I was talking to little lettuce plants on a comfortable Saturday morning in my backyard. I had made a couple trips back and forth from the front yard, then settled on this project of refreshing a frozen-back warm season bed Read more…
Category Archives: Family
On a Wednesday night in October, I packed boxes bursting with plants, a bucket rattling with shovels, bags of heavy potting soil, and an assortment of plastic pots and seed packets. I remember choosing to wait until morning for the Read more…
Photos by Anna Van Devender unless otherwise stated. Escaping the Southern Arizona heat in June is a Van Devender family tradition. Driving to Yellowstone in Summer ’23 was by far the furthest road trip we’ve tried. My husband and I Read more…
Wildflowers spread wonderfully in my backyard this spring. My foot also suffered an injury mid-March. So I was especially thankful for the show of color and natural beauty I could enjoy at home in lieu of hiking more wild spaces. Read more…
Weather forecast for Northern Arizona: 100% chance of snow on Jan 1, 2023. In the days leading up to our family’s December 31, 2022 departure, my husband and I exchanged weather websites, nervous looks, and turns with the kids. I Read more…
Plenty of things about Disneyland make me happy: the thrilling rides, the delicious food, the artistic details at every turn, my 9-year-old’s joy while hugging a wookie, my 12-year-old’s awe after viewing the fireworks. Our family navigated Disneyland this summer Read more…
When my brain woke up at 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning, it tossed and turned a wide range of need-to-dos: scheduling a work project actually outside my control, catching up on yesterday’s errands, up-potting young plants that have one by one Read more…
Overheard about snow near the end of February, 2022… “It’s soft.” “It’s like a sponge, a snow sponge.” “Mom, we found a stalagmite, I mean a stalactite.” “It’s like cotton candy.” “OK, we can just snack on snow cones.” Read more…
Brrrr! Slip some shoes on, don’t bother with a jacket, grab the pile of tattered old sheets and towels, and toss them over the six or so plants and beds that I don’t want to freeze on a freezing night. Read more…
The melon’s parents grew on a commercial farm, likely in Yuma. It was delivered to Basha’s or Albertson’s, then consumed by my family, sometime in 2020. Our family dubbed this variety “Grocery Store Cantaloupe”. The melon’s parents grew in a Read more…
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