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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   |
| The one year mark has come and gone and I feel like just maybe I have had a turning point. I am beginning to remember more happy times than sad ones now. Family and friends helped make the 19th a lot more bearable. I had been feeling so alone and welcomed the many loving well-wishes I received. My granddaughter invited me to lunch yesterday and we visited a nearby restaurant, one Jim and I went to hundreds of times. At first I thought it might be difficult but it wasn't. At times, I could almost hear his words enter our conversation, the surroundings were so familiar and we were so at ease. I know he is not here physically, but he will always be with me. I hope this doesn't sound crazy but I feel like somehow he is guiding me along. Jim was always the strength in our marriage. I seemed to flip out over every little thing. But now I sort of feel a calmness settling around me. A few days ago I rehung my hummingbird feeder outside my computer window with my other birdie things. I've seen the little hummingbird drinking many times already. He (or she) must have been standing by waiting for it. He is here now drinking and making tiny little chirping sounds. And yesterday morning I was drinking my coffee in the swing on the back porch and all of a sudden a squirrel's nest crashed to the ground from one of the pine trees. One little baby squirrel, which didn't even look like a squirrel but like a teeny naked mouse, rolled out onto the open grass and let out the loudest squeaks imaginable. It sounded exactly like Mopsy's squeaky mouse toy. Something to the right of the porch caught my eye and there was this cat I had never seen before. Well, of course, I shooed him away, way out of the yard. I came back to the swing to watch, hoping the mom or dad would come down to get the little squealer. He must have dropped three or four stories. I have thirteen huge pines in my back yard. I was about to give up when, yep, here she comes, cagey at first, going up and down another tree, sniffing in the birdbath, dashing back toward the fence, each time getting a little nearer on the forward onslaught. Finally, she got to the nesting material, nosed through it, then made a mad dash to the little one, nosed him around some (I saw his legs kicking), picked him up in her mouth just like a cat picks up her young, and sprinted out of my yard with him. I watched and saw her go up one of my neighbor's trees. She said my yard was too dangerous  .Then I started wondering whether that was really one of his parents. Maybe a neighbor squirrel family witnessed the event and called the Squirrel Department of Social Services, and that is who the rescuer was. It does seem like the squirrelly parents should be charged with negligence or something, after all, four stories is nothing to sneeze at. They built inadequate housing. Okay, enough of this nonsense. The little baby was rescued and I am happy  .until next time...c |
| Just saw this on the NASA site and thought some of you might be interested. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/17jul_waveatsaturn/ I'll be looking eastward and waving even if I am a teeny tiny dot on the pale blue dot!What comes after around sunset sounds pretty awesome, too! |
| Yesterday afternoon, I chose the hottest time of the day to edge my curb out by the street. I guess it's around 150'.of edging. I tend to keep the driveway and sidewalk edged every time I mow the grass, but for some reason by the time I've done that, I'm too tired to do the curb. When it gets ignored for too long, it is a bitch to edge, and that is an understatement. Many of you probably have an up close and personal experience in this area. I can't be the only procrastinator here. Anyway, it took some time and effort and I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished. I had to do it twice, using the blower in between, because there was so much sod built up and extending onto the curb. Then I had to rake up and sweep all the debris from the gutter so that it didn't float down into the storm drain and stop it up the next time it rains. Which in this neck of the woods happened to be yesterday evening. Adding insult to injury, one of my hundred foot extension cords turned up faulty. They are so old they have some cracked outer casing and I guess some broken wires inside. I played around and re-positioned several times since I was near the end, but finally had to give up and get another cord ... more time in the hot sun. I think one of the reasons I hate to do the curb is because I am so self-conscious. Although I don't look and I'm not sure they do, I feel like all the drivers going by are slowing down, shaking their heads, and commenting about that old lady out there in the hot sun trying to edge her curb. Then they chuckle under their breath! Oh well, that's just me  .But I finally got finished and now it looks very pretty and manicured for another few weeks. Today I am doing a little shrub clipping. I try to spend around fifteen or twenty minutes outside then come inside to drink some water and cool off for few minutes. It keeps me going anyway. So now it's time to get back to it... until next time...c |
