Water for Life

The beach as it was and may never be again. A place to bring the joy of music to the world. The music we will be hearing soon will be - burn baby burn.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is nearing our shores. How many wildlife creatures will suffer and die? How will this change our pristine beaches? What about the water quality?

When the burning begins how will it impact the air that we breathe? What about those that have breathing problems?

Basketball Jones

The world is a strange place especially when a very old song becomes stuck inside your head and spins constantly throughout the day. And you don't even like basketball.

http://s0.ilike.com/play#Cheech+%26+Chong:Basketball+Jones:465136:s1255181.8524762.14182839.0.2.34%2Cstd_b525ce68d6404eb8a747f3e63017a57d


http://www.themadmusicarchive.com/song_details.aspx?SongID=180

A Rose by any other name

After conversing with a box turtle expert - I'm thinking Jim maybe a JimmieSue. Next time I acquire an animal of unknown sex I need to ponder about the name I choose. A Boy Named Sue - could have a hard scrabble life.
And we do judge people by their names - sad but true. And then there are those nicknames. Sometimes someone lives with a nickname for ever and ever. My husband's family still refer to him as 'Robbie' I won't even discuss my nickname. When I was younger I didn't even realize I had a real name. When someone called me by my proper name I stood and looked off into the distance. Funny how our environment shapes us.
My turtle sign at school was torn down by the torrential storm over the weekend so my task this morning is to make a new sign and rewire it to the fence. I think my project for next year is to make a permanent sign out of wood.
What will the students say when Dudley has her babies?

Return of the King

About a year ago a very good friend gave me the gift of two turtles. She obviously was not a turtle person. The smallest turtle was a red eared slider about the size of a 50 cent piece and was duly named 'Scarface'. Scarface went to live in my turtle pond with Big Al, Cooter, Cracker, Romeo and Juliet. His small size did not intimidate him at all. He fit right in and began living the 'good life'.

Jim the box turtle received his very own special habitat complete with a mini shallow pond for his morning bathing. He began to live the 'good life.'

And we all lived happily ever after. Well, not exactly. Actually a tragedy happened.
Last November about 6 months ago - Jim went AWOL. He was just gone. I was devastated. I had visions of the hawk that had been hanging around the turtle ponds had snatched him up in those huge talons and carried him off. Next I presumed some wild animal like a raccoon or an armadillo climbed over the fence and absconded with my little pet. The fact that armadillos can't climb a fence did not enter my thoughts. Jim was gone and I felt irresponsible.

On Sunday night we had the storm of the century. It rained - flood style- for hours mixed with bolts of lightening and thunder cracks that stood your arm hair on edge. My turtle ponds overflowed and my pool was close to the brink of sloshing over into the yard.

My morning habits of feeding the turtles and having a little morning chat did not change on that wet Monday morning. I walked outside with my container of turtle food - opened the lid to the turtle enclosure and something caught my attention. Standing still with an outstretched neck staring straight at me was one of the turtles. For the life of me I could comprehend how one of the turtles got out of the enclosed habitat. Must have been the Storm?

I walked over to said buddy still standing statue like watching my every move and I yelled. OMG!!! It was the long lost Jim come home to mamma. The little bugger had been gone for 6 months. I cried. No big ugly hawk had carried him away to a sure death. No rabid infected raccoon stole him in the middle of the night. And of course no clumsy armadillo absconded with my little guy.

Last night Jim received a bigger and better and much more escape proof habitat. And now I expect us to live happily ever after. The end.

The Good Witch

I've been in hurricanes and survived but never a tornado.

Late yesterday afternoon I looked toward the western sky and it was dark, ugly and pulsating like it had a beating heart. I'm thinking a nasty spring rainstorm is on the way. A little later the dark menacing clouds were no where to be seen but the sky had turned an eerie gray and looked different.

The wind picked up and swooped over the house and then the rains came. Talk about raining cats and dogs - well this was raining buffalos and elephants. In an instant the front walkway was flooded. Water surged under the door in the garage. We were being bombarded by the downpour and the winds seemed like they had hurricane force. The trash can flew through he air and landed beneath the truck. Winds bent the palm trees almost to the ground.

Darkness covered everything and it wasn't even night time. I sat on the couch watching the lightning light up the darkened sky and then waited for the crack of thunder.

Funny how that crack lasted sooo long and seemed to sound like a train barreling across the land. I have heard stories about the train sound when a tornado strikes. The train noise sounded a second time. Scary!!! Good thing I'm not on Kansas.

