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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   |
| It's been raining here all morning, a gentle rain with a cooling air about it. I've been sitting in the swing on the back porch, sipping coffee, and enjoying the niceness of it all. Mopsy is curled up beside me. Squirrels are darting all over the mow me, please, grass, frolicking in the raindrops. Mopsy pays no mind. They chase each other, change direction instantly, dash up the pines, around and around like they are wrapping them with ribbons to decorate for the fourth of July.They are not still for a second, little kids with bottomless energy. It's dark and dreary, but I feel a quiet happiness. until next time...c |
| I had a great memoir class meeting yesterday. Ten of us showed up and everyone had a story prepared (I read my Dancing in the Moonlight story). Each of us is from such a varied background, yet we all are alike. That thought keeps running through my head. Our "leader" had the funniest story about the first house she bought back in the 1960s. From what I could tell it was built by a real novice with the roof line in front and back being so low, the windows had to be set lower than normal, bottoms close to the floor. Standing up at the inside edges had to be done carefully depending on how tall you were. Good thing she is short. The house was left completely furnished (an estate sale) and required lots of refurbishing to be livable. After begging and borrowing most of her downpayment, she did a lot of the work herself. There was an old stool left in the bathroom, an ugly old stool, wooden with a homemade cushioned top. Trying to salvage everything she could, she decided a paint job and a pretty cushion might might make it usable. She ripped off the ugly material and an envelope dropped out with someone's name on it, a fat envelope. Inside were several crisp hundred dollar bills in numerical sequence. Surprised (very) at first, then she wondered if they might be counterfeit, but, no, they were real. Due to her young age and the time period (1960s), she thought she might be "convicted" of stealing if anyone found out, so she decided to spend her found money on fix-up expenses a little at a time. And that is what she did, never telling anyone. Her version was a WHOLE lot funnier than mine. Another lady wrote about a friend, now an ex-friend, who showed up on her doorstep every night to share a drink, one drink she said. She told us how she finally got rid of her, not a pleasant tale. Someone else wrote about keepsakes in her cedar chest and brought in a little blue pinafore-type dress that all her daughters wore when they were teeny. It was from Spain and had the prettiest handwork around the top I've ever seen. Actually, I've never seen anything like it and don't know how it was done, not embroidery, not smocking. I will try a little research. Our leader had an email she shared with us from someone who attended the class awhile back but quit coming because he could not hear. He has hearing aids, but they did not help enough. He asked if we would consider moving our meeting to a place designed with better acoustics, and the place he suggested sounds very interesting, the Friends Meetinghouse (Quakers, for those who might not be acquainted with the term). It is close by, and we have an investigating committee of two checking it out for our next meeting. So...I had a very nice day yesterday. Everyone was friendly and talkative and we ran way past our quitting time. Our normal meeting, the first Thursday of each month, was cancelled due to a bad storm so this one was a sort of put-together at last minute one, but turned out to be the best so far. Our next meeting is on July 11 because the library is closed on the 4th. Looking forward to it already. until next time...c |
| Artifacts was not as riveting as I thought it would be so last night I started a book I picked up at the library Saturday, Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout. I've read others by her, but this was her first novel. I've been on a binge of first novels lately just for curiosity's sake. I finished it about 1:45 this morning, the latest I have stayed up in I cannot remember when. I can't believe I kept my eyes open, I thought the book was that good. It is a story of emotional conflict between mother and daughter and should appeal to anyone who has an interest in this subject. I am continuing on, slowly, with my current transcription. It is a very long one, almost three hours. The poor guy was a sailor on a gunboat on D-Day, and after a twenty-eight day leave when that was over, got sent to the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa! And I still have another forty minutes to go. His little gunboat assisted the USS Laffey, a destroyer that was dubbed the ship that wouldn't die. Poor fellow, he is very lucky to be here! I will go back to Artifacts though. I've never seen a book yet I couldn't finish. Maybe it will get better, and I'm sure it's just me. We all have our individual tastes in reading, but all reading is worthwhile at some level of learning. I'll report back on that one...later....maybe much later  until next time...c |
