the garden: i have some news:

It's here!
You can order my 2013 calendar
from my other web residence:
Photography by Vicki Johnson

Please click on the link above to get all the details
and order your copy.
i'm told people really love getting them as gifts...
:^)

And now
i just need to say
that i had no idea how to respond to the
indescribable calamity that hit neighbors to the east of us on Halloween.
"Devastation" is a word that gets tossed around a lot
but this
like many other natural disasters that strike all 'round the globe
was truly that for thousands of NY and NJ residents.

Most of you know
i think
that i live an hour west of NYC.
We escaped the worst.
Sandy did not harm us the way it did so many just a few miles from here.
A few trees fell in the area
not in our garden
and some lost power for almost 2 weeks
(we went only 36 hours without)
but very few structures were damaged
and there was no flooding.

One of the most difficult things
about one of these tragedies
is that we learn the sad truth
that governments and utility companies are ill-prepared to cope
and while reporters can seem to make it to neighborhoods
where people are in great need
inexplicably
too many people are too often
literally
left out in the cold by official first-responders
We weep because we are powerless to rush to their aide
and then, gratefully
we learned of "Mormon Helping Hands"

Many of you know i am a Mormon
albeit inactive.
Yes, i found the presidential campaign very difficult
but that is neither here nor there
because
these folks are the ones who truly exemplify
what it means to be Mormon:

i hope you'll watch this video
filmed last Sunday, November 11