Welcome to a potpourri of fun! On this page you’ll find the latest comics by Jari Thymian, a motivational quote, a crossword puzzle contest, and whatever else we decide to throw in here. Be sure to check back for the latest!
- Earth Corner – With Pat Walsh
- Star Stories – by Kelly Ricks
- Riding the Santa Fe Trail – by Laura Brewer
- Every Day Should be Earth Day – Editorial by Laura Brewer
- Find the Differences
- Frank Mahannah – Gallery
- Exploring Climax Canyon by Mauricio Meneses
- Madi’s Kitchen
- Quotes & Riddles
Quotes & Riddles
Earth Corner – With Pat Walsh
Green Grass Lawns
Posted March 2, 2025
Years ago, I lived in a cute little bungalow with a white picket fence in Takoma Park, Maryland—a quaint suburb of Washington, D.C. Our house had a small green lawn, and the grass grew without any help, no extra water or chemicals needed.
Now I live in Raton, and as spring approaches, I know the sound of sprinklers, lawn mowers and weedwhackers is not far behind. Which raises a question. Why are we so determined to have the perfect green grass lawn? Especially here, in a place where rain is not a common occurrence?
Americans have been obsessed with green grass lawns for some two hundred years. One of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, had a hand in this. In the 1780s, Jefferson traveled widely and “was favorably impressed by the large expanses of green turf on English country estates,” according to the book Lawn: A History of an American Obsession, by Virginia Jenkins. Jenkins goes on to say Jefferson is “credited with being the first to try to create an English-style lawn on his country estate, Monticello, in the Virginia Piedmont in 1806.”
Meanwhile, wealthier Americans sought to escape from crowded cities. Indeed, the first railroad suburb of Washington D.C. was Takoma Park, founded in 1883 and “advertised as a healthy place to live and raise children,” Jenkins writes. She notes that even by the 1850s, suburban communities were promoted as places where a working man could own a house “with a grass plot on which your children can play.”
As lawns took hold, they were made of non-native grasses, because native grasses didn’t lend themselves to a smooth, even look. Take Kentucky bluegrass, common across the United States. It is native to Europe and Asia, and many plant specialists believe it was brought here by early settlers. Garden Guides | The History of Kentucky Bluegrass
While we may see a neat green lawn as the American ideal, the truth is a lawn is considered a biological desert because it doesn’t support wildlife with food or shelter.
“Dominated by a single species of non-native grass, these manicured expanses offer little to the vast web of life that thrives in a healthy ecosystem,” says the website Medium. Beyond the Green Monoculture: Rebuilding Biodiversity in the American Lawn | by Nstephens | Medium
In addition, maintaining green lawns often involves using chemicals, fossil fuels (via gasoline lawnmowers) and lots of water.
These days, many folks are rewilding their lawns and shifting to native plants. At our house, we converted part of our yard to native plants like Rocky Mountain bee plant. We have less grass to mow and water, we avoid pesticides, and we have switched to a wonderfully quiet, battery-powered electric lawnmower.
Next time you notice part of your lawn that is tough to maintain, consider shifting that patch to drought-hardy natives that will attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to your own little wildlife preserve.
Samples of Xeriscape Landscaping
Star Stories – by Kelly Ricks
Total Lunar Eclipse
Posted March 2, 2025
The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge… how much sooner man could have walked on the moon… had we listened to a child’s fantasies. It is truly a pity that so many lose their gift of imagination to the steady hum of the status quo. – Albert Einstein, born March 14th, 1879
Our moon is full of stories. Ever since ever since we have looked up at our faithful celestial companion and wondered why its shape changes and how it got it’s spots. Is a hungry dog nipping at its edges? Did a rabbit throw gobs of mud onto its face? Is the moon a huge mirror reflecting Earth’s oceans and continents? All our stories about the moon are efforts to make sense of what we see and experience, and sometimes teach a lesson. Albert Einstein knew this too: science and understanding begins with wonder, imagination, observation, and investigation. And there are few things as full of wonder as an eclipse.
After thousands of years of observation scientists can now predict the movements of the moon with pinpoint precision.
- March’s full moon will be near apogee—its greatest distance from Earth—and will appear smaller than average. Some call it a “micro-moon.”
- March 13 @ 11:09 pm: the full moon will begin to enter the darkest part of Earth’s shadow (umbra).
- March 14th @ 12:26 am: totality begins. The moon is fully covered by the umbra.
- 1:31 am: totality ends as the moon starts moving back into the sunlight.
- 2:48 am: the moon will be free from the umbra
- During totality, the sun’s light spectrum will be refracted by Earth’s atmosphere till only warm colors remain, causing the moon to take on a rusty reddish hue.
