Thursday 13

It's been a while since I've done a Thursday 13. Here's a mish-mash of happenings, in no order, except they make me happy (or animated) in one way or another.


1. Since when does a city have a separate department for WIRES?
2. And speaking of cities, one cold day in December 2006 a city snow plow drove abit too fast and the result was snow thrown with the speed of a rocket. The result of that was a blown out fence. Not just any fence, but a ##@&% new fence that jb and I had spent the entire summer staining and painting. Two weeks ago, after filing a claim with the city, appearing before their claims committee two times, and meeting with their attorney three times, our claim was DENIED. Don't ask me the defense for the denial, since everybody agrees the plow damaged the fence. We will now have to hire an attorney to handle this. @@##$$%**


3. I live in New England. This means cold winters and frozen ground. None-the-less, this hollyhock complete with flowers appeared in December, the only living perennial in the back yard. Here's why (I think): since my father died in 1996, odd appearances of plants and flowers in odd places and odd circumstances began cropping up. Once an abandoned flower box in my mother's yard surprisingly sprouted inpatients; another time one single flower greeted me where none had been planted. As soon as I began noticing this pattern, I started thinking this was my father's way of keeping in touch. Now 11 years later, I still believe this is true.

4. This is my daughter and my mother on Jess' wedding day. This is just about love.

5. And speaking of love, here's Ryan and his sister-beagle, Sadie.

6. OK, I've fallen in love again. He is a total doll. It's funny to think I will only know him about a third of his life. Here's hoping my influence is about wonder and wisdom and poetry and kindness and love and adventure. Oh I forgot: I'm pretty sure Mr. Ryan will get that from both his parents too. But he can definitely count on me to lend him money.... 7. I think I've posted this picture before but since it's a favorite, here's my mom and dad. My father was a gruff construction guy who cried when he talked about how much he loved my mother. She would roll her eyes and shake her head whenever he did this, but you could see the slightest smile break through on her face.

8. Two best friends and one dog in cold weather, just before a fabulous trip to the shoe store and just after a slow morning of catching up on everything and nothing.

9. This is the working cover design for my book called Good Work! Straight Up Advice on Choosing a Career and Building a Life. It may or may not end up anywhere in the book.

10. Oh Stella. In ten months you have healed before our eyes. Your eyes sparkle, your tail wags, you ask for cookies, you let us kiss you, you even kiss us back sometimes. You deserve every kindness , every walk, every scratch, and every cookie, Stella.

11. Here is a cauliflower. That's all it is, but isn't it beautiful? Western Mass. is farm country, so this is probably a special kind of cauliflower, but it just goes to show you that perfection can be found in suprising places...

12. No words needed:


13. And finally, jb's Magic Cottage one morning last week when the snow was fresh. I've never had a tree this size in my yard before. In the summer I lie in the back yard hammock, look up at it, and count my lucky stars.