Simply Norma

Our first 90 degree day has arrived. I’m glad I watered the plants this morning as they would have been quite thirsty right now.

Our house feels cool inside. There is something to be said for owning a house that’s surrounded by trees. The sun rises to the northeast of us and that’s where most of our trees are populated although we have plenty on the other side.

I think I’ll have 2 large trees taken out and the others thinned (a LOT) on the NE side of the house. It will be good to have more sun exposure in that direction. Perhaps that will bring fewer bugs! Ahhh — hope abounds!

We seem to have been hit with a lot of gnats this year. They are making their way inside somehow and I haven’t figured out the location yet. I have, however, been making concoctions for them. An inch of orange juice, a dab of dish soap and half a glass of water set next to the windows is killing them off even if the occasional one strays and nips me every now and again.

Autumn! Autumn! I’m so looking forward to seeing you. I know, I know — I need to learn to live in the present. I do but I still look forward to what I know will be better weather.

This past week I hired a neighbor teen to help with yard work as I still had not finished removing all the grass that exists in our front yard.

He was only able to work for an hour so I got ready to meet him outside.

• Long sleeve plaid shirt – check
• Long pants – check
• Knee high rubber boots – check
• Deer/tick repellant – check

I ran through my usual routine of spraying the repellant around the edges of my boots, shirt and pants. Then I sprayed the repellant in the air and walked underneath it (a method women use when they want to wear perfume but have it smell subtly).

With shovel and hoe in hand, I went to the front yard and started digging up some of the grass. Within a few minutes, I heard a voice “Hello Norma,” as the neighbor boy walked up to the edge of the front yard. Looking up I was taken aback. He was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt, shorts, gloves, ankle crew socks and hiking boots. “Oh, did you need to put any repellant on?” I asked.

“No,” he said. I sheepishly explained what I wanted done. He was quick and finished almost everything I needed done in that one section within the allotted hour. At one point, he asked me if I wanted a particular plant removed. “Sure!” I exclaimed. Kneeling down he rubbed the leaf and said “It’s mint. Are you sure you want it out? It will grow like a weed if you keep it so you’ll need to make sure to contain it.”

He was full of knowledge but I shouldn’t be surprised as he grew up in this neighborhood.

I wish I had taken a picture of the two of us — extreme opposites. One throwing caution to the wind and free as a bird and the other (me) wrapped up so as not to let any bugs come near me.

I still have so much to learn about living in Minnesota. The summers, I believe, will continue to be my least favorite season. In Seattle, I used to love to work in the yard on a sunny day. In Minnesota, I look out the window and think “let’s see, are there a lot of mosquitoes out today?” Then I wonder if the passing deer left any ticks behind.

Not being a bug person (I’m not sure where I got the dislike for them) I really need to learn to relax around them.

For now, entering the house after working in the yard, I remove my clothes, throw them in the washer and head for the shower to remove the repellant from my skin.

One day I’ll be like the locals and not care about all the varied insects that roam our property. On second thought, I really doubt that will happen.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that every Puerto Rican Mother’s Day is like my family’s but if it is then Hallmark will stay in business for a very long time.

It all started with me deciding to visit my mother in Chicago for Mother’s Day. Our holidays are usually held in a relative’s house who volunteers to have 20 – 40 people over. More or less but usually more.

Most Puerto Ricans are good communicators. Translation — we can talk a LOT! We are also good listeners. Translation — we have the ability to hear 5-10 simultaneous conversations at a time and are usually in all of them. The old adage “putting in your 2 cents worth” doesn’t work with us. We give 100% to our (and everyone else’s) conversation.

Keep in mind that we do this with the radio or stereo playing salsa music (volume on high) so we can hear it while talking (uhhh … well, this doesn’t work for me but it works for plenty of my family).

But I digress — back to Mother’s Day.

My sister told me that every mother gets a gift. Okaaaayyyy …. “just a small item … ” Small items add up when there are 15 plus mothers in a room. Oh — and don’t forget the cousin and niece who are mothers to their “dogs.”  Oh — and don’t forget that since we don’t celebrate fathers day we need to give the fathers a small gift too so they’re not forgotten.