| I have a list of blogs I follow, like most of you, and I try to check everyone off daily to see if they have made a new entry. I feel it's like talking to a neighbor across the fence, finding out what's happened since we talked last, sympathizing with the bad, celebrating with the good, offering help with problems, just being a good neighbor and friend. Maybe it's because it's summertime and people are on trips or something, but my favorite entry people seem to be diminishing ... and that makes me worry about them. One has completely erased her blog  . I love reading blogs. It makes me feel like I am a part of this community just like talking to neighbors and being a part of my neighborhood.I do tend to be a worrier so if you haven't blogged for awhile and have a free moment, just a short blog to let me know how you are would be great. Waiting to hear and ... until next time ... c |
| I enjoyed another interesting writers' group meeting yesterday. The speaker was Mary Glazer, a freelancer for a Florida gardening magazine. She recently, February, I think, secured a permanent spot as one of Lowes' garden magazine writers. If you Google "Lowes gulf coast gardening", her articles will pop up. She was very funny and shared several personal experiences on her road to writing. She titled her presentation "A Freelance Writer's Maiden Voyage". She gave some tips that work for her especially now that she has deadlines to meet. Never before using an outline, now she values it above all else. Also, she gives high praise to her editor even though sometimes she disagrees with his suggestions. She has never seen him in person, only gets emails, but she has made up an entire story about him just as you would for a character. In her mind, he is French and speaks with a French accent, wears a beret, and uses his hands a lot for emphasis. His real name is Luke. She had us rolling in the aisles. But the gist is that feedback is very, very important to a writer. She has to submit pictures with her articles and places a special value on them. Pictures help her write what she sees and what she cannot see...interesting. Also, she never starts with a blank page, even if it only has her name at the top, that's something to get her started. She keeps desktop icons of all her articles in progress so she can click on them instantly when an idea pops to mind. Sounds like a plan. Anyway, I had an enjoyable hour and a half and thought I would share... until next time...c |
| I know it's unusual for me to have two entries in one day, but I just had this feeling. Have you ever read a book and really, really wished you could meet and talk to the author? On Monday, I finished Homesick Creek by Diane Hammond. I enjoyed it so much that yesterday at the library for my memoir meeting, I picked up two more of her books. Going to Bend is the one I am reading now, and I just had that thought, that I would love to meet this woman. Just wanted to share that. If you have the opportunity to read something by her, please let me know how you feel about her writing. |
| I went to my Memoir Group meeting yesterday, and we all decided to try out the Friends Meeting House for our next get-together. The acoustics are touted to be superior to the library's. I guess as we age hearing is one of the first things to go (or vision). Several of our members have hearing problems and were delighted to hear the report on this new place. I think "friends" is the key word here. They were reported to be very friendly and welcoming and it's free and close so why not try it out? The meeting room comes with three hearing aid headphones, and we think that will be just right. I am looking forward to the new surroundings. The meeting yesterday was great, they just keep getting better and better. Everyone had interesting stories. One lady wrote about her recipe collections and ..... brought samples! Yum! I am so glad I joined this group. It was pouring rain, I mean manic wiper weather, when I left, but nothing could deter me from going and all turned out okay with shining sun at the finish .Not much else has happened this week, just my normal grass mowing and yard work in between the raindrops. Yesterday we had three (3) rainstorms in one day! One plus is the growing bird and butterfly population in my yard. The biggest negative is the arrival of the giant mosquitoes! I do not dare to venture outside after dinner now unless I want to dress like a mummy (all covered up, that is). I used to complain about the county not spraying enough, but now as I have gotten wiser (I hope), I'd rather stay inside in the morning and evening or dress for the occasion. No spray, please. until next time...c |
