Breaking Ties and Succulents

It's interesting to watch and hear from parents whose kids have graduated from high school and are getting ready for or heading off to college! There's still a lot involved in choosing a school and classes, finding the right place to live and breaking or bending the ties that have held the family close together for so long.

As sad or poignant as this time of life can be, there are more and brighter things in the future! Now days, kids don't cause empty nestedness! They call, write, text, facebook, or twitter and can stay in almost constant communication. Many children choose places to live that are geographically distant from parents, but we can always make sure that they are still close at heart no matter where they live!

Today's picture is from one of our succulent garden cactuses in full bloom. Seems California is caught in the middle of a long drought and no end is in sight. While ours is nothing compared to the one ravaging the midwest, we still want to do our part to reduce water use. Landscaping and plantings are one way to do that. We took out our grass and put in succulent gardens. Succulents are perennials and hardy enough to live (and thrive) through the winter here and there's a remarkable diversity in the different plants.