So really, everyone except for the children get gifts. I think I got it!  (laughing)

The Mother’s Day event this year was at my cousin’s house who lives in a 2 bedroom flat. Luckily my sister lives in the apartment right below her as that’s where my husband went to get away from the noise. (Note: he’s not Puerto Rican so he doesn’t have the built-in noise canceler)

There is very little space to turn around in the apartment without looking into someone’s face or back. Let’s call it cozy, shall we?

The food was delicious — we had the usual rice with gandules (pigeon peas), biftec (steak), fried chicken, potato salad, a green salad and bread. There was so much rice! I think my aunt must’ve thought a much larger crowd was coming but we had a few people who couldn’t make it because of illness, etc.

For dessert we had a “funfetti” cake that my niece made, bite-size cheesecakes, a “real” cheesecake and arroz con dulce (rice pudding but Puerto Rican style).

After eating, it was time to open gifts. I think there has to be a better way than searching for the “right” person through the crowd of people. Perhaps next time I’ll alphabetize my gifts so that when I see a person I can quickly find the right one.

One of my cousins came prepared with a cart to bring her gifts to the party.

I left with 2 shopping bags full of gifts.

Gotta love this family! Our holidays are definitely organized … even if they are a little on the excessive side. And to think, all the years I lived in Seattle and missed out on all the fun.

After church we took a walk on Diamond Lake Trail. Although the lake is next to a busy street, it was actually a peaceful walk. Spring was definitely in the air with people out walking, birds chirping and buds started to bloom.

We decided not to go down these steps as it looked like it would be quite muddy on the other side. The start of a paved trail was just ahead a little ways. I always find it breathtaking to see buds starting to grow. I should be used to it at my age but spring growth always seems to take me to a place of “awe.”

This paved walkway looks a little more manageable for walking. It led to a landing where we received a wonderful surprise.

And there he was in all his glory — a red winged black bird. He had a pretty song and sang it almost the whole time we were there. I wonder if he’s looking for a mate?

He was so beautiful and didn’t mind sitting awhile while I snapped pictures of him.

Diamond Lake was recently shown on the local TV station, WCCO’s, segment “What Makes A Lake, A Lake?” The segment was quite interesting and it gave the most current number of lakes in Minnesota which is 11,842. Wisconsin has 15,000 lakes but their determination takes into account lakes as small as an acre which Minnesota does not. If we did, we would have over 20,000 lakes.

I also learned that size is not the only criteria used for determining if a body of water is a lake. The waters must be able to make “waves.”

You can read the article by clicking here.

Diamond Lake has 55 acres and is surrounded by swampy wetland. It’s a very relaxing place to go and across the street is a children’s playground.

I’m not sure how many lakes we’ll be able to explore while we live in Minnesota but every lake is unique and brings its own special kind of wildlife. This is one of the big differences between our Seattle neighborhood and our Lake Elmo neighborhood — the wildlife. Although we are considered to live in a city the atmosphere is so different and I am learning a lot in my “getting older” days.

Behind our property there is a small pond that sits behind the property line. This past winter many trees and branches fell into this dry pond (dry because we didn’t get much snow this year). Our neighbor, an elderly gentleman, spent a few days in the pond with his chainsaw cutting the wood to use for his fireplace.

Although it is not on our property, we decided that we were going to throw mosquito pellets into it as the pellets will prevent the mosquito eggs from hatching.

I have no idealistic expectations about having the mosquito population dwindle significantly since there is a large lake and a large pond across from us in two directions. But, it’s worth is shot. So far, so good. Normally we have a lot of dragon flies that feed on the mosquitoes and I’ve only seen one (1) to date.

Our pest control service man came out this week and he sprayed around the perimeter of the house for ticks, mosquitoes and other things that crawl. He asked me how the mosquitoes were doing here and I told him we haven’t seen too many yet. He was surprised as he said they are out in full force already.

