Hello Morning Glories, and happy Friday!

Welcome back to the Good To Grow site, and thanks for being here.

We love our Fridays around here. But we also love our Thursdays.

Last night, they burned Old Man Gloom in Santa Fe in the Fiestas de Santa Fe. Woohoo!

The burning of Zozobra is a long-time Santa Fe tradition. People are supposed to write down their worries, their fears, their heartaches, their sorrows. Then they pin them to Old Man Gloom, and they set the whole dang thing on fire!

Poof, away go your problems.

I think it’s super sweet. Here’s a photo I got from Zozobra’s facebook page:

They say he’s stuffed with shredded paper, like old police reports and divorce papers.

Here’s another:

So the idea is that everyone should be good now. A clean slate for a new year. Time to move forward now that your troubles are gone.

Which brings us to the day after the burning of Zozobra.

A Friday Funday.

There are no worries here!

We’ve got entertainment. We’ve got puzzlers. We’ve got imaginary prizes.

We’ve got everything you need for this Friday after Zozobra.

Except hangover medicine.

(The fine citizens of Santa Fe will have to get their own.)

So let’s get started by greeting our Panel of Experts. Hello, charmers!

 

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Liza!”

So cute! From left to right, that’s Andy, Thack, EZ, Dottie and Lewis. If you’d like to know more about them, please click here.

The burning of Zozobra always comes after Labor Day weekend. In that spirit, I decided to ask my Experts what they did this past weekend.

Q. What did you do over the Labor Day break?

The venerable Expert Andy Williams, you’re up first:

A.

Let’s try to recount the Labor Day weekend….
-drove to my cabin with my wife Colleen in Munds Park, AZ to escape the AZ heat
-hiked on Sat. & Sun., 4 miles & same trail each day
-enjoyed 2 fine dinners; grilled NY strips & stuffed pork chops
-consume about 16 Bud Lights over the 3 days with our dear friends Mike & Wendy (mostly Mike)
-tired of beer & switched to a Wendy’s new-found concoction, the “Moscow Mule” in a cold copper coffee cup (highly recommended for refreshing pallet cleansing)
-hung with them at our place between their renovating trips to their new cabin
-hit the sack by 10:30 each night
-awoke early each morning & hung out on the deck in the coolness of the ponderosa pines nearby
-drove around on my Polaris Ranger in the rain
-picked up my buddy Frank’s Montana Grizzly beer pong table & hauled it to Phoenix for him
-took 2 naps, 1 Sat. & 1 Mon., with the calming sounds of Sept. TV baseball in the background
-“watched” my beloved Dbacks piss away 2 straight games in the 9th with blown saves and bad baseball
-bought & packaged 1/2 case of medium New Mexico hatch chiles that were being roasted at a farmer’s market in Flagstaff
-stopped by Altitude’s bar in Flag for a few cold ones & nachos
-pondered my existence and purpose under the stars with a nice Montecristo cigar on my deck
-waited all day Mon. before finally succumbing to awaiting professional responsibilities on Tues. by driving safely back home to Chandler
-didn’t see Dottie, but always feel her new AZ spirit when driving past the Sedona exit on I-17
-tried to remember what this week’s Expert topic was so as to provide insightful entertainment in hopes of delightful imaginary prizes from our lovely moderator

Man, I love that you’re on this panel!

What the heck is a Montana Grizzly beer pong table? Wait! I don’t want to know.

Either way, that is a correct answer again this week. Thank you for being an interesting person, Andy. Never a dull moment around you. I love it.

Just so everyone knows, they are Hatch, New Mexico chiles. Hatch is the name of the town where they are grown. I think it’s cool that you can buy them in Flagstaff.

I’ll have some pretend prizes for you and the rest of the panel at the end of the show. Well played again this week.

Expert Tim Thackaberry, here’s the question to you, sir:

Q. What did you do over the Labor Day break?

A. I did an absolutely staggering amount of nothing. I actually took a nap 3 days in a row, that’s how spectacularly nothing-filled my Labor Day break was.

Most boring answer I’ve ever given, but sometimes the truth is sadly mundane.

