Post ing the blog a little later than usual today.  Sorry about that.  But it's getting kind of hot and humid here already.  And that's ahead of schedule.  I don't know if we are just going to have an early summer, or if this is a temporary and unusual weather situation.  Regardless, I still enjoy walking but today I set out on my walk bright and early, before it got uncomfortably warm for my walk.   I know the sign above is for bicycles but that's ok.  Pedestrians are allowed too.

This is some of what I saw:

I saw birds. Lots and lots of birds of all sorts.  Most of them were singing and chirruping and carrying on.  Apparently they all  had a great deal to say.   Unfortunately I do not speak "bird" so I've no idea what they are saying.
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I actually heard far more birds than I saw. And that is mostly because there is also a ton of trees.  Trees of all sorts.  Flowering trees, non-flowering trees, big trees, small trees, palm trees of so many varieties it's ridiculous.  Old trees, new trees, trees that beg to be climbed.  There are trees with funny haircuts and trees bearing fruit.

And because there are a lot of trees, there is blessed shade.  One of the best parts of taking a walk on a hot day are the shady spots. There is often as much as a 10 degree temperature difference in the shady spots. Ahhhhhh.

And flowers. Oh my goodness yes. So Many Flowers!  You cannot begin to imagine how good the air smells here.  Yummy!

Saw a lot of fences of one sort or another too

And places to sit a spell.  Some nicer than others of course.  That's always the way

And some other random photos that I cannot seem to categorize but here they are:

Oops. Almost forgot.  The water.  Saw the water.  Hey it's an island.  The water is in every direction.

So that's it.  That was my walk today.  Thanks for coming along.

Have a great weekend!  Catch ya again on Monday, I hope!

Hugs all 'round

Here's one of the things that is occupying my Library-and-Museum-are-still-closed days currently.  Once again I am doing the edit for a friend's book.  This is the sort of project that I really enjoy because it is so very interesting and I learn so much!

The part you do not see in the picture is that I usually do this in front of my computer so that i can look things up.   Not spelling, punctuation or grammar.  For the most part, I'm all set there. I can make those changes with confidence.  But I need to constantly check other things.  

For example:  This particular book is an historic piece so I'm always looking for anachronisms.  If a piece of machinery is mentioned, I check to be certain when it was invented, if a book title comes up, I gotta be sure it was published before that date.  It's those sorts of things.   Zippers? Combustion engines?  Ether?   The Book, "Call of the Wild"?  All of those things are in this book and I have to be sure it's possible given the time frame of this story.  

I check things like the proper spelling of famous people's names and incorporation dates of real towns.  When historic events are mentioned I have to be sure that it happened in the right geographic area, the correct time frame and find out if it is plausible for that event to impact the fictional story as written.

More than that, I am constantly on alert for storyline continuity.  If character A says something in chapter 9 and then does the exact opposite in chapter 29  there has to be something in between to explain the change of plan.  Or if someone stands up in a chapter, they had to have been previously sitting or lying down.  You'd be surprised at how often that happens.

When I read for pleasure I read very quickly.  I want to know what happens next in the story.  My dad used to say that I "ate" books because I read so quickly.  But when I'm editing I go very slowly because I don't want to miss any important detail. I've been working on this editing project for more than a week now.

I actually enjoy doing this.  I'm a detail oriented person anyway and I love to read. Sounds like a match :)  

The only time it's a problem is when I am really enjoying the story too much because then my brain goes to auto-correct and I am only reading the story and not on alert for needed corrections.  And it does happen.  In which case, I have to go back and re-read the chapters I just flew through, this time with an eagle eye and ready fingers on the key of the computer.

In another time, I would be in a library looking all of these things up in actual books instead of googling everything.  Even though googling is much easier and therefore faster, I actually miss sitting in a library, surrounded by books checking all of these details.  Primarily because I would stumble across other delightful tidbits of information.  When I google, it's direct.  Straight to the answers I seek.  In a book, I learn all sorts of extra things. The things I never knew I wanted to know! 

And too, a library is filled with books, actual real honest to goodness books. There is nothing quite like it for me. Holding a book in my hands and thumbing through the pages is a sensory delight.  It's about the smell of it, the feel of it, the sound of the pages riffing by.  I can find information on the computer but emotionally, it's just not the same for me.  

The computer brings me knowledge, but not joy.

Still I'm having a great time with this project which is a little more than half done. 

The funniest part of doing this sort of project, at least to me, is that when I finish up and move on to reading just for my own pleasure, I find myself still making mental corrections.  I cannot seem to help myself.  I don't write in to tell the author or the publishing company (or the newspaper or magazine) that they made an error.  I would never presume.  And I'm not one of those people who goes around correcting other people's grammar or word choices or anything annoying like that in conversation. That's just rude.

But quietly, on the inside,  I cannot help but fix the boo boo in my own head all the while just smiling and nodding never ever mentioning it.  Most of the time I know what they meant.  And that's sufficient to the task at hand.

So it's back to "work" on the edit for me today.  Not that it's really work.  I'm not sure what to call it.  But whatever it is, I'm going to try to finish it up this week.

Our house is on a corner lot.  No, not the corner of Heartbreak and Loneliness, wise guys. No, we live at the corner of Bayshore Dr and Bayshore Circle.  Mostly we like living on a corner.  There is only a direct neighbor on one side. And in our case, while she is very nice, she is also very rarely there.    Also corner lots tend to be larger which is also a nice little bonus. 

In our particular situation, in addition to the street signs on the corner, there is also a stop sign. You know that big red octagonal thing that is just so demanding.  It looks like this.

You might think it would be annoying to live that close to a stop sign.  All that stop'n'go traffic, the possibility of a traffic slow down making it hard to get out of our driveway, stop sign corner lurkers,  things of that nature.  You would be wrong.  It's not a problem at all.  And for several reasons.

First of all, Venice Island is relatively small. We don't get a lot of traffic.  Even at primo tourist season there isn't a great deal of traffic on our street because we are  kind of out of the way of the normal route to the things that tourists like to do.  And for the second reason, because people tend to ignore the stop sign.  If they do anything at all it's the broadway stop.  You know the one, even if it's by a different name.  The driver slows down a little bit while looking around, sees nobody else coming and changes over to acceleration.  There is no actual stop.  And then there is the third group of  people who just blow through the sign as if it weren't there at all. 

Saw it happen again very recently.  Just car after car cruising (at the mighty pace of 25 mph because that is indeed the speed limit here) on down our street without so much as a pause at the corner.  I believe I even made some sort of snotty comment about it out loud to myself.

And then today I was going to run some errands, one of which required that I first go down Bayshore Circle, the street we are on the corner of.  As I was leaving the circle I realized that I could barely see if the road was clear because the trees on that corner were so overgrown .  "So inconsiderate" I muttered.  "The owners should do something about that!"

