Picture for One Moment

Saturday was brisk and windy but beautifully sunny. The-future-Mr.-Pagan-Sphinx (that's a nod to the style of hyphening one's name with one's spouse, era ;-) and I decided we had to go to the bulb show at Smith College Botanical Garden, as it was the last weekend before they closed up the bulb display for the season. We figured the last day would be less crowded but we were wrong. The place was busier than I've ever seen it on any weekend I attended this event in the past. The botanical garden is a small jewel among the laid-back, but busy pace of Northampton. And the view from of the lake from the knoll the greenhouse sits upon, is western Mass at its relaxed best. If you live in western Mass and you don't love Northampton, you have no heart!  :-D

Because it was so crowded, it was hard to take decent photos, let alone get any stand-outs. This is my humble photo offering from the bulb show, which I hope you will enjoy. For some photos of this bulb show that will really knock your socks off, go visit my dear friend The Cunning Runt at Little Bang Theory.  (for those of you who don't know him, CR is The Girls' Dad and my western Massachusetts neighbor to the west, not to mention my blog buddy.  (hi, guy).    :-)  

 

The Girls (and then there are three more girls, besides  ;)

As I look out the window my desk faces at home, a mixture of snow and freezing rain is turning to just rain. It's been coming down since around 9:30 this morning. I'm glad I had a chance to get some color and warmth on Saturday at Smith.  On this first day of the vernal equinox, I wish you....well...better weather than what we're getting around here today! But also love, peace and groovy things.

Pagan Sphinx

Linking to That's My World Tuesday

(fantastic folks from around the world gather in these places virtually to celebrate the beauty and interest that surround us through photos and other creative media)

Alice

 This goes out to the Cunning Runt because it's that time again.  :-)  Stay off of ladders after ice storms for me, will ya?  :-)

A Lovely Whirlwind Wedding

Some of you who've been over to The Cunning Runt's blog Little Bang Theory may have read his announcement of our daughter's wedding! Supergirl I (Older Progeny on CR's blog) and her Beloved flew to California early Tuesday and tied the knot at city hall in San Francisco.

I don't think I've ever seen my beautiful daughter so perfectly happy. They pulled off this coast-to-cost elopement with confidence and maturity, firstly. They planned it, they paid for it and they did it. I lovingly welcome my new daughter-in-law Shannon into our lives with open arms.

There will be a party sometime within the next year or so. We're on the east coast and Beloved's family are on the west coast. I think we'll probably go there. WP's daughter lives in San Francisco too and the rest of us don't have to have our arms twisted to visit that area!

There will be photos. I checked with the girls and they're fine with it. CR and I have both chosen to keep it low-key on the internet and celebrate the girls' wedding with just our regular readers. I can't speak for CR but I'm a low-profile type person! ;-)

Meanwhile, I'm excitedly waiting for photos of the wedding and I'd love to share one or two with you.

Thank you for being there to celebrate with us, you gorgeous blog people!

Peace, love and...(you fill in the blank) ;-

The Friday Evening Nudes

The Friday Evening Nudes is brought to you tonight with a twist, a la The Cunning Runt's Friday Kittehz blogging.

Enjoy the kittehz!(above)
Woman With Dog
Fernando Botero

Chun-kyung-ja
(above)


(below)
Nude Woman With Cat
Felix Vallotton

Gustav Corbet
Nude With Dog
1861

Another Patriot Speaks From The Heart

The Cunning Runt over at Little Bang Theory published what in my view is a truly patriotic post about Independence Day. It is written with passion and heart is one of the reasons I admire this lovely man so much.

Happy Birthday, My Country

Oh, and while you're at it, check out CR's breathtaking nature photos. The man has many talents.

Loving Day

My friend The Cunning Runt at Little Bang Theory has written a beautiful post about marriage equality and the current fight in California to keep it legal. Please go there and check it out. He's an inspiring writer and I promise you will not regret it.

There is a ballot initiative that has been approved to appear on the state ballot in California which will seek to overthrow the recently gained right of GLBT people to marry. The $10 million campaign will attempt to poison the well, so money is needed.

If you support marriage equality but don't live in California, you may wonder what this has to with you. Every state that fights for and wins marriage equality gains momentum for other states to take action to do the same.

There are many great organizations working on behalf of GLBT rights but to have your contribution go directly to California where the big fight is right now, consider donating directly to Equality California.

I've Been Called A Few Things...

Since I began blogging I've been assigned four labels, that I'm aware of, anyway: hippie chick by Cunning Runt, a punk-ass Mona Lisa" by johinieb (I not so secretly like that one) and a sap by a what's-his-face blogger in the comments of someone else's blog.

My favorite, however, is in bold below. It's an excerpt from a comment at Godless Liberal Homo, made by a dude named Christopher.

