At Long Last, She Blooms

More than twelve years ago Mrs. Nod and I visited the Vanderbilt estate, Biltmore, in Asheville, NC. While I was there, I fell in love with a tree form Wisteria vine that was overflowing with cascades of gorgeous purple flowers.

Sigh. Beauty is for the eyes to drink deeply.

So ten years ago I bought a purple Wisteria vine that had been trained up into a tree form for my own yard. I planted it, pruned it twice a year, gave it a trellis support and waited patiently. They said it may take up to three years before it started flowering, so I waited.

And waited.

This Spring I finally gave up and tore down the trellis which did no harm as it has been self-supporting for several years.  I had to prune the Wisteria back severely to extricate it. I had planned to dig it up with a shovel, but ran out of time on a Saturday.

A week went by and I went out back to see how to go about digging it up, when I noticed some pod looking clusters that I had never seen before.  I waited another few days and sure enough! those are flowers -- my flowers that I have waited 10 long years to see starting to peek out.

 I was a little aggressive when pruning and actually tore this branch a bit because I was going to chop it down. You can see the plastic zip ties around the branch in the lower left corner of the picture that I used to reinforce and hold it together. All of a sudden it is precious to me.

It reminds me of the parable of the fig tree that wouldn't produce fruit. The gardener begged for one more year of extra care before cutting it down. I don't know that I did anything differently, but God in his kindness has sent me a little beam of hope.  Perseverance has won the day!

At long last, she blooms.

Two Bit Happiness

The Nodlings are back in school, and everyone is the happier for it.

Nod-girl earned a trip to the "Treasure Box" and came away with a Snow White toy mirror. A lot of the "treasures" appear to have been used or donated, but when you're in first grade you don't notice or care. The magic mirror's button batteries had died, though, and Nod-girl wanted them replaced in order to make whatever obnoxious sound magic mirrors are supposed to make.

"Daddy, will you please fix it?"

How can I say no? The first hurdle to overcome was the non-standard screws holding it together. Triangle-shaped screw slots -- are you kidding me? This was NOT intended to be field serviced. In the end, a pair of needle nosed pliers doubled as a triangle-shaped allen wrench.

Once open, I note the three tiny button batteries which I don't have. Undaunted, I remember a Hallmark greeting card I recieved had a larger version powering it. After disassembling the card and cannibalizing the battery and speaker wire and some scotch tape, I McGyver'ed together a working version of the magic mirror. It's not perfect and it won't last, but it does make that "magic mirror" sound.

Now why in the world did I spend two and a half hours trying to fix a two dollar toy?

Maybe I'm running for World's Best Dad; or maybe because it'll bring a little two-bit happiness to a little girl who deserves some.

Happiness Is

Having two toddlers on your lap who laugh and clap when you sing "This Old Man" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Seriously, where else are you going to get more accolades for doing so little?

It's a Girl

Congratulations to my brother and his wife over at Outpost 2, who just welcomed girl #3 into the world!

This little(?) paddleboat measured 21 inches long, 14.5 in circumference, and weighed in at 9 lbs 9 oz!

They make 'em big over yonder, as this baby was born at exactly 41 weeks. They skipped the Newborn size diapers and are going right for the Size 1 diapers. I'm convinced that all their kids came out at 3 month old sizes!

I brought Paddleboats #1 and #2 some mylar baloons with Disney Princesses on them to celebrate. Why? Because I'm the best uncle ever! Ha! Who says kids can't be bribed?