And as I finally inched out onto Bayshore proper and passed my own driveway I realized something kind of important.  Those trees that were overgrown are actually on our property.  Those overgrown trees that were in my way are my doggone trees!~ Dang.

  And they not only obscured the view from the Circle onto Bayshore coming from the North, they also completely obliterated the view of the stop sign coming from the South.  Double Dang!

Have you ever heard the expression, " Can't see the forest for the trees."?  It's something that my Nana used to say with terrifying frequency about me. (Imagine it being said with a strong Maine accent and a look of absolute dismay)  Sadly, while I may be improved in that department, it's obvious that it still occasionally applies.

I'm surprised that I haven't been getting anonymous nastygrams from my neighbors in the mailbox!  I would not blame them one single bit.

So when I finished running my errands today, I grabbed a saw and my giant chonkers and went to work.  I clippered and chopped and sawed and then clippered and chopped and sawed some more.  I worked until I could see the view from the Circle and the Stop sign from the road.  Finally!  Whew!

I gathered up my tools, cleaned them and put them away.  I picked up all of the branches and put them in a pile for the lawn guys to take away on  Wednesday. Then I stood them smiling, admiring a job well done. And watched two cars, one right after the other, zoom right past the stop sign without so much as a tap on the brakes.  Dang!

After they passed, I stood in the street to be absolutely certain that the stop sign was visible.  It is Very Visible.  The stop sign is totally entirely and completely clear as a bell right there,   entirely unobscured and utterly ignored.  

 I shook my head in disblief at the human animal in general and those two drivers in particular.  I dusted myself off and mentally washed my hands of responsibility and then came in the house and literally washed the dirt and sap off my hands.    And by the way, there is a great trick to getting sap off your hands if you care to know.  Coat your hands in cooking oil before washing, then coat  your hands in dish soap, thoroughly working it in.  Then rinse.  All traces of sap should be gone :)

I will keep an eye on any tree overgrowth from now on but there's nothing I can do to force people to obey the sign.  I can only make sure that they see it. After that, it's up to them.

Well hello again!  It's been a few days.  How was your holiday weekend?  I know it probably didn't feel much like the old Memorial Day Holiday weekend, but hopefully you found a way to enjoy it anyway!

We did.  Of course we did.  We kind of make it a point to enjoy most things.

We did go to visit my dad at the National Cemetery in Sarasota.  There were other folks, here and there, dropping off flowers and flags and just stopping by to visit and pay tribute to all of our veterans.  It's a very peaceful and surprisingly beautiful spot.

And then on another day, because things are loosening up here and the scary numbers are looking a whole lot better (and frankly because they invited us), at long last, we went up to visit the Minocks!  Woohoo!  We haven't had a Minock Day in 4 very long months!  Oh we stayed in touch, no worries there. We texted and called and exchanged a few photos here and there, but we were all being safe and being smart and following the rules.

But it was time.  Finally this weekend, we made the trek and headed up for a cookout Memorial Day event!~  We got to see the progress on their new home (It's gorgeous by the way), we had a cookout, we did the usual baked good exchange but this time also a jigsaw puzzle exchange (yay!), played some cornhole, talked and laughed and then talked and laughed some more.  Always a good time on Minock Day! It was so good to see them again!

Let's see what else did we do this weekend?  We worked on some puzzles, watched some TV shows and spent time at the beach.  It was a little stormy, a little rainy, a little drizzly by turns.  There was some sun, some lightening, some clouds and some thunder over and over again.    We watched birds and dolphins and of course I took some photos!  Of course I did!  

In between rain bands, I dashed out and took flower photos.  They always look so pretty right after the rain.

Let's see, what else?  Did a lot of reading and cooking and mostly enjoyed having no obligations and schedules to keep. 

It will be a little while before there is another 3-day weekend.  In fact, the next one will be in July!  Independence Day, I believe, is on a Saturday this year!  And even though we've already gotten notification that the fireworks on the beach are cancelled for 2020, that's ok. It will still be Independence Day and we will still enjoy a 3-day week (and probably watch the movie called Independence Day  - it's kind of a tradition now) and have our own cookout in the courtyard and.....well I'm getting ahead of myself.

For now, we had a very nice Memorial Holiday weekend and hope you did too!

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I'm not sure how much of an improvement it actually was, but I did, at long last, pay attention to my feet.  I don't even remember the last time I painted my toes yesterday I noticed that I had almost  no polish at all on one toe, very little on another and the rest was so chipped up it looked as if I had been kicking trees barefoot.

I guess I just don't pay much attention.  I start out most every day in sandals so I should notice.  My toes are hanging right out there. But first thing in the morning I am A) not terribly clever and B) very busy.  My highest energy is early in the day so I always kind of hit the ground running.  I zoom around.  Cleaning, tidying, checking items off the gotta-do list, go go go go go!

  Usually until around noon when Tim and I usually do the noonwalk.  I change shoes for that.  Noonwalk requires sneakers.  When I'm wearing sneakers I do not see my toes so I don't think about them.  Until bedtime when I take them off and by then I'm too tired to care if I even have toes. So the toe polish situation goes unaddressed.

But somehow, yesterday, I noticed.  So I stopped go go going and sat myself down on the step into the family room with my basket-o-polish.  I have this basket you see that I keep stashed in my closet.  It holds everything necessary to give myself a pedicure.  There's cotton balls and small towels and nail clippers and files, there is nail polish remover and those toe separator things and several different bottles of polish and clear topcoat to choose from.  

The only thing I do not have at my disposal is pretty toes.  My feet are functional.  They work.  But they are not pretty.  I've broken them all too many times. They are crookedy and bumpy and the nails are warped from all of the damage which kind of makes them tricky to polish actually.

And then there is the whole question of polishing them at all.  Does putting polish on ugly toes make them prettier? Or does it bring additional attention to the fact that they are rather ugly.  The whole lipstick on a pig thing y'know?

I suppose it doens't matter.  I don't do it for anyone else. I do it for me.  Because sometimes it's kind of fun to look down and see shiny colour peeping out from the front of my sandals.  The red I wore last time is an old school red.  The red toe polish or lipstick you might have seen in the 50's.  The light blue that I put on yesterday is certainly different. I'm not sure how I feel about it really.  I know Tim thinks it's very strange.  Sometimes it makes me think my feet are cold.  But mostly I like it.

I am certainly not an expert at applying polish either.  Mostly because I work too quickly.  I always want to hurry up and get it done so I can move on to my next thing.  Which is why I love that flash dry top coat stuff.  I literally polish the left toes then immediately move on to the right ones.  As soon as I finish the right I slap on the flash try, left and right, then clean up my mess and put it away and move on to the next thing. See?  Really shoddy work.  If I paid someone to do the quality of pedicure that I do, I would no doubt, request my money back.

