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Date Palm: Phoenix dactylifera

This picture was taken from the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park Alliance website

My fascination with Palm trees continues. With Palm Sunday arriving this weekend, I have been exploring the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera). There are many of these trees on the property owned by the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park in California. One of my fondest memories is taking my daughter on a Safari drive through this park when she was young. We were visiting my sister who lived in Los Angeles at the time. My daughter was thrilled and a little scared to feed the giraffes carrots. They would come up to the safari truck and with their prehensile tongues they would scoop them out of our hands.

The fruit of the Date Palm tree are called Medjool dates. I bought some the other day at one of our local grocery stores. I have eaten them in salads at restaurants, but I have never bought a box of them to consume at home. We have been eating them today, and I can definitely say that they are delicious. My plan is to chop some of them up to put into a pound cake I hope to make this weekend. I enjoy experimenting. One of my recent goals this year is to try new foods and experiment with different recipes. I am currently focused on the Medjool date.

The dates I bought were grown in the Bard Valley of California. I had to research the name Bard since I attended an elementary school in California in 3rd and 4th grade by the name of Richard Bard. Curiously I don’t ever remember eating whole dates when I was young and lived in California. This is a shame since I could have discovered them long ago.

If I end up making the cake this weekend, I will post a picture. It would be a nice addition to a Palm Sunday brunch.

I made the Vanilla Sour Creme Pound Cake and added chopped medjool dates. I baked it this morning. Now all I need to do is make the brunch tomorrow morning to go with it. It will be simple.

I found a picture (08/09/25) of Ivan the giraffe that would use his tongue to scoop the carrots out of your hand.

Heart Strings

The common name is bleeding heart, but I like the name heart strings better. The scientific name is written in the caption. The pictures were taken by me long ago at Meadowlark Botanical Garden not too far from our home.

Today we celebrate the 35th birthday of Laura. We had lunch at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. The quote written on their to-go bags is: “There is no love more sincere than the love of food.” I would like to add “and family” at the end. However more people probably agree with their version.

We all agree that Carrabba’s Cannoli Cake for Two was incredibly delicious! Better to have birthday cake out than have a whole cake at home (way too many calories.).

This cannoli cake for two** at Carrabba’s Italian Grill is very moist and wonderfully delicious.
It was shared by two people, and still the calories should not be consumed daily.

In attempts to get a picture of this cake to share, I found many recipes out there trying to recreate this cake at home. It is good to know I will be able to find the recipe if I ever decide to make one at home. I am definitely more inclined to go back to Carrabba’s. They had a wonderful promotion on taking home meals. I should be set for the rest of the work week ahead. Thank you Carrabba’s!

March Madness 2025

I remember the long lines waiting to get into Cameron, hours spent waiting, all to get good center court stadium seats. We chanted songs and cheers.
This madness continued throughout the basketball season.
I won lottery tickets to go to the Final Four one year.*
The good old days!
Over the years since then I have not always followed the team. Some years when my life has allowed me the time, I watch the games.
This past Friday I watched Duke dominate the other team. They won!
They play again today. 

The other day when I was looking at pictures, I saw a Duke fan wearing a Blue Devil mask with the words "U Can't Touch This" written on it.
This MC Hammer song came out the year my daughter was born just a couple of weeks before her birthday. This song always puts me in a good mood, especially when I watch MC Hammer do his dance!

Go Duke!

* Update--I decided to look up the year I attended the Final Four. It was 1978 and the final four was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. My roommate Allison, was from Charlotte. Duke made it through to the Championship game, however, we lost to Kentucky that year. The score was 94-88.

Correction to the update: It was the first round of March Madness that I attended in Charlotte, N.C. in 1978 and not the final four. Duke did go on to the Championship game that same year.

International Women’s Day 2025

AI generated image with the prompt: Business woman holding up her arms to show her muscles.

Keep your head up. Look up and see the big blue sky, and feel the energy all around you. Feel the pulse and rhythm of life.

Stand up tall,stretch your neck, and loosen up.
Try to flex every muscle in your body.
Feel your inner strength pump up your potential.

Get ready to move, to excel, to support others, and to keep going even when the hurdles get higher.
Your opposition needs to be pushed back. Do not let them overwhelm you when 
you come head to head. Your voice needs to be heard!

Celebrate your successes, and do not let your shortcomings hold you back.
Keep getting up and doing your best.
Do not let others discourage you from your goals.
Stay strong!

Bless, Blessed, and Blessings

I have several thoughts on my mind this Sunday. I think I posted about the cardinal flower yesterday because Pope Francis has been in the news.
My thoughts and prayers are with him.

Last week I received my Virginia Real ID. This is my birthday month, and it was time to renew my driver's license, so since the law has changed regarding this, I upgraded to a real ID. I am good now for eight years before the need will arise again.

My inside joke is that I will be blessed next week since adding one year to my age will make my age 'code' for blessed. I see this word written on clothes, garden stones, garden fairies, etc. Making it a joke is one way to lessen the thought of 'older age' or 'old age'. I don't feel old.

This hypertufa planter I made 14 years ago is still standing strong.
The inside needs to be redesigned with new plant material and fun features.
I found the recipe online at gardeners.com. Here is a picture.

You can find directions at the above mentioned website. I did not follow these exact directions when I made mine years ago. If I remember correctly I found the directions in a book or magazine. They were not complete directions, so I had to improvise with how to make the form. I used a big old picnic basket that I lined with a super-sized, plastic, heavy duty garden refuse bag. I used gloves to slap the mixture on the sides. It was much harder to make than I expected. Once you start the process, you have to finish it. I was very blessed that it turned out as well as it did. The only reason I made one is because I kept seeing them at an upscale garden center, and I really wanted one, though their price was more than I could justify or felt comfortable paying.

