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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

OOPS.

Can I just say that I am not a big fan of Florida?
There are so many reasons.
It might just be that I was born in the north country, as we refer to the Adirondacks.  I like mountains all around.  In the Adirondacks, beauty abounds just about everywhere.
Florida, not so much.
It's flat, folks.   FLAT.  And there is way too much cement and blacktop.  And traffic.

Who would do this???   Gravel for your front yard, your back yard, your entire yard???




We did take a ride over into the middle of the state, to Myakka City.   I sent some loopers there, and the name fascinated me.  So one day when we were out and about, we drove out there.
It is definitely more picturesque, more interesting, less congested.
But it is the other end of extreme.  There is NOTHING there.......for convenience purposes.

Ah, I guess that in spite of the dreary, cold, icy, bitter, snowy winters in upstate NY, it is still a pretty nice place to live.
There are mountains to hike, pristine ponds to paddle on, back roads to explore, farm land, forests, everything a country girl could want.  But still there are small towns, small cities, places to eat, and shop, if that's what you need to do.

Just don't be there in January and February, because it's nasty.



I am, however, grateful for the sunshine and warm temperatures in the south.   This is where two years of misery were left on the side of the road.  This is where my headache lost its control of me, and my own new normal beckoned with waving arms.

It is  where I got my groove back.  I know it.  I feel it. And it's good stuff.
I will always remember Florida as the place that something huge  happened to me.

Now, there is some leftover disturbance...... stuff............ from having three surgeries on your head.  Or it could be age, or it could be a combination of the two.  But I am clumsy sometimes.  I drop things.  I break things.  I have lost that ease of movement that I used to have.  It causes me occasional distress.

So the other day, when I was having breakfast, I spilled cereal on my MacPro laptop.   Yes, I did.  Oh, the horrors.
I wiped it off almost immediately, and sighed BIG.....it seemed ok.

Then about 20 minutes later, a screen popped up, said turn your monitor off, then blackness.   Oh, my.
No matter how many times I tried to turn it on, it would not come on.  It did beep.

I need my laptop, folks.  Bad.   For my business, for NETFLIX, for my blog, for my sanity, for my google map addiction.
So I did what any faithful Mac snob would do, I found and called the Apple store, made an appointment for 1pm that day.
It was only 15 miles away, and we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, which is always good, and I had the tempura battered fish tacos.  So, so yummy.   Put me in such a good mood, I imagined getting my laptop tweaked and heading out with it as good as new.

Then on to the Apple store, which was mobbed.   I sat and waited for a while, and finally a tech came to help me.  He tried this, and he tried that, and then said he would take it in the back to pop it open, and would be right back.

About 5 minutes later, he appeared, put his elbows on the counter, looked at me over his glasses, eye to eye, and said one word.
"MILK".

gulp.


Yes, it's true, I have been the beneficiary of an expensive lesson this week.  He pulled the hard drive, which was spared, and I will buy an external enclosure for it, so all my data/pictures/etc are saved.
But the rest of it, history.  It is presently on Ebay being sold for parts.  Wish me luck.



I opted for a smaller, lighter, otherwise identical version, with the 13" screen.  And to optimize my Netflix experience when I get home, I bought Apple TV.

For some people, this would be the kind of thing that would ruin your day.  But I just looked at it for what it was, decided what I was going to do, and chose not to waste another minute on it. 

It's all about perspective, and mine has had an almost complete overhaul.
Amen.







Sunday, February 16, 2014

Happy

I have a head cold, left to me by visiting babies.  I should probably feel miserable, but I don't.

I got up this morning, and after some coffee, headed out to walk.  Roy and I walked about 3.5 miles......the sunshine was blazing, and we walk, fast, except for SEVERAL pee breaks.  His, not mine.
So it was a good workout.
I had some great music playing.


 Kind of sums up how I'm feeling.
Like I have left a very dark place, and I am out in the light, and wow, it feels good.


I know the lyrics by heart, I've listened to it so many times.  I love Pharrell Williams, can I just say?


Happy.  

It might seem crazy what I'm about to say
Sunshine she's here, you can take away
I'm a hot air balloon, I could go to space
With the air, like I don't care baby by the way

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do


Here come bad news talking this and that
Yeah, give me all you got, don't hold back
Yeah, well I should probably warn you I'll be just fine
Yeah, no offense to you don't waste your time
Here's why


Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do


Happy, bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
Love is too happy to bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
I said bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
Love is too happy to bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down

I said
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do
Happy, bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
Love is too happy to bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
I said
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do


This says it all for me.  I'm happy.  I decided to be, and I am.
It's what I want to do.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The sunset.



I used to look at my life as going on and on, like I would have plenty of time to do whatever I wanted to do.
Not so much anymore.  
Is it my age, or the back lash of the surgeon's knife, that makes me feel so different now??
Does everyone imagine an end date, hovering in the future??
True, everything in your fridge doesn't have an end date.  But you know, don't you, that those blueberries are past their prime.
Sometimes, our lives are cut short by things we didn't see coming, and had no control over.
But then other times, our expiration date is just more real, made so by the effects of one thing or another, in my case I believe it was a whole lot of head trauma.
On the other hand, I am relieved and incredibly grateful to be of fairly sound mind, and neurologically intact, after all of it.
But I do look at  my life differently.  I don't want to just let it happen, I want to make it happen.
I know how quickly it can pass me by, how suddenly choices won't be mine to make.