But it's done for now.  We will see how long this polish lasts and when I finally get around to re-doing it, what colour I will choose.  If I bother to put polish on next time at all!  I never know what I'm going to do.  I am always a surprise. Even to myself.

Everyone please have a lovely weekend, regardless of how you spend it or if you toes are polished at all.

Hugs all 'round. Have fun, be safe.

You know what these pictures mean, right?  Yes!  Another Photo Safari!  Woohoo!

Normally Joy and Bob would be long gone by now and the camera hikes would be done until sometime in the fall.  Usually at this time of year, Joy and Bob would have already  loaded the kitties into the RV and headed to Yellowstone for the season to be Rangers.  But this year, of course, is different.   Some things are still closed.  Other things are only partly open. And well, this year they will be taking a ranger break.  

Which works out very nicely for me, selfish oinker that I am.   Because now that things are opening up again and, for us at least, the virus scare is backing off a little bit, Joy and I can head back out into the wild. Or at least semi-wild and take photos to our hearts content.

Since I am usually not out happysnapping in forests, parks and preserves this time of year, I had no idea what to expect.  I mean, I know the places, goodness me we've hiked them often enough.  But they look different every season. And it's starting to warm up now and it's a wee bit more humid. But we are intrepid explorers so off we went.

We left a little earlier in the day than usual, knowing that it would be hotter and that was wise. We wore sunscreen and as a precaution bug spray although I really didn't notice a profusion of bugs hanging around, so that was nice.   And because it was still early in the day it was nice and cool and there was a beautiful layer of dew on almost everything.

The dew burned off quickly but was so pretty while it lasted.  And afterwards there were lots of flowers to admire.  Some are fragrant, some are not, but all of them are pretty.  It's such a lovely surprise surrounded by all those many shades of green to see vibrant colours out there in the middle of the wild!  Mother Nature is wonderfully quirky.

We wandered up and down trails, choosing lefts and rights randomly.  Each trail more enticing than the last.  It's a wonder that we never get lost because we really and truly do just make the decision to go left or right at each fork with no regard at all for trail markers.

Some trails were very shady, others quite open and sunny and a few took us past rivers and ponds

We could hear birdsong of all kinds all around us but I was only able to get a photo of one bird.  And that one was being cagey and trying to hide in shadow.  Unfortunately for that particular bird, it's hard for a bright red cardinal to hide totally.

Trees?  Well yes of course. Trees of all sorts. Tall, short, deciduous and palm, healthy and broken, moss or fern covered or loaded with lichens the word I'm looking for is lush.  If you are going to hike in a preserve around here, it will be lush with  trees.

Oh I think before I said something about not seeing any bugs.  That isn't entirely true.  We did see a few insects and the evidence of some thereabouts.  And for some reason there were lots of spider webs.

There were lots of lizards too but this one was the only one who posed for me

So that's it I guess.  First hike since this whole COVID thing began and dang it felt good!  Can't wait to get out there and do it again!

​Thanks for coming along for the walk.  Hope you had a good time ;)

I've tried to write this promised post several times now. Hopefully this time it will actually happen.

The photo above is of the cast of my favourite TV show (and book series) called Outlander.  I have since learned that there are millions (yes millions not an exaggeration) of fans around the world.  And despite what many people think, this is not a "chick flick".  There are nearly as many male fans as female.  One of the things that indicates what a terrific book (and show) this is are the conversations it inspires.  This isn't just a passive sit and read or watch.  People love to talk about it.    They talk about what already what they just read (or saw).  They talk about what they think will happen next.  They ask questions and suggest possibilities.  

I started reading the books around 2005. And I was late the party then.  The first book came out in 1990, so thirty years ago.  Wow, talk about being fashionably late!  I had not heard a peep about these books despite the fact that, apparently, they were on best seller lists everywhere. Which, I suppose, proves that I pay absolutely no attention to those sorts of lists.

The books showed up at our house in Colorado in a big box of all sorts of books.  Let me take a moment to explain.  As I've stated before, I come from a family or readers and we share.  If I remember the story correctly, my sisters oldest daughter was the one who started the ball rolling.  She had three of the books, I presume that she read them, then passed them along to her mother (my sister) who in turn passed them along to my parents and then eventually, my folks added them to a big box of other books which were shipped to me.

So there they were. Three enormous books in a box with normal sized books.  I set them aside and read the other books first.  Eventually I read everything else in the box and so I randomly picked up one of the three and opened it up.  I was entranced from the very first sentence.

"It wasn't a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance."  

That is the first sentence of the first book.  I was intrigued immediately.  It sounded like a sort of mystery.  I like mysteries.  But it turned out to be so much more than that.

First of all let me say that these books are huge.  I mean HUGE.  

Just for comparison sake, I set one randomly selected book of the series next to my camera.  This particular book is 1438 pages long.  Holy Cats!  It sounds intimidating.  Until you start reading.  

I swear to you that when I got to the end of the first book, my only thought was that I wanted more.  I was so sorry it was over and couldn't wait to start the next one. And then the next one. And the next until I had read all 8 of the books of the series and now, like all of the rest of her fans, I eagerly await Book 9.   The author, Diana Gabaldon, says that there will be 10 books in the entire collection.  Which is yay, because there is more story to come but boooo because well, then it will be over ;(


The TV show began to air in 2014. So they waited quite some time before translating it to the screen. And that was probably a good thing.  I generally cringe when books are made into movies or TV shows because, and I apologize if I sound too elitist saying this, usually the screen version is not as good. In fact, I'd say the move from book to screen ranges (usually) from sort of okay to horrible.   This one is the anomaly.  They've done a brilliant job of being respectful of the original work.  There are times when the dialogue is word for word what is said in the book.  Are there differences?  Of course there are.  When you have a book that is over a thousand pages long it is not going to move to the screen page by page for heaven's sakes. But I've honestly never seen such a painstakingly beautiful job of it done before.

So, I'm sure if you are still reading at this point you are wondering what all the brouhaha is about.  What exactly is this story?  What sort of book/TV show is this?

Well that's hard to pin down.  It's not just one genre.  And regardless of what you may have heard, it's not a bodice ripper.  (Though I confess at least one bodice was ripped).  It is an action/ adventure, historic drama, romance with a lot of humour, oh and a little bit of science fiction.  Like I said, difficult to pigeon hole. 

The author spends the better part of 3 years writing each book and the amount of research that goes into each book is astounding.  The producers, directors and writers of the show then spend over a year creating the script, the sets designs (which are amazing), the costumes (which are astounding) and every other teensy tiny detail necessary.  The actors, well I cannot say enough good about the actors who bring these characters to life.   They aren't playing these characters, no, when they are on screen, they become these characters.  It is captivating.