Since I will be blessed this year (ha!), I should redesign the planter with some new mini or dwarf plantings. It currently holds a dwarf azalea, and some dwarf hostas named "Mouse Ears." These are drought tolerant. I still have the faded fairy with the word "Bless" on it. I will look for more garden decor with the words: bless, blessed, or blessing. Also I need to look for an automatic way to water it.

Looking ahead with plans to improve some things is a good way to feel positive right now.

Mascots and Team Spirit

Sunday, February 9th, 2025, will be a big day for players, mascots, and fans.

I am not a huge football fan; however, this upcoming Super Bowl has the potential to be a record-breaking game.

I have my pretzel bites and buffalo chicken dip ready to serve on Sunday.
I have some whole wheat pizza dough ready to defrost.
I might not need it. My husband brought home a Sam's club pizza tonight.
I don't have an appetite for eating pizza all weekend.
I do have some orange juice and blue moon beer.
I rarely drink alcohol. I might have a beer mimosa this Sunday.

I looked up the team mascots today. They are cute and look like they can rally up their team's spirits and get the crowd roaring!

Good Luck to all and let us all hope the game is fairly played.

Can You Guess the Correct Number of Gumballs in this Machine?

I was introduced to the “gumball problem” when I read about a mall contest that offered a prize to the person that could most accurately guess the correct number of gumballs in a giant machine. This image is AI generated.

There is a statistical theorem called the Central Limit Theorem that addresses this problem. If you want to get technical, you can research this theorem. I looked to Microsoft's co-pilot to explain it in simple terms. I wanted to make it understandable to school children with short attention spans.

Ask Microsoft co-pilot if you want to dive into another math challenge.

If you want the most accurate average, it is best to have a large number of random educated guesses. The more guesses you have, the more likely you are to arrive at the correct answer.

Also, having a diverse group with a range of perspectives can lead to a better average that hits or gets closest to the correct number.

Here is my editorial opinion: I think the "wisdom of crowds" can be used in many ways. We all want to be right or think we have the best answer, and the best way of arriving at it. However, I think it would be far more interesting to see many different methods of trying to guess the correct answer. This way you can learn something about how different people think about different problems, and the many methods you might try. Keep in mind the gumballs have to stay in the machine. You cannot remove any during the contest, or else the number will change.

Give Me a High Five, Please <..>

One goal I have for 2025 is to have more fun, laugh more, and not be afraid to be silly.

Casper the Friendly Ghost was my favorite cartoon as a kid growing up. To be honest, though, I have not followed his reincarnations in the entertainment industry.

If you happened to be named Casper (any spelling), and I were to meet you, I could not help but think about the friendly ghost cartoon I watched as a child. Past memories impact my thoughts and actions even today. I think a lot of us are that way. We have been molded by our life experiences. We have to consciously work at editing ourselves if our past notions are outdated.

My hopes for 2025 are that I continually update myself with information learned from new experiences, and yet not so much that I edit out any humor. We all need to laugh more and not take ourselves so seriously.

I wish health and happiness to all the good people in our world. Let us make 2025 a good year working together for the benefit of all.

Does Size Matter?

“There is no clear correlation between absolute or relative brain size and intelligence. Assuming that absolute brain size is decisive for intelligence, then whales or elephants should be more intelligent than humans, and horses more intelligent than chimpanzees, which definitely is not the case. Jul 24, 2015″ I took this quote from NIH, National Library of Medicine.

I can also tell you that when it comes to backyard bird hierarchy, size does not always matter.
Case in point was an event witnessed by me today in my own backyard.
On display was bravery and not necessarily intelligence. In this particular case bravery took home the prize.

Late morning I stepped outside to a light holiday snow. It was expected, and I had filled the bird feeders the day before.
I felt a weirdness in the air, and a moment after I had this feeling, a huge coppery colored hawk flew over the pond heading in my direction.
It was close, and I marveled at its beauty and size. I wondered why it was in flight towards me, something totally unexpected.
Then I spotted the angry instigator, an adult mockingbird closely chasing it. It was unbelievable, you could see the absurd size difference.
The hawk was easily twice to three or four times bigger. The mockingbird's anger made up for the obvious difference in size.
The hawk was gone, and soon the mockingbird returned and proudly stood guard atop a metal hook by the feeders.
Even a large blue jay stood nearby, yielding until the mockingbird finally went on its way.

Cowrie, Cowry, Kauri

(picture from Wikipedia.)

I found a small, smooth and shiny shell today. It was lying on the floor near my foot. I picked it up, and then slipped it in my pocket for later inspection. I’d gotten into the habit of doing this back in the days when I thought I could divine messages from found objects.

When the time came for further inspection, I recognized it as a common shell that I’d seen many times throughout my life: in shell games, jewelry, and other crafts. My specific shell is about an inch long, and it has a teardrop shape. Its colors are softly hued. It has a pale silver teardrop in the middle surrounded by a thin line of orange-red, and beyond that on the edges and under-side it is a soft sand color. Its top is domed, and the under side is flat with a slightly curved opening winding down the middle with small ridges on both sides.

I knew it had to have a name, but I could not remember what it was. I did a little online searching and was soon able to answer my own question. Its name is Cowry aka Cowrie or in Hindu Kauri. They come in various sizes and color patterns. I had to smile when I read that it is the shell of a sea snail. The snail has become somewhat of a totem or animal spirit for me this past year or so.

I also found it strangely coincidental that I found it a day before the start of Diwali – the Festival of Lights in India. I read that the Kauri shells are seen as a symbol of the Goddess Lakshmi. I don’t know very much about these things, but they do intrigue me.

At the end of a tiring work day, I like to let my imagination ponder the spirit of Lakshmi running through my life and mind. I’ll save my found shell and place it somewhere special.