Southern Utah Pyramid

There was no field of white spread out below this pyramid when I took the picture. It looks like a span of quartz, or a hillside of snow or ice or solar panels. Or snake scales. Or sheets of shiny paper laid out side by side. (What does it look like to you?)

 In my un predictable phone camera, I also found a picture without the mysterious white sheeting. As I gazed out the window at the mountain range south of Enterprise, Utah, I was sure I saw a pyramid on the skyline. (Perhaps I've watched too many episodes of "Mummy," but it sure looks like a pyramid to me!)

What else could it be?

Silly Anderson Children with Blue Eyes!

Oh my gosh! Did someone say, "Make a silly pose?"

 I'm sure they didn't say it again... did they? The six Dell B Anderson children who got together in April just didn't want to stop having fun... 

 (Look out! We have more fun with all of us, if you can believe it, with Shirley on the left -that's me!- then Gregory, Melinda, DellRay, Rebecca, and Carolyn. Beverly and Loraine weren't there. We missed them!)

AND, since Melinda's never been in a blue-eyed Anderson kid line-up, we HAD to take another one of those! (Not only do we share a strong family resemblance, but all eight of us Anderson children have blue eyes of varying shades. Maybe we're secretly mer-kids, with water-colored eyes.)

What color are your beautiful eyes?

Cousin Bryce from Fargo!

I was at a family gathering last weekend... (or was it the weekend before...?) Well, it wasn't too long ago, not as long ago as when I last saw my cousin, Bryce, who currently lives on the windy, cold plains of Fargo, North Dakota!

Bryce himself told me that he wondered how humans even thought of settling in Fargo in the first place. "How is it even a place?" he asked me.

I didn't know.

 (See his beard? It's a survival thing. I suppose that his wife has to wear a ski mask made of polar bear fur in order to make it through the winter without losing her nose to frostbite.)

I am a child of the oldest sibling, who is 20 years older than Bryce's dad in the family lineup, so our ages are pretty far apart, but our reunion was quite welcome, with good conversation, warm hugs, and comforting food.

Here is Bryce's dad (my uncle's) artistic plate.

(When I tried to get a picture of my uncle, perhaps with strings of spaghetti trailing down his chin, all I got was a talk-to-the-hand gesture!)

Do you have any seldom-seen family members? (Perhaps ones that you really don't want to go muck-lucking through snow up to your eyebrows to visit, so you wait for them to come to you?)

Who are they?

 Where do they live?

(On a tropical island, perchance, drinking coconut milk and ready with an extra large beach towel for your visit?)

Nature Won't Wait!

One minute messed up my photo! 

As I stopped my car at my yard gate on my way to work, I saw a jet trail criss crossing through the moon. I pulled the car through the gate, and then got my phone out of my purse to take a picture.

The contrail was no longer cutting through the moon, and it was less than a minute later! 

Nature waits for no man... or woman.

Do you take pictures when the opportunity arises? Or do you wait for "later?"

How Dogs Improve Our Health

 After I posted my Easter Dog blog with the epic photo of Bibs nose to nose with the Easter Bunny, I was inspired by a PuppySpot graphic to blog even MORE about not only Bibs, but other doggies we've owned and loved.

As you might surmise from this new photo of Bibs, one of her favorite games is ball. She will chase launched tennis balls (thrown or kicked) or old, deflated balls of any sports type.

(Inflated large balls are of little interest, since they are too round to bite onto and carry to whomever she hopes is a ball-launcher person.) Bibs is very willing to provide hours of fun, healthy exercise for her and her human playmate.

Check out this awesome graphic from the PuppySpot.com:

Having dogs has definitely benefitted our whole family. My husband once had a Springer Spaniel named Trixie that he swears could read his mind on their hunting trips, a hobby that provided him with plenty of outdoor exercise and good heart health. She was a one-man dog, but would interact with the rest of the family, especially if my husband wasn't there. When she had puppies, our young sons enjoyed making sure that they got lots of love and human interaction.

They also wanted to keep all four puppies.

(Yeah, that didn't happen... we shared the joy with other loving owners!)

You can check out PuppySpot if you’re considering adding a fancy furry friend to your family.

After Trixie, we found a puppy named Griz from a classified ad. He started out as big as a cat, then grew to the size of a Newfoundland.

Griz passed on at 11 years old, a week after we had a new baby. After moving to a different house, our younger boys wanted a dog, but my husband said he thought we should be done with dogs.

I said it wasn't the younger boys' faults that they were born after our earlier dog years, and they should be able to grow up with the benefits of having a dog like our older boys.

My husband finally asked if I would be ultimately responsible for a new dog. Jumping up and down, I said, "YES!" and Bibs came into our lives. At 13, she our longest lived puppy dog.

When our boys were sad or upset, they would often go outside, and I'd check on them through the window. More often than not, they had their arms wrapped around a dog, telling it their troubles. While we have been fortunate enough to have good health, not needing doggie alerts for seizures or anything, Griz protected me a couple of times from questionable characters. Lunging, he barked like a maniac. I managed to hold him back with his leash, but they certainly didn't try anything shady with Griz at my side.

While it seemed to take our sons longer to get puppies, as of last month, three of my sons have finally adopted them "for their children." Yet when I visit, I see my great big boys holding those dogs, talking to them, petting them and deriving comfort from those furry friends in much the same way as when they were little, proving that you're never too old to benefit from the unconditional love of a dog.

What kind of dog do you like best? 

Do you have a dog now?

Did you have one as a child?

What is/was it like?

Easter Dog

When I introduced my dog to the "Easter" bunny, she (the dog, Bibs) was rather interested. When she found out eggs were involved, she was rather excited!

Of course, if we ever had Bibs as the Easter Dog, there would likely be no eggs for anyone else, because she likes them so much!

What are your Easter traditions?

Have they changed over time?

Washing Machine Survivor

This is "Belt," a stuffed animal with long, Velcro tipped arms that wrap around my backpack strap and stick together, letting him travel with me as a warm, soft, uncomplaining companion. Traveling can make one dusty and sticky, so he went for a swim in the washing machine.

Funnily enough, when I opened the machine, Belt wasn't buried under the blanket that spread out over all the other wet, clean wash. Belt had his head up, checking out the inner workings of the washer.

I know it's just a stuffed toy, but I couldn't help but project human emotions of curiosity and taking control of a situation onto the fuzzy little toy.

Have you ever gotten inspiration from an inanimate object?

What was it like?