X – Detail, originally uploaded by nate_marsh.

My parents made a fantastic book of ABCs for my cousin in 1975. He was about 6 at the time, but the book is unafraid to venture into more advanced topics. like the xerophytes above.

When I visited my aunt & uncle for Easter they brought out the “book” which is in remarkably good shape, suggesting it was kept safely out of reach from my cousin.

I was able to take some pictures of each page, the detail and humor is a testament to the creativity of my folks and perhaps a splash of Yuengling. I love it.

Here is a link to the whole set or watch the lil’ show below!

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I had a great little trip to California over the holidays. On the plane ride over there, the kind folks from JetBlue gave me 3 free mini-scotches on account of it being Christmas Eve. I almost passed out – shock & scotch! Actually that is not a bad drink idea…

Anyways, I did many crazy things over there, including looking at photos on other people’s cell phones, as the above indicates. But all and all, I think the area is pretty similar to dear New England.

The only thing that continues to blow me away is the citrus. Every time I walk past a lemon/lime/orange/tangerine tree I stop and gawk. Like “WTF is that doing there?!?” Maybe it’s because of my sheltered childhood in the mountains of PA and have rarely traveled far from there but I am astonished to see a real tree with real oranges on it outside, it’s like my mind is going to asplode. The icing on the cake was a friend of mine gave me a tangerine that was from a TREE IN HER DAD’S BACKYARD!

I know this is whole “citrus tree” thing is unsurprising to most people, but for me that is seriously a major reason to move to California. I can see myself now on the roof of my apartment building, tending to a vast citrus grove, creating delicious fresh drinks each morning and then skipping over to my job at the Free Love Sustainable Squirrel Monkey Training Center!