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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'm trying to type with my hands wrapped around a coffee cup. It's 40 degrees here in sunny Gainesville, Florida and my fingers are saying uh uh. It was hard to crawl out of bed this morning. Even Mopsy slept in  .My daughter and granddaughter are coming for Thanksgiving. I feel a little guilty about not having turkey (I'm vegetarian) but I think they understand. I'll try to make up for it with the delish veggies...corn pudding, sweet tater souffle and that have to have green bean casserole plus some that are good for you. And of course pumpkin pie. I made a cranberry nut bread yesterday and it tastes really good. The recipe called for whole cranberry sauce, yummy. My critique pod meets tomorrow and I'll take some to share. We used to have a vendor...I think they had something to do with veterans...in the lobby of our library branch but they moved out about a month ago. It was really nice to be able to buy a cup of coffee before our pod meeting. I wish they'd come back. I watched my last Hercule Poirot on Netflix last night, about the 100th. I think I could be called an HP expert now although I never know "who did it" , even on the last one and even though I had seen it before. That's one advantage of getting old, a little memory loss  in the right places.A friend made some good and easy little salty sweet snacks which I might try and take to my life history group on the 3rd, one of the tiny curly pretzels (be sure to buy the good buttery ones she said) with a chocolate kiss set on top, in the oven at 350 till it softens down, then take it out and put a pecan half in the middle, um um good. Well, it looks like my fingers have loosened up and Mopsy is begging to go out on the porch (but I don't think she will stay long) so I will say... until next time...c |
| My Mopsy can be such a pook when she wants something...like getting me up in the morning. Pook is what I call her when she's being obnoxious. I don't think it's a real word but that's what comes out of my mouth. This morning she did her very best to get me up at 4:05, uh uh. She kept prancing back and forth across the bed, breathing in my face, patting me on the cheek with her paw. When I did get up at 7 the bedroom blinds hung all lopsided, the sewing machine cover was in the floor, her toy mouse was on top of my dresser, and the kitchen tablecloth was almost pulled off (with the water-filled glass vase of flowers). Whew that was a close one. All this because her food bowl was completely empty, something that usually does not happen. I'm talking about the one with the dry food. That's her sustenance for the wee hours. She eats canned food during the day. I guess I forgot to fill her dry food bowl before bed, little twerp. My bad. until next time...c |
| Here I am up at 5:30, cannot sleep, too much excitement last night I guess. My granddaughter and son-in-law treated me to dinner for my birthday and I drank too much coffee. It was my favorite cuisine, Italian. I took a chance and drove after dark. It was fine, to my surprise. And they gave me a cute present, a yard flag with cardinals and greenery on it and a stick in the ground hanger. I know the perfect spot and will put it up today. Someone knows I like birds, I think .I had two doctors' appointments this week, an eye-pressure check and a visit with my arthritis doc about my pmr. Eye pressure was almost the same but I am to continue with my current drops. And, on the pmr, I'm to start a decrease on prednisone on Dec. 1st. Things seem to be rolling along smoothly. I cut grass yesterday, maybe for the last time this year. It is so plush and green it looks like a golf course. I sink into it when I walk through it, at least the front yard, the back is another story with all the pines plus needles, but it is sort of park-like. There's a lot of shrub trimming I can do now that it's getting cooler and more enjoyable. Gainesville's big art festival is this weekend. I'll try to go Sunday around 11 when some friends will be on one of the music stages. My writing group will have a table selling authors' books again. If this morning is any indication, it is going to be chilly. We are at 50 degrees F right now, brrrr. until next time...c |
I took one of my granddaughters out to lunch yesterday for her birthday (a little early). We went to a cafe in one of the local art museums and ate outside in the sunshine, a perfect day. She and her husband just had a whirlwind week in Paris and London, and she was full of stories. The purpose of the trip was to attend the Jaguars/Bills game in London and they made a nice trip out of it. She brought me back some French macarons and some postcards (which I collect). The macarons were delicious with coffee, yes, "were", all of them  .Then, after lunch, we drove down to the Fall Festival at Micanopy. It was packed with cars lined up on the sides of 441, the dual highway leading to the little town of around a 1,000 people (the town where Doc Hollywood with Michael J. Fox was filmed). Vendors' tents flanked both sides of the main street as far as the eye could see. We walked and walked and had a great time. On the way home we stopped at the Payne's Prairie overlook and it was beautiful, yellow flowers blooming under a blue sky with puffy white clouds, a Monet in real life. until next time...c |
