Oh, Ms. Luna, I'm so glad I am not the only one to talk to their car. I have named mine Miss Margaret, but call her Miss Maggie when she's in a spunky mood (in short galloping down the road rather than ambling and yes, I pat mine on the dash board when we make it through a tough spot or keep encouraging her with "You can make it, come on girl." I've always said that machines truly have minds of their own with a little mischief thrown in for good measure. Glad you made it home safe and sound. Please give "Bess" an ATTA GIRL for me. Kirk, hope you guys are beginning to thaw out up in the northwest. Loved the plate flowers on the other posting. When my 87 year old Dad walked by and saw your pictures he was impressed with what you had done. Think Spring!! It will be here soon (despite the groundhog prediction). Toodles, Ms. Faith

Bed Of Nails also known as Solanum quitoense is a relative of eggplant native to the mountains of South America. The story I heard is that the original plant in the wild did not have "nails" or spines at all. Through cultivation some forms developed the nasty spines. Throughout the regions where they are grown in S.A. there are many varieties, some with smaller leaves, some with spines only on one side, some with tons of spines. Most countries grow them for their fruit which is called by many names, two of the most popular are Naranjilla (little orange in Spanish) or Lulo in Columbia. The one growing in the plot is from "that place in Sanford", because of the high heat and dry this summer the fruit on it have little flavor. In cooler times the fruit tastes like a kiwi and is a popular flavoring in drinks down south.

Nearly all of the wild geese we see today do not migrate... Back in the early 1960's Canadian Geese were on the endangered list and nearing extinction. There is a Wildlife preservation group called "Ducks Unlimited" that was formed by waterfowl hunters and they began a program of creating habitat and hatching Canadian Geese and a number of different wild duck species which they released into the wild all along the eastern flyway. (Major wildfowl migration route), The problem today is that the geese that were hatched & released have little to no social interaction with the true wild geese, so they have not adopted the habit of migrating. To compound the problem, the geese that were hatched & released do not have the natural fear of man that is present in the true wild geese, so they have no problem with living on any available pond whether its out in the country or right in the middle of an urban area and as a consequence they have become a nuisance in many places.

A number of years ago we did the out-and-back Narrows hike in late May or early June (around Memorial Day). Water was moving but current not too strong. It was beautiful but seemed there were a lot of folks out that day and I would like to do the hike again without seeing quite so many people. Same trip it snowed at Bryce Canyon. We stayed at Flanigan's outside of Zion and I would stay there again. There very well might be nicer places but budget was a big factor in our choice of lodging on that trip.