Easter Sunday ~ 2 comments.
Having nothing to write about today. I wrote about yesterday. After all, in my life, there's not much difference between yesterday, today, or a week ago.……
It's been a quiet Easter Sunday, and without any kids around, Easter just seems like any other day. When I was a kid, we would get up early and go to church, and when we got home my parents would hide some Easter eggs in the yard. And my sister and I would look until they were all found.
I figured I would carry on that childhood tradition out here in the desert by myself, so I got some eggs out of the refrigerator, took them outside, and hid them. It was just like being a kid again, except when I went outside to find the Easter eggs, I couldn't remember where I hid them, and now I don't have any breakfast for tomorrow. I guess I could've taken the time to color them with a magic marker, because they were all a light tan color, the same as the dirt around here, but I didn't, so now they're gone, as is any hopes of having a cheese omelette for breakfast in the morning. Looks like I should've gone to church instead of hiding Easter eggs.
I remember even as a kid, the whole family was required to dress for church in our finest clothes; in fact, they were called our church clothes because we weren't allowed to wear them anywhere except to church. And I can remember sitting in the pew with my family, during a boring sermon….. spoiler alert….. sermons were all boring, wondering how an all-knowing, all-powerful God had a dress code that required A six-year-old kid to wear a bow-tie when in church.... You would think that with the Korean War going on, he would have more important things to deal with.
On the other hand, I don't have any clothes anymore suitable for going to church. There just isn't enough room to carry around a wardrobe for every occasion. So anyplace that requires better clothing than a T-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers will never have to worry about me showing up.
Theboondork
There are a lot of these Jeep trails wandering off into the hills that make a safe place for me to walk without worrying about rattlesnakes, since they would be visible on the dirt path. Jeep trails aren't my favorite place to walk, but this time of year there one of the safest.
And now for a little desert wisdom..... Most folks seeing the damage to these prickly pear cactus would assume that Javelinas were eating them. But any old desert rat could tell you that it's actually cows that have been eating these prickly pears. And you can tell because Javelina take small, neat semi- circle bites out of the Cactus, whereas cows tear the Cactus up while eating it. And yes, cattle do feed on prickly pears. But in places where it's normal for cows to feed on prickly pear, such as southern Texas, ranchers use flame-throwers to burn the stickers off the cactus, which makes it easier for the cattle to deal with.
Don't be surprised if there's a pop quiz on this subject tomorrow to see if you're paying attention.
An Ocotillo "O ka tee yo" Cactus. These Cactus were the very first barbed wire fencing and have been used for centuries to keep domestic animals penned up. There 10 to 12 feet high, very flexible, and incredibly strong. And it took some very tough people to weave these things into a fence.
The blossoms on the Ocotillo Cactus. It's easy to see why the Ocotillo is known as the first barbed wire of the West..... Since I was raised in the South, I've called barbed wire, ‘‘Bobwire’’, for my entire life. Old speech habits are hard to break.