The past week, cacti bloomed. The beauty is fleeting, because the flowers only last a day or two.
This beauty is next to our driveway. Leaving for a walk, my husband and I stopped to admire it. He said, “I feel so much pride in this cactus, which is funny, because I had nothing to do with it.” I felt the same way, proud of our blooming plant.
This was our cactus two days after the photo taken above.
I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. —Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright made his home in our desert. He appreciated the beauty surrounding us. I’ve visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert home and school called Taliesin West. I wrote about my visit HERE.
From Wikipedia:
Wright believed Scottsdale to be the perfect spot for such a building: a place of residence, a place of business and a place to learn. Wright described it like this, “Finally I learned of a site twenty-six miles from Phoenix, across the desert of the vast Paradise Valley. On up to a great mesa in the mountains. On the mesa just below McDowell Peak we stopped, turned, and looked around. The top of the world.”
More photos of cacti blooms from our neighborhood:
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
—Albert Einstein
I feel like a kid in a candy store. I see everything around me with fresh eyes although this is my fourth Spring here. I’m in awe and surprised by the prickly cacti producing such eye catching flowers.
If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.
This was the second post ever on my blog. I was looking through old posts and I thought this tale was worth retelling.
Robert’s asthma and allergy appointment — on his first day home from college for his four-week Christmas break — didn’t go well. The doctor said we could get rid of the cat or put Robert up in a hotel for four weeks.
We’ve only had baby Olive for a year. We’re not too attached, but still. She’s a member of our family. We rescued her from a local pet shelter and committed to be her loving family. And she’s Robert’s little sister’s cat. Not mine. I felt before we agreed to give Olive away, we needed to discuss this with little sis. Or, let Olive be an outdoor cat.
I heard that Robert had posted on FB for a new home for Olive. Of course, as his loving mother, I’m filtered from seeing his posts. Grandpa, on the other hand, has full access to Robert’s FB account. He told me about the long and lengthy post about how I love the cat more than my own son. Short and shorter: we needed to get rid of the cat. Several people had said yes to adopt the furry feline. Some even called me!
Am I a terrible mother for not wanting to give away our pretty little kitty, Olive Bear?
Robert said I’m infected with Toxoplasma gondii and I’m in danger of turning into a crazy cat lady. I “googled” the toxo thing. It’s different than cat scratch fever, which can cause chills and a fever. T. gondii is a protein that invades your bloodstream and makes women crazy about cats. Or, it makes men crazy in a wild way. And there’s a link to schizophrenia. It’s why my OB GYN told me not to change the litter box while I was pregnant. However, he said that if I’d been around cats my entire life, most likely I was already infected. Great.
I know about crazy cat ladies. We had one in my home town. She lived in a house filled with felines and feces. Hundreds of cats. My parents drove me to her house out in the country a few miles from town. The home badly needed paint and had broken floorboards with cats leaping in and out of the foundation. We picked an adorable calico kitten named Pansy to bring home. Pansy died a few weeks later from feline pneumonitis.
I never had good luck with cats. I can name the ones we owned when I was young: Ting, Tack, Tenni-runner, No Name, Thomasina I, Thomasina II, Little Leticia, Bianco (white in Italian), Striscia (stripe in Italian), and my favorite, OJ Simpson. (I was a huge OJ fan. Remember, this was decades before I quit being one.)
We lost these cats (in addition to the aforementioned Pansy) by the time I reached first grade, due to an overzealous cat-hater neighbor. He caught them in a wooden trap, dropped them in a gunnysack, then tossed them in the river.
When we moved out into the country I had Soute´ (a French word from ballet that means jump) from second grade through high school. Coyotes and bears were kinder animals to our kitty than our former neighbor in town.
We adopted Sherman years before we had kids. That allergy doctor told me for years to get rid of Sherman. Robert was allergic to lots more things than cats. Things I couldn’t control, like rye grass and trees. Sherman lived from 1992 for 17 years — until a neighbor’s dog jumped a wall and killed him.
I know it’s terrible not to want to get rid of the cat. I never believed that our cat could be harmful to my child. Now, my son is living in beautiful Santa Barbara, going to college. He’s only home for visits. Or maybe it is the toxoplasmosis that let’s me rationalize all this.
Olive letting her temper show. Once my daughter left for college, Olive became mine. We found a solution to the allergy problem called an air purifier for our son’s room.
Looking back, was I bad mom for wanting to keep the Olive the cat?
What is the topic of your second post on your blog?
My son, at almost three, and newborn daughter at home after an exciting week.
We were on the phone yesterday with friends who mentioned they are going to get the RSV shot. They have a friend who got RSV and said it was way worse than COVID.
My husband mentioned that our son had RSV years ago.
“No it’s new,” our friend said.
“The vaccine is new,” I explained. “But when I was one week from having our daughter, my son got RSV.”
Then I told him the story. The mere three letters of RSV brought back memories.
My son was sick. I had an appointment in the afternoon with our doctor. Our son began a high-pitched wail that morning.
My cleaning lady/babysitter was in my home. Her children were high school aged. She told me to go to the doctor ASAP. I patiently explained that I had an appointment at 2 p.m. I would go then.
“Now. Go now!”
We were only a few blocks from the doctor’s office which was across the street from the hospital. My son’s high-pitched wail was accompanied by blue lips.
The doctor tried an inhaler, but my son was too young for it to work. I was told to go to the hospital. The doctor told me not to stop at check-in. The pediatrics unit was waiting for us.
“It’s RSV and that is a very serious illness,” the doctor who was usually so funny and personable said in a grave voice.
