Today is Not Only Earth Day, it's Rick's 35th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Rick!

Today is John Muir's Birthday

John Muir in 1872, San Francisco.
Reading him is like reading poetry to me.

Breaking 300 in Scrabble

Scrabble is about my favorite board game and I've given one to each of my children. So Eve and I are playing a game Easter night and I totally am hot with every word. This is rare for me. So this game I got over 300 points which I've never done before. I've only laid down all seven letters once in all the years I've played. So congratulations to me for my high score, maybe never to be repeated.

Poppies

Jewelry

I have jewelry my mother wore. I have jewelry Bev wore. I have jewelry my children have given me. I have jewelry Michael gave me. I treasure them all. I picked out jewelry and trinkets in Hawaii and he bought them for me. I have turquoise he bought me in Ensenada. I have a lovely purple stone necklace from Skagway. They are bits of beauty I can enjoy and remember my loved ones.

The World As One Hundred People (each source is a little different)

The Whole World as One Hundred People
The World Today--January 2007

Some surprising facts about God’s world
World Population
1900 -- 1.6 billion people with 20 cities of 1 million plus
2000 -- 6.1 billion people with 410 cities of 1 million plus
More people live in cities than in rural areas
World Village of 100 People If all the people of the world were represented by a village of 100 people, what would it look like? Let’s walk through this village!
57 are Asians
21 are Europeans
14 are Americans (north & south)
8 are Africans
51 are female and 49 are male
33 are Christian
67 are non-Christian
33 are Muslim
15 are Hindu
8 are Buddhist
8 are Atheist
3 are other religions
80 live in substandard housing
70 cannot read
50 suffer malnutrition
1 has a university education
50% of the wealth is owned by 6 people
All 6 are from the United States
33 are under 15
Of them, 85% live in poverty
13 live on the street, without home or parents (100 million street children)

Traditions Spanning 28 Years

Watching the Rose Bowl Parade, eating the Greene's banana bread and taking a hike on New Year's Day.
Making valentines as a family. One Valentine's Day Michael and I exchanged the same box of candy we'd each bought.
Hanging a shamrock for St. Patrick's Day and wearing green.
Celebrating Easter coloring boiled eggs and having a hunt. We'd have dinner with family in Vallejo or Pacifica after church.

Michael making Mother's Day dinner for me.

Me making Father's Day dinner for him.

Independence Day bbq'ing at a nice San Francisco park together, playing ball, and later years joining in with ward celebrations of a picnic or breakfast, Clayton or Concord parade, music at Todos Santos, our own bbq, a swim.
Pioneer Day celebrations which often included Eve's birthday party.
Camping trips, especially near Mt. Shasta.
Labor Day picnics with the ward.
Birthday season beginning October 18, then November 2, November 10, and November 24. Now there's another: November 21. We've celebrated with dress-up combined birthday parties, sports at the park, excursions to theme parks, cakes, pies or It's Its.

Halloween, all dressing up, taking our children to Edgewood, then Belvedere Street near our house for trick-or-treating, talking pumpkin head, scary scenes. Many homes had parties going on. When we moved to the East Bay we enjoyed seeing who came to our door while we watched ET.
Thanksgiving in Vallejo or Pacifica and recent years at our own home. Adam was born on T Day.
Driving to a tree farm and cutting our own tree until around 2000.

Christmas caroling with our children and family friends followed by a candlelit table of gingerbread men, savory and sweet snacks, hot chocolate, hot cider, peppermint tea. The last few years we've had planned-luck turkey dinners.
Christmas Eve in Fremont, Christmas morning at home, then off to Pacifica and Vallejo for years. Recent years it was Christmas Day at home.
New Year's Eve of videos and plenty of snack attacks to encourage our children to stay at home, games, dancing, watching the ball drop in New York City.