Our son Brian holds Raiden, who appears to either be a bug or an alien, perhaps an alien bug.
Raiden is such a sweet, good-natured child that he inspired me to dedicate my latest picture children’s book to him, Sunny Saves the Day. The hardcover version of this title is now available on Amazon. His mother Kristi did the book design for it. I plan to show the cover to you in another post.
With Love,
Russ
Several of you asked how our home addition and remodel incoming along. Now that the electricians have begun installing light fixtures and other electrical do–dads I’ll be better able to show the progress and results to you. I originally planned to start with our new master bathroom but the electricians haven’t finished in that room due to technical issues and my photos came out blurry, but I can at least show the shower to you. It’s a door-less walk-in and wheelchair accessible (thinking ahead as we’re not getting any younger). A pane of special safety glass will extend from the top of the half-wall in the foreground to the ceiling.
With love,
Russ
The early bloomer gets the glory as this little show-off demonstrates how it’s done to her budding community on one of my cherry trees. Warm weather (75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit) in February after heavy rains has inspired blooming buds throughout Silicon Valley (formerly known as the Valley of the Hearts Delight.) Too few fruit trees remain in a valley once largely carpeted by them. I make it a point to soak in the beauty of their flowers whenever I can.
I fondly remember walking through cherry orchards on windy days as a child while white and pink petals fell and swirled around me as snow flakes in a storm.
Speaking of fruit trees, I see that a brand of trees called “Fruit Cocktail” is now available for sale. They are grafts of multiple varies of fruit grafted onto a single tree. I’ve seen some with three varieties of apples or cherries, and some with pears, peaches, etc.
I plan to buy one the Fruit Cocktail triple-cherry trees when our remodel and addition are done. Instant cross-pollinization!
With Love,
Russ
I read three of my children’s picture books to a class of Kindergarteners today and loved every minute of it. Their reactions to the stories and their questions after each were delightful. When I’d read all three I asked which was their favorite. Here was the vote count from the class of fifteen:
6 MZ’s Magical Day (My newest in hand.)
5 Wilbur the Duck Who Flew Upside Down (My top-selling book to date.)
4 Clyde and I (My first book.)
I’m encouraged that my newest stories are getting higher vote counts. I like to think I’m improving as a writer. I also like that all three stories were favorites to at least 20% of the youngsters.
I look forward to being invited to read for other classes of K-3rd Graders.
With Love,
Russ
This quote resonates with me and I wanted to share it.
With Love,
Russ
Polio, a terrible and tragic crippler of millions of young children when I was growing up appears about to be eradicated.
I just read an article that included this from snippet from Bill Gats: “…humanity could see its last case of polio this year.”
Source: CNBC.com
Way to go, world!
With Love,
Russ
If your eyes are blinded with your worries,
you cannot see the beauty of the sunset.
~ Jiddu Krishnamurti ~
Source: https://soulgatherings.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/todays-quote-1813/#respond
With Love,
Russ
An excerpt from a heart-warming article I read today:
A teacher was asked by a high school student what to do if a shooter came into their classroom:
“I want you to know that I care deeply about each and every one of you and that I will do everything I can to protect you,” she relayed to them. “But – being in a wheelchair, I will not be able to protect you the way an able-bodied teacher will. And if there is a chance for you to escape, I want you to go. Do not worry about me. Your safety is my number one priority.”
Absolutely heartbreaking and a testament to the kind of truly selfless educator she is, no doubt. But her students had a plan of their own. The class remained quiet for a moment, then a single student raised her hand.
She said, “Mrs. Schimmoeller, we already talked about it. If anything happens, we are going to carry you.”
With Love,
Russ
Sources: Several, and Leo @ Not All News is Bad
Thank you for your kind and generous post, Jay. I’m honored by your comments!
Russ
My Beloved and I took our oldest Grandson to Hidden Villa Farm nestled in Los Altos Hills. It was a cold day with a biting wind. We’d planned an outdoor picnic but five minutes into setting it up convinced us it was car-picnic weather. Much better!
Thomas tries out the goat-milking station from the viewpoint of the goat.
There are lots of friendly chickens and some flew-hopped onto the fences to say hi.
I caught the chicken to the right mid-“flight”– or at least the half in the shot.
With Love,
Russ
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Russ Towne's A Grateful Man 