My Thelma & Louise

THELMA

 I've told this tale before, so if you've heard it--skip on by! 

The story begins around 1989.  I was living in Central Kentucky and teaching elementary school.  My closest friend had recently graduated and was also teaching music in the same county.  He was planning for his marriage and needed to shore up his finances, so he took on a evening job cleaning an office building.  The offices of an architectural drafting company to be specific.  Because I knew our time together would change once he was married, I would sometimes accompany him to this job and help him do it.  It shortened his evenings, and gave us time to talk and be together--mostly in the car on the way to and from the office building.

The last thing to do was take down all the garbage bags and toss them into dumpsters at the rear.  On one evening I espied the stalk of a plant.  Upon further investigation it was two little clusters of Snake Plant, Dracaena trifasciata--just stems and roots--cruelly tossed out by someone from one of the offices.  I rescued them then and there.  Re-potted them and have been their caretaker ever since, nigh on 38 years!

LOUISE

In 1994, they moved with me to Washington, D.C.  Winters they find a place inside.  Last frost to frost they live outside.  To my complete surprise and delight around 2018 they bloomed!  AND produced fruit!  I had no idea such a thing was even possible. 

As the years passed they added stalks and outgrew one planter after another.  When they hit their current homes, I realized that any larger and I would no longer be able to carry them.  So I stopped transplanting them.  Apparently the memo never got to them!  They just busted out!  Literally, they grew threw the upper trim of their fiberglass pots ripping the fiberglass apart.

Around this time, the only place they could over-winter was the window box in the dinning room where the two plants in the two windows left the dinning room nearly void of natural light and giving of a sort of Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock 1609 ambiance to the what otherwise was a cheerful place to eat a meal.

And so it was that in the autumn of 2022, I took Thelma and Louise to work and placed them in the foyer of my elementary school next to benches where people may wait for their appointments with staff.  They have lots of indirect light from enormous windows that rise to the second floor.  Lots a commotion and human intrigue to occupy their thoughts, and over the summer I placed them in the courtyard atrium in the middle of the school where they could be safely together outside.

But then things happened.  When I had surgery in June of 2024, they did not get placed outside.  This past summer, the same...  I noticed they were struggling back in the autumn of 2025, and by the winter, it was clear they needed a vacation from school.  So they're back home with me.  I've given them a serious culling, and their first feeding.  Last night the temps were in the mid-50's and a gentle rain helped cleanse them from the dust of two years spent inside.  I don't plan to return them to school before next autumn, if then.  

Tee-shirt Approved Sellers

 Here are some of the Tee-shirt sellers I have patronized and can vouch for their quality, customer service and overall value.  100% satisfaction all around.

2025 Papal Enclave: Europe

 By Europe, I mean all the nations by Italy.  When it comes to the Papacy, Italy gets a page all to itself.  Of the rest of Europe, there are 35 Cardinals, the largest block from any of the geographic regions.  Many nations have multiple votes with France leading the way with 5.  Spain, Portugal and Poland each have 4, and the United Kingdom and Germany each have 3.  Peace-loving Switzerland has 2.  While the story in other areas like Africa, Asia, and South America is focused on Progressive replacements, Europe is the opposite.  The conservative factions of the church seem to be pinning their hopes on a European winner.

But let's go counter and look at a centrist candidate that is getting a little buzz.  Cardinal Mario Grech of the little island nation of Malta.  Pope Francis liked Cardinal Grech and appointed him to the Pontifical Council to Promote Christian Unity in 2020.  His centrist bona fide is built on stances like working to defeat a move to legalize divorce on one hand, and on the other proclaiming a non-judgmental open hand to dialogue with members of the LGBTQIA+ community, even those in committed relationships.

Heading up the ranks of the conservatives is Cardinal Péter Erdõ of Hungary.  Cut from a similar clothe as Hungary's nationalist president, Erdõ rings a nostalgia bell for some who long for another Pope John Paul II; unfortunately, the reality is far less rizz and far more return to heartless doctrinal orthodoxy.  On the other hand, another conservative darling is attending the Conclave from the Netherlands.  Once a beacon of the liberal and lasse faire social ethos, the Netherlands has in recent years given birth to it's own form of nationalistic conservatism.  Cardinal Wim Eijk, the Archbishop of Utrecht would easily be seen as part of this paradigm shift.  He once removed a parish secretary who was a member of the Trans community against the outcry of the congregation--micromanage much?  It seems like such a cruel and petty assertion of authority--be wary of this one.  

