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 Day to day stuff....a memoir without order. |
 Imagination is described by Webster as...The act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses in reality. Albert Einstein said "Logic will get you from A to B, but imagination will take you everywhere."  I never realized it until I read it somewhere but there are ways to boost one's imagination: Create a visual journal Draw whatever you see for 15 minutes a day. You don't need to be an artist. Think like an artist Cut out pictures from magazines & piece them together to create an original image. Listen to Bach Close your eyes while playing your favorite music. Or listen to the sounds of nature on a CD or in the great outdoors. Play word games Try thinking of as many words as you can that begin with MAR...or you pick. Daydream Let your mind wander, or focus on a single object & study its characteristics.     Everyone has a story....here's mine.....c ** Image ID #1701066 Unavailable **  |
| Not a lot going on here but since it says ten days thought I would check in at least. I stick my nose out the door as little as possible because we are having a heat wave and a drought here in the swamp! Temps in the mid 90s everyday and teeny little episodes of rain if any. My poor ac is practically shouting at me! I did write a little story for my critique group tomorrow and since there was nothing to lose, I submitted it to my local writing group's literary journal (https://writersallianceofgainesville.submittable.com/submit). It's titled "What's In A Purse" and is about the contents and revelations from those contents. I'm not optimistic about being accepted but you know that old saying...."why not?" I had a super quiet Memorial Day weekend. My daughter wanted to come down but I talked her out of it. The traffic and the heat was ferocious. And I heard on my local news Monday evening that there was a fire with lots of smoke near a small town that she would have needed to drive through. So both of us had a quiet holiday. Hope yours was as enjoyable. |
| Yesterday morning I went to a local pre-school and read my book to nine four-year-olds. It was awesome. They were so curious, asking questions, telling me about their experiences. What a great group of little ones. I have to admit I was slightly nervous about going, but once I was there and settled in, they made me feel so welcome that I had no time to be nervous. So happy I went! |
| I hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day! I was happily visited by my daughter, granddaughter and 4 great grandchildren so, yes, a happy Mother's Day for me. I had flowers made for me by the great grands and an orchid and chocolates from my daughter. And we got some much needed rain! |
| I had blood work done last Thursday for an upcoming doctor's visit. It was to check my sed rate and crp which are inflammatory markers. Both were in a good range...which result I suspected very highly before going to the lab. But I guess it is nice to be positively informed. A good thing at any rate. On the same day our life History group met, and it was especially enjoyable, maybe because we had a small group (5, normally 12-13). After reading our stories aloud, we had lots of time for discussion, and it made the time fly by whereas sometimes it seems to drag...just sayin'. Today, my local writers' group (Writers Alliance of Gainesville) met for their monthly Sunday program. The topic was "How to Write Fight Scenes". Dan Sharp, the speaker,who is a research scientist at UF in real life, gave us lots of information on different weapons, how a fight scene must have a purpose in a story, and how not to lose your reader with too much detail. He gave us several demonstrations with guns, knives and yes, a walking stick. The knife scene gave me a flashback of Psycho! And, get this, if you are within 21 feet of your attacker, a stick will beat pulling a gun every time. Who knew? Hope I never have to use that information! |
| We are currently in drought conditions here in Alachua County in Florida. Actually, I think I heard 33% of Florida is now in a drought. In fact, the last "moisture" we had was the ice storm a week ago last Friday which hardly counts. It was such a freak thing. Spring is supposed to be lush and green. And dust is almost unheard of in Florida. Not now. My miniature gardenias are blooming, not as prolifically, but the smell is more intense or so it seems...and the jasmine as well. And no rain is expected in the coming week. Just especially hot high temps of 90F and above. I try to water a little but plants know the difference. I'm still enjoying my back porch even with the high temps. Dry makes a huge difference so good and bad like most things. Afternoon short naps in the porch swing are one of my favorite things...until the sound of a lawn mower (the loudest white noise on earth)! But that doesn't happen often. I can swing and doze for 20 or 30 minutes and feel so refreshed when I'm up and awake again. And at 80 that's a big deal! Today, I have to pick up a couple of prescriptions (glaucoma eye drops) and then go to another store to get birdseed. Sometimes I order no waste seed from Amazon but the squirrels think I ordered it special for them. Conflicted and not sure which is the best thing to do so I end up alternating my seed purchases between local and online. And I need to get a birthday card for my great granddaughter who, on May 2nd, will be the big number 1. |