I haven't read very many books that are as beautifully written  and I haven't seen very many TV shows as well done.  In fact, I'm not sure that I could name any that were done better.  

If you are tempted at check any of this out for yourself, I should probably tell you ahead of time that the writers (of both the book and the TV show) do not shy away from uncomfortable or difficult topics.  All scenes are courageously presented  with absolute authenticity while still displaying sensitivity to the topic, the actors and the viewers.  Just a fair warning.  Personally, I am not squeamish about real life.  I don't always like it, but I would always rather know the truth and then deal with it rather than pretend it doesn't exist (or perhaps didn't exist way back when)

Or perhaps you are already a fan and all the way through this you were nodding and saying, yepyepyep.  

At any rate, there you finally have it, my review of Outlander.  Take it or leave it, here it is.
Book and TV show are Sam Approved (and recommended)


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You may have noticed that there was no blogpost yesterday.  No, you didn't miss it. There simply wasn't one. Why? Well it rained.  A lot.  Which doesn't sound like much of a reason does it.  Please allow me to explain.

I went for an early morning walk yesterday with every intention of coming back and writing the blog immediately afterwards.  The walk part happened.  The writing part did not. Obviously.

I did check the weather before I left.  The weather guru's predicted rain in the afternoon.  Which is why I walked in the morning. You see?  There was an actual reasonable logic involved.  But because the sky was very grey, at the last minute, I tucked a small zippy bag in my pocket, just in case.  Once the rainy season begins, I try to make a habit of ALWAYS carrying a zippy bag.

Between the grey sky and the weather prediction, I assumed that at worst, I would get a little sprinkledinkle which is no big deal. And actually rather refreshing.  Which is why a person should never assume.

It was a beautiful morning for a walk too.  The temperature was perfectly comfortable and the humidity that did indeed suggest a future rainstorm was actually quite lovely.  I set off on what was supposed to be just a  a quick two mile walk to our small regional airport. (Mostly it's those little bi-wing planes that looks like they should be remote controlled. They are adorable).  

I felt very accomplished as I spun on my heel and began the two mile walk back.  And that's when the sprinkles began.  No big deal.  I wore a hat.  Well I wore a baseball cap which is pretty good for keeping the sun out of my eyes but does absolutely nothing to protect me (or  my hearing aides) from the rain.  But it's just a sprinkle, I assured myself, and my hair ought to protect my hearing aides, right?

In another half mile, the rain was more of a drizzle than a sprinkle so I picked up my pace.  In another half mile the thunder began.

At first I wasn't even certain that it was thunder.  Perhaps it was the rumble of a large truck in the distance?  But in short order it was very obvious that what I was hearing was most definitely thunder.  The sort that makes the house feel as if it were shaking.  Great.  The rain came down harder.  I stopped under a tree (under a tree???) to take the time to move hearing aides from my ears to the zippy bag, seal it and shove it in my pocket.  

Within the next half mile the lightening began and I picked up my pace again.   Not quite running but as close to running as you can get without actually calling it officially running.  And still, by the time I walked in the front door, I looked as if I had been dunked in a bucket.

And here is what I have to say about that.  You know all of those movies that have famous rain scenes?  Dancing in the rain scenes, kissing in the rain scenes, emoting in the rain scenes? Those ones?  Balderdash! Hollywood claptrap!

It's hard to see in the rain, the road is slippery, the ground is muddy, and here in Florida, there is so much sand everywhere that when the rain hits the ground with force, the lightweight teensy bits of sand bounce up and cling to your legs.  Wet clothes, wet shoes, wet hat are a lot heavier than dry and therefore are awkward.  And I do not even want to begin to discuss my hair.  Ok I will say this: if you have a dictionary with pictures and there is an entry for drowned rat, that looks a lot like me coming in out of the rain.

Stepping into the air-conditioned house soaking wet does not feel refreshing. It feels cold and since I was all wet, the word clammy must be introduced as well. Everyone's favourite word. Clammy.   I dripped my way to the utility room to leave my shoes (which I removed outside) and attempted to dry off. I was so chilly I ended up wearing a sweatshirt for awhile.  

I wish I had thought to take a selfie so that you could see how truly unfortunate the soaking wet look is on me.  It honestly is not good.

It obviously didn't kill me.  It didn't wound me in any way. Unlike the Wicked Witch of the West, the rain will not melt me into a puddle of nothing. I was damp but undamaged. Still, addressing the rain soakedness of myself upon my return did throw off my schedule sufficiently that half way through the afternoon I realized that I had not written my blog. Dang.

That's ok.  It's not as if the fate of the world hinges on whether or not I write a daily blogpost  right?

So there you have it.  With apologies to Gene Kelly, Spiderman and Ryan Gosling, I just do not get the romance of walking in the rain.  I guess it depends on who you are walking in the rain with.

I wrote a piece on the books and television show Outlander today and the computer ate it.  I mean it's gone. Gonzo.  Just vanished as if I didn't just spend more than an hour writing it.

ARGH!

I think instead of trying to recreate it right now, I will, instead, just wish you all a wonderful weekend and re-write my post for publication on Monday.  

Sometimes I love computers.  Right now, not so much.

Hugs all 'round

Mayhem and injury via grocery cart. So much so social distancing eh?  I'm not sure how big a grocery cart is but I'm pretty sure it's not six feet.

Here's what happened.  I was at our local farm market which is not a road side stand but more of an actual grocery store with walls, floors and doors, aisles and grocery carts (obviously).  The carts are smaller than regular standard grocery carts but otherwise the same. Mini-carts.  They make up for their mini-ness by having an upper and a lower deck.  They are absolutely perfect for farm market shopping.

Especially this farm market. It's a very popular place.  The food is all locally sourced, reasonably priced and of excellent quality. But the building itself isn't really big enough to contain all of it's wonderfulness and the customers.  One or the other on it's own, fine. But together it really is a squeeze. Even in normal times.

I try to offset that by going at unusual times.  First thing in the morning maybe (I mean as they are unlocking the doors) or toward the end of the day when all sensible people are home eating dinner.  But that isn't always possible.   I wasn't too worried about any crowds because well first of all, almost everyone here masks.  We just do.  And most everyone is fairly courteous about keeping some distance now. We have become accustomed to it and therefore we do it almost automatically.  And this isn't high season with loads of tourists and snowbirds.  Sooo there were things we needed at the market and off I went with my mask and every intention of staying as far away from other people as humanly possible in such a small space.