Pagan Sphinx,

Yes, the Shillaryshere is full of paleo-feminists like you who got sucked into the "if you oppose Hillary, you hate women" bullshit.

Don't you love it?

Regarding the hippie chick thing: I honestly don't think I qualify. I'm slightly too young, firstly. And though I identify strongly with the "hippie belief system" (whatever that is), I've never felt that easy to peg. So, stop tryin' ahready! ;-)

And a note to Christopher:
If by some remote chance you're reading this, I am not trying to insult or bait you, despite our disagreement about Hilary-bashing. I really laughed out-loud at paleo-feminist! I thought you were very clever for thinking of it until I googled it and realized the term didn't originate with you! I am such a dinosaur.

What's goin' On

Supergirl One found a summer job. She starts work next week at what I call a Storybook Farm just over the river from my house. It's a strawberry farm, mostly but they also have cows and sell organic milk and cheese. When SG2 visited, her new boss was making cheese and already giving her pointers. She felt very comfortable with the gentleman farmer and when he told her that the whole family is into literature and writing, that was it. She'd found her niche for the summer!

Me, I'm lacking motivation. I thought that Spring and all her glory would help me lighten my step and begin all the household projects that need doing. Not a chance. I just want to play and blog and read and eat and sleep and hang out with W.P. and SG2.

Supergirl One is still at college. Today is the last day of her campus job and it's the day where I go down to Mount Holyoke and help her pack her stuff to move into the massive UMass campus for summer session. She's determined to graduate with her class of 2009, despite massive setbacks in her freshman and sophmore years due to bipolar illness and frequent hospitilizations. She'd also battled drug reactions, a severe skin rash from a virus and low blood pressure that caused her to pass out on several occasions. I'm continuously amazed, impressed and otherwise blown away by this girl's determination and intellect. Is this my kid? It's what you get when you cross a pagan sphinx with a cunning runt! hehehehe

As an aside, I know I'm boasting and that my English friends rather look down upon we Americans for it, but....SG1's semester GPA was a 3.9. No easy feat at that overly demanding elitist school. We're thrilled and proud and in the hopes of sounding humble, it has little to do with us at this point. Hell, I wanted her to go the easy route because I was concerned her illness would drain the life out of her and she wouldn't be able to do academics at that level. That girl has proven me wrong and that's what makes me so in awe of her.

I'm gearing myself up emotionally, if not in regard to cleaning and organizing my house, for my mother's visit at the end of June. My mother, for those of you who may not know, lives in Portugal. My family (including CR) who read this blog, know and understand fully how much I adore my mother; what a good relationship we now have and how much The Supergirls look forward to basking in her unconditional love - because she is good at that. There are complications, of course.

This is a case where Love can't be everything. Supergirl One, whom my regular readers know is gay and engaged to be married to a lovely young woman, is intent on telling her grandmother that she's a lesbian. SG1 wrote to me an eloquent email explaining her reasons for this. Below is an excerpt from that email:

The choice is between upsetting her [where, honestly, the onus is on her, because she is potentially the party to be behaving negatively] and acting against my own sense of dignity and pride by lying about one of the most fundamental and important aspects of my life. The latter choice also has repercussions for my relationship and the trust I share with my partner.

My own personal worry is not that my mother will be rude or angry but that she will consider this another form of Tragedy. I grew up with the various forms of Tragedy. Besides death, illness and suffering, and natural disasters, Tragedy as defined by my Portuguese family comes in the form of Alcoholism, Adultry and anything else that disgraces one's family. She will doubless be heartbroken by the news that her lovely grandaughter is a lesbian and plans on shacking up with a girl. My mother understands that gays get married. But "gays" are those other people over there somewhere in a world she doesn't understand.

My mother is 77 years old and has been through a tremendous lot. I don't want this news to put her over the top. Honestly, I have no clue as to how she will come to grips with this. Especially without my father, who died almost three years ago. Who will help her to understand? It will have to be me, of course. When SG1 gives her grandmother the news, she'll then go back to her dorm for summer session, while I sit with my mother and help her to contemplate this. I'm worried and sad and frustrated that I have to be burdened by this! My mother will doubtless blame this tragedy on either my divorce from The Supergirls' father or the bipolar disorder, or both.

To complicate things, my Portuguese is not what it used to be and certain things are just so hard to labor into translation. I have this upstanding, proud family where I am the only member of the immediate family who has divorced. It confuses me, really. We have so many nutcases in the family - depression and bipolar illness have touched the lives of several family members. But something like a same-sex relationship can put everyone over the top! WTF?

I'm projecting but with a very good scope consisting of 48 years of experience being a part of my family. We'll see what happens, but Happen it must.

April 13 - A Dedication

LUCINDA WILLIAMS - METAL FIRECRACKER