A to Z Blogging Challenge: P is for Putting Things in Perspective...but Which One?

 P is for Putting Things in Perspective...but Which One?

It's been a while since I last posted...or commented anywhere. Please forgive me!

Moving is a real pain. But that's just my perspective. It comes from experience. In the nearly 51 years of my lifetime, I've moved on average about every two years. You would think I'd be used to it by now. Nope.

I'm too much a creature of habit. I like for things to stay the same. It's comforting to have things in order. I can't stand chaos. All this talk of change--expect it, embrace it--makes me think that the people who insist on it for everyone else won't be playing by the same rules. Things will stay the same for them while the rest of us get moved around like pieces in a game of chess. 

I should let my thoughts lay down like the wind does almost every evening. Put the boxes aside for a while. Watch the game from the sidelines. Plan my next move. The first part is over. Now on to the next one. All work and no play...    

Please see A to Z Blogging Challenge for links to more "P's" posted by Challenge hosts and other writers.

A to Z Blogging Challenge: M is for Mockery and Mending

M is for Mocking and Mending

I should have read Charles Spurgeon's April 14th entry for his Morning and Evening Daily Readings before I wrote yesterday's post. Here's what he and the Psalmist had to say (in red) about mocking:

"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head." -- Psalm 22:7

Mockery was a great ingredient in our Lord's woe. Judas mocked Him in the garden; the chief priests and scribes laughed Him to scorn; Herod set Him at nought; the servants and the soldiers jeered at Him and brutally insulted Him; Pilate and his guards ridiculed His royalty; and on the tree all sorts of horrid jests and hideous taunts were hurled at Him. Ridicule is always hard to bear, but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it cuts us to the quick...

SAM was dismayed about what I said regarding the jungle or mess we have to clean up. Was I muckraking where there really was no muck? This ain't no subdivision we're movin' to, ya know. Well, I never meant to mock the homeowners. I realize they must be feeling the pain of leaving their lovely home to sit empty for so long. They're not as fortunate as we are to live only a few hours away. We can make frequent trips home to keep things neat and visit family. They can't.

This malevolent maelstrom that so many of us are caught up in because of the madcap economy makes me mad as hell sometimes. Then I go and make a fool of myself and write something that might sound mean or judgmental to someone else's ears. Who knows? It might be cutting to the quick in someone's heart. I should mend my mind and my writing...

A to Z Blogging Challenge: L is for Lake Livin' and Lazy Blogger

L is for Lake Livin' and Lazy Blogger

If you've been wondering why I've been such a lazy blogger lately, here's why: Let the moving commence! No more apartment! SAM and I are once again livin' at a lake, only this time it's in Florida, not Illinois. I was surprised to learn that there are around 7700 10+-acre lakes in Florida. That's a lot of water to enjoy even if you're landlocked like we are in Tallahassee.

The rent at the house we've leased is not much more than what we pay for the apartment. The owners have been trying to sell it for a while with no luck. They've moved on, and we're moving in. Our home in Santa Rosa County will have some tenants too. This move is going to be a two-stage deal for us. What fun!

The dock you see in the picture isn't in our yard. In fact, I can't even walk down to the water's edge from the house without walking through a jungle. SAM and I are going to be busy for the next few weeks clearing up an overgrown mess. Maybe he won't notice if I sneak away now and then to visit you and leave you a comment. Please don't be alarmed if my posting lapses for a while. I may have to miss a letter or two. Hopefully, they (the challenge hosts) won't kick me off the list.

Please see A to Z Blogging Challenge for links to more "L's" from Challenge hosts and other writers.

A to Z Blogging Challenge: K is for KnockOut

Pink KnockOut Rose planted to hide unsightly things

K is for KnockOut Roses

The first time I saw a KnockOut--rose, not boxing match--I was smitten. I think it was in 2002. We visited the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis late that summer. Most of the roses in the fabulous garden were on their last legs of the season, but the KnockOuts were still kicking up their heels. Nothing fazed them, not the heat, humidity, smog, bugs...I couldn't wait to add these beauties to my own yard. Of course, I had to. I had already exceeded my budget for roses that year in our West Kentucky garden, and SAM and I pulled up stakes the next year. Florida called, and we answered. 

