Ahh springtime

Spring is officially here! And it's beautiful.









You can't really tell from this iPhone photo that the hills are blooming in yellow, orange and purple. It is quite spectacular. I love this time of year.

My dad came over last weekend and with the help of Kim, we cleaned up all of the winter debris. now I know how Rowdy has stayed so svelte all of these years. I've managed to clean out most of the beds and have started mini gardens throughout the front yard.












In the back yard I've begun to plant an array of vegetables and herbs:
Blue Lake Beans











Cherry and Big Boy tomatoes









Texas Tarragon

Sweet Basil


I've also planted a small watermelon plant, but there's nothing really visible just yet. I really enjoyed being in the dirt and watching things as it transformed.

I am now planning my next garden purchases...carrots, lettuce, shallots and cucumbers perhaps. Who knows? But it will be an adventure.

Taking the high road

Recently I've had the rare and wonderful opportunity to deal with a personality so vile that it has tested my limits as an interpreter. The assignment is a multilayered and complex one and I was not able to fully gasp the ramifications of what I had taken on until I was knee deep into the situation.

Now I have had options to bow out gracefully and could have chosen to be reassigned. But I chose to stay and tollerate this person's behaviors instead. I have outweighed the good with the bad and decided that staying is the better alternative. The clients are satisfied and it's not the message with which I have struggled.

This senario had been a true test of my ethical decision making abilities and my ability to filter out judgement and reaction. Only in time will I be able to fully appreciate this challenging situation and know whether or not I was successful. Either way I will have learned something.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Grassroots Information

I have become a huge fan of grassroots information from various new media and other non-mainstream sources: Internet, non-network TV and radio.

I Twitter and have started following LGBT Tweets, which is following the California Supreme Court's oral arguments on Prop 8. I have been able to follow various blogs, newspaper reports and the like....riveting. I've become quite the Twitterbug and love the iPhone version, Tweetie.

Kim and I have also become fond of the Rachel Maddow Show. I listen to her via Sirius XM satellite radio and then we TiVo her MSNBC program. I find her humorous slant and articulate, well researched views on current politics an easier pill to swallow. Then there are the staples, BBC news and Pubic Television that have been a part of my life since childhood. Many thanks to my aunt Eileen for that influence.

And of course there's my obsession with National Public Radio: Left, Right and Center, All Things Considered, Marketplace...Need I say more?

Signs of Spring

Elizabeth Lake - Almond trees are blooming everywhere and hints of spring are upon us. Soon the valley will be engulfed with wildflower hues of purple and orange. I am looking forward to spring.

Kim and Linus Henry

Just too adorable for words!











I am a flying bat!










My babies