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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 **  |
| 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. |
| My eye started improving as soon as I was finished with the ointment. Do I think it helped? No. Today I had a nice lunch with a girlfriend. It was her 86th birthday and she is still going strong. We went to a nice Japanese restaurant. I had miso soup and tempera shrimp and mixed veggies, a little oily for what I'm used to but very tasty. Our UF Gator basketball team is playing Houston tonight and of course the entire town is soooo excited, on tv very late (8:50) so I'm not sure I will last the entire game. I did watch Saturday night's game against Auburn and they played great. I'm a Phillies' fan so it is very good to be for a winning team. Sorry, Phillies, but I know what I know. Maybe this year. |
| Today (or rather tonight) will be my last time to apply the prescription ointment to my eyes. It doesn't seem to be doing anything except making my vision blurry for most of the next day. I'll be happy to be finished with it. I haven't heard anything about my new glasses so maybe on Monday or.... Medicare is supposed to pay for one pair of glasses after cataract surgery, but the place I went to won't submit the form. They did tell me about it and I found it and downloaded it so that is my "job" today, to fill it out and get it into the mail. It seems simple enough, needs the receipt attached, but with all that is going on, I don't have a lot of faith in good results. But if I don't make the effort, I won't know for sure. This cataract surgery on one eye has ended up costing me over a thousand dollars even with Medicare. WTH And I'd like to have my old yellow lens back and less dry eye! Oh well, I need to get over it! |
| Although I'm near the beginning of my day when not much has happened, I find if I don't write now, the possibility of writing later decreases as the day goes on. So, I have to include some things that happened yesterday, maybe even earlier. My vision is a little blurry right now. On Saturday night I applied the prescription eye cream for the first time...just before bed because it plays with my vision. It did take away the burning almost immediately. On Sunday morning I woke with hazy vision but no dry eye symptoms so I guess you give up something to get something. I did not realize on Friday when my doctor prescribed the cream that the directions would say to use one week so there's that. This morning the haze is lasting a little longer but as long as my vision is hazy, there are no dry eye symptoms. Interesting. I'm glad I don't need to drive anywhere until Wednesday when I have a group writing meeting at the library. At least it's not until 1 o'clock when my vision has cleared. Yesterday it rained all day but around 7 o'clock in the evening it cleared and there was a double rainbow...beautiful, my neighbor captured a nice photo. So I was inside all day puttering around on miscellaneous things or watching YouTube videos. If it's dry enough today, I'm planning to do some weeding in an area where I want to plant some zinnias...all different colors. The package says they bloom all summer, hoping this happens. The last time I planted zinnias was after having my daughter in 1965 and they were prolific...but that was in Delaware. |
| I went to the pharmacy and picked up my eye cream today...will try it tonight. Eyes are burning and are so dry even with eye drops.I did check online and saw something new that I might order if the cream doesn't work well. It's an Aroma Season Heated Eye Mask for Dry Eyes, Warm Eye Compress. It has an electrically controlled temperature so I think it will work better than a warm washcloth that cools so quickly, but I will wait and see what the prescription cream does. The only thing I'm concerned with on the cream is that it has a steroid and I know that can be problematic. I'm sure I have too much screen time but what's a person to do...I'm addicted. There are so many great things to do and see so other than a 30 minute walk and daily chores, YouTube, Prime Video, Netflix and of course WDC are always calling me...I confess. I guess I could write with a pen...ugh. And of course there's art and reading But those other things are so much easier....guilty as charged. |
| I just got back home from my eye appointment and I, indeed, had a prescription change from a month ago so I was not imagining things wrong with my new glasses. Now, another wait of a week or so to get the new ones. I think I should have waited longer after cataract surgery for my eye to stabilize...hopefully, it is now. And for the dry eye my doctor prescribed some sort of cream to use at night...eager to try it. I see Ken Follett will have a new book out later this year, Circle of Days, checked my device books on Amazon and I have read 15 of his books....think I must like him a lot! I found another I had not read...Code to Zero...and put it on hold at my library. We have it so easy these days, just a click of the mouse and there you go! My local writers group has opened submissions for our Bacopa Literary Journal, very minimal submission fee ($3) if anyone is interested. Here is the link, https://writersallianceofgainesville.submittable.com/submit. There are several categories available. |
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