Tip-Toe Through The Tulips!

Dean and I recently visited a wonderful Tulip Farm, which is located in Woodburn, Oregon. It was a bright sunshiny day, but there had been rain the night before, so the fields were a bit wet, but the tulips were absolutely breathtaking! Not since I visited Solvang, near Santa Barbara, California way back in the 1960's, have I seen so many beautiful tulips. There were every color imaginable and all sizes and shapes. I had no idea that tulips came in so many varieties. I wanted samples of every bulb they had planted, but had no idea where I would plant them!

The whole setting was a picture-taking paradise. Thank heavens for digital cameras! I think between Dean and I, we must have taken at least a hundred different photos. We plan to visit the farm again next year. We brought home two planted bowls (pots) for our enjoyment here on the coast. One is a white one, and the other is a red one with pinkish tips. They are both enjoying a nice spot in our front yard, along our sidewalk to the front porch.

All in all, it was a wonderful day away from the coast and the gloomy rain. Nothing like flowers to lift the spirits -- and we were blessed with sunshine!

Two Thousand Four Hundred and Forty-Four...

What do the numbers 498, 563, 629, and 754 have in common? Interesting you should ask! They represent the number of pages in each of Stephanie Myers' 4 books in the "Twilight" epic novels. The total of all of those pages combined equals 2,444.

Don't let that number scare you. Each book is a story in itself and all four are spell-binding page turners. You're going to find it hard, like I did, to put them down. Thank you, Jacki and Kim for recommending them to me. I have to confess I was hesitant at first to read them, but have not been sorry at all that I did. (**Heather -- you will love them, too).

I finished the last one, "Breaking Dawn," last week and found it was hard to say "good-bye" to all of my new friends. I don't know whether I became a part of their lives or they became a part of mine, but at any rate the Cullen family has been adopted into my family tree.

I have to praise the brilliant writing of the author, Stephanie Meyers. She knows how to hook the reader right from the beginning and was consistent in keeping the reader's attention clear to the end -- 2,444 pages worth. She made her characters believable and you could almost breathe right along with them. I for one, hope to see more of her works in the future.

One little side note -- the setting for the series actually exists! Forks, Washington is up on the northwest peninsula on the coast of Washington and the LaPush Indian Reservation is pretty close by. We have some friends who live in Port Angeles and they tell me tourists are flocking to Forks because of the book. I told Dean that I want to go see it, too. Maybe we will be able to go this summer on a long weekend.

So, having said all of that, I'm sinking into a few other books. I want to finish the Chronicles of Narnia series and I still have 2 or 3 Harry Potter books to read. I love books, don't you?

Come With Me...A Glimpse of St. George, Utah...

The year was l987, the month was November. The event -- yet another move. This time it would be only Heather and Billy and I who made the journey to St. George, Utah, driving a U-Haul truck and pulling my minivan behind. I had had my fill of Taos and all of the "Anti" drama there, so I was moving to make a new life for my little family closer to home. It was a painful move, for all involved, but a necessary one for my sanity. I don't know, even to this day, what evil forces came between Dean and I; I only know the spirit -- my spirit -- was telling me I needed to leave and take my children with me. I spent a lot of time on my knees before I received that confirmation.

Living in St. George was both challenging and rewarding. We lived for a short time with my parents. I took a job at the Hospital and began a rewarding career there that would span 9 years.

When I could afford it, Heather and Billy and I moved into an apartment on Sunset Avenue, west of St. George. We lived there for nearly a year. Heather attended Pine View High School near Washington. School boundaries were very strange and Snow Canyon High School hadn't been built yet. Billy was only 3 years old and Grandma watched him sometimes, as well as a baby sitter in our apartment complex.

Billy traveled to Taos, via automobile or plane, and back every 3 months. He spent 3 months with me, 3 months with his dad, and then back to start over. It worked out pretty smoothly until he started school, then, we had to have another arrangement.

In the summer of 1989, while Heather and JerriAnne and I were on a vacation to California, my dad, Harvey Davenport, was killed in an automobile accident on St. George Blvd. He was driving to work early in the morning and didn't see the city truck stopped on the side of the Blvd. and he slammed into the back of it. He hit the steering wheel with his chest and his head hit the window. The impact broke ribs and severed his aorta and he bled to death. There was nothing anyone could do to save him. Next to the death of my husband, Gerry, that was the most devastating day of my life. When I got the call, I literally "hit the floor" on my knees. They just buckled! And I wept. Billy was in Taos, so Mark drove him to St. George for the funeral.

After a year in the Sunset Avenue apartment, we moved to a bigger one that was 2 stories and a full basement. We had a lot more room here. I slept in the basement and Heather and Billy each had a room of their own. The swimming pool was right outside of our living room slider. Heather really liked that feature. She and her friends spent a lot of time in the pool. Billy started Kindergarten while we lived in this place. He would catch the bus right outside of our complex and then I would go sleep until he got home. Working graveyard shifts cuts into ones sleep a lot. He went to Green Valley Elementary School and loved his teacher. I got to keep him for the whole year.

It was while we were living in this condo that Heather brought Elissa into our lives. The circumstances weren't ideal and there were many trials to face, but as soon as we saw her beautiful little face, we knew she was worth all of the trials. Heather worked very hard to finish High School and graduated with good grades in May of 1990. I was so proud of her.

We stayed in the condos for a little over a year and then moved into a rental house in Green Valley. The house we rented was a 3 bedroom one with a neat family room and huge yard. I had lots of roses and probably 1/4 acre of lawn to mow.

We were a happy family -- all together under one roof. I loved our new home. There was Heather and Elissa and Billy and me. For the 4 of us, life was good.

Another Book...

Three down, one to go. I loved this one! I cannot explain well enough the feelings that I got when reading this book. There are so many deep meanings to the relationships that formed through three totally different and unique cultures. It had me reflecting on my own life and how we can love in so many deep and interesting ways. I have put a face on Edward! It is my own Gerry! And Jacob? Well, that would have to be Dean. And me? I think I have been a lot like Bella nearly all of my life!
I have struggled with this for years and now it all makes sense. Gerry is my "forever" love and Dean is someone I can love in his absence. And I am finding there truly is room in my heart to love more than once. Again, I don't know if I am expressing this right, but I loved this book for its story, number 1, and second for what it has been teaching me.
If you haven't read any of them yet, I suggest you go for it! I am in the middle of number 4! Soon, you will have my reaction to that one as well. For now, number 3 is my favorite.

Book Number Two...

I just finished reading "New Moon," book number 2 in the "Twilight" Saga Series. And I must say, I'm finding the material fascinating. There are a lot of parallels to some of the choices we make in our lives on a day to day basis. I have to hand it to the author, Stephanie Meyer, for her imaginative portrayal of what is good and bad in all of us. She has done an outstanding job of making a midievel myth seem like it could really be something akin to reality. Surely, there are Werewolves and Vampires in each one of us!

I am looking forward to the next book, "Eclipse!" I told my husband the only way to "get over" the fact that I am doing way too much reading, is to join me! He just laughs. I don't think I have a convert yet!