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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   |
| I've been revising my "memoir". Does anyone ever get finished anything? It's not fun, cutting here, adding there, never satisfied. And then I have no ending yet and it's so hard to write about Jim...still. I was supposed to go to my daughter's yesterday but she called early and said she'd been up all night with stomach problems, planning the trip now for the first of July, which is her birthday. I'm slowing down and time is speeding up. The train is coming to the station, cliches but oh so true. Well, enough of this pessimism this morning... until next time...c |
| A few days ago I finished reading Gilda Radner's book, It's Always Something which turns out was a favorite expression of her father's. My mother would often say that too as I expect yours may have. Although it's a common expression, after reading her book, it certainly was appropriate. She details her battle with ovarian cancer, a battle she finally lost but not because of her failure to try to beat it. I cannot imagine going through all those surgeries, chemo, radiation, and tests she endured and still kept her sense of humor. I watched SNL and Roseanne Rosannadanna, not a lot but sometimes. It comes on a little late for me as an early riser. She was a strong person although she never saw herself that way. She was not quite 43 when she died on May 20th, 1989. Gene Wilder, her husband, died last year at 83 from a complication of alzheimer's, and he always shared his opinion that Gilda's death from cancer was unnecessary. She had numerous symptoms but kept getting misdiagnosed until her cancer had progressed too far to be curable. But she never gave up and fought it till the very end. Here's a lot more photos and story  if you care to read. I just get a smile when I look at those happy pictures. So sad for her to go so young. |
| I went to a memorial service for the mother of a friend yesterday. Although I've lived in my town for nigh on 30 years, the church was on a street I had never traveled before. It wasn't hard to find though and the area was interesting, secluded in the midst of a hubbub. The departed, Ruth, was born in 1912, yes, almost 105. My friend had written up a short memoir about her and although times were different, much was the same, growing up, school, love, death.... I never met Ruth but by all accounts she was a lovely lady, inside and out. One of my cat stories is being published in an upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul (August 8th). It's titled...The Cat Really Did That? I submitted it way back in January and never heard anything until April, then a couple emails saying I was in the "final round" and a few days ago the really good news that I would be in the book...very exciting. We are finally getting some rain, enough to warrant grass cutting last Friday, and the forecast looks like June will live up to its history of being our rainiest month. I remember when we moved to Florida in 1978 in June and we had daily showers. They are real showers, sun one minute, rain the next, then sun again, not like in Delaware when it rains for a much longer period of time and is cloudy and depressing. I hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day Weekend, celebrating or not. I'm trying to decide whether to venture up to Jax to see my daughter. She just moved into a new apartment and I haven't visited yet...can't make up my mind whether to face the traffic and the highway construction that's always going on. Time for that second "thoughtful" cup of coffee. until next time...c |
| I just checked the temp for Gainesville, Fl. (online to be reliable) and it's 94 degrees F. Yes, my a/c is on. Thank goodness I cut my grass yesterday although it was hot yesterday too but not 94. It's almost 6 P.M. Wow, that's hot for 6 P.M. in April, even in Florida. A couple minutes ago I checked the news and North Korea has fired another "ballistic missile", another failure apparently. That made me wonder exactly what is a ballistic missile. This is the definition that came up when I typed it in: "A missile with a high arching trajectory that is initially powered and guided but falls under gravity onto its target." I wonder how that relates to the expression that someone goes ballistic. But, more seriously, do they have nuclear warheads on them? And do even failures explode? And if they don't explode, where do they go? I'm with the hawks on this. Why are we letting this little twit continue his shananigans? Fool or not, he may get lucky, then what? until next time...c |
| I went to a luncheon for library volunteers today. It was nice. Everyone had a present at their place setting, a book light, exactly what I needed since mine recently dimmed and died. I always request vegetarian and it was delicious spaghetti squash and veggies with a light sauce plus grilled asparagus and even a special dessert of fruit parfait. It's funny how we get little blips of each others' lives at functions like these. I sat beside an acquaintance who is also in my book club. I say acquaintance although she could be a friend, just not a close friend because I don't know very much about her. She always had short blond hair but now she lets it go natural...a beautiful gray. The first time I saw her gray it was sort of jolting after the blond but now I'm used to it. She says it will soon be a year, unbelievable. And she said she always did the blond herself never going to a beauty shop and she is so relieved not to have to do that anymore. It's really lovely. I've never colored my hair...oops, I take that back, one time, platinum. Oh my goodness! I think I was around 20 and definitely daffy. I colored it back to original (dirty blond) as quickly and as closely as I could get it. But back to these chance encounters with acquaintances. The reason we sat beside each other was because I was late, the table I should have been seated at was full so along with Sally we were at an overflow table. I learned she used to be a teacher at the high school both my children attended, retired now. I was too shy to ask her last name so that continues to be unknown. They've been out of school for thirty-some years, my kids that is, so I guess it's possible they had her but not likely. She's younger than I am. Each time my path crosses with someone I know, I learn a little more, she of me and I of her. I feel like I run off at the mouth too much but once the faucet is turned on, there's no stopping me. I'm more comfortable talking about myself than asking questions about someone else, wish it were different, must try harder and be less self-conscious. What do you do when you're interested in learning about someone, their life. Do you just bluntly say, "What's your last name?. Where do you live? etc., etc...." How do you do it without sounding like a police interrogator? until next time...c |
