My banyan tree is a blessing and a curse. I have to blow the dead leaves off of it every day. The tree doesn’t have a season. It perpetually loses more leaves and makes more. I blew it off this morning, and you really wouldn’t know, unless you saw me do it. So that’s the curse part. The blessing is that it shades my whole back yard, and it’s such a pretty tree, with a really cool shallow root system. The blessing outweighs the curse, but it would be so nice if it lasted more than an hour when I cleaned it off.

I took my walk down by the water today. It’s cooler today. There’s a breeze out of the west, it’s a nice cool breeze. A few puffy clouds in the sky. There was a beach volleyball tournament being set up down on the waterfront. So apparently, tomorrow there will be no parking down there, lol. We’re supposed to get rain Sunday and Monday. I feel bad, my niece is coming in to stay with my sister, and it’s not going to be a nice week. Rain 2 days, and then in the 60’s all week. Bummer. My friend from CT is coming in a week from today, just as the temp goes back to the low 70’s. Nice.

I signed up at the YMCA today. What a huge, beautiful facility, 2 miles from my house! And so many programs I’m interested in. Not just water aerobics but “Silver Sneakers” yoga, and they have a beginner’s Tai Chi class. I get full use of the entire facility which includes a ginormous gym. I am really excited to get in better shape physically. It’s one of the best reasons to retire in FL.

Now I’m sitting out on my deck. Thinking about a glass of wine. Thinking about what I can have for dinner. Big decisions! What a life! Feeling blessed.  Definitely more blessings than curses!

Love and light, all

One of my FB friends this morning posted the Huffington Post article about Michael Flynn’s previously concealed from everyone work as a lobbyist for the Turkish government, while he was working for the Trump campaign. Her comment was, “I am on evil overload.”

Yeah, I totally agree. I can barely stand to hear anymore. Even though I force myself to try to stay abreast of what the near-Satanic culture in DC is up to, for my own protection. But then, I have to go do something wonderful, beautiful, peaceful to shake all that horrible stuff out of me.

Today, I’ll go for a walk by the water. Maybe down to Clam Bayou. Maybe I’ll call a friend to go with me. I’ll go register at the Y. I’ll make something good to eat, low in carbs and calories. That’s always a challenge, lol. I’ll meditate. Write. Read. Create. Then when I feel whole again, I’ll go back and take in some more, because it’s important to me to stay with it. But also it’s important not to make it my life. I have to remember who I am, and it’s not the (Hate-filled? Cynical? Angry? Scared?) person I become temporarily when I read the latest unbelievably narcissistic, cruel agenda of the people now in power.

I am happy to see that even Fox News is calling them on their shit. That signals trouble for them, to only have Breitbart for a mouthpiece.

Oh well, I can’t rant any longer at the moment. It’s a beautiful day here in Florida. I don’t want to waste it thinking about these assholes any longer. I’ve given them about an hour of my time, way more than they deserve.

It looks like it’s going to be a long road ahead, before this BS stops. Which means, our daily routines have to allow us to cope with it, to remain true to ourselves. To fight the good fight when we can, and to rest from it too.

I’m off, to have a nice long meditation. Long for me anyway. I have one saved that’s about 40 minutes, guided by Thich Nhat Hanh. So soothing. The 40 minutes passes like 5. I think that will be my choice today.

Love and light everyone.

Here I am again….I wrote a whole blog with details of my day and thought “how boring is that? Who cares?” LOL. So…I just deleted it. Maybe just some highlights of the day, so I can record them.

1. I went to open mic night and it was lot of fun as usual. Good to see all my friends again. One of the musicians got up and said how this weekly thing we do is the highlight of his life, because he gets to come and play music and sing and hang out with all his best friends. That’s exactly how I feel about it….except I don’t play music, but I enjoy the music.
2. I’m gonna join the YMCA so I can take the water aerobics class. It won’t cost me anything because my health insurance covers my membership.
3. The oral surgeon checked his work today and it’s healing nicely.
4. I’m almost done getting stuff put away in my shed. It’s really nice to have it out of my house.
5. I have been trying to write fiction, at the suggestion of a couple of friends. I have a page and a half written. I am at the point where I have to kind of clearly define the plot, and I don’t know what the hell it is, lol. It may be a long while until I get something done. Fiction is hard work!