An example of the original red KnockOut rose, a William Radler creation

It wasn't until the spring of 2004 that I was able to plant my very first KnockOut, the original single red variety, and here it still is, blooming its heart out near the northeast corner of our northwest Florida home. It survived Hurricane Ivan that year and the one named Dennis in 2005. Katrina gave us a scare, but we were spared any serious damage. You might think I'm crazy--I probably am--but sometimes I think of it as a member of the family. It's helped me keep my chin up, and that's not an easy task at my age.



David Austin's "William Shakespeare" rose still thriving in a pot, two years later

KnockOuts aren't the only roses to make it through harsh growing conditions in Florida. Remember that William Shakespeare I planted in a pot a while back? A David Austin creation, it's still growing and blooming, although it doesn't make quite the bold visual statement that KnockOut does. In the scent department, it wins for sure. KnockOuts don't deserve any kudos for smelling great, pretty as they are.



"Iceberg" not yet melting in my Florida garden

Iceberg is another sweet-smelling winner in my Florida garden. It does tend to knuckle under to the heat, which starts getting intense in late May or early June, but it keeps coming back every spring--six years so far. I love the way it brightens up an otherwise drab flower bed, and it lights up the landscape at night when the moon is shining.

KnockOuts are probably the most versatile roses I've ever grown. They thrive anywhere I plant them, even in mostly shady locations. Blooming is more intense where they receive more sunlight, especially in the morning. They're bred to resist black spot, a fungus that attacks and weakens most other roses, but plenty of Florida sunshine really helps them knock it out. And that old sun has kept the katzenjammer from KO'ing me a time or two.

What helps keep you from feeling kaput?

Please see A to Z Blogging Challenge for links to more "K's" from Challenge sponsors and other bloggers.

A to Z Blogging Challenge: J is for Jerkwater Jaunt

J is for Jerkwater Jaunt

It doesn't take long for newcomers to Florida to realize that summer is not the best time for a jerkwater jaunt. What's a jerkwater? It's an American term for a place that's "insignificant and out-of-the-way; so called from the jerking (drawing) of water to fill buckets for supplying a steam locomotive."

By the end of April or beginning of May, it's no fun to spend a lot of time by the water's edge. The air gets steamy. The insects start biting. In early April, you still have time to check out a few trails in the Bear Creek Tract of Lake Talquin State Forest. It's not uncommon to see irises jutting out from the earthen dam.

The chance to capture native azalea beauty justifies a strenuous walk up and down steep hills.

Daughter journeyed a few hours east to spend a few days with her not-so-juvenescent parents.

After a couple of nights tossing and turning on the spare-bed air mattress, she didn't mind joining SAM in a low-back stretch or two.

By early June, the great blue herons inhabiting the area will have this jerkwater jaunting spot all to themselves. This one (a juvenile?) was curious about us but decided to fly away as soon as he noticed my jinks with the camera. It's just as well that the heat and bugs are cranking up and will drive us away. The herons don't need to hear humans jouncing about in the woods all summer long. It's peace and quiet they want--not jarring noises--while feeding, breeding, and nesting in the trees.

Please see A to Z Blogging Challenge for links to more "J's" from Challenge sponsors and other writers.

A to Z Blogging Challenge: I is for Indian Bloggers

I is for Indian Bloggers

Mention the word "India" to me, and you'll notice my eyes taking on a dreamy, faraway look. The very thought of the place transports me to a sensory-rich world of imagination. In my mind, I see vivid colors, smell fragrant flowers and spices, and taste savory food prepared to delight the palate.

How and where did I form these notions of a place where I've never been? Brit lit provided my first impressions: E. M. Forster's A Passage to India, Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. All of these works and more made me wish for my own passage to India. I considered the possibilities. Train to be a nurse, missionary, foreign correspondent...?

Over the years, responsibilities here at home have kept my feet firmly on American soil, but my thoughts still drift to that place I once dreamed of visiting. Movies made of the aforementioned novels only made the longing worse. Then I found an amazing thing. Blogging. I could step aboard a flight to India without having to spend a fortune on airfare or endure the indignities of airport security. There were friendly hosts available 24/7 to take me on a tour of famous ruins, bustling marketplaces, and modern cities. They share their own experiences in these places, illuminating how many gaps there are between what fiction has revealed and what reality exists in India. My initial impressions of their home have been challenged and changed for good.

Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of my Indian blogging friends. I hope you take some time to pay them a visit. Prepare to be delighted and inspired:

Encounter with a Super Star
Vanity Moments
A Corner of My World
In Art Lies My Heart
This 'n That
The Holy Lama

Please see A to Z Blogging Challenge for links to more "I's" from Challenge hosts and other writers.