So here it is March already and I have broken my New Year’s resolutions many times over.  I didn’t actually write it down….but it was in my head.  My resolution?  Write on my blog more consistently….have a plan….like once a week.  Well, well that didn’t materialize, so I changed it again in my head.  In February it was “write one post a month.”  Surely I could manage to get out 12 posts in a year.  Evidently not.  Maybe  if I had actually written it down, gotten it out of my brain and onto a piece of paper, I might have had a better chance.  But life is all about second chances and “do-overs”, so I’m trying again.

Back in November I challenged anyone who might have read my blog to go and Look in Your Own Backyard. I’m sure if anyone did that, but you really should do this sooner rather than later and not be like my mother.  Last year, I went to visit my mother who lives in Phoenix, Arizona.  She moved there in 1976.  40 years ago….well, now 41 years ago.  It took her 37 years before she visited the Grand Canyon….which is only a mere 3 hour drive away.  So while I was there, I thought we should visit some of the other fun sights that are in her own backyard.  We made a “bucket list” of places my mother has never seen….so in two weeks time we tackled a mansion, a castle, three National Park Monuments and one historic village, plus we checked out a special light show at the Desert Botanical Gardens and spent an afternoon watching the National Hoop Dancing Competition.  Whew!  My mother was born and raised in Chicago, so one of our first ventures in backyard exploring was to visit the The Wrigley Mansion. Continue reading →