| We added a new person to our critique group last Tuesday. She worked in human relations, now retired, and is writing about caring for a parent with Alzheimer's. Human relations reminded me of when I worked for Scott Paper in the 70's. It involved a little bit of everything, payroll, health insurance, and lots of complaints. I don't believe there is any Scott Paper Company now although I still see their paper towels on shelves for sale. They had built a brand new plant near Dover (to make a reusable paper towel) and I was one of the first employees, had to take a test and everything. There were no individual offices except for the main man and his sidekick. Everyone else worked in a huge room, engineers, accountant, invoice clerk, all thrown in together. I loved it. And then there was the "line" in the huge back of the building where they made the product. The rolls of paper towel were as big as the rolls of hay you see in the fields today. Only one bad thing happened the entire time I was there, around four years. A man on the beginning of the "line" lost a finger in the machinery. I still remember his name, Al Schmidt. until next time...c |
| Well, I did meet my daughter for lunch (brunch, mid-afternoon something) yesterday. We tried a new cafe and I would not recommend it, but the company made up for the bad service and food. Plus my granddaughter came with her . I got caught up on all their latest trials and tribulations and successes. The only bad thing was that the visit was too short...but that always happens. I've been reading The Aviator's Wife (finished it last night). It's about the Lindberghs, Anne especially, but it did bring out some little known information about Charles, such as he had five children by other women (yes, women plural) and what a control freak he was. But it was one of those books where I found myself not really liking the main protagonist (Anne) even though at times I felt sorry for her. Poor little rich girl kept going through my head. But I did have to keep reading (history and fascination) and I would recommend it (by Melanie Benjamin). until next time...c |
| These pileated woodpeckers are driving me nuts, cackling all the time. I wonder if they're nesting or something. Seems like a strange time of year for that. I went to Home Depot this afternoon and I'm now ready to paint my front porch railing, again. This time I'm painting like Jim, with a 5 gal. bucket, grid and roller, no more of this brush stuff. Obviously, I don't apply enough paint with a brush or I wouldn't be needing to paint 2 years in a row. It is beautiful painting weather, cool and dry. There were lots of things going on close to home today, but nothing really tugged at me...the Lubee Bat Festival  ,the McIntosh Fall Festival , and the Friends of the Library Book Sale . The Book Sale goes on for several days so I will definitely make that one later. Not crazy about bats and McIntosh is a little far, especially since I may be driving tomorrow to meet my daughter for lunch.A little while ago I noticed a lady walking with her children...sort of odd for a non-school day...but anyway all of a sudden I heard dogs barking and children screaming...then the lady screaming some words I won't repeat. I looked out my window again at the sound of the noise and my neighbor was yelling at his two boxers to get back in. I don't think the dogs are dangerous, but they are big and scary...to me too. The last time I edged my driveway, they were behind me barking before I even knew it...not able to hear much over the noise of the edger. They do scare me but I try not to let on. I've heard dogs can smell fear. Anyway, that "lady" said some choice words, but who could blame her with little children. What the heck is wrong with my neighbor? until next time...c |
| When I get at loose ends, as I have been lately, I have to structure my life more and make myself do things. In the mornings, before breakfast (but not coffee, couldn't handle that), the list in my brain says read blogs, comment on some, do a review, avoid Facebook, and update here. It has been working this week...so far. I keep thinking about NaNoWriMo and that may have something to do with my scattered thoughts, wanting it to start, not wanting it to start. My critique group meets next Tuesday and so far I have not come up with anything to write  .I'm supposed to meet my daughter (halfway between here and Jax) for lunch on Sunday. Hopefully, that will happen and maybe the people in the restaurant will give me some fodder for a story. until next time...c |
| The pileated woodpeckers are back. Don't they sound like chickens? Which reminds me, I don't think I've mentioned it but I am buying fresh eggs from a neighbor. They are so delicious, and I have the satisfaction of knowing the hens are well-cared for. Her daughter performs all the chickenly duties including the gathering of the eggs. They have a wire enclosed coop, big enough to roam around and always clean every time I have been there. And they are so cute...love it. When they started, they left the top open, but, you know, chickens can fly (a short distance)...and they escaped a few times. So they had to put wire over the top too. It was cute to see them, though, clucking along together, pecking in the grass, enjoying their freedom. until next time...c |
| I have so many thoughts running through my head...until my fingers hit the keys. Where do they fly to? I have been trying to find a theme in my memoir, unsuccessfully. So I guess I will just keep writing until I do. I have branched off a little and begun writing more about Jim, although I have that writing in a separate folder. As time goes on, it gets a little easier, and sometimes I find I am eager to write about those memories, writing a higher word count than ever before. But then I seem to reach a dry spot, except that when I am busy doing something else, a million things come to mind. Drat! until next time...c |
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