A Change for the Better

 How we find out things has drastically changed over my lifetime. Getting information today has never been easier. A few taps on the keyboard or even a few words spoken into a phone gets us instant results, not always dependable but results just the same. And for free (relatively speaking).

Social media such as YouTube, Facebook and many many other websites  teach us things we never would have imagined when I was growing up. Back then, I bought many books on different hobbies I wanted to explore, but today I look at them, and my first thought is how was I so patient to learn anything from them? I mean, really, you have to read…slowly.

And that takes me back to the old days when many people claim things were so much better. I wonder.

My sixth grade teacher was an older lady with a hairdo that went every which a way. My nickname for her was Miz Einstein, and it didn’t have everything to do with her appearance. She was very knowledgeable on lots of subjects, and I and other classmates were always asking her questions.

This is a yearbook photo when she was really “dolled up.”

Later, when my own kids were in school, I found out Mrs. Mann’s love of knowledge was not a fluke. Sometime in the early 70s on a weekday, near Rising Sun, Delaware, I was at home alone, kids in school, husband at work. The doorbell rang and when I opened it, to my astonishment there stood my “really old” six grade teacher. We recognized each other right away, and both of us started talking at the same time.

“I can’t believe it’s you. What a surprise!” And other similar exclamations. You get the picture.

Of course, I invited her in, eager to learn how she came to be at my house. She was carrying something that looked similar to an old book bag from the 50s, and she walked a little lopsided from the weight of it. We sat side by side on the sofa with the book bag deposited near her feet.

We caught up on our current lives. Yes, she still lived in Harrington, but was now retired and no longer taught school. Her husband had passed away a year before, and she was coping with all the changes that were involved, the big one being income. I immediately started putting two and two together and came up with four. My math skills were excellent.

Soon, she leaned over to open the catches on the book bag and out came the “A” volume of the World Book Encyclopedia. Well, you can imagine what happened. This was my former 6th grade teacher, and she was in need. Financing could be arranged, and in a few weeks I would be the proud owner of a complete set including a two-volume dictionary. And wait, there was more. Each year for the next ten years, I would receive, through the mail, a “yearbook” updating all previous information that may have changed.

We had a wonderful visit, and in addition, I was immensely aiding my children’s education. I was excited and anxious to receive those books. But, then Mrs. Mann was gone and reality set in. Jim was going to kill me. I had not consulted him, and we talked everything over beforehand.

That night, after supper, we settled in front of the TV to watch Gunsmoke, one of our favorite shows. I waited until the end when a commercial had come on before I broke the news of Mrs. Mann’s visit and my purchase. It turned out Jim loved the idea, and, in fact, he had lugged an old set of encyclopedias around with him to Lackland (Air Force training in Texas) and even to Dover Air Force Base where, ever the business man, he had sold them to a roommate!

And today, here they sit on a bookshelf in my living room, much used, much loved and today remembered, but sorely out of date. They take up two shelves with the yearbooks and dictionaries but another photo of that shelf would definitely be boring.

Not long ago, I actually looked up something in one and found an old sheet of 3-ring notebook paper on which my daughter had written a school assignment. I wish I had taken a photo since I gave it to her for her memories. She couldn’t believe it had survived all these years in an old set of encyclopedias.

Easter 2025

I hope everyone had a nice Easter Sunday. It was a beautiful day here in every way...perfect. The baby bluebirds have hatched in the nesting box on one of my pine trees, and Mom and Dad are feeding them furiously, so wonderful to watch. I did see a black racer in my front yard near the sidewalk so I hope they are vigilant. It's that time of year. Snakes can slither right up a pine tree.

My daughter came for an Easter visit and brought me the biggest Easter Lily I've ever seen! 

We were amazed that the blooms had no smell. Is that normal? But the white against dark green is so striking. It's basking in bright light on my back porch, looking beautiful.

I was up early (early for me), cleaning and filling the bird feeders and birdbath, sweeping the porches, and shaking rugs. Then a shower and then, getting together the ingredients for a crustless spinach quiche which is loaded with cheese (8 oz of cheddar and 6 oz of feta). But that was to be our main course so what the heck. It was Easter. I took it out of the oven just before the front doorbell rang. Perfect timing.

Erica and Murphy (a Corkie) were Easter pretty, Murphy with his silky fur and little tail going 90 miles an hour! 

He has the vitality of the Energizer bunny, always moving, hopping up on my lap, wanting an under the neck scratch, or running around and smelling everything even if it has no smell. I think that is the nature of Corkies. And if there is anything remotely related to food....well, it's in his mouth and swallowed. So, he has to be watched like a hawk. We tried to wear him out by tossing pieces of his dry food for him to retrieve (uh, eat), but that little dog cannot be worn out.

So for dinner/lunch we had the quiche, a tossed salad, and sweet potato rounds with pecans (which Erica brought), and then, we had no room for the watermelon that I had for dessert. 

Coffee sufficed instead. I cleaned up and Erica took the Murph for a walk. Then, we enjoyed the back porch some more, me in the swing. Several butterflies and dragonflies were buzzing around over the grass. It has been so dry here, I thought it a little unusual, and I wondered if some of the butterflies had escaped from the Butterfly Rain Forest at our local Museum of Natural History, which is closed for some construction. Maybe? They are mesmerizing to watch.

