I created the “word cloud” above at Wordle.net using three and half years of blog entries from our site. The larger the word, the more frequently it has appeared on our blog. Wordle crunches the text you give it down to the top n words (n=150 for the image above) and arranges them according to numerous options you can set. It’s pretty slick. The main limitation is that you have to paste the text into the web form. So, for example, you can’t just give it a URL and have it go grab the text and then create the cloud. I think a clever feature would be for Wordle to process RSS feeds!

Anyway, I did it the old fashioned way by extracting all the post content from my blog’s database, scrubbing out all the embedded HTML code, and copying all 400+ KB to my clipboard.

Update: The Wordle.net website has added the feature to create a word cloud from an RSS feed!

Evan loves the Frog and Toad stories, and one of his favorites is “Dragons and Giants” which appears in the book Frog and Toad Together. In this story, Frog and Toad set out to determine whether they are brave. Standing side by side while examining themselves in a mirror, Frog states, “We look brave.” But Toad is unconvinced and responds, “Yes, but are we?” They decide that climbing a mountain is a sure-fire way to answer that question. The story continues with our favorite passage:

They came to a dark cave.
A big snake came out of the cave.
“Hello lunch,” said the snake
when he saw Frog and Toad.
He opened his wide mouth.
Frog and Toad jumped away.
Toad was shaking.
“I am not afraid!” he cried.

Evan is thrilled every time by the snake’s classic “Hello lunch” line, and it is often repeated in our house.

So naturally, when I found the friendly fella’ pictured above sunning himself in our back yard on a Saturday afternoon, I immediately went inside and asked Evan if he’d like to come see. It’s just a little garter snake, but Evan naturally approached with caution. It was the first time he’d ever seen a snake in his back yard so we made sure to reassure him that this was a friendly snake who only enjoyed eating little bugs. After a few minutes, our friend zipped away under the fence. Since then, Evan has, on a couple occasions, headed outside saying — very bravely, I might add — “I’m going to look for the snake.”

… which brings us back to the question: Did Frog and Toad decide they were brave? Why not sit back and listen for yourself:

(There is also an extended and slightly bizarre claymation version of “Dragons and Giants” that dates back to 1987.)

That’s the end of the Seen in our yard series for now!

Roses. <sigh>.

I will grant that: 1) a well-maintained plant can be semi-attractive, 2) one could find the sheer variety of blossom shapes and colors intriguing, and 3) yes, they can even produce beautiful flowers. But why do these plants require so much effort? Back in 2001, when we bought our house, the back yard had several rose plants. Today, our yard bears virtually no resemblance to what was there when we bought the house. We’ve completely replaced the fence, installed a new sprinkler system, removed multiple trees, added raised beds, realigned and replanted the beds and grass, put in a new patio and walkways, and more. And for some reason, through all of this transformation, we have preserved and transplanted most of the original rose plants. We’ve even added two or three plants that were given to us by friends and family! But why? Every few weeks throughout the spring and summer, Jen is out there spraying various soap solutions and sprays on these plants to fight off fungal infections, diseases, and pests. (Check out this still-under-construction master list of rose problems: Rose Problems and Diseases.) And then there’s the seasonal pruning and winterization effort. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t particularly enjoy any of it. And truth be told, we almost never pick the flowers, which is not to say we don’t occasionally notice them in the yard, but it is to say that our enjoyment-to-effort ratio is probably lower than it could be.

So what to do? Well, this might be the last season for roses in our yard. All the roses are currently growing on one side of a raised bed, and the rest of the bed is a hodgepodge of dahlias, marigolds, gerber daisies, and geraniums. We’re trying to decide what we’d like to grow in that bed instead of flowers… or at least instead of roses. Pretty as it is, this may be the last summer a rose blossom like the one above is seen in our yard.

