The Cluttered Cactus Garden in Winter

by | Dec 14, 2020 | Cactus Are Cool

The cactus garden looks a mess in winter. The poor cholla and prickly pear do their sad droopy thing. Boxes, gallon cans, and five-gallon buckets stand upside down over plants needing protection; blankets and comforters do the same. Plants that are truly cold-hardy...

Pecan Cake is Our Answer to Fruitcake

by | Dec 11, 2020 | Bright Lights

You may like fruitcake; we don’t, particularly. So a Christmas tradition at our house is Sito’s pecan cake instead. Sito was my aunt, Mother’s sister, whose real name was Gladys Tate Drum Gearheart. Have no idea where we nieces and nephews came up with Sito, and those...

Stapelia Grandiflora Puts on a Show

by | Nov 22, 2020 | Cactus Are Cool

I’ve written about these stinky flowers before-“The Stinky Flower,” August 4, 2014, but that’s been a while back, and this time the plant just outdid itself with blooms, so I thought I’d share again. I realized the plant was loaded with buds the end of October. One...

Pride is Their Only Pay

by | Nov 10, 2020 | Bright Lights

In 1985 Muleshoe dedicated the Earl M. Ladd Fire Station No. 1, the new home of the Muleshoe Volunteer Fire Department. It’s an unassuming building; quiet, simple, utilitarian. But it houses a fleet of special vehicles and a group of people who serve our community...

Thank You, Mystery Litter Cleaner-Upper!

by | Nov 7, 2020 | Bright Lights

I had just about had it with the litter piling up on Ithaca Street from the the railroad track to where the street curves on the way to my house. I have picked up after litterbugs before and was prepared to take care of this mess myself. Earlier this year I had...