledged a Greek organization called Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity (hereafter, “APO”). When my friends asked me the difference between APO and other Greek fraternities and sororities, I explained it thusly:
Fraternities and sororities spend 80% of their time partying. APO spends 80% of its time helping others.
From August 1973 to June 1975, I was without my wise old grandmother. She was in Kingsville, Texas, and I was 300 miles away at Texas A&M. APO came into my life and continued to remind me, through today, that there is, indeed, always someone worse off than me.
My wise old grandother had always told me, “There is always someone worse off than you are.” She usually said that as I was complaining about pruning the oleanders, mowing the lawn, hanging the laundry, washing the dishes, cleaning my room………. APO continues in me with the words of my wise old grandmother.
So today, for those who love charities and real pumpkins, here’s what I want you to do. Yes, this involves planning and work, but it’s always fun. And I have some work music for you, too:
Before you do anything else, pick a number from 1 to 100. Write it down.
Now, since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and October 31 is Halloween, take the family out to the pumpkin patch and get a real pumpkin, one that has seeds inside. Take the pumpkin home, cut off the top so you can get to the insides, and get all those seeds out of there. Young children often like this part of our project because they get to get all yukky and oogy.
Take the seeds, separate them from the rest of the pumpkin guts, wash the seeds, and set them aside to dry. Continue cleaning out your pumpkin and carving a face into it for use on the front porch for the next few days.
When the seeds have dried, count them! Write down the number of seeds. I usually get about 300 seeds out of my pumpkins, which are average size. Small pumpkins will have fewer seeds, and those really really really really big pumpkins will have more.
Once you have counted the seeds, roast them! They make great snacks, have lots of good fiber, and your children will be bragging to the neighborhood, “We roasted our pumpkin seeds to eat! I have some here. Do you want one?”
Here’s a good pumpkin seed recipe: Roasted pumpkin seeds.
Okay, remember those two numbers we wrote down? Take the first number, that between 1 and 100, and multiple it by the second number, the number of seeds, to get a final number. For example, if you chose 25 and had 300 seeds, your final number would be 7,500. Drop the two zeroes, and you have 75.
Now I want you to write a check to your favorite charity, or to a cancer charity in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, for $75. If $75 is too much for you right now, that’s okay. Write a check for whatever amount you can. As we have seen in President Obama’s grassroots money-raising, every little bit helps.
Remember that your donation is often tax-deductible, so in addition to helping people who are less fortunate than you, you just lowered your taxes!
I donate to various charities on a quarterly basis, and since September is the end of the third quarter, I use pumpkin event to donate to cancer organizations during October. I also never complain about how the government spends its money, for two reasons:
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Once I give my money to the government, it is no longer my money. It’s the government’s money.
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The government rarely gets much money from me because I’m not from the rich 1% and I use deductions to lower my tax burden. I figure I can do a better job of spending my money than the government can do spending its money.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Ignore the other ten percent
Back in 1966 when I was being bullied in sixth grade, my wise old grandmother introduced me to the 80/10/10 rule, a subset of the 80/20 rule. She said,
“Ten percent of people will hate you simply because that’s the kind of people they are.
Ten percent of people will love you simply because that’s the kind of people they are.
The other eighty percent will love or hate you based on your words and actions.
Make ninety percent of the people you meet a part of your life and ignore the other ten percent.”
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