| Today my writers' group critique pod met. In case you don't know what this is, I belong to a local writers' group and within that group are small groups of writers (6-8) of like persuasion (memoir, fiction, children's stories, etc.) who meet at least once a month to share and critique each other's writing. Unfortunately, today there were only 3 of us. Two are on European cruises, one had an MRI scheduled, etc., etc. Sometimes this happens, but it is unusual. When I realized only 3 of us were showing up, I thought maybe we should have cancelled, but we ended up having one of the best meetings ever. The other two are retired nurses and often write about things that happen in the operating room or "on the ward floor". Sandra is from Brooklyn and worked her early years in Bellevue. Today her story was about the first abortions performed there in the 1970s and was from a perspective that would never have occurred to me. The doctors, surgeons and anesthesiologists, complained about the minimum amount of time required for the procedure and the overwhelming number of patients they had to treat. The o.r. nurses complained about the quick turnovers they had to prepare for in the operating rooms. And then there were the "live births", the ones that weren't supposed to happen, but back then people lied or fibbed and doctors couldn't place the date like they can now. I never knew nurses could baptise and give last rites, but apparently this was routine in their training...so glad I never wanted to be a nurse. Sorry if this offends anyone. I guess I have really lived a sheltered life. It astonished me and of course there was more but I will leave it at this. Suffice it to say, I was all ears. until next time...c |
| About a month ago I bought a bag of apples. I can't remember what kind they were because I tend to jump around depending on price. I ate one of them and they had absolutely no taste at all so there they sat in my fridge. I got sick of looking at them today especially since the skin on a couple were puckering. I wondered what I could do with them besides eat them raw. I'm one of those people who hates to throw anything away. To Google...easy recipe for apple loaf . I didn't have any nuts of any kind but it turned out great without them. The only problem was I had 6 apples and the cake only needed 2 so I grated, yes, grated the rest, added sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla and cooked them in my microwave for 6 minutes. They are delicious on top of a slice of the apple loaf. New life for old tasteless apples.until next time...c |
| I spend the first few minutes of every morning here , not in the flesh but watching on my computer. This was my favorite place growing up. I didn't realize it then, but Summer Saturdays at Rehoboth were some of my happiest times. This morning the tractors are erasing all the footprints from the sand and the water is that rare glassy calm. I can smell the salty air and feel the heavy moisture on my cheeks. until next time...c |
| Spring is over and summer has arrived with 90 degree days already! It's going to be a long mowing season if we ever get any rain. My daughter called last night and is changing jobs or I should say employers. She's an insurance agent switching from Geico to State Farm. Before she moved back to Delaware she had worked for State Farm for many years but could only find a job with Geico when she came back to Jax. She sounds so happy. The Create Art Fest last weekend was fun. The old train depot is still on site and I walked through admiring the wooden floors. I'm glad my town tries to preserve history while making it available and enticing. Next door to our tent was a sort of tai chi exhibit so I got to watch a lot of activity close up. There was music and dancing and painting and journaling and science experiments...everything. I walked all over the grounds. We were placed on what they called the promenade, facing a huge retention pond with lots of little wood ducks floating and diving. Up the hill in back of our tent was a yoga group doing their thing and there was food if you wanted it but only one spot for it so the smells didn't waft all over. Some may like that but as a vegetarian, I get a little nauseated by frying onions and sausages, the usual fare at these things, so I was thankful not to have to breathe cooking meat for 4 hours. A very nice day. Our huge Spring Arts Festival is this weekend, the Bradford County Strawberry Festival next weekend, and Cedar Key Art Festival the weekend following that. Whew, so much art and so little time....haha. Spring is the best. until next time...c |
| Preparing to go to a Create Art Festival this morning where my writers' group has a spot to promote writing, of course. I'm taking my magnetic poetry kit and giving away books and notebooks and pens as prizes for poems. Hoping to have lots of fun and maybe something to write about. It's at a place called Depot Park which required a huge effort by our city to turn an ugly old place into a mecca for children. I've never seen it yet so I'm excited about that too. until next time...c |
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