It happened right around the tomato sectione. I was standing next to my cart, perusing the tomatoes (with my eyes only!!) and someone crashed into the back of me but at an angle so that my foot was now trapped between the carts and my own cart jammed into the display. Shocked,  I looked down at my sandaled foot which was entangled then I looked up at the cart driver who was utterly oblivious.  How do you not know that you crashed into someone else?  How is that even possible?

"Excuse me" I said.  But of course my voice was a little muffled by my mask.  "(ahem) Excuse me, sir" I said again louder.  Nothin'.  I didn't want to touch him to get his attention.  But it was really starting to hurt so, even though it hurt even more to do so,  I wiggled my foot first out of the sandal and eventually free of the carts.  But I had to raise my foot so high to extricate it (remember the double decker carts) that I had to lean backwards a little bit, which put me off balance and required a couple of quick hops to right myself.  And I hopped right into one of the managers at the market. Dang!  "I'm so sorry" I said to him at the exact same time that he said, "Are you ok?" to me.  I reached down for my shoe while assuring him that I was fine and he was assuring me that he was fine.  

Meanwhile the cart crasher vanished.  Mysteriously, as soon as the manager appeared, the cart crasher was gone.  It could have been a co-incidence I suppose, but an odd one don't you think?

So all is well, or so I thought, and I finished my quick little shop.  By the time I was in line to check out, I glanced down at the back of my ankle and saw that it didn't just hurt, it was bleeding. Well Dang it again.

Once I got home, I patched myself up and everything is fine. I mean my foot didn't become gangrenous and fall off or anything. But I'm still annoyed by the cart crasher.

If it was an accident, isn't it just polite to apologize?  If it was intentional, then what the actual hell?  Has this virus thing gotten people so crazy and frustrated and angry that they go around inflicting damage upon other people (or their stuff) just to express themselves?  Or if this person truly had no idea (how could you not realize that?) that they not only crashed into me but literally trapped my foot in the process, how oblivious must they be in the rest of their lives?

Oh well, lots of questions and zero answers here.

I do know that, at least before this whole virus thing started, the farm market was looking to either purchase a larger building or build one and everyone in this little town cheered when they heard this news.  I have no idea if that is still going to happen now or not.  I guess I still stick to early morning or late afternoon visits from now on.  Let that be a lesson to me!

This is newest addition to our household!  YAYAYAYAYAY!  There it sits in our utility room, just barely squeezed in between the wall and a shelf of paint and bins and random  utility room stuff.  Hurrah!

We have almost always had a second refrigerator.  I grew up that way too because my parents had one too.  I suppose to me it's just a normal ordinary regular sort of thing to have.   But we didn't have one here in Florida. Until now.  And thank goodness!

It's not that it is an absolute necessity I suppose. But it surely is nice to have.  For overages or for big things or when something awesome is on sale but there isn't room in the regular freezer, or when you are expecting company and want to have cold drinks to offer, or, or, or...well there are a zillion or so reasons why it's nice to have.

In Colorado it felt more of a necessity than an indulgence. And that was because of our house fridge.  It was a side by side refrigerator/freezer.  We were told that it was the latest and the greatest and apparently what our upgraded appliance level provided when we built that house.  The fridge was stainless.  It had the water in the door thing.  Made copious amounts of ice. And I hated it.  

It was the side by side-edness of it that I loathed.  On the fridge side, there wasn't even room for a pizza box for heaven's sakes!  What is the point of a refrigerator that isn't wide enough for a pizza box? Well unless you tipped it diagonally and then, well, bad things happen to diagonally tipped pizza.  It also wasn't wide enough for a roasting pan.  And upon occasion I needed to thaw something large - say a turkey or a large roast.  And my large roasting pan was the perfect vehicle to hold such a thing while it thawed. Except that, it didn't fit in the fridge.  Bad Fridge. Very Bad Fridge.

And then the freezer side was even narrower which meant that if I bought a whole chicken for future use, it filled one entire shelf.  Only tiny little things could be poked in around it.  The thing with frozen food is that most of it isn't square or rectangular.  (Unless it comes in a box and not much food at our house comes in a box - with the obvious exception of take out pizza).  If a person with great spatial understanding opened the door to an freezer compartment of a side-by-side fridge/freezer, I am sure that in their head they are playing a terrific game of tetris and fitting in all sorts of things.  But none of those things are the sorts of things I buy.  It  was frustrating. But the second fridge /freezer that lived in the garage helped alleviate the space issues.

So obviously when we moved here and reno-ed the kitchen and therefore had to select a new kitchen fridge/freezer, I absolutely veto-ed a side-by side  model. Nopenopenope.  Instead I chose a double door fridge with a deep freezer drawer pull out on the bottom.  And it is for the most part great.  There are two deep bins on the bottom and a pull out freezer drawer  above.  It's good!  But once again, if I buy something large and bulky for future use, while it does fit, it doesn't leave much room for anything else.

There is the added issue of the type of kitchen we have.  It's a galley kitchen.  That's just how this house was made.  When we reno'd, my plan was to make the corridor part as wide as possible.  Note here, refrigerators are deep.  There is just no getting around that.  It was going to poke out into the corridor of the galley no matter what.  But in explaining my dilemma to the appliance sales guy, he mentioned to me two words that I had never heard before but became music to my ears..."counter depth".  Yes!  There was a type of fridge that was only a teensy bit past the actual depth of the countertop!  SOLD!

It works great. I love it.  But that does mean that there is, once again, a little less room than would be ideal.  Actually "ideal" would be separate walk in fridge and freezers.  Yeah. Heaven in a kitchen appliance.  But I digress. In this REAL world, If I put milk, plus a pitcher of iced tea, and a carton of Orange Juice on the bottom shelf, it's already pretty full.  If only we had a place for overflow!

So Tim went online and ordered one for us.  Hurrahhurrah!  The day it was supposed to be delivered (somewhere between 8 am and 8 pm by the way) he got another call informing us that it was on backorder and would be available until sometime in July.  What?  You just now figured that out? Dang.

So off we went to Lowe's.  We prowled around debating.  My feeling was that this fridge will be in the utility room. I do not care what colour it is.  I do not care if it has a few scratches.  I do not need the water dispenser.  I just need it to keep stuff cold.  So I looked at that sort of thing.  Tim was focused more on it's size both exterior and interior because he is smart that way.

A salesguy offered to help us and was so nice that when we explained what we were looking for he jumped on his computer and found us a terrific dealio!  Hurrah!  We didn't even give it a second thought.  Done. We were told it would delivered the next day.  Even better!

So we went home and rearranged things and got ready.  Bright and early the next day we were all set up.  The truck arrived right on time but when the delivery guy went into the back to bring out the fridge, he called Tim up to parlay.  Hmmmm.  Turned out the appliance was damaged.  As I said before, I don't mind a few scratches and even a ding here or there but this was more of a cave-in.  Sorry.  No.   The delivery guy understood.  It was returned and we arranged for yet another one to be delivered.

