The Hundred Acre Wood(lawn)
kingdom phylum class order family genus species
"Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Ringo..."
the first six books of the new testament according to Helen's niece
"The longer I'm in Kansas the more I think
Dorothy was an idiot."
Josh, from "Veronica's Closet"
"...If I ever go looking for my heart's
desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it
isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!"
Dorothy Gale from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
"Why, anybody can have a brain. That's
a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the
Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we
have universities of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers.
And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than
you have. But they have one thing that you haven't got: a diploma."
The Wizard of Oz from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
"Some people without brains do an awful
lot of talking. "
The Tin Woodman from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
"How long can you stay fresh in that can?"
The Cowardly Lion from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
"Where do you want to be oiled first?"
Dorothy Gale from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
"I hope your tail holds out!"
The Tin Woodman from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
"I do believe in spooks. I do believe in
spooks. I do! I do! I do! I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks.
I do! I do! I do! I do!"
The Cowardly Lion from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
"She's not only merely dead / She's really
most sincerely dead."
Munchkin Coroner from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
This page used to have a background of
bats because of Helen's love of Halloween
. And Helen's love of Halloween is a partial microcosm of her personality.
But the other partial microcosm is her love of The Wizard of Oz .
She cries every time Dorothy clicks her heels and says "There's no place like
home." 
Yet another partial microcosm involves our shared obsession with being cheap.
Clearance , sale and bargain are our favorite words
in life, but we don't let that keep us from goodly things (see Body Shop,
MJDesigns, antique stores and book stores). I took her to visit
Habitat for Humanity 's Metroplex
ReStore ("YOUR SOURCE FOR QUALITY NEW AND USED
BUILDING AND REMODELING SUPPLIES" which I discovered in an inspiring
article ) because you can get things so inexpensively
there. She found Italian tile at a near steal. I showed her that she could
get nearly the same tile at Home Depot for a genuine steal. Here's the microcosm:
she declined because -- cheap though she is -- she preferred to spend her
money where it would benefit those in need. That's Helen for you -- a cheap
heart of gold.
Helen, appropriately -- as a Halloween fan--, works as a vampire. She sucks out people's blood and tests it.
She is a
botanist and especially loves herbs. Whenever I have a botany question
that the
Time-Life searchable garden can't answer, I go to her. Strolling through
a botanical garden
with her is an indescribable treat.
She used to work at the Monterey Bay Aquarium .
She loves her cats, Saf and Moji, and her bird, Max.
Pepper 10-28-81 to 10-16-97 She and I share a favorite poem, The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot .
We both consider antique malls;
The Body Shop (partially because of its views
, partially because of the smells );
MJDesigns ; and bookstores to be Holy Ground. We don't take off our shoes,
but we do observe a moment of silence as we breathe in the heady aroma (respectively)
of musty treasures; Dewberry and Satsuma ; craft chemicals;
and books . Ahhhhhhhh, heady
stuff!
So well did she teach my daughters to touch only the walls at antique malls,
now whenever we drive into an antique mall parking lot, the girls start squealing
"Walls! Walls!"
So well did Helen and I set an example, now whenever the girls see something
interesting in an antique vendor's stall, they rush up to it squeal "Oooooooooooooo!"
and look over their shoulder for somebody else to join in the squealing.
We hope you enjoy your visit.
Alpha's Quadrant
* The Wild
* CLCW aka Sarah Bernhardt
* Motherhood and Housewifery
* Nikki & Kilory *
Ballerinas *
I think I can I think I can
* Hundred Acre Wood * Barney and Freud
Tour Vienna
* Celebrating the Seasons *
BB Guns and Frozen Tongues
* Films
vs. Movies * The Nutcracker and the
Mouse King
* 2 Exhausted 2 Write Newsletter Archive
* Xeriscopic Butterfly Gardening *
Butterfly Gardening for Ninnies * The Neglectful
Gardener * Antique Roses
* Garden Xeriscaping & Gramma *
Gloomy Grumpy Pawpaw * Teddy Bear Wars
* Pawpaw vs. The Squirrels
* Dandelion Appreciation *
Virtual Tea Party * Whoville *
Green Eggs & Hams * The Zoo
* Chocolate * 101
Reasons to Hate Young Skinny Women *
The Biscuit of Ally McBeal
* Green Gables in My Garden *
I love Paris in the Springtime
* Like Cats & Dogs *
Hedgehogs * The Belfry *
Helen's Yellow Brick Road
* Friend Links *
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy *
The Galaxy Song
* Looney Camelot * Cathedral Guardians
* Gorey Q *
Donald and The... * The Doubtful Guest
* Book of Practical Cats
*
Greatpa * Photos *
Family History & Photos *
Civil War Diary of G. T. Granger
* Wes Stoops Memorial *
Love Letter to Gramma * Diana's Life Lessons
* Jesus Wants Me for a Sunflower
Track Woozle prints to
Eeyore's Thistle Patch
Go on a searching expotition to
AltaVista
Go on a searching expotition to
Lycos
Are you a Houyhnhnm or a Yahoo
?