The storm carried well into the wee hours of the morning with little damage to my home or yard. I'm still wondering about that train sound? Now I know how Dorothy must have felt.

Charlie Crist

On the front page of the St. Petersburg Times - 'The rise and fall of Charlie Crist. What is the truth?

We elect a person to look out for us, guide us, do the right thing and represent our wants and needs. But when this elected official does what we the people expect and want him to do - off with his head.

A quote directly from this article, "He's deader than the day before yesterday. I don't think there's any way in the world he can rehabilitate himself," former Florida GOP chairman, Jim Greer. Rehabilitate? What? Mr. Greer do you know what the word means? Reestablish a good name - what's wrong with his name? To restore to former capacity - You mean doing what the good ole boys want and not what the little people want? To restore to a former state - a state where teachers are not given respect?

This is all about those that have had tunnel vision but the deadly kudzu vine has claimed the light to the tunnel. Get out your clipping shears and clear away the debris. Take off your rose colored green (money) glasses and do what is best for the people. NOT what is in your best interest.

But - wait if other elected officials follow that lead, 'listening to the needs of their people', they will appear on the front of newspapers with the heading -'The rise and fall of*********.

I commend you Charlie Crist for standing up for what is the best for your state.

Making Life Easy

I've been envious of people who have those little 'EASY' buttons sitting on their desks. I love giving them a little tap and waiting for the 'EASY' to happen. I've priced them in the store but being a 'miser, cheapskate, penny pincher', I never purchased one and never received one as a gift.

So, I decided to take the bull by the horns and git me one of those charmers. I went online and found a website that sells them. Oh boy - they were cheap. That old phrase 'you get what you pay for' is true. Being somewhat - just a little- well - maybe a lot addicted to buying stuff online - I went for it.

Weeks later my special little package arrived. I was so excited. Now -I would have my very own 'EASY" button. What a thrill. Then that phrase - 'be careful what you wish for' came true.

I opened my package and there was my button. I'm thinking this baby was made in China by employees that don't know one word of English. My 'EASY' button said - 'NOT SO EASY". Dang!!! And I was expecting this to enhance and change my life. WELL -it probably will.

Life is not so easy and now I have the button to prove it.

Earth to Me

Celebrate Earth Day - plant happy thoughts all around you. Walk barefoot on the grass - feel the energy. Smell the Carolina Jasmine they are just beginning to bloom. What a fabulous fragrance. Count the clouds. Swing upon a star and remember who you are. Dance to the sound of the rustling leaves. Embrace the beauty that surrounds you.

Then, when you are stuck in that early morning traffic jam on the way to work (late again) bumper to bumper-noise-road rage drivers and those -oh-so-long traffic lights - smile upon the heavens. But don't get in the zone for too long because that crazed driver behind you is blowing the horn incessantly. Keep the sitting at the green light without any movement to a minimum. If you need to stop and smell the roses pull over and count the weeds growing along the freeway. There ain't no roses in sight.

Which is part of the problem! How does one stop and smell the roses when there are none? Some weeds produce beautiful flowers...but.... A rose by any other name is still a weed. A weed that Mother Nature has bestowed upon us to eradicate, destroy and eliminate. So we spray the earth with pesticides and chemicals and then my allergies and asthma slip into high gear and my rose sniffing days are numbered.

Celebrate Earth Day with three happy thoughts.

1. I'm happy I have trees and flowers in my yard.

2. I'm happy my jasmine is beginning to bloom.

3. I'm happy my neighbor has sodded his front lawn and it's beautiful and green and perfect and YES- it does make my brown weeded lawn look like the local landfill but I can look at his and do that transference thing and make his lawn my lawn in my head.

Earth Day - hooray!!!

Don't Get Your Panties In A Knot

Many times I have heard that saying, "Don't get your panties in a knot." Yesterday, I understood the full meaning of that little phrase. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

My work day is busy and I am on a specific schedule - I need to be certain places at certain times. So my mode is - hurry-hurry-hurry. Occasionally I need to stop and use the facilities and I try to do so in a timely manner.

WARNING: this gets graphic, please use caution when reading!

I go into the little box of an ugly room and yank down my pantyhose and undies in one fast sweep. Trying to multitask and git er done. You would think this would be an easy task. Well, pulling them down was easy. The means to an end.

Then, it was time to pull them up. I tug slightly on my undies. Not even a slight budge. I pull again this time a little harder. No movement - whatsoever. I survey the situation. My undies are entwined inside my pantyhose.What? How in the hill did that feat happen?

I grab the pantyhose being ever so careful cuz they are brand new and I would like to get two wears out of them. After all - they did cost a buck of my hard earned money. That's another subject. No movement. Dang!

