"NEVER Judge a Vegetable...

...by the way it looks," said Farmer Skip a couple of weeks ago. What a reminder. Apparently my skills of application of one concept to a new situation didn't pan out so well this time. I know the whole "book by its cover" mantra, but vegetable by its looks?? With two young children, I knew the farm would be full of life lessons; I just didn't realize that I was going to be the one learning something new.

Truth be told, I had been avoiding the curly q's of the Suyo Long Japanese cucumbers for a couple of weeks. They just looked so wild with their nonuniform shape and rough complexion, so unfamiliar and unknown. I admit it. I judged the cucumber. And I selected the one that looked to me to be what a cucumber aught to be, somewhat straight and smooth skinned. I knew what to do with this type of cucumber!

But a couple of weeks ago, as Skip from Green Gate Farms walked us through the CSA share for the week, he said we had a choice of cucumbers, either the more typical one or the Japanese variety. Then he said that the Suyo Longs were very good and that he liked them better than the "regular" kind. Suddenly they were like a diamond in the rough. A rarity that I had finagled my way into having access to. And, by golly, I was going to get that unusual cucumber! When I admitted that I had been kind of avoiding those strange cucumbers with the slightly-rumpled, "hey-who-woke-me-up?" appearance, Farmer Skip reminded me, "Oh, never judge a vegetable by the way it looks!"

It was just a small comment, but big enough that I've been thinking about it for several weeks now. I've become so used to eating the bounty available at the grocery store, shipped in from every direction in a seemingly never-ending supply. Grapefruit and tomatoes in December? Lettuce in July? Not a problem! Uniformly sized potatoes, categorized and boxed by size, waxy red apples, and other unblemished fruits and veggies, this I have come to expect. But again I find things put back into perspective. Perhaps we should be considering eating locally, eating in season, and eating what nature offers rather than what man engineers. I hold nothing against the convenience and beauty of grocery store produce. I've just started thinking...maybe we should eat more mindfully and judge by taste, freshness, and just plain knowing where your food is coming from. But, for heaven's sake, NEVER judge a vegetable by the way it looks!

The RARE and astounding Suyo Long Japanese cucumber on top with
your average, ordinary, ho hum (but still pretty great) cucumber on the bottom

Don't judge, don't judge! I didn't let this cone-headed cabbage steer me away! I admit, I did let it provoke a couple of chuckles and antics around the kitchen as we pretended that it was part of our silly cone-head family. But we still enjoyed its lovely cabbagey goodness.

Dinosaur Picnic in the Park

Digging in Dinosaur Park

Let me start by saying that my children's first birthday party together was in the theme of "Dinosaur Picnic in the Park". I know their party was Saturday...and today is Tuesday...and I'm just now posting about it. But it took that long for me to recover! :-) We celebrated Baby D's 1st and LT's 3rd birthday with family and friends at a nearby park that we've dubbed The Dinosaur Park. It's a fantastic park that has large dinosaur bone replicas buried in a sand pit for the kids to discover. Cool, right?

We met in the late afternoon and started with play time. Who could eat first with the sirens' call of a SAND PIT in the distance? We buried about 50 little plastic dinos for the kids to dig up in the sand. We had 1, 2, and 3 year olds on the job as excavators, so I'm guessing we didn't collect all of the little toys. That'll be fun for the next, more-diligent child who comes along and happens to start finding random dinosaurs in the sand.

After we tired of playing in the pits, we washed the kids off and had a nice picnic under the pavilion. We moved on to dinosaur cake (yum) and finished with gifts. By this time, we had lost most of our audience to random running-around-in-the-great-outdoors and the lure of that sand pit. That was fine with us! The lack of audience didn't keep us from loving every moment of opening the pink guitar with metallic flames, play vehicles, dino-themed fun, and more. We all enjoyed our day.

At the end of the afternoon, Grandma W suggested that we let go of the balloons for my children to see what happens. Thankfully, we have yet to avoid the nasty surprise of losing our grip on a cherished balloon. At first, I was firmly against the idea--seems like a bizarro way of making littering fun! But then our friend, Julie, also suggested letting the balloons go...just one. I caved and one turned into three or four. I must admit that I was impressed with the height the balloons achieved. And I was also so pleased with the sweet picture I captured of LT studying the soaring balloons, though I secretly was hoping just a bit that the wind would carry the balloons all the way to Grandma W's big cedar so she could cuss and fret over the trash in her trees! Just like the balloons soaring away, so are the years going as the kids are growing so quickly, one, two, three...

Baby D and Daddy Playing in the Sand (and half of them ingesting it too!)