Well, that’s what holiday weekends are for – relaxing. Personally I view any day that I get to take a nap as a victory. But that’s just me.

Thack, your nothingness made me smile, so I’m calling that a correct answer. Good job, and congratulations!

Expert EZ Ed Johnson, here’s the question to you, sir:

Q. What did you do over the Labor Day break?


A. I spent a steamy afternoon watching the Lobo football team play. I walked the sidelines of the field’s new turf — fake grass. Financially it makes sense, and real grass takes a pounding from those 250-pound plus athletes. But there is nothing like fresh grass.

But the real treat was watching the Southern University marching band. They have performed at Super Bowls and Presidential inaugurations. The crowd responded with enthusiasm. It was the coming together of folks who would otherwise never cross paths, a gathering that offers the best potential of sports.

I read your article in the paper about that game, and enjoyed it as usual. I heard a lot of people talking about that game. I wish the Lobos well this season.

EZ, you love sports, I love sports, that’s for sure a winning answer again this week. Nicely played!

Normally Expert Dottie and Expert Lewis are up next, but neither one of them is available this week. Waaaaaahhh! There’s always a chance they’ll be able to send something in later, in which case I’ll update the post, but for now, let’s just admire their adorableness:

And then wrap up the panel.

What, was that too abrupt?

Sorry about the short panel. Stuff happens.

To the fellas who were here, thanks guys! You’re awesome.

For playing this week, I’d like each of you to have the following prizes: One labor of love, 14 bonus points, a shiny medallion, six laborless interludes, delicious ham, one brown-eyed reptile, a bushel of fire-roasted Hatch green chiles, two buckets of glory, an imaginary trip to a tropical island, beesknees, and a pleasant embrace. Congrats, and thanks for being here!

That does it for this week’s Panel of Experts. The Experts will return in exactly one week. They hope to see you back here.

Up next, the answer to last week’s puzzler.

???Real or Fake???

Last Friday, I asked if this plant was real or fake:

Let’s see how you answered:

Charlie Hebert wrote, “Hmmmm… Plantastic. One Giant Leap for Plantkind!
This week, let’s go with real again. Too many natural imperfections to be fake.”

Ivynettle from Letters and Leaves wrote, “Real!”

Stephanie from Indianapolis wrote, “It looks like an alien. Definitely came from Mother Nature. (AKA Real) Dittos on Andy’s full moon story. Again, Liza, you chose wisely!!”

Mary wrote, “Real! AND really pretty!”

From facebook,

Carol Kiser wrote, “real”

Alissa Harper wrote, “real”

Jeness May wrote, “real-succulent”

Carrie Wells wrote, “real.”

Aaron Jackson wrote, “It’s real but thinks it is fake. It is currently seeking help to accept the fact it’s real.”

Liza Wheeler (the one in the UK) wrote, “real”

That’s ten votes real, zero votes fake.

So what’s the correct answer? Maybe a wider view will help:

Real!

Fake plants could never be that pretty! I heart real houseplants.

Charlie, man-oh-man, you are speedy! The first answerer is the best answerer, so that means, Charlie, you’ve earned the title of Premierst, Conscious, Initialest, Fastest, Most Enduring Champion of the Houseplant Blog Universe and Beyond. Good job! You may multiply all the prizes by three winning moments.

I’d like to thank all of you for playing by awarding you the following prizes: Laborless empathy, a platter of caramel, 11 1/2 extra credit points, hopscotch, assorted accessories, two feathered friends, 14 bragging rights, one time warp, three doowops, a good look, and eternalish gratitude.

Congrats, and thanks so much for playing.

Up next, the new puzzler:

???Real or Fake???

Is this plant real or fake:

Think you know the answer, smartyplants? Leave your best guess in the comments section. You have until midnight next Thursday, September 13th, MST (that’s 2a.m. EST) to cast your vote. I’ll reveal the answer and the winner(s) after next week’s panel of Experts. Remember, the prizes may be imaginary but the link to your site and the glory of winning are oh-so-real.

I’ll be back manana, hope to see you here.