Of course, some Cardinal will capture my attention and in this crew it's Cardinal José Tolentino de Calaça Mendonça of Portugal.  Cardinal Medonça was actually born on the Island of Madeira, then a Portuguese colony and lived there until age 9.  His father made a living fishing.  He is an academic, theologian, with published works of essays, poetry, and plays.  He has taught at Universities in both Brazil and the United States along with his native Portugal.  The youngest of the European Cardinals is also from Portugal.  Cardinal Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar is Bishop of Setúbal just south of the capital Lisbon.  In 2023 he lead the planning for World Youth Day, and in September of that year was named to the House of Cardinals.

Finally, I give you Cardinal Emil Paul Tscherrig of Switzerland.  He was born in a place so tiny that it no longer exists as an incorporated entity in the southern Alps.  He has been one of the most prolific of Vatican diplomats.  He retired last year while holding the post of Nuncio to Italy and San Marino (think Ambassador), the final of his long list of assignments which began in 1996 under Pope John Paul II when he was named Nuncio to Burundi (a humble beginning).  2001 - Nuncio to Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Suriname.  Later that same year, Saint Kitts and Nevis was added.  2004 - Nuncio to Korea, and later that year, Nuncio to Mongolia.  2008 - Nuncio to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway.  2012 - Nuncio to Argentina.  There is a famous story that after Pope Francis I was elected, he asked Nuncio Tscherrig to inform the Argentine Catholic hierarchy and community at large that they could choose to miss his investiture as Bishop of Rome and use the money it would have cost them to attend to perform acts of charity instead.  Francis appointed him to the House of Cardinals in 2023.

2025 Papal Conclave: North America

 North America includes Central America and Caribbean, home to 4 of the 20 Cardinals attending from the region.  The largest group, not surprisingly comes from the United States with 10, followed by Canada with 4, and Mexico with 2.  When you stop to consider that fact that Mexico has the 2nd largest number of Catholics on the planet after Brazil, it is impossible to ignore the fact that power is not based in numbers by wealth.  A paradigm that is certainly not unique to the Catholic Church, but perhaps a little more poignant when considering the stated mission of the faith.

Like South America, North American is a bit of a long-shot when it comes to the selection of the 267th Holy Roman Pontiff.  However, there are some interesting folks in the mix.  Two really stand out to me:  Cardinal Michael F. Czerny, Society of Jesuits.  It would be challenging to find a Cardinal with a more interesting resume.  Born in Czechia when it was still part of Czechoslovakia in 1946.  Born in a mixed religion family where most of his mother's Jewish family died in the concentration camps, his parents immigrated to Canada when he was just 3 years-old.  He co-founded the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice in Toronto at the age of 33.  10 years later he was appointed Central America Universities Director of their Institute for Human Rights directly after the martyrdom, along with 10 others in El Salvador of its previous Director.  Next he moved to Rome to work in the Jesuit Secretariat of Social Justice.  In 2002 he founded the African Jesuit AIDS Network coordinating the vital work of combating AIDS in nearly 30 Sub-Saharan African nations.  In 2016, Pope Francis appointed him under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.  At the Age of 78, he might be one of those surprise winners with a likely mid-range tenure.  

The other stand out and sometimes talked about Pope-to-be is Cardinal Robert Francis Provost, age 69.  He would be the first Pope from the United States.  His story is somewhat similar, but nearly as far ranging.  Born in Chicago, he earned his initial degrees from Villanova University and then Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.  He continued his academic studies in Rome.  Beginning in 1985, he joined an Agustinian mission in Peru.  For the next nearly 30 years, his life was spent between Peru and Chicago serving various roles in both places.  In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, and a year later he was consecrated as the Bishop of Chiclayo.  A post he held until 2023, when he became Archbishop Emeritus of Chiclayo, Peru and moved to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops.

Among the others you have a couple of more conservative leaning Bishops.  Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI and is considered the de fecto leader of the American Delegation by conservatives in the Catholic Church.  A staunch and petty oppressor of LGBTQ+ personhood and women's equality, Cardinal Dolan has been reported to be spending his pre-conclave time schmoozing younger Cardinals in the hopes of influencing their votes.  Mexico is also sending a member of the conservative minority of Cardinals in the person of Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega.  Cardinal Ortega has largely built his reputation in the church around his opposition to abortion.

