the familiar and unfamiliar

When I lived in Houston I never paid much attention to the Bromeliads in the garden centers, for all I remember there were not any. Now I am seeing them everywhere - garden centers, Target, and Wal Mart, all have had a wide variety of colors - perfect for brightening cold winter days.

Speaking of which, our readers in Brasil will love this, the day before yesterday we had a snow storm - if my knees had not hurt so much I would have run up and down the street like we did as kids, arms spread and mouths open - enjoying the novelty, the beauty of a fresh snow fall.

Mom and I had to leave an hour early to go get Camillo in Phoenix for fear that the roads would get icy

but by our return in late afternoon the roads out of phoenix were a big parking lot - no one seems to know how to drive in the rain but there was no ice. As we began the drive up the mountain on 69, we were rewarded with a typical Arizona sunset. A day to fill the senses with pleasure.