I haven’t written in a bit because I took time off to go visit my mother. She lives on a beautiful lake in the Adirondack Mountains.

Growing up, I spent my summers in or on the water whenever the sun was out. It was a wonderful way to spend the days of my youth. However, when my mother would tell me to put on sunscreen, I would think “Why would I wear sunscreen when I want a tan?” and proceed to slather on my spf zero suntan oil. My grandmother would take more radical measures and try to cover me with newspapers when I was lying out on the dock – a habit that irked me as I wound up covered with newsprint. My mother will now confess, however, that when she was a girl, she didn’t heed her mother’s warnings to be careful of the sun either. In fact, at times she would grab a bottle of cooking oil from the kitchen, rub it on her skin and then head out to the beach. Kids did that in those days.

The reason for my visit back East this time around was to help my mother out. She has just endured her third surgery in four months for skin cancer on one of her hands. She has been very brave, but it has been a painful and frustrating time for her. She is healing well, thankfully! She now wears sunscreen spf 50 whenever she goes outside and I too have come to appreciate sun protection.  Sometimes we really should listen to our mothers.

My mother is a gardener. It runs in the family. While visiting Mom, I helped out in her garden – pruning trees, planting annuals, weeding, watering and so forth. Here are a few pictures of my lovely mother and her garden which is just starting to bloom for the season. She can’t wait to get back out and work in it. Soon, Mom : )