Of the newbies, Cardinal Frank Leo of Canada is the youngest member of the delegation.  He is also a member of the class of Cardinals appointed by Pope Francis I on December 7, 2024.  The other first timer of note is Cardinal Chibly Langlois of Haiti--the first ever Cardinal of this poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

2025 Papal Conclave: South America

 The region is home to the largest Catholic national on earth: Brazil, and Brazil will have 7 cardinals at the conclave.  Just considering South American proper, there are 17 cardinals traveling to Rome to participate in the selection of the next Pope.  The likelihood that one of them or another individual from South America will be selected on the heels of Pope Francis I, an Argentinian, are slim.  None of the pre-show prognosticators have identified anyone from the region on their shortlists.  Still there are some very interesting Cardinals out there.

Of the Brazilians, Cardinal Paulo Cezar Costa is the youngest from the entire region at 57, and is the Archbishop of Brasilia.  Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha of São Salvador da Bahia is perhaps the most progressive of the Cardinals gaining notoriety back in 2021 when he celebrated a Mass for "all the Victims of Transphobia".  Although Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner who is the first Cardinal ever from the interior Amazonian city of Manaus has long held that reputation throughout the region.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez of Argentina is a Pope Francis I protegee whom Francis brought to Rome over a decade ago to act as his ghost writer.  Another interesting Cardinal is Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio of Lima, Peru.  Cardinal Mattasoglio is a proponent of that Latin American Chestnut, Liberation Theology.  But no one is predicting a new Pope from South America, and we may never know the influence that these Cardinals will express in the selection of the man who does.

2025 Papal Conclave: Oceania

 The region of the world encompassing all of those small island nations across the southern Pacific Ocean, along with Papua-New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand, it covers a massive area, yet brings only 4 cardinals to the Conclave.  However, with only four, we can get a snapshot of each.  The elder clergyman among the quartet is a native Kiwi, Cardinal John Drew is Archbishop Emeritus of Wellington, New Zealand.  Much of his active ministry was spent in working with the formation of other priests and in education roles.  Now 76, Pope Francis I elevated him to the Cardinal ranks in 2015.

Two of the Cardinals are in their 60's.  Cardinal Soane Patiti Paini Mafi is the first Cardinal ever for the island nations of Tonga.  Also appointed Cardinal in 2015, at the time he was the youngest Cardinal in the ranks.  Besides Tonga, he also served for a time on Fiji.  Cardinal John Ribat of Papua New Guinea also spent a little time in Suva, Fiji.  Ribat's entree to the priesthood was through Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and he studied in the Philippines before returning to Port Moresby permanently.

The final member of Cardinals from this region is Mykola Bychok who is a member of the Ukranian Greek Catholic Church as well as received by the Roman Catholic Church--he gets to wear a slightly different costume, too.  Bychok's move from Urkaine to Australia was orchestrated from start to finish by Pope Francis I.  And at 45, he is the youngest member of the conclave.  

2025 Papal Conclave: Asia

 Another region which has never had a Cardinal elevated to the Papacy.   A region where Catholicism (and Christianity, in general) has a rather weak to outright dubious claim to hearts.  Roman Catholicism is in direct conflict with other forms of Orthodox Christianity across Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Cyrus and by political association the nations of the former Soviet Union.  The pantheon of other faiths are myriad: Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Ibadi Islam, Wahhabi Islam, Theravada Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Taoism, Animism and related folk religions, growing number of atheists and even Jewish sects (most notably in Israel).  Early Catholic missionaries left bad blood (and just a whole lot of blood) in places like India, Taiwan and Japan.  Today only one nation stands out as predominantly Catholic and that is the Philippines.  South Korea is 25% Christian, but predominantly of Protestant and Evangelical sects. 

 Of the 22 Cardinals headed to Rome for the Conclave, some have interesting stories and connections to the Roman Catholic Church, but only one is receiving any serious press vis a vis a possible Asian Pope.  Of those who are just interesting to me Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa of Jerusalem is perhaps top of my list.  Pizzaballa is a Friar of the Franciscan order and the Custos of the Holy Land.  A custodian priory is housed in the Monastery of Saint Saviour in the heart of old Jerusalem.  It was founded in 1217 by St. Francis himself, though the current monastery was built in the 1500's.  Cardinal Pizzaballa (Pizza Dancer?) is the first head of this order to be named a Cardinal.  

