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times have I invited you to come out for a visit? You think I should enter some sort of cryogenic chamber when you leave and freeze myself, so absolutely no changes will occur around here between your visits?  You’ve got a dynamic woman for a mother, you Lucky Girl.
    These cabinets store the food from the garden.  Some of it is dehydrated, some canned, but all of it is deliciously organic.  In the pantry I also have a reserve of store-bought food and other items I go through regularly.  It gives this old woman living by herself comfort to have a food cushion, just in case."
    "So this is the preparation that you spoke about," Ela said.
    They entered the two -bedroom, two-bath rancher on about half an acre located just out of town.  The south side of the house faced the backyard through double French doors. The now enclosed yard, with a solid seven or eight-foot tall natural fence, made a peaceful view. The sandstone patio was comfortably furnished with padded, wrought iron lawn chairs and a matching table.  A redwood pergola covered with climbing vines shaded the patio's sitting area.
    " Again, wow Mom, very nice. You have spent my inheritance . . . but I like it, I really do."  Then her gaze reached the backyard.  "Where’s the yard, Mom?  What’s all that stuff?"
    " Fertilization and cultivation, in progress.  Come on!"
    Ela followed her mother into what had once been her domain as a kid, but now looked more like Farmville.  As she did she found she could barely keep up with her disabled mother.
    " I can remember you trying to sprout avocado seeds with toothpicks a couple of times.  Oh, and then there was the time we were going to get rich growing pot," Ela said, tossing "the look" back to her mom.  "But I’m just not pulling up any farming tendencies exhibited by you in all the years we’ve hung around each other.  What brought you out of the closet and into the garden now?"
    "Plants are much easier— and quieter—than raising kids.  You’re proof enough of that," she said with a big smile and a wink. "Now, instead of yelling at you to not run with the scissors, I carry them out here and snip off any leaves that think they can shade out the competition.  I rule my fiefdom with implements of mass veganism."
    "That is not a word.  Are you telling me you’re a vegetarian now, all of a sudden?"
    " No, but I’m practicing to be one when meat becomes too expensive.  Besides, it keeps me regular eating like a rabbit."
    " Mom !" Ela said in the same way she said "yuck". "Is it true that all you old fogeys talk with each other about are your bowel movements?"
    "No, but lack thereof gets quite a bit of discussion.
    "MOM!"
    Ela knew her mom just loved to banter and fiendishly set out little traps for the unwary to fall into.  Her mother also knew how to make you want to end a discussion when it was going into an area she wanted to avoid.
    The covered patio offered comfortable places to relax, so Con got them each a glass of iced tea, and they soaked in the view and the w armth of the late fall sun.  Ela pulled out her smart phone and started checking for news about tomorrow’s scheduled meeting in Gateway.
    T he appointment for tomorrow was set for 10 A.M., so they would need to leave about an hour earlier. Ela had confidence her mom would be able to entertain herself for an hour, maybe by looking for sunlight striking the canyon walls in just the right way for a picture or two; she had always loved photography.  Then they could rejoin and have lunch.
    Evening came, and with it a bit of jet lag for Ela, and she opted to go to bed early in her old room, "Hey, Mom."
    No answer .
    "Hey, Mom!"
    "Yes dear, you don’t have to shout."
    "Really?  Might be some discussion needed on that subject."
    "Now, Ela Nor, be nice to your old, disabled mother."
    Using her first and middle names together meant her mother was serious, no matter how sweetly she uttered it.  She went to her mom and gave her a hug.  "My day