| I got to meet Mary Anna Evans last Saturday, and her youngest daughter, Amanda. She personalized a copy of Artifacts for me. She is one of those people who has never met a stranger, and she has the great gift of gab (unlike me). But people always love to talk about themselves, and it didn't take much to get her started. She was very nice, very intelligent, and very friendly. Amanda was preparing for some kind of Latin competition. She was just as nice and friendly as her mom. The crowd was not great, but then it was 10 o'clock on a Saturday morning so that probably explains it. Too bad. It was worthwhile Afterwards, I stopped by the pet store grand opening and actually won a prize, a nice little mat to put under Mopsy's kitty litter. And it really works, no more litter tracking . The store was well-stocked but leaned more toward dogs than anything else. It wasn't all that big, no live pets at all. I bought Mopsy some organic greenwise treats which did not appeal to her. .After I got back home, I talked to my neighbor and found out she has bought a house (hoping to close on the 19th of July) in Homosassa Springs where her mom lives. She is so excited, her first house, and she is in her late forties. It has a pool which her doggies have already tried out. Quigley, the younger Lab dove right in, but Moose (sort of old with arthritis) sat on the pool steps and watched. Wish I could have seen that. Moose would make one and a half of Quigley, He is dark, dark chocolate and even though he is a nice friendly Lab, he has some features of Cujo  . Quigley, however, is the normal blonde with the ever-wagging tail and the ever-moving everything. I will be so sad to see them all leave.Sunday I went shopping for my daughter's birthday which is July 1st. It has to be mailed so it has to be done early. That was fun because I always go to those specialty stores down here and get something she could never find where she lives. Those stores can keep me occupied for too long. One had a lot of fair trade items and was new to me, a real find. I made sure to look at the "super moon" Sunday night, but it didn't seem any bigger than usual to me, but of course the moon is always beautiful when it is full. It is hard to imagine Americans standing on it--seems like fantasy. For some reason, I like it to seem like fantasy! until next time...c |
| Just after 4 this afternoon we had an explosive thunderstorm, the loudest I can ever remember hearing. Poor Mopsy ran for the hills, er, under the bed, poor kitty. The rain came straight down with lightning and thunder happening almost instantaneously, one right after the other. I was peeking out the window looking up at my tall pines in the backyard and wondering if I would see one split down the middle from a lightning strike. The horrible noise lasted about a half hour and made me suspect that it was similar to what the Londoners heard when they were being bombed by the Germans during World War II. It was that loud with cracking blasts that sounded so close I almost ran to hide  .All is perfectly calm now, and surprisingly cool, low 80s, the landscape freshly cleansed. Maybe the sound needed cleansing, too . I never lost power but the local news said about 500 were without.Tomorrow I plan on visiting the library to see Mary Anna Evans, who has authored a series of mysteries (among others) with an archaeologist mc named Faye Longchamp. From info on her website, she is a very prolific and savvy author as well as a three-time mom. Gotta meet this person! Also, I want to check out the grand opening of a new pet store in town called Earthwise Pet. Mopsy told me she needs a new toy. until next time...c |
I got home a little while ago from my dermatologist, another mole bites the dust. I don't know why I get so up tight before I have these procedures, but I do. I can't even blog beforehand because that is all I can think about. Considering the amount of moles I have, there will never be an end to these surgeries so somehow I must learn how to chill out about it  . I am due for another removal on July 2nd, eeck. All advice welcome .My WWII transcription continues to go well. If you ever watched the movie Patton, did you wonder how all that equipment got there? For anyone familiar with C5As (huge cargo planes), they were not around for WWII. According to my guy, the tanks, etc., were hauled over by boat. After the D-Day landing, engineers actually built man-made harbors from old ships, whatever was available, and then constructed something called the Mulberry Project, pontoon type bridges for off-loading. Here is the best link I could find, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulberry_harbour, for anyone interested. There was one built on Omaha Beach (U.S forces landed on Omaha and Utah Beaches), but it was only usable for around two weeks because of a terrible storm that wrecked most of it. All of them were mammoth feats of engineering. My guy traveled from Falmouth on a gunboat and says D-Day was originally set for June 5th, but the weather stopped it from happening on that day. You just wonder what everyone was thinking while they waited out the storm. He said he wasn't scared. He didn't know what was coming. until next time...c |
| It's been beautiful here today. We are having a cold front move through, and our low tonight should hit 69 degrees. Really, not kidding. Today has only been in the low 80s, windows open, breezes billowing in, birds chattering, mama and daddy mockingbirds teaching their young to fly outside my window (the view you see on my homepage). They are amazing how they go back and forth, bringing morsels of delight to open mouths, squawking away predators, leading potential invaders astray, far away from the nest, and continually encouraging their young to "come on, flap those wings, jump for goodness sakes!" As I look on the bush now where their nest is, I think they are all gone, all is finally quiet. I hope they are all safe and snug on a new branch, high up for the night. Happy Dad's Day, Mr. Mockingbird! My neighbor across the street had a yard sale this morning. They were the first thing I saw as I opened the window and sat down at the computer about 7:15 a.m., setting up tables, carrying things out, arranging, getting ready. They are renting, but moving into a new home they are building very soon. I often wondered how early people came to garage sales, and since I was already in position, working on my transcription, I tried to keep track. This is what I saw . . . One man - 8:10 - bought what looked like a pair of jeans Two men - 8:18 - looked and left Man & woman - 8:30 - picked up a lot but put it back Woman - 8:45 - bought zip Man - 8:45 - just wanted to talk Woman - 8:51 - left with a plastic bag full Woman - 9:20 - nothing Woman - 9:45 - nothing Woman - 10:21 - carried out a small table & lamp Woman - 11:17 - nothing Seems like a lot of work for very little, but then I never looked at their stuff. At 12 noon, sharp, the husband quickly loaded everything they had put out and was left into his pickup truck and took off, supposedly for the dump. Hmmmm. Now, if I had bought something and seen that, for some reason it would have made me feel really bad. Oh well, one man's trash blah, blah, blah. Anyway, back to my transcribing, this WWII vet also got a ride on the Queen Elizabeth on his way to Scotland. Apparently, the QE was turned into a transport ship during the war. That's as far as I've gotten. He is a Navy man, too, born in 1925, from Connecticut, basic training in Norfolk, and now on his way to Scotland. Will share more as the story unfolds. Until next time...c. |
