A Southern Sun...

This past Saturday, we drove down from Asheville to my parents' place in the Orlando area. It was a long drive, but Max, Azalea and Kitsuni were all very calm and pleasant. This definitely made the drive more enjoyable.

When we got to my parents' house, it was still light out and Azalea drove around in her Jeep. She was deeply impressed with "CD player" that actually made music. She said that she LOVES her new Jeep.

Max also enjoyed spending time with my dad. It was cute to see them together. Max has been following him around and calling him "daddy". I think it might be because my sisters and I call him "dad".

Max particularly enjoys spending time with my mom. She can get him to smile and laugh like no one else. It's especially sweet when she makes something for him to eat and he says, "Hmmmm... yum!"

My parents are both... collectors... of things. Some might call them hoarders. (See, I come by it naturally.) The backyard is an interesting landscape of old cars, building materials, and exotic plants. For instance, one of my dad's old trucks being swallowed up by jasmine flowers.

Jasmine is probably one of my favorite scents. I love the sweet, flora smell. It's intoxicating and heady. I wish that it would grow where I live.

One of my best friends, Jennifer, still lives in Orlando and she came by. We were joking about how long we've been friends and how if our friendship was a person, it'd almost be ready to vote soon. It is comforting to know that I have friends that have known me through so many different phases and fads and grew up with me.

Above is a picture of her reaching up for a pomelo. It's kind of like a grapefruit that's extremely large.

Above is a picture of one of dad's other trucks. I sometimes think that I get my love of rusty things from him.

Above is a flowering vine growing on the barbed wire fence. I think it's a Carolina jessamine. I always find the intersection of nature and man interesting. My parents' yard is filled with examples.

Jennifer took the picture above of me peeling and honey bell orange. The fruit was so sweet it was almost like candy.

Here's a picture of us posing in front of the bottlebrush plant.

Above is a close-up of the flowers. I love the star-shape green flowers under the flossy red.

Another little visitor was this spider. It was hanging out under a leaf on a lemon tree. I don't remember these from my childhood. It was iridescent green, creamy white, with spots of bright orange. I remember more the crab spiders with the bumpy, wide white backs with red points. Or the jumping wolf spiders. Or even the black widows.

It has been a good trip so far, connecting with family and friends in the land where I grew up.