I try desperately to untangle the mess as the clock is ticking away and I don't want to be late for a very important date. Words of wisdom from the white rabbit. I stand up and survey my dilemma. I pull a little harder still not wanting to harm my dollar pantyhose. Nothing. I go into panic mode.

What to do? I yell. Someone waiting patiently outside the door whispers, "Is everything okay in there"? OMG!!! People can hear me. My panic mode rises as I tug in dire desperation at my entangled undergarments. What to do ??

I could rip those cheap pantyhose to shreds. After all they were only a dollar. No can do. I pull harder and fall onto the disgusting looking tile and bang my head against the commode. OMG! I could be stuck in here with a concussion - someone would call 911 and I would be found splayed on the floor with my panties and cheap pantyhose in a knot. That would go down in the gossip history.

I pull as hard as I can stretching those dollar pantyhose to the max and finally-finally they are free from my knotted panties. Not even a slight run in the pantyhose. Hooray. I pull up my undergarments, dust off my embarrassment, smooth down my rumpled dress and exit the bathroom stall. With my head held high and my dignity still intact I walk by the amused onlookers.

My response to them all - "Don't get your panties in a knot."

Someone whispers to me, "Your skirt is stuck inside your pantyhose and your backside is showing."

So much for my dignity.

Insomnia

Insomnia...how do I love thee...oh, let me count the ways....!!!!! Wait I hate insomnia. There is nothing-nothing about this non-sleep that I admire. It robs me of energy. It frustrates me and makes me lethargic. I can count so many ways that insomnia rules my life with an iron fist of failure.

Short of succumbing to those pills they push on T.V. with a gazillion negative side effects how does one achieve a restful night?

Oh the utter bliss of putting your head down on a pilllow - closing your eyes and sleeping for hours - undisturbed. The true Nirvana!

What I would give for a rest full nights sleep at least once a week. It seems that such a small task is not on my 'to do' list. Martha Stewart - your sheets don't work.

Two wonder cures for this millennium -

1. cure the common cold

2. eradicate insomnia

There's a Nobel Peace prize in either one of those dilemmas.

Lord of the Rings

Went to an awesome wire wrap class and produced this lovely specimen. Hubby did the black one - for ME!!!

Hair Harem

My house is a sea of dog hair. It flows so elegantly from one room to another. It slips beneath closed doors and congregates in the closets. Once I found a clump inside the refrigerator. It's everywhere.

How one dog can shed sooo much hair is beyond belief. I'm wishing I could trade him in for a hairless Mexican dog: that would solve the hair problem.

I've even gone on the intranet to see how one makes dog hair into yarn. I've even had thoughts of having him shaved. He's a very emotional dog so my fear is the shaving would send him over the edge. Although, I'm ready to go over the edge due to massive dog hair accumulation.

SB 6

The Florida plan SB 6 to improve education and git our kids smart just ain't gonna werk. It has numerous flaws and hopefully Governor Crist will see those flaws and veto the bill. Yes, there are not so good teachers who cling to their position due to tenure. This needs to be fixed and years of service does not always mean and excellent teacher.

How can teachers be held responsible makin kids learn when these poor kids have an unstable home life and absentee parents. Kids come to school dirty, hungry, improperly dressed and filled with no respect for anyone including themselves. You learn what you live.

My solution to the epidemic is - let's make the parents responsible for their children's readin-writin and rithmatic. Let's give support to all those grandparents that are raising their grandchildren and trying to do their best while mommy or daddy sits in jail or prison.

Out of the mouth of babes - when asked about soap. "My daddy said ifin when I go to jail to remember to not drop the soap in the shower". And this young man was proud of what his daddy told him.

So we could make welfare payments according to the child's grades. I see reading scores going up. Have parents volunteer in the schools and she why there children are not progressing. X amount of hours spent in school every time your child gets a D or below. The behavior issue is another nightmare.

Support Florida teachers - Governor Crist.

A Crock

Unfortunately - my old favorites Crocs is falling by the wayside for me. I have gone to the other side and now live semi-permanently in Fitflops. What can I say? But I still love my Crocs - I wear them outside when I do my garden work.

Since I still have a very little teensy weensy soft spot for Crocs inside my heart I have super feelings that erupt when I see Crocs being abused. They are okay to use as planters in the yard, filled with cement they make wonderful door stops and my favorite is the Croc tree for succulents I have designed. But - but - but.........when someone wears socks with Crocs that is just a crime! How can anyone be so silly (I want to say STUPID) as to wear socks with Crocs. you know those white high top crew socks.