For the past several years, we’ve had a few azalea plants in the courtyard by our front door. The plant closest to the front door is located mostly under the roof soffit and, up until I put in a drip irrigation system a few years back, would die off every couple years. (We’re currently on the third plant in that location.) The other plants survived but were somewhat leggy, did not grow much, and did not produce many blossoms. But for the past two or three summers, these plants have been getting watered (albeit modestly) throughout the dry season. The results have been amazing. This year, the plants have rewarded us with the densest blossoms ever, and the foliage is also thick. Alas, many of the blossoms are now starting to brown and wilt, but the one pictured above stayed fresh just so I could take its picture and share it with you.

There are two more Seen in our yard entries coming soon!

I chased this bumblebee around one of the Spirea japonica plants in our front yard for several minutes trying to get a crisp, clear shot, but he was just moving too fast. He would scurry around the tiny blossoms collecting pollen for about 5 seconds and then fly to the next blossom cluster. The photo was taken in the early evening with daylight waning, and that is probably why all I could get was blurry bee.

Jen got a little too eager for fresh peas and picked these pods well before they were ready. Despite their early separation from the vine, they were still sweet and tasty. And the pods were equally delicious!

So far, our garden is doing quite well this year. Our first crop of lettuce, which we grew from starters for the first time this year, was a huge success. (We’ve never had much luck when grown from seeds.) In fact, Jen just planted a second round of lettuce starters this weekend. Despite reports of rampant early tomato blight in Lane County, our plants seem to be doing very well. This may be partially because of our aggressive pruning method, which helps keep plant foliage well above the ground and thereby less vulnerable to fungal infection (though that is not the primary reason for pruning like we do). The zucchini (back after a year off) and crookneck squash (new this year) are doing well, too. The only plants that seem to be struggling a bit are the pole beans. They are occupying a shadier area of the garden this year, so that is likely to blame for their slow start.

I’ve got a few more installments of Seen in our yard in the queue. Stay tuned!

As you can see, last weekend’s project was to spruce up the front yard for this weekend’s double-birthday celebrations. (Quiz: Can you name both people whose birthdays we will be celebrating this weekend? The answer can be easily found in the archives.) I am not a big fan of bark. In the past (and in other areas of the yard) we’ve opted for more natural(-looking) products, such as blended mint compost and color-rich mulch. But these products — especially the compost! — are not as effective at keeping the weeds down and lose their “curb appeal” pretty quickly. Couple that with being pinched for time, and douglas nugget bark it was! Truth be told, it looks pretty good. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Spreading the 2 cubic yards of bark was made a lot easier thanks to my very dedicated and efficient helper. Evan had a great time loading his big yellow dump truck, driving it across the yard, and dumping the bark in one of the beds. I was totally impressed by how focused he was. He worked the whole time I did, and he did an amazing job. (Surprisingly, his dump truck was actually better than my wheelbarrow for filling in some of the smaller spaces and around plants!) He earned a yet-to-be-redeemed trip to Dairy Queen with me for all his help!

This year’s first harvest is a bunch of fresh, tender lettuce leaves. And for the record, we should have started harvesting it at least a week ago! In the past, we’ve always tried growing our salad greens from seed, and for whatever reason (soil? sunlight? variety?) we just have not had great luck. So this year we planted starters for everything except our pole beans (with which we’ve always had good luck). As we’ve done for several years, we purchased all of our starters from Hayhurst Valley Organic Farm at the Lane County Farmers Market. We’ve found their plants to be consistently high-quality and reliable, and early in the season they carry a wonderful variety of garden starters.

I’ve uploaded some additional photos of Evan and Erin sharing the rocking chair into the following private gallery:

The title of this post comes from an entry on the blog of a friend of mine from high school who blogs under the alias Sioux. He recently posted a simple request: A member of his extended family is dying of leukemia. Doctors have apparently deemed him beyond treatment, and to keep his mind off the inevitable, he has started collecting postcards from places near and far. He is eight years old.

If you’d like to brighten the day of a dying child by sending him a postcard or two, simply leave us a comment on this post or send us an email, and we will forward you his address (the boy lives in Poland). According to Sioux, “Just a quick greeting is all that’s needed and you can be as anonymous as you like.”

Please feel free to replicate and/or reference this post on your own blog.

Update: My friend Betty, whom Sioux and I both had as our French teacher, has put up a similar post: Plea for Postcards.