Flowering primaries

I sometimes wonder how my kids will think of me, what kind of mom I will be.... I was cooking rice tonight, and I left the kitchen with the burner on high heat, knowing full well that I would probably forget to come back in and check it before it had boiled away half the water, and my rice was sticking to the bottom. Yet I did it anyway. I think all that means, actually, is that I need a timer for my kitchen.

The moon is 99% full right now, aka "waxing gibbous" (according to igoogle). I can see it out my window if I lean way over, being careful not to fall into Charity's hibiscus with the bud getting ready to bloom. Hanging at the top of the window is Cha's bougainvillea which I have been babysitting for months now, and have even managed to have that bloom too. After almost killing it of dehydration in an attempt to protect it from the weird fruit-fly-like fungus flies that share Susannah's and my humble abode.

These flies first took up residence in the fall in the soil of the gorgeous rosemary plant that Susannah had given me for my 25th birthday this summer, and then when that died, they proceeded to infest other unwitting plants in our care. We have also been plant-sitting for Susannah's sister, Sal, and so far we've only lost one of her's. It was a tiny lavender plant that she started from seed, and it just dried up and died. We are hoping that maybe it will revive come summer, with lots of sun and water and fresh air. Anyhow, after thinking for awhile that we had a fruit fly infestation, a nice man told Susannah that our problem was probably some fungus flies, and that we should try drying out the soil of our plants in hopes of killing them. So far that hasn't worked, but I did manage to almost kill Cha's plants in the process. Maybe that's why they are blooming.... they figure they better put out any attempt to carry on the species. Little do they know that they live in a bedroom in Portland, Maine, and there are no fertile grounds nearby in which to spread.

I don't know when Cha's obsession with Bougainvillea started, but it was definitely in "full bloom" when we sailed together in the Caribbean on Harvey Gamage in the spring of 2003. I think obsessions with flowers are some of the best kinds... I guess they just don't seem like they would be harm full in any way to the obsessor, or the obsessee. Charity almost succeeded in transporting a beautiful bougainvillea from somewhere in the south all the way home, but i think it died after being drenched in salt water, and starved of light partway up the east coast. I'll have to check on that....


I have been having an absolute blast with my new digital camera, and I'll post a few slide shows along with these words. I documented our attendance at the Democratic caucuses in Portland, along with 4500 other folks ( attending, not necessarily documenting). We waited in line for about an hour before we were even able to get inside, and then once inside we waited in long snaking lines, sort of like a nightmare at the airport, except that everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Apparently they had only been expecting 2500 voters, though even with that many I think there still would have been a pretty LLLLOOOONNNNG wait. We finally reached our destination after at least an hour and a half of standing in line, and it became obvious why it all took as long as it did. There was only one person, with a huge, long list of names, for each letter of the alphabet. They had to look up each person, find their precinct, fill out their ballot, and then finally move onto the next person. I kept thinking, Man, if we had seen this mess as we came in the door, I might not have waited so patiently in line all that time. It was definitely an experience to remember, marking my first time participating in the presidential primaries.