It’s been a normal Florida day. It was in the low 80’s, sunny, not very humid. Perfect for me. One of my besties from CT is coming a week from tomorrow. I can’t wait. I am so excited to have someone from home come visit me for a few days. I miss my friends up there so much.

Off to bed. Love and light all….

My house is old. It built in 1927 which is really old for FL. I would guess it was all by itself on this corner for a long long time. It has things old houses have. Floors that aren’t quite flat in places. Old glass door knobs. And the front door is old. I have noticed that it doesn’t quite hang straight, or the molding is not quite straight. I’m not sure which yet. But there is a crack at the lower bottom of it between the door and the molding when it’s shut and locked. This crack is not big, it’s probably less than 1/16 of an inch.

I supposed I should get some weather stripping for it. It will let the heat in in the summer. However, my electric bills down here for the summer are not high. So, it’s not an emergency to fix. When I saw it at first I reacted as if I were in New England, where the house would be freezing if it had a crack in the door like that, lol. Then I though, well, hell…I’m in FL. So awesome…. I will still fix it with some weather stripping, but it’s so not urgent!

I love living in an old remodeled house. It still has that old character. I’m sure the walls could tell me many stories. Yet, the kitchen is all new, the floors, the paint, the AC and the heat and the roof, and now, the plumbing! And 7 windows. I love that there are lots of windows to let the light in.

Can you tell I’m happy this morning? Loving the fact that I’m living here. With no daily drama!

Love and light, everyone.

My sister has gone home. I took her to see the Veteran’s Art Center this morning, and she met the founder. She was very impressed. It’s such a wonderful project. I hope they get the attendance they deserve, they have put so much work into it.  She’s going to donate something to the Center, one of her paintings.  My brother-in-law is a vet, so she’s eligible as family, to show and sell her art there.  But she said she’d just donate it.  They’re having a silent auction tonight at a venue too far away for me to go, but I made a necklace for them to auction off.

I think sis really needed the break, after all the company. Right now, her grandson is there with 5 friends, college age kids. They are really good kids, staying in her apartment, and doing their own cooking, etc. My brother-in-law planned a deep sea fishing trip for them for today. We were a little worried, because the wind has been blowing here for days, really hard, which makes for a not easy fishing trip. But the wind died yesterday afternoon, and today, so hopefully, the seas calmed down. 6 kids who aren’t used to boating, especially on the ocean, riding backwards (because you face the back of the boat when fishing) in heavy seas would not be a pretty picture!

After she left I went to Walmart, picked up some prescriptions, then came home, watered my herbs, and the flowers out in front of my house. And the grass. I am so not used to living somewhere where the plants need watering on a regular basis! New England gets rain at least once a week usually, but not here. At least not in this season. This is the dry season til about the middle to end of May. People tell me there are two seasons here, monsoon and tourist. This is tourist, lol. But truth be told, we’ve had very very little rain since the middle of October.

I’m on my deck now, enjoying this lovely afternoon, listening to my music, watching the geckos scamper around. I called my friend Pat, who is curator at the Art Center, and also my old-time childhood friend, and told her I have leftover veggie lasagna so she should stop by here on her way home and eat with me. She was so happy to be offered.

It’s a happy life. No drama is the only way I want to live for the rest of my life. Just breathe in, and breathe out. Love and light, everyone.

I wanted to write a poem about what a calm peaceful day I had, but I’m just too tired. It’s a shame, really, because tomorrow I won’t feel it like tonight, so it will be lost forever, as I mindfully try to stay in the present moment.

