sunny blizzard

!E! Click here for some great Obama and kid photos.

~E~ This is the sort of thing that fascinates me. This tree may be 1500 years old - amazing! Towering over 65 feet high, the Angel Oak has shaded John's Island, South Carolina, for over 1400 years, and would have sprouted 1000 years before Columbus' arrival in the New World. Recorded history traces the ownership of the live oak and surrounding land, back to the year 1717 when Abraham Waight received it as part of a small land grant. The tree stayed in the Waight family for four generations, and was part of a Marriage Settlement to Justus Angel and Martha Waight Tucker Angel. See more here . When I see old people ... I see them young and climbing the branches of this tree. It sometimes makes me sad when I realize how much humans have changed the landscape, how little many of us seem to care about the future. We no longer build things to last. We build a store that gets torn down 18 years later and then build the same store two blocks away. There is a university library out east

~E~ Can you see faces in your broccoli? This is bizarre! From this blog. You know what I'm going to be looking at next time I go grocery shopping.

~E~ It is the new catch phrase for the Blizzard family. It translates as "cricket being", which captures my fancy. Now I want to learn Dutch. Spanish, French and Irish: Grillo = cricket Grillon = cricket Cruicéad = cricket I still think krekel beats them all.

~E~ Ah, yes. Why not take the whole family in for a tattoo? I had offered Al's mom a tattoo for her birthday, rather half-jokingly, but she jumped at the chance! Al and his brother decided to get in on the fun as well, so we all went together to "mark" them. I declined, lest you think you should ask to see mine, thank you. It seems like it should be a momentous occasion, getting your first tattoo, being marked for the rest of your life. It really wasn't. The artists came up, asked if this was the one you wanted, then took you back and buzzed away. It was all over in less than half an hour. Al's forever marking: His brother's forever marking: I didn't get a pic of his mom's. Too bad, since she was the impetus for all this craziness. Sunday I spent with my friend M, looking at an art exhibit about 'Mami Wata' and giving her birthday presents. YAY presents! I tried to find a good link about Mami Wata (Mommy Water, basically) online but there reall

~E~ People please, let's be careful out there.

~E~ Sometimes, you just know . Shopping with Al yesterday, I knew I should buy that $1 lottery ticket. I didn't win the top prize, but I did win $20. I think my friend would approve. Now I have to figure out if there is something in particular I should do with $20.

~E~ Some strange sound woke me up last night at 3:30 am. The cat heard it too, and leaped off the bed to go see what it was, but then she turned and stared at my bedroom window for a while. Not fun. We heard no other sounds, although I did get up and turn some lights on and off just so there were signs of awareness in the house. Makes me wish I could borrow a big dog at night. This morning I unlocked the back door and as I pulled it open the handle came off in my hand. Errrr, not cool. The handle is separate from the lock so I'm safe, and I think it's entirely coincidence, but I hate stuff like that.

~E~ Because blogger wouldn't let me post all the photos in the other thread: This cake was for a picnic put on by her Irish dance group, and needless to say it was a BIG hit! To the point of everyone ooh-ing and aah-ing, and wanting to take a picture. Good job, daughter!

~E~ Daughter has for some time expressed an interest in cake decorating. Following is her first attempt. (Imagine I'm saying that in a golf announcer's fake whisper):

~E~ When I see old people, I see them at the age of 20.