The weather has straightened up to the point that I can go outside every morning at first daylight and see which flowers are blooming, and what seeds have germinated and sprung up in the garden.  That's how I like to start the day.  
Once again I'm having quite a problem with my knees; going uphill or ascending steps is very painful lately, so that I limp my way along during much of our daily walk.  I think I'm going to have to let Cliff do the hills by himself, and I'll walk around on the level until he rejoins me.  
So here I am weighing the consequences of going to the orthopedist.  Unless I go, I don't know whether I have other options besides knee replacement.  If it's time for knee replacement, do I want to be laid up in summer?  We'd have to cancel our motorcycle plans, and I doubt that I could do much gardening while recuperating.  On the other hand, right now we have two insurances:  Cliff's plan from work, and my Medicare Complete; once he retires, it will only be Medicare.  I can't help but think about the people I've heard of who developed staph infection after knee surgery and almost died.  There are so many things to consider, but of course if I don't go to the orthopedist, I won't be making any decision.  
OK, my whining is done for this day; after all, it could be worse:  My knees don't hurt when I'm sitting or lying down.    
My sister, as always, brought back bushels of grapefruit from Texas.  They are especially appreciated this year, since there was no crop last year.  
Grapefruits must have been fairly cheap when I was a kid, because I remember we had them fairly often.  Mother taught me to eat them by slicing them in half, sprinkling a teaspoon of sugar on each half, and digging my spoon into each section one by one, bringing out a nice little juicy spoonful of fruit.  When I had gotten all I could with my spoon, I'd squeeze the half-grapefruit onto my plate, pick up the plate to my mouth, and slurp all the juice as though drinking from a cup.  I never did have very good table manners.  
Nowadays I stand over the sink or step outside, peel the grapefruit like an orange, eat the pulp from each section and toss the bitter membrane.  There's no need for sugar on these Texas grapefruits.  
If we don't go for a motorcycle ride today, I'll mow the yard.  It's looking pretty bad.  
I haven't been blogging as much lately, nor am I reading as many blogs as usual.  I guess I'm just in a slump, or maybe it's spring fever.  I don't know when I've ever been so happy to see spring arrive as I am this year.  

I'm thankful for grapefruit

Grapefruits have been so expensive the past few winters that I've refused to buy them; of course it helps that my sister brings me a couple of bushels of them when she returns from Texas, and those are free. I know I'll be eating my fill in the spring.

When I was a child, my mom would cut a grapefruit in half and then sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar on each half. I thought that was the way they had to be eaten.

Sometime after I grew up, I discovered the natural sweetness of grapefruit. I learned to peel them, take the membrane off one section at a time, and eat them that way. This isn't something I'd do in public, since it requires that I stand over a sink; I imagine that's how monkeys would eat them, face buried in the fruit and juice dripping off the chin.

For some reason, grapefruits have been on sale the past two weeks, as cheap as I've seen them in years. I bought some at our local store for twenty-five cents apiece.

They're not nearly as good as ones picked fresh off my sister's Texas trees, but they'll have to do until she comes home.

I just found an interesting bit of history about grapefruit: "A relative newcomer to the citrus clan, the grapefruit was originally believed to be a spontaneous sport of the pummelo (q.v.). James MacFayden, in his Flora of Jamaica, in 1837, separated the grapefruit from the pummelo, giving it the botanical name, Citrus paradisi Macf. About 1948, citrus specialists began to suggest that the grapefruit was not a sport of the pummelo but an accidental hybrid between the pummelo and the orange. The botanical name has been altered to reflect this view, and it is now generally accepted as Citrus X paradisi." (I found this information HERE.)

So, I was probably at least four years old before my mom gave me those halved grapefruits!

Cliff isn't supposed to have over two grapefruits a week because he takes Lipitor, but he never ate many of then anyhow. He doesn't like messing with any food that leaves him with sticky fingers. Plus, he thinks it's too much work to peel them. The man isn't lazy when it comes to work, but he really doesn't like to work for his food.

Any type of fruit that grows in Missouri has to be picked in a two- or three-week period, once a year; so I was amazed when I learned that fruits can be picked from a grapefruit or orange tree all winter long. My sister starts eating hers when she arrives in Mission in November, and she picks the final ones off the tree in March or April when she heads north; wouldn't you think they'd rot or something, hanging there so long, ripe?

And that's my meandering for this afternoon.

Dreaming of Texas

That's my sister, Maxine, and me at South Padre Island; my daughter and I flew down to visit her at her winter home in Mission, Texas, in 2003.

A couple of years after that, the daughter, her three children, and I made the trip in her van. What a trip that was! Texas is a big state, and Mission is about as far south as you can get.

That's me and the grandchildren showing off our grapefruits.

Maxine's husband passed away in 2002, I believe. They had wintered in Mission for several years, and all of us wondered if she'd go to Texas by herself in winter, with him gone. You bet she did!

She's eighty years old, and I've intended to go visit her by myself, just once; I'm sure there won't be many more opportunities to go. For a couple of years I've planned the trip, but I'd put off buying tickets and then find myself without funds. This time I was smart: I purchased my airplane tickets in October, before all the winter expenses set in!

So on these recent cold days, I've been reminding myself that I shall soon have four days in sunny Texas, with all the grapefruit I can eat.

Yes!

(Cliff and I sneaked in a long motorcycle ride Sunday... check it out!)