I went to the massage therapist today, and she did such a phenomenal job. Normally she only does my back and neck, since that’s where my injuries were. But today she did my arms too, and it felt so good. I have arthritis in my elbows and wrists, and she did my whole arm both sides. I found out she will come to your house for $60 an hour for a full body massage. Boy would certainly be worth it. I won’t be able to go for therapy forever.

My sister came, and we went to our favorite lunch spot down by the water and ate. Then we walked through the fresh market. We walked over to Mangia’s, where open mic is every Thursday. They were just closing, and one of my friends was there, whose boyfriend is the owner. So I asked if my sis could set up a chair and just sketch for a while. They thought it was really cool. She made a sketch and a rough watercolor looking down the street from there. Mangia’s is bright orange with bright trim, hand painted designs on it and artwork on it. The next building is lime green and purple, and the next is yellow, with columns out in front. There are all kinds of plants, and flowers and trees along the sidewalks. I think it’s going to be a very cool painting. She will take the stuff she did today back to her studio to paint the actual picture.

My sis loves that when we walk around the town, I run into people who are friends, good people, who know me well enough to stop and shoot the breeze for a bit. I know them all from going to open mic night regularly.

We came home, and I made some veggie lasagna which I have not made in over a decade. But it came out really good. I’m really happy I made it. And now I have leftovers for the next few days. It was so pleasant, always is so pleasant, to spend time together. We watched some tv and hit the hay pretty early. I’m tired tonight, after not sleeping well last night. a

It was just another day in paradise down here. I feel like pinching myself. No problems, no drama. Just happy in each moment as it comes, for the most part.

Love and light, all.

My legs and feet are vibrating. It feels like I am plugged into something. Maybe the laptop has been on my lap too much. Too much electronic frequency transmissions. EFT’s. When I used to go to the gong baths and crystal bowl meditations, both of which were vibrational healing, they asked us to shut off our phones to reduce the EFT’s in the room. Trust me, those rooms were way way full of organic vibrations. And they really do heal. I could go into one all upset over something and come out of it in peace. The nameless one told me I should go to gong baths every night….I told him I would have, if I could have.

Well, now I don’t have them, yet. I still have my daily meditation practice. I’ve been extending the time, from 15 minutes to 20, or 30, or even 40 minutes. It really does help me keep my head on straight. Probably why I am able to let this thing, whatever it is, which L just develop slowly, and at it’s own pace. Meditation practice helps me to stay mindful.

I did get really really irritated at the nameless one the other day. Well, that’s par for the course. I hope the course is ended. There were no grades given, not even pass-fail. There was no course credit, it was basically a meaningless exercise, lol.

Well…..got off on a tangent. Just that meditation doesn’t solve everything, but it helps. My anger never lasts long anyway. I’m an Aries. I have a fiery, short-lived temper. If you piss me off, wait 5 minutes, lol. And in 10 minutes I’ll be apologizing for losing it.

Went to a meeting of the Veterans Art Center for their grand opening. I took on a couple more jobs in conjunction with the opening. It’s going to be pretty cool. We have 10 acts performing, 3 or 4 galleries full of really awesome art, some of it selling in the $1000’s. We have working artists, setting up working tables and teaching. All the money goes into the Center, no one is getting paid for anything they do. One of the women who is volunteering a lot of time is a Gold Star and a Blue Star mother. It’s humbling, really. My son is a long way away….but he’s just a long way away and I talk to him every day. I’m so blessed…..

I got my tax info together to send to my accountant. I got a ton of papers and documents sorted and filed away. Stuff I didn’t have time to go through before I moved, so just brought it with me. My printer ran out of paper today. I know that somewhere I have 2 reams I brougth with me. Damned if I know where they are.

My sis is coming tomorrow and spend the night. Pretty excited about that. We’ll go to the fresh market, maybe I’ll show her the Vet’s Art Center. Go to Trader Joes. It will be nice to have her here. It’s been awhile. She’s had a busload of company, and her daughter and son-in-law are coming Saturday.

Wrapping up Monday. Lots going on this week. Life is still rich and full. Plenty of stuff on my gratitude list.

Love and light, all.