It’s a Dry Heat
Last night at 7:30 as we drove home from eating dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, I glanced at the thermometer in the car. It was a pleasant 101 degrees. At 7:30 p.m. On June 2. We are so happy to be able to spend our winters here in the desert, and equally happy to live in Colorado in the summer, where we complain when it reaches 90. It might be a dry heat, but you could still fry an egg on the hood of a car.

Babies
You followed along with my stories about the quail who laid egg in my geranium pot here in AZ. One of the first things I did when we came back for the wedding was to go outside and check on the status. I knew that they would have hatched by the end of May, but I didn’t know if any survived the nesting period. Out of five eggs that had been laid, I saw that three eggs had hatched and two eggs were unhatched and had probably died. I was happy that three had apparently made it, at least in my mind. Yesterday evening, Jen and I were outside waiting for Bill so we could drive to the restaurant, and Jen said, “Look at the quail family.” Sure enough, there was what appeared to be Mommy and Daddy Quail, and two tiny little quail following close behind. I, of course, have no way of knowing if they were our little family, but in my world, they definitely were. And I think I’m right. Those little guys were as cute as can be. I felt like a grandmother once again…..

Countdown
Yesterday morning, the three aunties had coffee with two of our nieces, both who are bridesmaids in the upcoming wedding. They squeezed us in between group manicures/pedicures and hair appointments. The bride herself was busily picking up people at the airport and preparing for her big day. We had such fun chatting and laughing and anticipating the upcoming event. I can’t wait.

Climate Opposites
While the temperatures have been in the high 90s, and sneaking into the 100s, here in AZ, the temperature in Denver was in the mid-50s yesterday. Our neighbor is keeping an eye on our outdoor plants, but I sort of put God in charge as well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they make it a few more days. See you on Monday, Plants!

Ciao.

When my 40-year-old son was a child, I dutifully took him to the movies. We watched the Transformers and the Smurfs and He-Man and She-Ra all fight crime on the big screen. They were ridiculous stories that kids the age of Court loved, and parents accompanying the kids slept through.

Nowadays, kids movies are no longer rated G, but most often are rated PG. The rating is because the movie makers actually make the movies secretly funny to the parents, and yet interesting and exciting for the kids. Boy, that wasn’t true of movies in the 80s. If I never had to see another big rig turn into a super hero, it would be too soon.

And there were the Disney princess movies, which started when I was a kid. Snow White and Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty come to mind. When Court was older, there were movies such as Princess and the Frog, which introduced white kids to the fact that not all princesses were white and not all princesses lived in Never Neverland. Still, the princess was always beautiful and at the end, she found her Prince Charming.

Through my grandkids, (the first born in 2003), I watched Ariel and Repunzel and Belle and Jasmine and Cinderella, all of whom had their trials and tribulations, and all who found their Prince Charming in the end.

Recently, my granddaughter Mylee asked me who my favorite Disney princess was. Hmmmm, I said. Maybe Belle, because she loved a beast before he was a prince. And then I asked her who her was her favorite Disney princess. Without skipping a beat, she said Raya! I was caught off guard because I wasn’t even vaguely familiar with a princess named Raya.

“Who’s Raya?” I asked Mylee.

“She’s Cambodian,” said my half-Cambodian granddaughter Mylee. “She’s awesome, and she’s my favorite Disney princess.

Since then, I have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to watch Raya and the Last Dragon, a Disney 2020 film that features a main character that I wouldn’t classify as a princess, but who is southeast Asian. The story takes place in a fictional country of Kumandra, which is a combination of the southeastern Asian countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, and others.

The main character, Raya, is not your typical princess. There is, for example, not a prince in sight. She, along with the last remaining dragon, saves her country from destruction through trust, friendship, and love. But it isn’t all roses and hearts. That girl can fight. The main female characters are tough and strong and independent, very unlike Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. I was happy that Mylee chose her as her favorite Disney character.

And, by the way, Raya looked just like my granddaughter Kaiya. That added to my enjoyment.

I will always love the original Disney princesses like Snow White and Cinderella. But I have to admit that it made me happy to see a role model for girls who was strong and independent. I watched it with my great-niece Lilly, who played along with the Kung-Fu scenes and looked strong and independent herself.

That’s a good thing.

When I went over to the grocery store yesterday afternoon (somewhere in the neighborhood of 4:30), it was like a ghost town. It was quiet, except for the background Muzak music of Janis Joplin singing Piece of My Heart. And, by the way, did THAT make me feel old. Janis Joplin is now grocery store background music. Nothing says canned tomatoes like 60s rock-and-roll. I wonder how she would feel about that.

I reckoned everyone had already done their shopping, and they were now preparing their burgers and hot dogs to throw on the grill in good ol’ God Bless America fashion. As for me, I frankly forgot that it was even a holiday until my sister Bec reminded me I wouldn’t be able to lay flowers on our parents’ grave this year, seeings as I’m 800 miles away in AZ for my niece’s wedding.

Despite this year’s forgetfulness, I’ve always been a fan of Memorial Day. I guess I’m lucky in that I don’t know a single person who died while serving this country as part of the military. I know plenty who served, including my father, my husband, several cousins, and my brother-in-law. I’m grateful that they lived to tell their own stories.

When Bill and I took our trip to Europe, one of the most powerful days was when we visited Normandy, France. Seeing that beach, and just how far it was to run from the boat to some cover on D-Day, literally moved us to silence.

Anyhoo, one of the reasons I am fond of Memorial Day is historically, it means the end of the school year. In recent years, our Denver grandkids haven’t had their last day of school until mid-June. This year, however, they were all finished last Friday. I’m guessing the earlier year-end is because there was no need for snow days given that they learned from home much of the year. Well, attempted to learn from home anyway. As for our Vermont grands, they have another couple of weeks.

When I was in elementary school, Memorial Day was the end of the school year. Man, I can remember those days like it was yesterday. I can remember emptying my desk, and leaving crumbs of crayons and broken pencil leads and shards of eraser behind. My notebooks were tattered. I carried dumb art work under my arm for Mom to promptly throw away when I got home. I looked forward to taking off my school clothes and putting on the shorts and sleeveless shirts that I would wear for the next three months. I tossed my school shoes in the back of the closet and got out my flip-flops (which we called thongs at that time).

Now it’s our grandkids’ turn. I think they’re all happy to see school ending for the year. Not surprisingly, they would all say that the 2020-2021 school term was difficult. One for the books, but a book they would never want to read again.

I’m looking forward to spending more time with them now that school’s out and we will be back in Denver. Our Vermont family comes for a visit soon, so that’s something to look forward to.