It finally arrived yesterday.  Big excitement!  It even fits perfectly in the spot we set up for it.  YAYAYAYAYAY!  

It colded up pretty quickly so we loaded it a case of water in right away.  I went to the grocery store a bit later and added two loaves of bread.  Moving foward, as we shop we can now take advantage of the great sales and buy one, get ones and in no time at all it will be fully utilized.  

Love having a second fridge.  Yes I know we are so very spoiled.  But in this particular case, I don't even feel guilty about it.  We will absolutely get our money's worth out of this indulgence.

Tim and I had our annual eye appointments last Friday (I believe I mentioned that it was an upcoming event in our lives) and we were both fine.

It was interesting visiting a medical office during this time of virus protocols.  As I said last week, this was our first medical visit during this time.  I should have prefaced that sentence with, Thankfully, this was our first medical visit.    We have remained very healthy during this time and have every intention of remaining that way so we followed the instructions that we were given to the letter.

The instructions were to call when we arrived but to remain in the car.  We were told that we would, individually, each receive a text when we would be allowed to enter, separately, and of course, we needed to mask.  OK.

That is exactly what we did.  We pulled into the parking space and I called the office and told them that we were  both there and prepared to wait for permission to enter.  She said, "Oh you are fine, just come on in."  Hmmm.  I told her that Tim was there too.  She said that he could come in as well.   Hmm again.  That was completely opposite of what we were told when the appointment was confirmed but ok.  It's your office. You must know what we are supposed to do.

So we put on our masks and entered.  We were vetted at the desk.  The usual insurance stuff of course, but then the, "Have you been sick?" nope.  "Have you been around anyone who is sick?" nope.  And "Have you travelled outside the country?"  also nope.  The trifecta of nopes.

Next up was having our temperature taken.  I was fine.  I'm always fine.  My normal temperature is actually below normal so if I even had a low grade fever it would  not have registered as one.  But Tim popped a teensy bit high.  Well of course he did.  It was hot outside and we were sitting in the car!  So she allowed him to cool off for a few minutes, tried again and taadaaa, normal.  There we go.

We were directed to have a seat in the waiting room.  It is a large room with lots of very comfy chairs but only every third chair was turned into the room.  The others were not only turned away, but tipped forwards.  So even though we arrived together, we had to sit apart.  Actually that isn't what we did at all.  I sat, Tim stood next to me as we chatted as we waited.

But we didn't have to wait long.  I was taken back first.  The very nice lady who worked with me was professional and pleasant and endlessly patient with me as I asked her, over and over again, to repeat herself please.  It is so hard to communicate through a mask.  To add a degree of difficulty, her voice was very soft and rather high pitched.  Exactly the sort of voice I have the most difficult understanding without the assistance of visual cues (facial expression, body language and frankly, lip reading . By the way everyone does it to some extent).    No wait, that's not true.  The hardest ones are soft, high pitched and also an accent that is unfamiliar to me.  Add a mask and I have no idea what you are saying.

But we muddled through and eventually I got those drops in my eyes that dilate my eyes.  They always send their patients to a different interior waiting room for that part of the process.  Once again, comfy chairs, with only every third chair sit-able.  I wasn't sitting there very long before Tim came in for the same reason.  Again I sat (lazy butt) and he stood while we waited for the room around us to become more blurry and the overhead light to become more uncomfortable.  A sure sign of pupil dilation.

Eventually we were called back to see the doctor - together I might add.  First my eyes and then Tim's were checked by the doc.  We passed ;)  As we all three chatted for a moment at the end of the appointment, the doctor mentioned how glad he was to get back to normal and see patients, other than just for emergencies.  I said, "Normal?"  and pointed to my mask, Tim's mask and then his mask.  He laughed and said, "well almost normal"  

So that's where we are I suppose.  Stuck here for an unknown amount of time in the limbo of "almost normal".

Yesterday was Mother's Day!  And mine was lovely.  Obviously I got lots of flowers of all sorts (some of them edible and YUM).  And there were texts and emails and phone calls for the people I most love in this world and well, it would have been hard to make it a better day!

I was lauded and applauded and doted upon.  We started with french toast and the Outlander Finale (more on that later this week) and ended with watching funny video's and eating M&M's.  Somewhere in the middle was an awesome spaghetti and meatball dinner that required absolutely nothing from me other than appreciation.  I talked to all of the kiddos and that is always the very best part.

As always, Mother's Day brings to mind all of the other mothers throughout my life.  Most of them no longer with us.  My Great Grandmother, both of my grandmother's, my mothers-in-law (including step) and, as always, my own mother.  This is one of the days when I miss them the most.  But Mother's Day is also  the day when I smile while thinking about them.

My memories are like snapshots.  I remember my great grandmother with her flowered dresses and sensible shoes, hair up in a topknot, carrying a gigantic "cake' made of popcorn balls.  The first memory that comes to mind with my father's mother is her, so very patiently teaching me how to make home made egg noodles.  My mother's mother - my Nana - however,  is a series of quick shots, each of them featuring her as a calm center in the middle of the kind of chaos that only 5 grandchildren can bring to any gathering.  Nothing ever flustered Nana, Ever.

The picture I first remember of Tim's mom is her wearing a beautiful lacy ice blue dress at her only daughter's wedding.  She was so pleased and so proud.  I don't know if she ever said the actual words, but it was on her face and in her body language and it was so beautiful to see.

My own mother?  Well of course I have so very many.  Hundreds of them, thousands, probably millions of little mental snapshots of my mom, just being who she was.  And oddly the thing I miss most is buying her gifts.  She liked anything sparkly, anything fun.  Silly things, musical things, things that smelled good were high on her wish list.  But nothing extravagant.  If you spent "too much money" on something, eventually that gift would end up, unused, back in your house.  But flowers?  Absolutely.  A music box?  For sure.  Glitter crayons?  The best.

The last gift I ever gave my Mom wasn't on Mother's Day.  It was right around Thanksgiving shortly before she passed.  It was bicycle tassles for her wheelchair.  Tim installed them for her and she was in love with them.  She could not think of the words, but the beaming smile on her face when she saw her tricked out wheelchair with those silly tassles on it, was clear as a bell.  

Even now, whenever I am shopping, I will see something that I know she would have loved and I have that urge to buy it.  But of course, I don't.  But it always brings her to my mind and in a way, that is kind of a gift in itself.

Hope your Mother's Day was  absolutely as perfect as it could be (with the current restrictions being what they are)

Here it is guys, the weekend!  We have no particular plans really, but we are looking forward to it anyway.