Everything is brighter, clearer, more intense.

Maybe my place in the scheme of things is more palpable being around someone so brand new to the world.


She just makes my heart sing, this one.

Last night, we went down to the shore to watch the sunset.

I am so grateful to have this time to spend with my kids.  What a gift.



Every time I see the birds soaring over the water, I think of my mother.
I know she was there with us.


The rosy glow of the descending sun was everywhere.


When it comes down to it, there is only one thing that matters....it isn't money, or prestige, or possessions, having the nicest house, or the newest car.  It isn't education, or position, or status in life.

Nope.

It's whether or not your heart sings. 
With people you love.
Doing what you love.
Giving of yourself.
Whatever it takes to make that feeling, that feeling like nothing else in this world.


You can chase it, hunt it down, search for it.

But you know where it is.  Really, you do.

For me, it was simply watching the face of this sweet little girl, watching her first sunset over the ocean.  So serious, so intent.  She has the rest of her life ahead of her.



But then, don't we all?

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Staying Warm

I feel kind of bad saying that about keeping warm, when most of my friends are back in New York freezing their butts off.
But I can't feel bad for long.
The babies have arrived.

Baby Dale in her pink ruffled bathing suit, or as grandgirl Ava used to say when she was little, her "baby soup".

And Baby Henry, cruising the pool in his Batman tee and shorts.


When I am not busy with them, I am still trying to catch that perfect shot of the many birds right behind the house.

Here's one that obliged me for quite some time.




















As you can see, he eventually got sick of me, and flew off.

I will check in now and then, but mostly know that I am taking it pretty easy.
Hard to believe, I know.



Saturday, February 8, 2014

Company

I have been doing some knitting while away.  I managed to finish this little sweater, for  baby Henry.
Made it with Cotton Comfort from Green Mountain Spinnery.  It's a Debbie Bliss pattern that I have made before.



There are a few things I really like about Florida.  One is the fresh tomatoes.  Now I won't go so far to say that they taste as good as a fresh tomato mid summer in northeast New York.
But they are good.


Roy doesn't like the water, in any way.
He gets a little nervous when I go in the pool, and he keeps a close watch on me.
 


 Every day we have company.....these are two regulars.



This guy is my favorite.













And no, I don't think I will have a career as a nature photographer.  I am just persistent, and so eventually I get lucky.

And my sweetest company has arrived,  and ANYONE could take a smashing picture of her, no doubt.



Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Tangled.

We went to get ice cream after dinner last night, and went by a salon named, "The Tangled Knot".
Now, that's just where a girl wants to get her hair done, right?

The ice cream was awesome.  No tangles.


Which brings me to my own tangles.
A while back, one of my blogger readers commented, and since she wasn't familiar, I followed her link back to her place.  That's when I discovered ZENTANGLE.
 Oh, dear.


I was so enthralled, I ran out and bought the "right" pen, and the "right" paper, and got to tangling.



Now, I am sure you can imagine that I am not the kind of person who sits still and watches TV.  Even when it's on, I have to be doing something else.  Usually knitting, or playing scrabble online, or reading.
But this is different.
This is pure fun, and no stress.
In fact, they call it "yoga for your brain."


I know, you're probably thinking .......she's doodling, should we tell her?

But it's so not the same.
From the zentangle website:


Creating Zentangle art provides a fun and lighthearted way to relax and intentionally facilitate a shift in focus and perspective. The Zentangle Method of creating art is unencumbered by dogma and cost which can weigh on other approaches. Nevertheless, it is sufficiently structured and organized so you can enjoy and benefit from an activity that otherwise might be considered whimsical.



 Anyway, whatever it's called, can we say "hooked"???

It's so totally relaxing, that I forget the time, forget most everything else, and isn't that what relaxing is all about anyway????

If you want to know more, you can go to zentangle.com or tanglepatterns.com




I didn't buy the fancy kit, just went to Joann Fabrics, where I found the pens......as suggested on the Zentangle site......you can buy special paper also, but I just use a small watercolor notebook, and it works just fine.
I have already gotten another friend hooked,  while I was on vacay.

So if you are wondering what I'm up to, besides walking, swimming, and generally soaking up the sun......I'm getting tangled.
Maybe that's what is making my head better.   Anything is possible.


Sunday, February 2, 2014

Pre game show










 Outside our rental, there is a canal of sorts.  Its level goes up and down with the tides.
There are  so many birds here.


 Today I watched an osprey, trying to get something to eat.



He was a  beautiful thing.



Every now and then, he would stay in the same place, beating his wings to not go anywhere, while intently staring down at the water.




I have never seen them do this before.
 But maybe I was never sitting around just looking.


He did this for the longest time...........swoop, stop, hover, swoop some more.  Watching.

 
He would poise to strike, but if he didn't see anything worth while, he would swoop off, and look elsewhere.




Amazing that he could see anything from the height he maintained......


Focus.....


Ready..............set......



 
Go.  See him on the right.......I tried to follow him with my camera, but he was too fast.




I did catch him splashing down.....I bet his talons were OUT.


That fish gave him a little argument.


And soon he was off again.
Without the fish.


Better luck next time, I guess.


Can I just say it's a beautiful day?
Really beautiful.