I walked into the hospital and headed towards pediatrics. I was more than eight months and three weeks pregnant at the time, and was swiftly tucked into a wheelchair and pushed toward OB/GYN.
“Not me. It’s my son.”
Within minutes in pediatrics my son was put in a tent, which must have given him oxygen and the medicine the inhaler would have administered — if he was older and could use it.
I spent the weekend in the hospital with my son. I wouldn’t leave his side. I remember it took three nurses to hold him down to administer medicine and the nebulizer. They called it the monkey machine to get rid of the monkeys in his chest.
My husband made calls to friends that we were in the hospital. My neighbor who had to agreed to babysit while I gave birth ran over. My husband explained it was Robert, not me who was hospitalized.
My son got tons of medicine and they took good care of him. They put my husband, me and our son in a room with another toddler and parents. You can’t imagine how thrilled I was to learn the other toddler had Norovirus. They weren’t thrilled to be with our RSV toddler, either.
Our doctor explained that RSV was not to be taken lightly and it was a precursor to asthma. Ever since that weekend, my son has suffered with asthma, got sick throughout most of his childhood until he became an adult. He’s had an emergency inhaler and been on other meds. That nasty bug was life-changing for him and for us, too.
Do you know anyone who has had the RSV virus? What is your experience with it or any other childhood diseases for you or your children?
On a happier note, have a wonderful weekend and Merry Christmas! 💕
I woke up Friday morning at 3 a.m. with a horrific sore throat. I blamed it on the cold weather and sleeping with the heater on.
I’ve had three days of living on Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Talk about comfort food. It takes me back to my childhood when I ate it every day for several years.
I use my Neil Med sinus rinse, breathe steam from a pot of boiling water with a towel over my head — and take a handful of vitamins including C, D, zinc, oregano oil, a multi-vitamin for women over 50 and others. I thought I had allergies with post nasal drip, but now it’s spawned into chills, fatigue, cough and sore throat.
What I hadn’t been doing was staying in bed. As of Sunday morning I’m in bed. I’m writing this from the comfort of fluffy pillows and my favorite quilt. I have several friends who said they’ve been sick and it took a few days rest and sleep to get better.
I haven’t been sick for years like this. It’s not fun!
What are your home remedies when you get sick? What vitamins do you think help?
I was talking to my son on the phone and he didn’t sound well. He sounded congested and he was coughing.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m pretty sure it’s allergies,” he said. “But I’ve had trouble breathing at night for the past few days.”
After he hung up the phone with me, he called back to say he had taken a COVID test and he tested positive.
I told him to call his doctor and he said he would, and he had to call other people like his PT that he had been around in the past day or two.
Because he has asthma, he is a high risk COVID patient. The doctor gave him an RX for an experimental antiviral. Currently, he’s in bed miserable. I’m hoping the drug kicks in soon and he shows improvement. Yes, I’m worried.
Next, I got a phone call from the mother of the bride from the wedding we went to on the weekend. She sounded awful and said she tested positive for COVID too. While we were at the wedding, we talked to one guest from overseas who said his wife traveled all the way for the wedding only to test positive that morning. So she was in bed and flew halfway around the world for nothing. I’ve heard of a few other people who came down with it, too.
A neighbor called and asked me out for lunch. I told her I will wait a few days. I don’t feel like I have COVID, but on the other hand, I’ve been exposed. I think the polite thing is to stay in for a few days and make sure I’m not coming down with it and test.
My book club was cancelled this week due to the hostess having COVID rebound.
It seems weird to be this far along from 2020 and have the pandemic rear it’s ugly head.
Have you heard of an uptick in COVID lately? Or is it just the people around me?
My husband and I disagree about shaving Olive. She’s a long-haired cat and is shedding like crazy. Our kids are coming to visit us soon. Our son is super allergic. My husband thinks I should take Olive to a groomer and get her a lion cut. That it will help our son’s allergies.
I googled about shaving cats and it’s mostly negative. The sources said you CAN get a cat shaved, but it’s not a great idea.The hair protects cats from heat and cold. Their fur is their natural insulation. Getting shaved is something I know my cat will freak out about.
She’s a scaredy cat and doesn’t like anyone except for me, my husband and my daughter. When people come over, she hides. When we leave for more than a few days, she is boarded. Olive howls the entire few miles drive in the car. She demolished the cardboard carrier I bought at PetSmart with her claws and teeth. The employees in the boarding place were afraid to get her out of her “suite.” when I came to pick her up. I had to do it. Then the cardboard carrier collapsed as I walked to the car. It was a frightening experience for both me and Olive.
So, how do you think Olive will feel driving to a pet groomer, being around strangers and barking dogs to be groomed? Once she gets home I’m sure she’ll hide away for weeks. She’ll be super mad.
I think you can tell who has won the debate on whether or not Olive gets a haircut.
What are your thoughts about getting a cat groomed? Should we or shouldn’t we?
Olive at our old home where she was an indoor outdoor cat.
Our gate looking out toward the street. It’s so beautiful with the plant in full bloom. Most of the year it doesn’t look like this.
This weekend I was stunned by the beauty in our neighborhood. I stop and take photos every day on my walks. I’ve posted several times about the desert in bloom, but more and more flowers amaze me.
Palo verde in bloom. They are all over the place in our neighborhood.Ocotillo with red flowers
.The color on this Hedgehog cactus is brilliant.The cardinal has been back!This beavertail cactus is beginning to bloom.I love this Yucca at the entrance to our neighborhood.
What are your favorite flowering plants and birds in the Spring?
