The Fourth of July in Farmland

Tradition exists in middle America, like this annual celebration in nearby, Fairbury,NE. Enjoy. Video by Keith Trimm, soundofffairbury.com.

Happy Birthday!

It's my favorite daughter's birthday today! That's safe to say because she is the only daugher, only child for that matter. So without hesitation, my favorite daughter! This was taken a looooooong time ago, when she turned 7. It was the year of She-ra, Princess of Power!

She-ra was a big hit that year. Everything in her life suddenly changed from Rainbow Bright to She-ra. Honestly, I think some of the independent, powerful qualaties of She-ra influenced her sense of her own empowerment. There were even fewer media role models for young girls in the 80's than there are today.

Even at 7, the girl knew who she was and where her line in the sand would be. She hated being the victim of the inevitable "girl-gang" cliques that even grade school girls form, so she was always trying to make friends with the outsider kids or stand up for the weaker ones. At seven, her sense of fair play was already deeply ingrained.

She was awkward in ballet class, fearless on her bike. She wrote her first book; the awakening of her lifelong passion; books and writing. She loved that her birthday was July 4, but hated being called a "little firecracker".

She was opinionated and obstinate. Loving, kind, generous and magical. As she is today.

Life in Six Words

I read about an interesting project begun by Smith magazine magazine, encouraging readers to tell their stories in only six words. It was inspired by a very short (and I do mean very short) story written by Heminway. Only six words to speak volumes; "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

The idea has evolved into several thematic books and spawned several other projects. There are more examples in this article at Wired magazine. Even AARP is getting in on the act, with a Six Word Memoirs project with varying topic assignments.

For me, to be successful at this this, the words must connect and somehow form a coherant thought. Obviously, if six free standing words do it for you, go for it. It sounds so easy, doesn't it. I've found it's really quite difficult. Try it. Share your story.

Here's mine.

Supporting player, never the star, survives.

Topsy Turvy Tomatoes

The Topsy Turvy Tomato planter is all the rage this summer. It's on TV about a hundred times a night, especially if you're watching lots of wee am hours TV like the Viking does sometimes. He really wanted to try this out, but I was the wet blanket who didn't want to buy 2 and spend the $20. One, ok.

I found them by the onesies on Amazon, so for Father's Day I indulged the TV spurred craving to grow his own tomatoes. To be fair, I don't like tomatoes so I really didn't have a hard time throwing cold water on the idea. Selfish, huh?

He got it put up and planted immediately. It's surprizingly well made and I do think he'll get more than one season out of it. The planter even included the swivel hook to hank it from. Gotta admit, the plant is quite healthy and already has 3 nice tomatoes on it. Plus, it's nice to see it growing on the patio without sacrificing any floor space.

We already have precious little patio space, thanks to last years Father's Day gift... what was intended to be a modest size grill for our 2 person family with only a tiny size patio ended up being a behemoth that the Viking is truly in love with. What the heck; it was Father's Day.

Life Goes On

Life isn't always as we plan it. This mama swallow and her mate worked for 2 weeks building this nest. Mouthful by mouthful, the mud drops built up reinforced with bits of dried grass. The nest was built in exactly the same place as the year before, and the year before that and probably for the last 10 years that this building has been here. We've lived here for 3 seasons now and somehow, each summer they build within an inch of where the previous years nest had been. Even though the nest had been cleared away, they knew just where to build. Safely tucked away under the roof of the porch above, they'd have their family and life would go on as before.

Until this year. When the rains came this year, they just didn't seem to stop for very long. And when they did stop, the air was heavy with dense humidity. Everything seemed ok for the swallows. Lots of rain meant more bugs to eat. We watched them feeding in the evenings, admiring their graceful, swooping and soaring flight. Each feeding in turn, assuring the nest was protected at all times. I took this shot just as Mama was setteling in for the night. She'd gotten so use to us, she didn't even care. I have read that swallows mate for life and the same pair will return to the nesting grounds. Who know what they thought of us, but we certianly enjoyed their presence.

The day after I shot this photo, the nest slid to the ground, smashing the four tiny eggs to bits. The adults kept flying in and darting out. They seemed confused by the disaster. I can relate. I think most of us can. Who hasn't had an unexpected event turn their world upside down? One minute life is going along just as you planned and in the next, you are reeling in reaction to the fact that life will never again be as it was. And what do you do from here?

Well, if you're a swallow, you pick up a mouthful of mud and you spit it at the underside of a porch and then you fly off and get another. And then another and another because to stand still is death. And life goes on. And so must we all.

Boys Toys

They say the only difference between men and boy is the size of their toys. What do you think?

Bees

Look what I saw yesterday while out doing errands. There is a huge stump less than 6 ft away of a newly cut tree. I'll bet the bees lost their home and now are apartment hunting. I'm glad I don't live on this corner.

M-I-A- Mafia Wars

So, I've been M-I-A for a bit and if you're family or real life friend, you know why. If you're not. well, then you probably don't care. It's just that I've been busy holding up stores, knocking off rivals, running from the FBI and taking out rouge cops. And racking up a milions and millions of dollars, buying armored cars, casinos and gifting my family with things like napalm and c4 and tommy guns.

And that all takes time. And energy. It takes a lot out of a girl. Literally. I've been killed at least 4 times. Poor sports, I have learned, exist in the virtual world as well as in real life. Where is all this mayhem taking place? Mafia Wars on Facebook.

I've never been a gamer until this past week. It started with an innocent request on Mother's Day to join the my daughter's mafia in her game. "Even if you don't play, Mom, it will help me" she said. " And by the way, I need an energy pack when you do". So I did.

I was immediately recruited by my sister and brother-in-law for their mafias. Then my neice. Then a whole bunch of people I have no idea of where they came from, but now are a part of my "family". And now, just a week later I am level 38, have 75+ million in the bank, massive amounts of armaments, cars and protective body armor. And laundry to do. And vacuuming.

What is it about this game that gets people so instantly hooked? Would it be so incredibly popular if we weren't in a recession and feeling that we have no control over so many things in life? What do you think?