Reminds Me of Mom

Fresh off my visit to Florida to see the family, my parents have been on my mind a lot, especially my mom. She and my dad are getting up there in years so it meant a lot to me that we could go see them together. I have not done a lengthy Christmas visit since I've been out here in Texas. I think we did go a few years ago but it was a very, very short hi-bye trip as we were actually going to pick up bee supplies in Georgia. Took a slight detour overnight.

Mom often gives us cuttings of plants. She is amazing with food and plants. A natural. You give her a dead plant, she gives you blooms by the end of the first year. Love it. She gave us another Bong Mai for the new year coming up (Tet, that is). I shall keep this one inside to see how it fares as the climate in South Texas is not really for it. Besides, having it inside on the counter allows me to see it everyday and so it reminds me of mom several times a day. Not that I need a plant to remember mom. But when I see it, I have a nice, short, different memory of the past.

She once also gave us a lemongrass cutting from her gigantic bush in Florida. We planted it here and it also grew gigantic - even Smokey loved it, chewing on the blades daily it seemed. We lost it to a harsh freeze one year and I really wish I had dug it up to take it in. Anyway, the last time we went to Houston for the opera, I saw frozen stems of lemongrass and thought I'd see if I could root them - they rooted! YAY! In spring, I will plant them in a big container perhaps. I'm not sure yet. I'm just happy it rooted because it also reminds me of mom. When we felt under the weather, she'd cut some blades and make us a steam bath with it. Soooo incredibly soothing and smelled divine. I haven't cooked a lot with it as of late but I want to pick that back up when we have enough for me to do that. We did stuff some in a turkey one year and then had it fried. That was good eating.

Anyway, happy new year my friends. My one resolution for myself this year is to post more regularly on La China as well as on the Seguin blog. It's always amazing to me when I meet people and they tell me they still follow my poor, neglected blog that I can't bear to turn over to someone else or to turn off. Sigh. So...I shall endeavor to keep it up.