I was appalled to say the least. OMG!!!!! People like that should not be allowed out in public. Such a shame!!!

Speak to me

So, I'm at this resort sitting by the pool people watching - with a book in my hand - it doesn't look do obvious. And I realize just how many people have cell phones and they are using them. You are on vacation - you are at a resort - you should be relaxing having fun. Put the phone away.

Two people were talking work related stuff - give me a break. One lady was feeding her baby setting up her poolside stuff and had the phone scrunched to her ear and talking to the baby at the same time. Where is the quality time?

One man was buying or selling stocks with someone. Another guy was doing a sales presentation on the phone while walking around with a freshly ordered pizza and juggling two glasses of beer.

Another person was doing the gossip tongue on her phone. Give me another break. Get a life and get off the phone. And then the teenagers texting away. And the friends we were with mostly likely the worst offenders. We were sitting about 15 feet apart and they were calling one another. Hello.

So I feel like I am a visitor in this bizarre world where everyone (except me) has a cell phone permanently attached to their ears. Why does this seem like an addiction?

Roll it on a river

Heading north from Sebring on route 27. Bumper to bumper traffic, trucks, cars all going somewhere on a Thursday afternoon. So may traffic lights - so many stops. Strip mall scenery - boring at best.

An 18 wheeler breezes by and then another, open topped trucks overflowing with Florida's best. Oranges - oranges in April? Then, a small bump or divot in the road and wham-bam-thank you mam. Out pop Florida's finest and roll haphazardly across route 27. Banging and bumping hitting a few cars and rolling to the safety of the roadside.

Waiting for rot to engulf them. Florida's finest just rolling along.

Do Not Seek The Treasure

I watched a movie once where the characters did - plane spotting. I think they laid down on the runway and watched as planes took off or landed right over them. That's about all my memory will give up on that - plane spotting.

In the morning I do my own plane spotting and it is a much more safer game than the fools in the movie played. I sit outside in the early morning twilight - when traffic has not begun to snarl and send flumes of noxious gas into the air that eventually I will breathe in my sickly lungs, Before the sirens start and the neighbors awaken and add noise to the stillness. Surrounded by darkness with a few birds chattering - me alone with the sky, half a moon and twinkling rhinestone stars. The sweet aroma of jasmine is almost but not quite overpowering.

My old faithful fleece robe keeps the chill off as I sit and watch the morning procession of planes. In silence they slip into the darkened sky heading somewhere for something - I'm thinking for fun, relaxation and adventure. I'm jealous. I want to trade places with them - or do I?

Wondering where their travels will take them and who are they going with. Who will they see upon arrival? Or what? Mountains, the sea, the wild open land could be their stepping grounds to freedom. Freedom from the daily grind of life itself.

They pop up into the sky like specs or skeeters and slowly disappear over the gulf or across the state. And I become the plane spotter and write their journey inside my head. I weave a story that makes me smile and makes me want to be sitting in that plane with them. But instead I am safely tucked away in my wicker chair with red striped cushions - watching and dreaming about where they are going and what they will do.

A plane spotter filling her imagination with excitement and wonder enjoying the early morning quiet. Drinking coffee with cream wrapped snugly in a soft warm robe surrounded by the beauty of the beginning day. Another time another movie -'Do not seek the treasure', plays inside my morning head fog. I don't seek the treasure because I find the treasure right before my eyes and if by chance I don't I create it in my mind.

American Dream

What is the American Dream? Where is the American Dream? And Why don't I have the American Dream? If it's out there I want it - I deserve it.

Can I find it on the Internet? Does it have anything to do with chocolate?

I remember the American Dream used to include (after World War II) a car, a factory job, a house in the burbs, filled with lots of kids, a wife who stayed home, church on Sunday and family dinners. Then it did change - the wife went to work, they obtained another car, the children allotment became 2.5 and then the divorce thing exploded.

Today I'm unsure of what the American Dream really is. Having a job would be the top priority. Medical insurance is a biggie and a mortgage one can afford.

I'm happy....................

1. That I have running water.

2. It's Spring Break!

3. My asthma is laying low.

I guess the American Dream is whatever floats your boat, although we don't have a boat. We used to have a boat and after hubby ran it into the side of the swing bridge I felt uncomfortable riding in it so we sold the darn thing. Purchased a kayak but it didn't work right or we were bad kayakers so now that's gone.