Sometimes a weekend with no plans is the very best sort of weekend.  If you want to you can sleep late, laze around, have brunch instead of breakfast (love brunch) and figure it out as you go.

According to the weather dudes, Saturday here should be beautiful.  So perhaps we can take the opportunity to spend some time outside, get a few yard chores done.  Sunday, on the other hand, the prediction is rain.  And while we need the rain, a rainy Sunday is a sleepy Sunday.  That's a perfect day for baking and napping and watching movies. 

The only thing for absolute sure on my list for Sunday is watching the Outlander Season Finale.  Both looking forward to it and dreading it.   Anticipating it eagerly because it's such a good show and last week ended on a bit of a cliff hangar.  Dreading it because it will be quite a long time until Season Six starts since they cannot start filming again until this Virus thing is properly harnessed.  

Droughtlander, as Outlander fans call the time between seasons, is always torturously long.  Usually about a year long.  But, due to circumstances beyond everyone's control,  who knows how long this one will be.  I may have to watch the entire series to date again in the meantime.  I will probably read the entire book series again.

Usually we watch it Sunday morning while eating our brunch.  The Sunday following the finale is always a tough one because Outlander Brunch has become such a tradition that without it we are a little lost until we remember what we did before the season started.  How did we used to do Sunday morning again?  We will figure it out.

But otherwise, no plans.   How about you guys?  I hope you have something fun on your agendas.  (other than Outlander because of course you watch it!)

I'll meet you here again on Monday and we can catch up then!

Hugs all 'round.

Have you ever heard of this game?  I had not.  And anyway that's not exactly the way we played it.  Just almost.  We did it backwards.  Ours was "Two Lies and One Truth" but I couldn't find an "image" for it.  Sorry.

When I say "We" played it, I mean us Museum folks.  And by "Played It" I mean virtually.  We played it via email since our party was cancelled we could not do such things live and in person.

When I was told about the game initially I groaned (on the inside) because, as I've already stated here, I am not a fan of most games.  Especially party games. And it was intended to be exactly that, a party game. Bah.

That brings to mind things like little kids whacking each other with a plastic bat under the guise of trying to beak open a pinata.  Or those horrific Tupperware party games with women dressied up and desperately trying to balance paper places on their laps, plastic cups in their hands all while participating in "How Well Do You Know Your Host?" with a fakeyfake smile on their faces the entire time.  By the way, usually the correct answer to the question is, not very well at all.  Or even worse, one of those cut-throat card games where people get very very ANGRY with you if you do not "bid" correctly. Bid?  Am I playing a card game or attending an auction?  

But this game was a different breed of cat and involved no violence whatsoever (thank goodness!). This game was more of a thinker than a stinker.  

If you are unfamiliar with the concept (as I was) the idea is that everyone participating comes up with two plausible and at least marginally interesting lies about yourself and one truth.  We wrote these lines down and turned them into the boss.  At the party (in our case the email version of it) everyone is presented with these lines and is asked to guess which of the three is the truth.

Sounds simple, right?

Actually I found it much harder than I ever would have guessed.  (and I wasn't the only one).  First of all, I find it very difficult to lie.  I'm just not any good at it.  And in fact, I struggled with it so much that when the boss asked if my lines were ready I said, "I got nothin'"  As we talked about it she suggested that I use someone else's truth as my lie.  For example, I could say something that was true about Tim's life, like for example that he was a gymnast.  I wasn't but he was.  So while it's true for him, it is a bald faced lie about me.  Ok cool. That works.  

I chose two things about other family members that were true about them, but not about me as my lies. Done.  Cool.

Now I have to come up with a truth.  It was to be unexpected. (and therefore hard to guess).  It had to be true.  Ok so far.  And it had to be at least marginally interesting.  Well dang.  That's  where I got hung up.  

I sat there at my desk, pen and paper in hand, unmoving for the longest time, mentally reviewing my life.  Remember, I'm the person who is the farthest thing from an adrenaline junkie you will ever find. So there is no hurtling down ski slopes or driving cars at high rates of speed or even sitting front and center on a rollercoaster in my past. (nor my present or my future for that matter)  Nopenopenope. None of that.  And I'm the person who really does not enjoy being the center of attention. So there are no spotlight grabbing highlights in my life either. I'm more the person hiding behind the potted palm at the ball praying that no one will find me or worse, engage me in conversation.

Most of my life has been extraordinarily ordinary.  (and frankly I like it that way).  I'm probably the most average person you will ever meet in your life.  Average height, average intelligence, average ability, averagely average.  Maybe that is my unique ability, being the most ordinary?

It took me a really long time but I finally came up with the line for my one truth.    It was brief.  It was truthful. And most importantly, it was finally finished.  So I turned them all in.

Eventually, again via e-mail, we all selected our best guesses from everyone's lists of Two Lies and One Truth.   Done.  Whew!  What a relief.  

Some weeks later, the results had all been turned in and tabulated.

As it turns out, to my great surprise, I am a far better liar than I certainly ever guessed. Not one single person guessed my truths and lies correctly.  Wow!   How on earth did that happen?  I know for a fact that I an incapable of fibbing in person.  My face is just too revealing.  But perhaps, on paper, it's an entirely different story.  Very Interesting as Arte Johnson used to say.  

I have learned something new and at least a little bit interesting about myself with this game.  But please do not worry.  I promise to use this new found ability for good and not evil.

Just a quick photo montage for you today.  These are some of my neighbors :)

For the most part, we live in a wonderful neighborhood. But watch out for those wasps!  They are NOT friendly neighbors!

​Have a perfectly lovely day!

Tim and I both have eye appointment on Friday.  Nothing is wrong, understand, this is just a normal ordinary regular run of the mill annual eye check up.

Except that nothing about life right now is normal or ordinary.    And quite honestly I am feeling a little uncomfortable with the idea of this appointment.

Yes, yes, yes, they are doctors and they are aware of the virus related issues and I'm certain that they will take all necessary precautions and so forth.  But.  The Big But.  Bertha But.  I am now so accustomed to keeping my distance from people that I do not much care for the idea of someone that I really don't know very well, being that close to me.

To be absolutely fair, I have never been comfortable with how close an eye doctor has to be  to do a proper eye examination.   While intellectually I completely understand the necessity of being a nano-micron away from me while peering deeply into one eye or the other and lighting me up with that dang light, the other side of my brain is screaming, "Hey how about some personal space here buddy"!  The entire time.  

I've always had, let's call them, issues  with people who stand too close and touch too much, the close talkers and huggers.  Hey, it's not their problem, it's mine and I know it. So most of the time I just smile and take one tiny step backward or to the side, I allow the kindly intended hug and go about my life and nobody knows how uncomfortable it makes me.