Hmmm … maybe those pellets are helping.

A visit with the grandchildren last week was quite delightful. Aged 3 1/2, 2 1/2 and 3 months they all have their own personality that made me smile.

The oldest, a boy, likes to sit, read and play interactive games on my iPad. He is being potty trained and has to be reminded to go to the bathroom. One morning, he came to the family room in his pajamas shortly after he awoke. He pulled down his pajama bottoms and showed me that he had taken off his overnight diaper and put on his “big boy” underwear. He was so proud of himself and so was I.

The youngest boy has a big heart of gratefulness. He almost demands food, milk or juice and when he’s finally handed what he wants he breaks out in a smile and yells THANKS! I laughed every time he did it.

The baby, a girl, is smiling and cooing. I saw her over 3 months ago shortly after she was born and she now has her own personality. She is calm most times unless she is hungry. Her smile melted my heart over and over again.

Oh how they grow so fast!  Sleep baby sleep … tomorrow will be filled with so many learning opportunities for you.

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I was doing so well with not getting sick this year and then bam! A sore throat, cough (only when I talk), chest congestion and fatigue. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have the fatigue to go with it as I could still get things accomplished.

But, as is normally the case, the body wants to rest and it makes itself known. Fortunately I have no fever. My fear is always the chest congestion as I am asthmatic and in previous times colds get in my chest and then I have to make a run to the emergency room for the wonder drug called Prednisone. It helps clear things up but it also has side effects if used too much that aren’t so healthy.

So I do all the good things — eat healthy, drink lots of fluids and wait for the virus to run its course. Hopefully it will run fast!

With crummy weather behind and ahead of us, my husband and I decided to get out of the house, drive to the Indian Mounds Park and go for a walk. Why not join in the bleakness of the day by going to an Indian burial ground? Actually, it was quite pleasant.

The park is in St. Paul, Minnesota and has 6 Native American burial grounds with the oldest supposedly constructed 1500-2000 years ago.  All of the mounds are protected by a low fence. The park overlooks the Mississippi River and the St. Paul airport.

As we drove up, we saw a children’s playground and a picnic area. Once out of the car, we took a paved walking trail.

Peek-a-boo views of the Mississippi River and the St. Paul airport can be seen although later in our walk we were able to get an unobstructed view of both of them.

As we continued on our walk, we saw an Indian? statue and a large covered shelter area that had a view of the street on the other side of the park. The area has a lot of older houses and is an “established” neighborhood. Friendly joggers greeted us as we walked past them.

Currently there are six (6) mounds (literally) that have Indians buried beneath them. At one time there were a lot more but some of them were destroyed in the late 19th century by developers.

Off in the distance the skyscrapers of St. Paul can be seen.

An old “airway” beacon that was built in 1929 still stands and was used to provide the city of St. Paul with air service between Chicago and St. Paul. One thing I learned is that “airway” beacons flash white-to-white while the normal airport beacons flash white-to-green. The beacon is original except for a refurbishing that was completed in 1995.

It was a goodly walk we had today. The constant rain/drizzle that we have been having makes everything look very very green and the tree trunks look dark. Guess beauty can be found just about anywhere, eh?

(To read more about the history of these burial grounds, click here for the Wiki article.)

The last two days in Minnesota have been simply dreary. There is no better word for it.  We’ve had quite a few rain and thunder storms pass through.

It’s almost 4 in the afternoon and the skys are dark with huge white clouds hovering and drenching us with torrents of water.

Last evening around sundown, we had a respite from this weather. The clouds turned pinkish white and off in the distance a large patch of beautiful bright blue sky with puffy clouds interspersed in between made me say “Wow!”

I wish I had taken my camera with me to snap a picture but since I was on the highway picture-taking wouldn’t have been practical. Not to mention that my new camera had a mishap that will force me to look for another camera — again.

I usually like to iron on days like today but it’s Sabbath and my back and neck feel achy so it’s time for a much needed nap. Hopefully when I awake the weather will have taken another respite from its dreariness.