Soaring away...1, 2, 3...

Fly, Fly Away...

The Transfer

Last night it was time to say goodbye to our friend formerly known as "Mr. Caterpillar" who now insists on being addressed as "Mr. Moth". We don't know what kind of moth he is, other than he looks like he'd be comfortable on the back of a Harley. If you remember from his surprise appearance, he also seems to like organic broccoli greens. Perhaps he's a bit of a Renaissance moth....But I digress.

We had a hail storm a couple of years ago that ravaged our roof, and we finally committed to fixing it this month. The roofers were here for a couple of days, and we didn't want to set Mr. Moth free in an unsafe environment, so that bought him a couple of extra days living indoors with us in his Butterfly Hilton. At long last, the roof is done, and we have decided that outside would be better approximate the natural habitat for this sort of creature than a mesh cylinder on our kitchen table does. So, we took his little house outdoors and gently broke the news of his eviction to him. He took it rather well.

While LT was ready to pluck him right out of his home, I did the honors, and he climbed right on my hand with his little wings beginning to buzz frenetically. He behaved himself as I transferred him to LT's petite hand, and she was delighted to say the least. I kid you not, she said, "I LOVE this moth. He's my favorite one! I'm going to give him a kiss." Go ahead. Moth germs are the least of our worries.

Mr. Moth did survive the kissing ceremony and then gingerly flew off to investigate the area under one of our Live Oaks. We were able to snap a couple more photos of him, and then he seemed to realize his freedom. With a double loop, he disappeared from sight. Fly, fly away...

Almost Butterfly Kisses

Camo moth buzzing in the leaves

Sprung

No doubt spring has sprung in Texas. The bluebonnets have bloomed, the wildflowers are out in ever-diminishing forces, the birds have built a nest and laid eggs under our porch overhang. The temperatures are starting to climb, 70s, 80s, 90s, and those spring showers keep passing through, encouraging both our spring veggies and our ever-present weeds to grow.

But you'll never believe what else has sprung. The caterpillar, now a moth, has sprung from the confines of its chrysalis. There in a toss-away, Ziploc bowl on the counter top, this evening I noticed a flutter of wings. I'm a tad bit disappointed to have missed the emergence, but SO pleased that we actually have nurtured something (or even left it alone long enough) to flourish. That doesn't always happen at our house....Just ask the plants that have come here to die.

Believe it or not, I was prepared. We bought a pop-up butterfly house a week or so ago. We eventually plan to send off for those painted butterfly larvae so we can watch them grow and morph too. But, for tonight, the butterfly house is home to one happy moth. At least he looks happy to us!

BEFORE (the little one)

AFTER

I... LOVE... C-A-K-E!

"They" always say to treasure each moment with your child, as the moments pass so quickly and your children are grown up before you know it. I'm sure this is easy to understand once you've been there...but not so much when you're in the moment. What I'm beginning to understand is that it IS true; they DO grow up fast. It's just hard to see it while it's happening, while the days sometimes drag on so slowly, though the years fly by.

Having said that, it seems that this year has gone whizzing past me! A year ago last Thursday, May 1st, I was at the hospital waiting to welcome our second child, our son, into our family. And now he's already one year old. How did that happen?

He's a wonderful child. Pretty much laid back...unless something doesn't go the way he anticipated. Then he lets you know how he really feels. It might be that he takes after his mother that way, kind of low key with surprising spikes of passion and emotion thrown in for good measure. This is very different than my daughter and husband's approach to life, which is kind of full steam ahead until you crash, rinse, and repeat.

To celebrate his first birthday, we invited the 4 grandparents and our good friends Brad & Jen to join us for a Mexican dinner. It's become a sort of family tradition for us to go to a local Mexican restaurant, eat good food, get free fried ice cream, and be embarrassed by wearing a sombrero and being serenaded with a wild version of happy birthday. Afterwards, we went back to my parents' house for cake and gifts.

Let's just say WE LOVE CAKE. We bought a sheet cake for us to share and a small, round "smash cake" for Baby D to have all to himself. My daughter had her finger in the big cake before the candle was even lit. :-) Baby D found the cake quite delightful, starting slowly and picking up speed. The final result was...well...a little messy. And Grandma NeatFreak nearly had a heart attack with the voluminous crumbs! But the celebration was enjoyed by all, and we loved sharing the special occasion with close family & friends. We did miss Auntie Anne & family in California, but we'll look forward to their move back to Austin in a couple years. :-)


Happy birthday, Sweet Baby D! We're looking forward to the next wonderful year watching you grow and learn. We love you! ~Mom