| I hope everyone had a nice Easter Sunday. It was a beautiful day here in every way...perfect. The baby bluebirds have hatched in the nesting box on one of my pine trees, and Mom and Dad are feeding them furiously, so wonderful to watch. I did see a black racer in my front yard near the sidewalk so I hope they are vigilant. It's that time of year. Snakes can slither right up a pine tree. My daughter came for an Easter visit and brought me the biggest Easter Lily I've ever seen! We were amazed that the blooms had no smell. Is that normal? But the white against dark green is so striking. It's basking in bright light on my back porch, looking beautiful. I was up early (early for me), cleaning and filling the bird feeders and birdbath, sweeping the porches, and shaking rugs. Then a shower and then, getting together the ingredients for a crustless spinach quiche which is loaded with cheese (8 oz of cheddar and 6 oz of feta). But that was to be our main course so what the heck. It was Easter. I took it out of the oven just before the front doorbell rang. Perfect timing. Erica and Murphy (a Corkie) were Easter pretty, Murphy with his silky fur and little tail going 90 miles an hour! He has the vitality of the Energizer bunny, always moving, hopping up on my lap, wanting an under the neck scratch, or running around and smelling everything even is it has no smell. I think that is the nature of Corkies. And if there is anything remotely related to food....well, it's in his mouth and swallowed. So, he has to be watched like a hawk. We tried to wear him out by tossing pieces of his dry food for him to retrieve (uh, eat), but that little dog cannot be worn out. So for dinner/lunch we had the quiche, a tossed salad, and sweet potato rounds with pecans (which Erica brought), and then, we had no room for the watermelon that I had for dessert. Coffee sufficed instead. I cleaned up and Erica took the Murph for a walk. Then, we enjoyed the back porch some more, me in the swing. Several butterflies and dragonflies were buzzing around over the grass. It has been so dry here, I thought it a little unusual, and I wondered if some of the butterflies had escaped from the Butterfly Rain Forest at our local Museum of Natural History, which is closed for some construction. Maybe? They are mesmerizing to watch. And too quickly, it was time for Erica to go back home. As she was putting Murphy in his crate, we saw my neighbors and their little dog, Gizmo. They came over and said "hi" and I got another Easter hug. They were having an egg hunt for the special "golden" egg. Erica had about an hour and a half drive back home and texted to say she arrived safely, and we decided both of us were ready for a nap, a perfect ending to a perfect day. And, then, early this morning I awoke to hear the sad news of the death of Pope Francis. I turn on NPR as soon as my eyelids open, sometimes before. He must have used up all the strength he had to make it through Easter. What a lasting impression, may his legacy live on. |
| I cleaned out the bird feeders and changed the sugar water in the hummingbird feeders yesterday and attempted to trim back the azalea bush....but there is a cardinal nest somewhere in it. Mr/Mrs Cardinal put up such a fuss, I backed off. Maybe I'll ask my daughter to take a stab at it on Sunday...or not. It's certainly not earth shattering although there is some sort of tree coming up in the middle of it. Thank you, birdies...a little irony there. The bluebirds are still coming to the tray feeder like clockwork. They love the "Feed the Flock" meal worms that I put out especially for them. They are so beautiful. This is the very best time of year in Florida, wonderful warm and sunny days, perfect for doing anything you like outside. I planted some zinnias a while ago and they are coming up even though I forgot to water them every day. And yesterday I planted some coreopsis seed (tickseed, yellow flowers). I hope they come up because they are perennials. And I trimmed back my honeysuckle bush. The cold got to it this year and it looks a little forlorn. My miniature gardenia is loaded with buds and the ligustrum along the back fence is blooming and smelling divine. Soon the jasmine will be blooming too. I love spring in Florida! |
