The Last of the 2012 Tomatoes

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The last of the tomatoes have been harvested from my parents’ garden near Dallas, Texas. Some of them will make it to ripeness laying out on a paper towel in the garden room of the house….little remnants of summer in December. There is a poinsettia on the table beside them.

Today I am celebrating tomatoes as part of our Christmas decorations!

Memorial Day

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Today is Memorial Day - a three day weekend for most of us.

It is a day to remember those that sacrificed for our country. Many communities have events that are a combination of solemn (flags on graves, wreaths at tombs) and celebration (parades). Events that bring people together in a commemorative activity - like the Rolling Thunder of motorcycles in Washington DC - are popular.

It's a good time of year for doing things outdoors so Memorial Day is often used as the 'kickoff' for summer. For years - hot dogs cooked on a grill have been our traditional Memorial Day meal. I've made a few changes toward 'healthier' this year: better quality hot dogs, no bun, Mrs. Dash on the corn rather than salt, a veggie side. Later in the summer, more of the veggies will come from our garden or local farm. This early in the season, the only thing on the plate from our garden is the Italian parsley!

Enjoy your Memorial Day!

 

10 Years Ago – In April 2002

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Many years ago I started collecting headlines/news blurbs as a way of honing my reading of news. Over the years, the headline collection has been warped by the sources of news I was reading…increasingly online. Reviewing the April 2002 headline gleanings - I forced myself to pick 10.   

  1. Wildfire scorches parts of New Mexico
  2. A new census in the solar system doubles the number of large asteroids thought to lurk between Mars and Jupiter.
  3. Despite decades of legal protection, the billion or so monarch butterflies that overwinter in Mexico are losing the cloudbelt forests they depend on
  4. China tops list of world executioners
  5. Thousands of mummies, most of them from the Inca culture five centuries ago, have been unearthed from an ancient cemetery under a shantytown near Lima in Peru,
  6. Huge colonies of Earth microbes are living off of hydrogen gas released by common rocks, raising the possibility of similar life forms on Mars
  7. Adventurer Thor Heyerdahl dead at 87
  8. Cooking tomatoes -- such as in spaghetti sauce -- makes the fruit heart-healthier and boosts its cancer-fighting ability
  9. Four whooping cranes taught to migrate by human trainers have completed the return trip to Wisconsin from Florida on their own
  10. Being the firstborn child in a family may make a person more likely to develop coronary disease

As usual, my interests are reflected in these top 10: space exploration (2 and 6), earth systems and exploration (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9), food/health (8 and 10).