| Okay, I've had enough excitement to last me quite some time now. I've been cutting the grass in the backyard (on the riding mower, thank God). I noticed this mockingbird dive-bombing something in the grass, and, yikes, these two snakes were wobbling up in the air right in front of me. Stupid me, I just kept right on mowing, swerving just enough to miss them. They were slithering all over the place with their heads arched like King Cobras. I did have sense enough to raise my feet just in case. OMG, I just about died right there on the mower! I'm surprised I didn't run into a tree. We have thirteen pine trees in our backyard. I couldn't look behind me because I was swerving to miss one of the pines so I just circled around, and that mockingbird chased those two snakes through the grass and under the fence to my neighbor's yard. The have a pool. Oh oh! Of course, I Googled after I came inside. The snakes were black with yellow stripes, garter snakes, and probably the mockingbird has a nest with eggs that they were after, although I think the noise of the mower may have rousted them out of their hiding place. Now, I'll be thinking about snakes every time I go out in the yard .Well, since I'm all hot and sweaty, I must get a shower so... until next time...c |
| I've had an interesting and busy week so far. Sunday was my local writers' meeting where I listened to a presentation about e-book publishing by Cassie Dandridge Selleck, who has done exactly that with her first book, The Pecan Man. Her book is blurbed as being similar to To Kill A Mockingbird, and I did find that to be slightly true in the plot, theme, and setting. She had some books printed for our meeting, and she personally signed one for me. It is interesting, and I read it in one sitting (it's only forty-eight thousand words) Her presentation was informative, all about Amazon's KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), costing her only around $200 with $100 of that paying for her ISBN number for her printed copies, very cheap, indeed. It's worth reading about on the Amazon site for anyone serious about publishing. Amazingly, she has sold over 30,000 copies so far with her e-book priced at $4.99 and her royalties at 70% of that, even more amazing. Of course, one does need a good story, good editing and lots of elbow grease (or maybe that should be finger joint grease) . A very viable alternative to all those query letters and rejections. She had some hand-outs with specifics, but not enough for the crowd we had. I was one of the "not enough". She said to email her and she would be glad to send me a copy so I will do that. Seems like good info to have.Yesterday, Ann, my contact for the oral history program, gave me a grand tour of Pugh Hall at the University of Florida where the local program is based. I had an enjoyable time, meeting others involved, seeing the actual archived files, and learning about the linear process and how the histories all end up at the Library of Congress. Afterwards, we visited a local eatery for a nice lunch. And this morning at 9 a.m., I had to have my auto's oil changed and tires rotated. They were very speedy. I was out the door by 9:45. Happily, I have nothing else planned for the rest of the week .until next time . . . cm |
| Yesterday, I drove out to see my sister-in-law and her sister, who lives with her now. Both are in their eighties but able to do most things for themselves. Neither one drives. Luckily, Juanita has six children who live close by, and they take turns driving them both wherever they need to go. I cannot imagine what it would be like to grow up in a big family, being an only child myself. I have always retained that sense of "aloneness", and many times I feel alone when I am around people. Just a nurturing thing, I guess. The country drive was nice. It takes about thirty minutes to get to their house driving on county roads. I pass a huge watermelon field, and this time it was speckled with football-size melons. The rows were not perpendicular to or parallel with the road but diagonal. Unusual. And there were two rows sort of close together and then a large path of sand before the next two. Probably for weeding or irrigation and yes, I said sand because that is Florida's dirt. The wildflowers along the sides of the road are still pretty and prolific, too, pink phlox, yellow daisies, and wild gladiolas, a virtual landscape bouquet. There were a lot of cyclists out on my little ride (bicycles, not motorcycles). In Alachua County (the stress syllable is the "la", an Indian word, Seminole probably), we have bicycle paths on every road with serious cyclists. I mean those with helmets and cycling attire. The country roads offer quiet and little traffic, and contrary to what you might imagine, in the distance they look like rollercoasters, great for leg-strengthening, I guess. I go through the middle of two small towns on my route, one red-light towns of probably less than five-hundred people, one in Alachua County and one in Levy (the "e" is long down here, not like up north where it is short or on the levies in Louisiana). I was quite the laughing stock when we first moved down here with my abnormal elocution . The weather and scenery were lovely and I had a most enjoyable drive.Before I left I made a cranberry orange loaf and took with me, still warm from the oven. My house preserved that just-baked cake smell to greet me when I got back home. until next time...c |
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