Two of the Indian Cardinals caught my attention.  Cardinal Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão of Goa.  What a magnificent name!  And it's certainly not Patel or Chaudhary!  It's a name you'd more likely expect on a Cardinal from Brazil or Lisbon.  And it speaks to the centuries old roots of Goa as a Portuguese enclave on the southwestern coast of India.  The other is Cardinal Besalios Cleemis. Besides being a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Cleemis is also the Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, a church that was originally founded by St. Thomas according to Church tradition and only later came into communion with the Roman Catholic Church.  As such, he will be wearing a unique costume to the party.

But the bell of the ball from Asia is Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines.  He is ranked 3rd in authority among the Cardinals.  (Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana is ranked 7th).  He has rizz writ-large!  To hear him speak, to watch him in crowds, he would easily become "beloved".  At 67, he is not the choice that some have predicted; that of an interim Pope.  Someone to allow the church to take a breath from the policies of Francis as it contemplates its next steps.  It's a quaint notion for an institution that has a reputation of being anything but guileless.  That scenario would select someone like Turkson, who is 76 and then hopes he only lives to be 86!  But Tagle at 67, could easily lead the church for 10, 15 or even 20+ years.  To choose Tagle would be to set the direction forward.  And it would be a direction of which Pope Francis would approve.  Personally, I like the guy.

2025 Papal Conclave: Africa

 For years much has been made of the growing numbers of Catholics in Africa.  A region where more conservative and less socially tolerant cultural norms center paradigms of moral turpitude.  In the sister, Episcopal Church, these differences have led to schism and moral indignation between diocese north vs south.  So I find it a little curious that with this transition to the next Pope, this narrative has largely vanished.  Then I looked at the demographics.  

With only 17 participating members in a conclave with around 120 members, even if these Cardinals were to act as one, the effect could easily be ignored.  Add to that the fact that 14 were appointed by former Pope Francis I, and it's unlikely that a large number are out of step with his more progressive and gentle approach to the job of being Bishop of Rome; Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Servant of the Servants of God, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Province, and Sovereign of the Vatican City State.  Although with a title like that, it's easy to see how hard it would be for anyone to whom it was bestowed not feeling a little arrogant.  

When considering the 17 men who will be present from Africa at the conclave, you really don't see a lot that is remarkable about them as a whole.  Their resumes read much alike with a stream of ordinations, appointments and participation on various councils.  Of the few who seemed to stand out, the youngest, Dieudonné Cardinal Nzapalainga has made a name for himself in the Central African Republic by courageously joining with leaders of the Evangelical Protestants and Islamic faiths to create an ecumenical voice for peace and a cessation of the sectarian violence that often plagues the C.A.R.  Two others found their appointments to the Bishopric locally opposed largely on the basis of tribal animosities.  In the end, Pope Francis found a way to secure both Stephen Ameyu Martin Cardinal Mulla of South Sudan and Peter Ebere Cardinal Okpaleke of Nigeria to the Bishop's seat sand then on to the House of Cardinals.

On the elder end, the only Bishop of the bunch whose name was familiar to me, Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson (in my mind Bishop Peter Turkson) of Ghana.  He is arguably the most accomplished with regards to accolades and accomplishments.  He speaks 6 languages.  He is the only Bishop participating in the Conclave from Africa who was elevated to Cardinal by Pope John Paul II back in 2003.  And if there is to be an African Pope this time, he is considered the Front runner.  Another noteworthy member of the African delegation is Robert Cardinal Sarah who found himself leader of Guinea's Catholics during the presidency of Ahmed Sékou Touré (1958-1984) which grew increasing oppressive over time.  However, Sarah is an outspoken conservative who often clashed with Pope Francis I.

Fever Dream

 After a week under the influence of "A Flu-like Virus".

The Subject is Flags

 I do love flags.  I have no idea who thunk up the first one, or if it was even symbolic, representative or communicative.  Once, just slightly more than a few years back, and NPR radio show that is now defunct, issued a contest to design a new flag for the LGBTQIA+ movement given the ground that had passed since the Stonewall Riot and adoption of the Rainbow flag.  (which, btw, has red on the top!--a local Episcopal church spent two recent Junes flying it upside down out of ignorance, so it's worth mentioning.)

