Team Gray!

I have been getting up with the sun lately. To take up my new hobby–watering the grass. I read in the paper that we’re technically not in a drought, but tell that to the grass. It has rained maybe twice in the past month. The yard was slowly turning into straw. The side yard, featured in the movie, was brown with tiny green highlights. . .

The back yard, which is very shady, didn’t turn as brown, but it was headed that way. I noticed drought patches in my precious baby grass.

It was time to take action.

I remembered how my little yellow friend had done such a good job establishing grass in the back yard. Mind you, it dug little ditches in the ground, spread the grass seeds to the ditches and created interesting rings of grass back there. But, grass!

I thought, let me put Nelson to work in the front and side yards! And it is the little engine that could! I started to recognize its patterns. First it would shoot off one of its little spouts. I’d put it back in. Then, the water would stop for a minute, and then it would start over, and be good for the cycle of watering.

Curtis watched as Nelson watered the street in front of our house, and our neighbor’s yard one day. He went out and adjusted it. You mean, it can be adjusted? He even got that errant spout to stay in! Now, it sprays perfect concentric circles in our yard alone. What a trooper!

We had burned out our oscillating sprinkler last year, so we replaced that when we replaced our leaky hose caddy and hose. Now we have a 100 foot hose in a sturdy caddy. And a big green oscillating sprinkler that I don’t know very well yet. It makes good puddles in the back yard. But when the puddles are dry, the grass looks happier. Thanks to the new sprinkler, it almost looks time to mow the new grass.

And many a happy morning and evening are spent in the company of my little yellow friend.

There was a time when I wouldn’t miss it. Then, it sort of faded away. Maybe it’s time for a resurgence.

Kids love candy, even that so sour it’s good kind.

Happy Love Thursday!

I wrote for a local black paper when I was pregnant with Xay. I was interested in being a critic in those days, so I reviewed movies, TV, and plays. Since I was writing for the black paper, I felt burdened to review black movies exclusively. So that ended up being Higher Learning. period. In the spirit of that, I thought I’d write a list of the top 10 black themed movies for families.

1. Sister Act 2: This is my all time favorite. Yanni and I have large blocks of dialogue memorized. I remember seeing it in the theater with Yanni and my mother on Yanni’s 2nd birthday. The film broke right before the huge climactic scene of St. Francis Academy singing in the competition. The movie theater redeemed itself by giving us free tickets to see it again. It did not disappoint. When I found the video at blockbuster a few months later, I snapped it up.

2. Pride: We just saw this one, and I reviewed it. It definitely belongs in my top 10.

3. Akeelah and the Bee: I so feel this young girl struggling with excellence. I could watch it over and over and over.

4. Good Burger: Oh my goodness. The scene with George Clinton alone makes this one of my favorites. It’s very silly, just like Keenan and Kel.

5. Jump In: Love the double dutch movie. The hair, the moves, and the plot very similar to Sister Act 2, I might add. What’s not to love?

6. Happily Ever After: Though technically not a movie, this series plays on HBO family. Yanni, Xay and I watched it in the early 90s, and we loved these fairy tales.

7. Fat Albert: Keenan should do more movies! I loved Fat Albert as a child, and I thought this movie was funny and farcical.

8. BeBe’s Kids: I think this is too edgy for my kids, but it was very funny, and the animation was cute.

9. Up, Up, and Away: This Disney channel movie about a family of superheros was cute. It features Robert Townsend and Sherman Hensley.

10. Roots: This was a television event when I was growing up. We watched it as a family, a neighborhood, a school, and a community. And even though the discussion it provoked was not always pretty, it was powerful. The world is a different place today. Maybe those Roots discussions are responsible.