And too quickly, it was time for Erica to go back home. As she was putting Murphy in his crate, we saw my neighbors and their little dog, Gizmo. They came over and said "hi" and I got another Easter hug. They were having an egg hunt for the special "golden" egg. Erica had about an hour and a half drive back home and texted to say she arrived safely, and we decided both of us were ready for a nap, a perfect ending to a perfect day.

And, then, early this morning I awoke to hear the sad news of the death of Pope Francis. I turn on NPR as soon as my eyelids open, sometimes before. He must have used up all the strength he had to make it through Easter. What a lasting impression, may his legacy live on.

One Weird Storm

My truck now has new tires! They are so pretty and they make me feel so much safer. I like the tire place and may go back there for my oil change, forgot to ask how much...later. I feel I got a very good price for the tires, and it only took one hour and ten minutes total. And it's under 4 miles from home.

There was an unusual storm in my neighborhood yesterday around 5 p.m., an ice storm! Suddenly, I heard this banging on my roof like someone throwing a thousand balls on it at one time, ran to the door to look and hail the size of quarters was coming down at the fastest rate ever! 

There was no warning, no rain, no thunder, no nothing. It just started with the sun shining, lasted about 5 minutes and quit. After, steam rose in huge clouds from the sidewalk and driveway...with the sun still shining. Weirdest thing I have ever seen. The ice beat down lots of twigs and leaves and such so I have some cleanup to do today when it dries out. I wonder if the birdies knew ahead of time...hope so. They are back this morning as usual.

A huge art festival is going on this weekend within a couple of miles of me. I was going today (until the ice storm) but will wait until tomorrow after I clean up outside today. It's at a community college (Santa Fe College) and there is plenty of available parking which I find wonderful and inviting. There are many extras if anyone is interested at the college, a planetarium, a teaching zoo and inside art galleries. I feel so lucky to have such interesting things nearby.

Last night I started my 25th book by Ken Follett, yes, I like him just a little! This one is titled Triple and is about Egypt developing a nuclear bomb...and that's all I know for now. 

Hobbies and such

  I have always been drawn to making things, forever inquisitive about the “how” and with any inkling of success, I surge forward with a “can do” attitude. Needless to say, I have tried many many things that most people including myself would consider hobbies. Sometimes I have succeeded in making whatever it was that caught my fancy, sometimes goals have remained partially completed and sometimes after several disappointments, I have given up.

A few things that come to mind right away are macrame, embroidery, needlepoint, latch hooking, beading/jewelry making, crochet, knitting, candle-making, journaling, calligraphy, writing stories, and others I’ve probably forgotten about. I could show you the results of some of these joyous adventures if you visited my home. And at times when I’m at a loss for something to do, I’ll pick up one of these hobbies again.

But the one hobby that remains constant in my life is art, especially drawing and watercolor painting. I might go for a few days without picking up a pencil or brush, but I always come back to it. It is the one pastime that gives me the most joy and with all the tutorials on YouTube, I am never lacking for inspiration. The closest I’ve ever come to structured study is a couple of community college classes, but I am one of those people who need to draw or paint alone with no one watching, no one around so class-taking is not high on my list of things to do.

Around 2012 or 2013, I met an artist named Terri Regotti. We were attending a Writers Alliance of Gainesville Sunday program and were introduced to each other when both of us inquired about critique groups for writers. We went on to attend some group meetings and eventually formed our own group, both of us novice writers. But Terri was an artist, and I’m sure my heart did a little flip flop the moment I discovered that. We became friends.

Terri taught a Community College art class, and with some encouragement, I signed up. It was enjoyable, and I learned some new things (painting on glass, how to make a portrait more lifelike, and scratchboards). The painting on glass did not speak to me but portraits were a lifelong interest. And scratchboard caught my attention as well. I ended up making a pretty cool dragonfly which I gifted to my granddaughter one year.

I was already working on a portrait and with my new knowledge, I continued to work on that in class. I drew from a copy of a picture of Edgar Allan Poe, and to my delight, when completed, Terri thought it good enough to include in a gallery show she was curating for her class. I was excited and even sent out email invitations to the opening reception. We had a large turnout with the normal fare of finger foods and drinks. Sadly, Edgar was not as interesting to others as I had hoped, and at the end of the exhibit, I took him back home. But the experience was one I will never forget, and I’ll always be indebted to Terri for her graciousness and extensive knowledge of art that she so readily shared with me.

A few years later Terri moved to Oregon and we lost touch, but I’ve never forgotten her and her kindnesses. In her kitchen high above the cabinets hung canvases she had painted of kitchen veggies. I particularly remember the gorgeous artichoke. And on her living room wall there was a beautiful collage of broken things titled Repurposed. She introduced me to the Repurpose Project which now resides near Satchel’s Pizza place. She made me two tiny Christmas trees from uncooked macaroni, unbelievably beautiful and unique. I put them out every Christmas. And there was a wooden chair in her home painted in a crazy geometrical design with all the colors of the rainbow. And a huge magnolia blossom, a work in progress, on an easel upstairs destined for the Oak Hammock Art Show. Terri was the real thing.

Because of Terri’s encouragement, I painted canvases two years for the Annual Auction at the Harn Museum, both of flowers, one a poppy and one a cosmos. Happily, both were purchased. Sadly, the Harn stopped having the auctions.

Although I’ll never consider myself an artist, I will continue to make art as best I can. I must because it gives me so much joy.