I sent them this design in which I incorporated the original Rainbow along with the Nazi Pink triangle as a recognition of oppression.  I filled it with a variety of flesh-toned gender symbols interlocked to express the full range of human relationships.  I thought it rather clever, beautiful and meaningful--but it didn't win or even get acknowledged.  As I recall the winning design resembled the Alaskan state Flag with stars on a dark background.  The guest judge was Michael Mizrahi and he blathered on about unique aesthetics and such, and thus ended the entire enterprise.  Why did I even bother?

Though I do love the Alaskan state flag.  So simple and so perfectly symbolic of our out-sized, most-northern, nature-defined state.  So many of the Flags that represent states follow the pattern of a color-meaningful background with a complicated "white supremacist" emblem in the middle.  White Supremacist in the sense that it depicts the conquest of the land and in some cases the actual removal of the indigenous populations.  Another antiquated and White Supremacist characteristic incorporated in state flags that once formed part of the traitorous civil war south, is a reference to the Confederate flag.  In both cases, the flag that is intended to be representative of the state, by its very design, announces the second-class oppressed citizenship of key populations of the state.  How such flags are even permitted to exist as a reflection of the beloved tenets of our Constitution are beyond me.

In recent years, two states have sought to reconcile these offenses with new designs.

Mississippi's new flag no longer contains a reference to the treasonous White Supremacy Confederacy.  Minnesota's new flag no longer contains an emblem that glorifies the eradication of Native Peoples.  And Honestly?  I love both designs.  

29409 Aspen Drive

 

In early February of 1961, just a few days after my birth on January 29th, my parents brought me "home."  It was a little house by today's standards.  Small rooms, on the ground floor; a living room with a little area for a dining table (we never used it for that purpose except when holidays and guests arrived).  In the back a small kitchen with a door and window to the backyard.  Three bedrooms--believe it or not!  Two in the front and one in the back corner with a single bathroom sandwiched between that bedroom and the kitchen.  The furnace and water heater were in the basement.  The chimney you see is a false chimney, but at one time vented fumes from a little metal box called the "incinerator" that was located in the basement near to the furnace.  It was a state of the art way to lessen the burden of garbage disposal by allowing the home owner to burn the flammable stuff.  In the kitchen just off of the cabinet next to the back door was a metal door that open to a box with a metal door to the exterior wall.  Any guesses?  It was the milk-box.  Soon to be obsolete, but certainly another modern selling point. 

My parents bought this house in 1956 for the princely sum of $12,500.00.  It was paid off in monthly installments of $177.00.  By the time I arrived on the scene, both the incinerator and milk-box were no longer in use.  How quickly technology moves on.

In the upper left corner of this image, you can see the budding limbs of an enormous American Elm (Ulm americana).  When the homes in the neighborhood were finish, the contractors planted American Elms on the "islands" between the sidewalks and street in the first two streets adjacent to an older subdivision build in the 1930's.  It's streets were lined with stately Elms.  In this new extension, there were four parallel streets with one perpendicular street running up the middle.  Each street hosted on both sides about 50 homes for a total of 200.  There were three basic exterior designs, but all of the interiors were inter-changeable.  From the older subdivision outward the streets were named Magnolia, Aspen, Red Cedar and Tamarack.  The contractor ran out of Elms at my home.  The homes along Magnolia had Elms for the most part, and the homes from the cross street (Fields Road) to my house had Elms.  The Elm at at my home was the smallest.  Clearly a runt, an afterthought, a "here's hoping" tree. 

In 1968 a tornado hit Flat Rock, Michigan.  It breezed across my neighborhood and even more, swirled over my home.  Most of the Elms fell under it's power.  We were on vacation in Maryland at the time.  When we returned there was some minor damage to this house: the aluminum awning over the porch was ripped up and bent over the roof, the TV antenna attached to the chimney was gone, and a maple in the backyard was twisted so the it's trunk was split and had to be taken down.  But that little Elm was still standing.  Standing under it and looking up the block Fields Road and the other larger Elms was awe inspiring.  They were all gone!  All except one that sat on the island of the home one lot off of Fields Road.  Where once that had been dozens of magnificent Elms, there were know only two.  As we turned off of Fields Road on Aspen Drive, one things was immediate clear: now, there was just one.  I learned to love trees in this place.