And before anyone has a cow, late in life I actually have become a bit of a hugger myself.  BUT only if it's someone I am already emotionally close like, family members and very close friends.  Any other hugs that happen are ok if I am the one who initiates them.  When a stranger or relative stranger comes at me with a big smile and arms open wide, I immediately am overcome by the fight or flight response.  It sort of feels like I'm being attacked.  But I endure because I know it is not meant to be a bad thing.  

I like people. Don't get me wrong. I like people a lot.  I just like them best kind of over...............................there.    Crowds are not good. I am extremely uncomfortable with crowds.  Part of it is the whole up close and personal with other people thing. But it's also  the short girl who is claustrophobic thing.  When I'm in a crowd, I cannot see out.  In the middle of a large group of people the entire world to me is just shirt pockets and belt buckles.  I have no way to orient  myself to my surroundings and that kind of freaks me out.

I suppose, in my own way, I have spent my life doing a certain amount of social distancing.  So maybe that part of the Time of the Great Quarantine hasn't been quite as difficult of an adjustment for me as it is for other people. 

But now we are in Phase One of the re-opening of the Sunshine State (with the exception of Miami-Dade County. They are still locked down)  and doctor offices are opening, shops are starting to open, restaurants too with restrictions and conditions of course.  And now we will all begin to gradually readjust.  It was time.  We need to get our economy going again, get people back to work. I absolutely understand it and support it.

But that doesn't change the fact that I will be tense and uncomfortable in the chair at my eye appointment on Friday.  My first foray back into the world that used to be.

Isn't this an interesting bit of goo?  Anyone want to guess what it is?  Want to guess again?  

It's yeast!  I'm making Yeast!  This is the coolest science experiment I've ever done!  Mostly because it's probably the first science experiment I've ever done that actually worked!

I don't know if you recall, but last week I mentioned how impossible it is to buy yeast in the stores.  At least around here it is the holy grail of shopping.  Even harder to come by than toilet paper or hand sanitizer.  And I'm not even joking a little bit.  

I mentioned this to my oldest son and he agreed that it was a Unicorn purchase in his area as well.  Then he went on to kindly share with me his recipe for yeast.  And I remember thinking.."there is a recipe for yeast?"  Well of course there is.  It's not like it grows in the garden like a flower for heaven's sakes.  What was I thinking?  

I guess I was thinking that it was some long drawn out very difficult and involved process that required fancy machinery, a degree in chemistry and probably exotic and expensive ingredients.  Not one of those things was true.  

It did require a jar with a lid and I happened to have one of those on hand.   Then, (following instructions) I took cut two raisins in half and cut little tiny bits off of one dried apricot and put them in the jar with a little water.  I swirled it around together. Then added 3 tablespoons of flour and one tablespoon of water so that it made a sort of paste, put the lid on a walked away.  That was it. Seriously.   Several hours later when I happened to be walking past it, I opened the lid and gave it a stir.  At the end of the day I did it again.  

The next morning, when I checked it, I had bubbles!  BUBBLES!  That is exactly what is supposed to happen.  I opened it, added 3 more tablespoons of flour and 2 more of water, stirred it again and repeated the first day's worth of very limited activity and the next day, even more bubbles and that distinctly yeasty fragrance.  Hot Dog!  I made Yeast!  

I felt like David Copperfield.  It was like a crazy magic trick.  Every day I do the same thing, add flour and water and stir and every day it bubbles more and the scent is stronger.

At the end of the week, I can put it in the fridge (to stop the growing part) and just leave it until I need to use it.  When I want to make more, I'll just add more flour and water and stir and ....

Well Holy Cats!  If it's this simple, why have I been buying yeast all these years?

Of course, I haven't made anything with it yet soooooo the jury is still out on how it works.  So we shall see.  Bulletins as they happen

​Hope your weekend was at least as exciting as me making yeast!

  

Happy First of May!

The picture above is a May Pole Dance. Traditionally done on the first of May.  What a nice thing. Dancing, music, colourful banners, costumes, adorable children all heralding the end of winter and the beginning of Spring.  Almost as nice a tradition as May Baskets!

If you are unfamiliar with the concept.  It's pretty flowers put in baskets, or jars or papercones and hung on people's doors. Usually other people's and usually in secret.  A perfect project for these days of Social Distancing.  Doing a nice thing without any actual social contact at all.

Sorry those pictures are so teensy.  I cannot seem to make them any bigger.  The point is When was the last time you decorated someone's front door in secret on the First of May?  Or had your door decorated?  Or even saw someone else do it?  

It's been a really long time for me.

Actually come to think of it I never danced in a Maypole dance although I think my sister did at least once.  I'm sitting here laughing over the idea of me dancing in a Maypole dance.  That poor thing would be so knotted up.  There would be kids crying and needing bandaids, scuffed shoes, scraped knees and well, it just wouldn't be pretty.  

But I do remember making May Baskets and hanging them, in secret, on neighbors doors. Giggling like mad the entire time and I'm certain that we weren't quiet about it at all.  But we had such a good time doing it and whether the results were as pretty as I remember or not (probably not) the intent was kind and well-received.  

Why don't we do that anymore?

Or if not me...why don't other people do that?  Or helping their kiddos to do that?  It was so charming.  The May Baskets I mean.  The May Pole Dance is tricky and not for everyone.

I suppose I get it in places that don't actually have a lot of flowers growing yet.  In Colorado it might have still been snowing on most May 1st's.  In Connecticut it might have gone either way, either gorgeous or a blizzard.  But here?  There are flowers freakin' everywhere I look!  I could snip flowers out of my own yard and make a pretty basket to hang on someone's door.  

And yet I have not.  Well Shame On ME!  Maybe that is something that I will work on this morning.  I will cut some flowers, fill a paper cone, string it with ribbon, and tippytoe over to my neighbor's house and hang it on her door.  Awesome!  What a great idea!

Well I hope I've inspired you.  If nothing else you could make a May Basket and hang it on your own door!  Or not.  Up to you.

I just think that it's kind of a shame to let all of those old charming traditions disappear. It's up to us to keep the magic alive, after all.

If I asked any random person on the street what the words May Day brought to mind, I wonder if they would think May Pole Dancing, May Day Baskets or the alarming emergency panic words yelled into a radio by a pilot. Sigh.  And how on earth did that happen? 

Well I looked it up.  May Day as spoken by a pilot in distress was chosen specifically due to it's similarity to the french words "m'aider" which means 'Help me'.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual first of the month of May.  It was just an unhappy accident.

March and April were rough months for us all, my friends.  I don't know about you, but I'm ready to celebrate a brand new month.  Hopefully May will bring better things for us all.  And for that reason along, I'm making at least one May Basket today.