Apricots & Lightning Bugs

My friends just visited from Utah. Steph is my oldest friend. I was 2, she was 4. We were in a sort of "our gang" on Simpson Avenue. There was Ginny, Susie, Steph and I and then Stephen, Steph's brother.  Anyway, Steph stayed the last few days with her hubby and 4 kids who's ages fall in between my oldest and youngest. They brought me apricots from their tree and I'm loving them! I saved some pits so maybe I could grow a tree here that's related to Steph's tree. Anyone know anything about growing apricots? I don't know if we have them here. What we DO have that they don't is lightning bugs, fireflies.
Her kids and mine had a couple nights of collecting and if there is a shortage, you now know why.

It's hard for me to imagine being from a place that doesn't light up at night with slow-moving lightning bugs floating around magically in the backyard. In my childhood neighborhood we often ran out after dinner with jars and knocked on doors, gathering all the kids to run about catching them. One thing I haven't shown my kids is lightning bug rings made from yanking off their lights and sticking them to your fingers. That's something I'd rather not continue. (But it was fun while it lasted.)


This little cute one is my namesake. She is a delight and she actually inherited one of my traits without really being related to me through a bloodline. She is a bottomless pit and she ate me out of house and home. Watermelon, hot dogs, cookies, popsicles, watermelon, cereal, waffles, pancakes, popsicles, watermelon, popsicles and watermelon! Last night she said she was hungry. I opened the fridge. Chicken? Cheese? Do you like yogurt? Yes. Do you want some? Nope! Grapes? Crackers? Macaroni and cheese? Chips? Cereal? ..... ...... ..... Finally: Are there any popsicles left? (She knew there was ONE left.) Yes, there's one! I'll have a popsicle. I toured her through my entire kitchen and pantry and she wanted her umpteenth popsicle of the day. But she's cute....and she IS named Jennie, so......