| I left for the Art Festival around 1, delayed by a phone call from my daughter. It seems she is being stalked...maybe. She lives in a secure complex but the "stalker" is a resident. He has appeared at her door 3 or 4 times just to say "hi" remarking he has seen her around the neighborhood walking her little doggie. She has been cool to him and he has left. But today, he was sitting on a bench near her apt. when she came back with Murphy, said "hi", she spoke and kept walking home. After she got inside, Murphy started growling and she noticed him at her front door with his hand on the door knob. She opened the door and he asked if she'd like to go out to dinner sometime and she said she'd think about it but was busy right now and shut the door...and locked it. Later she talked to a friend in the complex and apparently he has "bothered" another resident as well. And he has a probation officer. She says the next time she sees him, she will tell him flat out that she is not interested. I hope that ends it. Told her to make sure she keeps her door locked. Anyway, the festival was okay but since I have been to so many now, they all seem the same. I did not see many buyers...jewelry and wind chimes seemed to be the most popular. I was tempted to buy a tee shirt with the festival poster print on it but changed my mind. They are always so long for my less than 5 foot height, I have to use them for night shirts. It was almost 80 degrees today and so very warm in the sun so I didn't get to all of the 135 artist exhibits plus there were a couple entertainment stages, food trucks with covered picnic areas to eat, and a teen art area that I missed, too. Just too much for me. But the walk around that I did was nice and I enjoyed it. People are not very friendly though, didn't talk to anyone although I smiled at several who at least smiled in return. |
| My truck now has new tires! They are so pretty and they make me feel so much safer. I like the tire place and may go back there for my oil change, forgot to ask how much...later. I feel I got a very good price for the tires, and it only took one hour and ten minutes total. And it's under 4 miles from home. There was an unusual storm in my neighborhood yesterday around 5 p.m., an ice storm! Suddenly, I heard this banging on my roof like someone throwing a thousand balls on it at one time, ran to the door to look and hail the size of quarters was coming down at the fastest rate ever! There was no warning, no rain, no thunder, no nothing. It just started with the sun shining, lasted about 5 minutes and quit. After, steam rose in huge clouds from the sidewalk and driveway...with the sun still shining. Weirdest thing I have ever seen. The ice beat down lots of twigs and leaves and such so I have some cleanup to do today when it dries out. I wonder if the birdies knew ahead of time...hope so. They are back this morning as usual. A huge art festival is going on this weekend within a couple of miles of me. I was going today (until the ice storm) but will wait until tomorrow after I clean up outside today. It's at a community college (Santa Fe College) and there is plenty of available parking which I find wonderful and inviting. There are many extras if anyone is interested at the college, a planetarium, a teaching zoo and inside art galleries. I feel so lucky to have such interesting things nearby. Last night I started my 25th book by Ken Follett, yes, I like him just a little! This one is titled Triple and is about Egypt developing a nuclear bomb...and that's all I know for now. |
| I picked up my new glasses today and they seem to be fine, just took a few minutes for my brain to adjust but then all seems to be okay. So happy I decided to get progressives. I called around yesterday and today for prices on new tires and finally settled on a place nearby...3.6 miles away. Made an appointment for Friday, under $400 which seems pretty cheap so I may have a surprise but I will make sure before they start. My 2007 Tacoma pickup has just under 40,000 miles and its original set of tires so I'm definitely not complaining. I did some grocery shopping after picking up my glasses and remembered that I needed postage stamps. When did stamps go up to 73 cents? I guess it's been a while since I bought any. Birdies continue to flock to my feeders (and Bird Buddy) and so enjoyable to watch from the window just beyond my computer. I've also seen several hummingbirds this year and have put up two feeders for them. Of course squirrels continue to be a nuisance but their antics make me laugh...worth the food. |
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