We did some other driving around town.  I hadn't been here since my mother's funeral in the autumn of 1993, and I knew I would never be back again.  We stopped at the park on the Huron River off of Telegraph Road in what suffices for a "downtown".  We stopped in the newer park across Gibralter Road from the subdivision with the house I grew up in.  There is a new public Library there, sports fields and a little collection of rescued historical buildings from the town's early days.  It was really a lovely way to say a final farewell.

A view of the Huron River from a pedestrian bridge over it in Huroc Park.

Historic Society Buildings Preserved in Flat Rock, Michigan

A Moment

COVID-19, 20, 21 HAIKU

Manically per-

suing normalcy, I just

am so over it...

Advice

 

When the world becomes more tribal, self-righteous and mean-spirited... buy a new welcome mat for the threshold of your home.

Books!

I have a friend in a retirement/assisted living home and every Wednesday now we video chat.  He's sharp and ambulatory, so drop the image of someone bed ridden.  The topic was 3-5 books that "changed" your life...I failed in the culling process, but every time I passed a different bookshelf, I found another one saying, "Whoa there, remember me?"

African Violet Nursery Up-date

The three that I started last September and then moved to dirt in April are all doing wonderfully well.  Each root base of leaves is sprouting multiple clusters.  I'm very pleased with their progress.

At the same time, I also re-potted the progenitor violet which had grown so long on it's stem that it snapped off!  I placed the large stem base in water and to me delight it also re-rooted and is once again growing and blooming.  When I re-potted "mama," I trimmed back a few leaves and started four of them in water.  It was April.  I placed them in a window with southern exposure and then pretty much forgot about them.  A strategy that has always worked in the past.  

Unfortunately, I failed to realize just how much the rebirth of the trumpeter-vine on the outside of the house with all of its leaves and tendrils had cut off the sun.  When I looked in on them about a month ago, I was saddened to see that the lack of light and caused some portion of three of the starter leaves to die; however, all of them had sprouted roots.

I moved them to the little sun room and hoped they would make it.  They are continuing to develop.  More slowly I afraid as a consequence of the lack of energy production from the wounded leaves.  The one was not affected by the dwindling light seemed in good enough shape that I transplanted it to dirt.  Once the others have leaf clusters that are more substantial, I think they will also make a successful if more challenging move to dirt before Labor Day.

The one that was developed enough to be transplanted.  I am honestly concerned for the others.  I don't think the parent leaves are going to survive to help fuel their early growth in the dirt environment.  Guess I'll see.

Dr. Squatch

I took the bite.  Such cleaver commercials.  Bars of Eucalyptus Greek Yogurt, Cedar Citrus, and Nautical Sage.  The aromas are wonderful.  I can see myself gifting soap to friends, now. 

Travel Knapsack

A history of some of my world travels in the past 35 years.  Three new patches were just added.  Real estate is getting pricey!

Here's To My Other "Mothers"

I was a child of the 60's/70's.  I my home, the TV was always that additional member of the family.  We didn't have a dining room table.  We had a tastefully appointed rack of TV trays!  And when we wore out the first ones, we replaced them with a second set!  Between 1965 and 1979 I learned of lot of lessons about life from TV.  On this mother's day let me acknowledge the leading ladies who one way or another complimented and supplemented my own amazing mother's example.

African Violet Triage

I have this African Violet that has been a powerhouse bloomer for over a decade now.  A couple of months ago it began to look droopy.  It had grown out from its base onto quite a long stem.  The stem grew dry at it's base, the lower leaves died and dried up.  I decided to harvest a couple of leaves and hopefully clone it.  In March of 2018, I successful cloned an offspring from it already.

Between that decision and yesterday, the weight of the leaf cluster broke off the stem from the roots.  Time to move forward.  I prepared a set of jars with water and Saran wrap covers secured with rubber bans.  As I clean out the dead leaves, I notices the spot were the shriveled stem met the wilted but living leaves was rather clean.  Hmmm... Could I possible regrow roots off of the main stem?  One way to find out.

I started by setting up three leaves as clones, just in case.  Then I cleaned away some more leaves to expose about half an inch of good stem, and then I put it in its separate water filled jar.

You don't need large jars.  WIth the Saran wrap, you won't need to add water.  If they take, a healthy root cluster should form with 6 months.

The wilted mother.

The dried up stem and dead leaves.

Cleaned up, you can see the healthy stem section.

In a window with good but indirect light.

The first offspring is now 2 years old and growing like gang-busters!  The base has three clusters.  She has bloomed, and her flowers are just as beautiful as the parent plant.