I did buy two new snoodles at the dollar store. And the pool is starting to warm up so we can swim again. Hooray for solar heaters on the roof that needs to be replaced. And then there is that wooden side damage by the garage next to the dead grass. Actually the dead grass problem has taken hold of our entire front yard. That needs to be revitalized and not enough rain water left in the barrels to fix it. Maybe it will rain but not this week cuz it's Spring Break.

Time to take my coffee to the outside world and count my blessings and weave my American Dream back to life.

Watching the Moon

Lately I have fallen into the trap of - Woe Is Me. Such an ugly despicable place to be. The description being a large dark pit with ominous clouds hovering over trying to smother all positive thoughts and the sides of the pit are greased and slimy making the exit of this hell hole extremely difficult.

Feeling sorry for one's self is not a trip through wonderland or the enchanted forest. I recently saw Alice In wonderland with the wonderful Johnny Depp and decided to be more like Alice and see the world through a different perspective. Not really but it sounds good.

Back to - woe Is Me - get over it - get on with it - get out of that deep dark pit. And so that is what I am doing.

Sitting out on the lanai - a strong and luscious cup of coffee in my hand - still early morning dark with the quiet surrounding me - I sit and watch the lights traveling in the darkened blue sky. One after another the planes leave TIA - off to some exotic place. It seems like most of the inhabitants of the bay area are leaving town because the planes are almost non-stop - away they go and here I sit - contemplating life in the morning darkness.



The sun is sweeping away the morning darkness and the innocence of morning is vanishing along with my coffee. Time for a refill of coffee and positive thoughts. Watching the moon and wondering.

1. I am happy it is such a beautiful morning.





2. I am happy I have a huge project to work on today.





3. I am happy for this time in the quiet of the morning to reassemble.

Black Maria

I attended the 29th Black Maria Film and Video Festival. An amazing production at the Richey Suncoast theatre. The program begins with a history of the Charles Edison Fund and how the Black Maria was born. A history of the New Port Richey theatre and the Thomas Meighan Project. http://www.thomasmeighanproject.com/

Then, it moved on to the award winning Florida student video. Students from Marchman Technical Education Center produced the short clip with the help of their talented teacher Rob Mateja. The students did an superb job with their videos.

A few of my favorites - Sebastian' Voodoo, Banana Bread and Missed Aches. For more information go to - http://www.blackmariafilmfestival.org/.

Schools are for learning and taking students to that highest level where the imagination burst and becomes anything and everything. Keep the arts in our schools. Stop the budget cuts and move forward.

PUUUULLLLLL

Searching for Seven Moons

The sky a strand of smoky pearls around the neck of a movie starlet. Once a full moon - now less than its former self - glows like a seashell washed upon the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. Stillness blankets the earth against the cool morning mist. The dew is a silence covering the footpaths. On the Eastern horizon the orange lights have missed their calling this frosty morning.

Happiness today.

1. I am happy it is such a lovely day.

2. I am happy for a day off.

3. I am happy for all that I will accomplish this wonderful day.

Spring Break 2010

I feel like an ant. Slowly crawling along Interstate 4 to Orlando. Massive vehicles are passing me by paying no mind at all. I feel like I am living in the land of the lost. Just a speck of almost nothingness - plodding along trying to figure out where in the world I am. And why is everything else so overpowering and humongous.

Giants whizz by leaving their dust and debris to settle in front of me, next to me and on top of me. Somewhat similar to the invisible man or a tangle of dog hair blowing along in the breeze of spring. Towering monoliths blocking out the sun and vitamin D and clogging up the fast lane.

I feel like an ant. Ready to be squished and squashed by the mere act of living. Consequences and condemnations piling upwards into a shaky towering inferno. A little ant trekking off to Orlando and the fun times - oblivious to the surrounding melodrama of the final act.

Spring Break......AAAAHHHHH

Finding Happiness

Happiness is subjective - objective or darn hard to find and capture. We have to work to even get close to happiness. Happiness is subtle, humble and can be found in the most unique places in our lives. Happiness can be elusive, so one must run the golden mile to catch it.

At times I feel like I am in a marathon and have not been practicing. I have no coach so I plunder through life trying to reach my goals that have become transparent or miles from the tips of my fingers. And this morning the fingers are feeling arthritic.

So still searching for the holy grail I count my happiness blessings.

Three reasons to be happy today!

1. It was not my turn to clean up the dog poop on the kitchen floor. (and the mystery is -how did that happen?)

2. I can use my two and a half hours of comp time this morning for missing work - yet again.

3. Today is the last day of school before Spring Break, yahoo!

If you look at your life there is so much to be happy about. If Nemo can find his way back home - I can find happiness in my everyday world.