| I just read asymmetrical's blog and the title reminded me that I finished Artifacts, the book I thought I might not get through. It turned out to be pretty good. She has several sequels to it...not sure about those . I downloaded an ebook from the library, Tess Gerritsen's first novel, Keeper of the Bride, pretty good so far, a mystery of course. I love my Kindle; it's so instant I've started a new WW2 vet transcription. This one was a POW...don't know much yet, just getting into it...more later. My back mole excision is feeling much, much better, and I must say my posture has improved profoundly because of it. A few stitches near the center of your back will do that for you. I'm not to do much yardwork for a few days but I am itching to get out there. We had more rain and wind last night and I have several pine twiggies lying around awaiting the picker-upper. And I have shrubs to trim and edging to do. I'm giving it a couple more days and that's it. My daughter and a girlfriend went to see The Heat last Monday night (it was her birthday). She said it was hilarious and she would go to see it again. I'm thinking I may go this weekend if it's still playing here. I like Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, and I could use a good laugh. She had a very nice birthday especially since she has a job this year (yay!). One of her coworkers made her a key lime pie. She said it was delicious...I like those, too. Too bad she is in Delaware and I am here in Florida. I could only drool. But I am so happy she is happy .Other than a few fireworks popping here and there, there's not much else happening. We just had a horrific rain shower but it came and went so the local shows will probably go on. I will stay at home to give Mopsy moral support .until next time...c |
| I'm not feeling too chipper today. This morning at 7:45 I was at my dermatologist's getting my second suspicious mole removed and stitches out of the first one. This excision has been bothering me all afternoon. It's on my back near my shoulder blade and makes it impossible to get comfortable sitting or lying down. Every time I raise my arm, ouch. I just need to get through today, and tomorrow will be better, I'm sure. When I woke up this morning, it was pouring rain with not even one little hint of daylight in the dreary looking sky. I thought I would be umbrella laden for my doctor's appointment, but around 7:30 the rain stopped although the clouds hung around. It has rained off and on all day long. At least it is cooler with the temps hanging in the mid 80's. One of the nurses I saw this morning has a wonderful July 4th planned. On this holiday every year her family camps at Chimney Rock State Park near Asheville, North Carolina. She says it has waterfalls, hiking trails, lakes, cabins, even white water. Sounds wonderful. Thirty to fiftly members of her family travel there in the Blue Ridge Mountains every fourth of July for a reunion. Well, my back is telling me no more so... until next time...c |
| I finished my current transcription today and what a life this guy has had, After being in D-Day, Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, he went to Japan as part of the occupation troops in Iwakura and Nagoya, very devastated areas. Then he went to two different places in China, Tianjin on the Haihe River and Jinghai, to give assistance (yes, they were on our side ) with a side stop in Korea. Finally, he came back to the States to Mare Island off San Francisco, then flew with twelve others in a DC-3 to Lido Beach, all the time thinking he would get bumped off by someone with a higher priority. Luckily he made it and was discharged in the spring of 1946. He joined the Navy in the spring of 1943. He was seventeen then. His eighteenth birthday was celebrated in the Navy the following December. Soon after his discharge, he married, became one of those air-conditioning guys we all hate to call, and raised three children, but here is where it gets interesting again. After almost thirty years of marriage, he and his wife divorced, and for the next twenty-five years, he sailed around in his boat. Yes, twenty-five years, can you believe it? He picked up odd jobs when he ran out of money, did a little chartering and boat repair, and got into a terrible storm in the Bermuda Triangle bringing back a boat from Nassau for repair. But this is one lucky guy! All the places he went in the service and through all the action he saw, he was never injured...and then, he made it through the Bermuda Triangle in a storm. Wow! And now, he is eighty-seven and finally telling his story. I feel very privileged to have transcribed it. until next time...c |
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