This is the “Full Blood Moon.” An eerie sight in the wee hours of morning. Most old stories about eclipses imagine the moon being devoured by animals or demons, and ancient tales told under its red gaze might leave you with a sense of foreboding. But in this case, reality is even more fantastic and beautiful than myth. Let’s take a page from Einstein and imagine standing on the eclipsed moon looking back toward Earth.
You’re standing above the Sinus Medii, the “Middle Bay:” a small basalt plain at the center of our Moon’s near side. The terrain is not unlike the high volcanic plains of northeastern New Mexico…minus vegetation. An impossibly black circle surrounded by a shimmering ring of red, orange, and gold hangs high in the sky. You can see every sunrise in England, Spain, and West Africa, and every sunset over the open Pacific in a single glance. Their combined colors bathe the moon’s surface in a wash of fiery hues. Countless stars—normally invisible in the bright light of lunar day—shine like pinpoints across the sky, while Saturn, Venus, and Mercury—much brighter than surrounding stars—flank Earth’s reddened atmosphere. The lights of civilization are still too dim to make out, but somewhere down on that jet-black disc, there are a few people in northeastern New Mexico looking back in wonder.
And I almost forgot…Happy Birthday Mr. Einstein!
Help our Earth – Editorial by Laura Brewer
Every day should be Earth Day, but officially we celebrate in the U.S. on Monday, April 22, 2024. Below is a graphic of some of the things one can do to help our Earth.
Posted March 9, 2025 – Provided by Laura Brewer
Madi’s Kitchen
See additional recipes on Madi’s Kitchen page
Key Lime Pie
Posted March 9, 2025
This key lime pie recipe is perfect for both Pi Day (March 14) and St. Patrick’s Day (March 17). With its light green color and golden looking crust, it looks like something a leprechaun would eat with some corn beef and cabbage. Pi Day is actually on the same day as White Day so it could be fun to make little tarts for White Day. Reference my macaroon recipe for more information on White Day. If you do make tarts, I’d suggest making them about the size of a cupcake that way it’s easy to carry around and eat and also you don’t have to buy lots of ingredients for a pie.
Did you know that Pi Day is for both the number and the dessert, which does make sense because you’re going to make pie for both of those days anyway so why not combine it into one and have a pie party? A pie party could be really fun! You could make different pies from around the world, or you could do a year of pie, doing a different pie for each different holiday.
If you want to make this recipe extra special for St. Patrick’s Day, you can make your own crust and make clovers out of lime slices and the pot of gold out of a lemon slice. I feel like this pie would fit beautifully with some corned beef and cabbage too. The pie has a tangy flavor while the soup has more of a rich flavor. If you want to learn more about corn beef and cabbage, you should check out my recipe from last year for St. Patrick’s Day. Both of these recipes aren’t the only two dishes you can make for St. Patrick’s Day you can also make something like soda bread or jacket potatoes which is my recipe for next week.
The good thing about this recipe is that it is a no bake pie, so you can make it any size you want easily! Because if it were a baked pie, you’d have to change the time and temperature to work better for the chosen size. It also makes this great for parties since you can make individual pies or one big one. If you want, you could also make this a lemon pie by changing the lime to a lemon. It might not work as well as a real lemon pie (I’m not sure I haven’t tried this method out yet) but I have a feeling it would be really good.
I hope you enjoy the recipe, and you have a magical and fun adventure for St. Patrick’s Day and plenty of pie for Pi Day. Enjoy!
Easy Key Lime Pie (no bake)
Ingredients:
- 16 ounces cream cheese (I used two 8-ounce blocks, softened at room temperature)
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
- 1/3 cup lime juice (2 large limes was enough for me, but get some extras just in case)
- Zest of 1 lime divided (leave 1/3 for garnish)
- Graham cracker crust (10-inch store bought) If you want, you can make your own crust to make it pop.
Instructions
- Add softened cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and 2/3 of the lime zest to a large mixing bowl, and beat on high until smooth and creamy (about 4 minutes).
- Transfer to a graham cracker crust.
- Sprinkle reserved lime zest in top, and refrigerate until filling is set, about 3 to 4 hours.
- Serve chilled, and garnish with extra lime slices, if desired
Find the Differences – Search by the Sea
Find the five differences in the two images above.
Exploring Climax Canyon by Mauricio Meneses
Artist Mauricio Meneses (D’MAU) is creating videos highlighting sights in and around New Mexico. Visit his YouTube channel to see more. Click on the image below to go to the YouTube video.
