R E F L E C T I O N S

Apple Blossom Parade I've lived in this area for many years and this was the first time I attended the parade.  It was a good time with the family. Miles was with both sets of grandparents and some uncles and an aunt. We had a quiet barbecue together.  It was a great time. Some short videos of the parade: We bought Miles a t-ball baseball set which by coincidence our in-laws bought the same exact one.  Now he'll leave one set here in Virginia and take the other set back to Brooklyn so he can play at both places. Here he is with his Baltimore Orioles cap trying out one of the t-ball sets. Set Up Back Swing Hit Follow Through

At first I thought the rabbits, birds or squirrels ate all the seeds. I think they did eat most of them but there are many that survived. There are more smaller sprouts on the other side of the patch. Here's a closer look at the two sprouts from the above photo. I'm sure there will be more but there is not enough room for them in a 4' x 4' plot.   I don't have the heart to pull up some of them to make more room for the others. I can transplant some into large flower pots and let nature take care of the rest. All of these plants came from an old rotting pumpkin. I buried all of its seeds just to see what would happen.

Or maybe it was actually like this? A Prehistoric Rhinoceros Most likely it could just be a regular rhino.  They are not overweight lumbering beasts.  Some can weigh up to 5,000 pounds and run over 30 miles per hour! This video shows a rhino galloping like a horse.  Its horn must been broken off. Galloping Rhino Chester Zoo Maybe an actual unicorn that looked more like a horse did exist.  I'd like to think so.

I never knew how cashews grew.  It's amazing!  They grow out of the bottom of a fruit. Here's some information: "National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day is observed each year on April 21st. The cashew is a tree from the family Anacardiaceae.   Its English name comes from Portuguese the fruit of the cashew tree  “caju.”   Originally native to Northeastern Brazil, cashew trees are now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew fruit and nuts. Surprisingly, the shell of the cashew nut is toxic, which is why the cashew is shelled before it is sold to consumers.  The cashew nut is a very popular snack with a rich flavor.  They are a well-known favorite during the holidays, but can be enjoyed anytime throughout the year.  Enjoy the video:

Jan was a tremendous help by suggesting that my seedlings might be from some type of pine tree. (from my post  REFLECTIONS: Is This a Weed ? ) I searched the web and found photos that looked very close to mine. Here is a photo of my seedling: I now have two seedlings in the same ceramic pot. My wife Lynette suggested putting them in separate larger flexible plastic pots to make it easier to transplant when they grow larger. I'll let you know how it progresses.

I found this plant in one of my flowerpots last year.  It looked too good to discard so I left it in the pot.  It survived the winter and I want to see what it will grow into. I carefully dug it up and found this very long root.  It's more than twice the length of the plant! I found another identical plant while I was working.  It's root was much shorter. It's the plant to the left. I hope they live and maybe even grow into trees.  But they could only be weeds. Does anyone know what they might be?  I could not find it on Google.

This simple corkscrew is like the one my father used.  Surfing through the web I found some interesting ones, especially a very complicated machine for removing corks. This is the type of bottle opener I own.  It's only a little more complicated than the first one. This must be an antique model.  I have no idea how it works. Below is a video of the complicated bottle opener I was telling you about: I think the gun hammer is a bottle opener. Open it without a corkscrew. This is a sort of erotic model.