The Real Rainbow

The original picture from Roses to Rainbows...in a Rose Garden

I missed posting on my blog anniversary this year. It turned 13 on September 30 of this year. What can I say? Times are different and I've lost any readership I had. I do darken the virtual doors on occasion and this topic has been on my mind for a while. My blog is not about rainbows or rose gardens, although both rainbows and roses do appear randomly in pictures I've taken.

That said, on occasion, I have used a rainbow design or rainbow colors as an illustration for a post. As I reflect on those posts, I often regret using anything other than an actual photograph of a rainbow. Why? Because real rainbows only occur in nature when it rains and the sunlight hits the droplets forming one of nature's most joyful sights.

If you are wondering why I object to other uses of the rainbow, I will tell you. The original rainbow was God's promise to Noah that He would never again destroy all flesh with a global flood. Now that sacred symbol is used to represent the pride of a certain group of people. 

What adult people do among themselves is their business, and I'm not here to judge that. I do think, however, that things have evolved from a personal, "live and let live" motto to a very public "Hey, look at me" kind of thing.  It seems to me that no one group (or community as they are often referred to) should be of any greater focus than any other.

In contemplating this post, I did a search and found that the rainbow had been co-opted to represent this community all the way back in 1978. Had I considered that at the time I was searching for a blog name, I may not have chosen Roses to Rainbows, lest potential readers get the wrong idea. Anyone actually reading here would surely know otherwise.

During my search, I also found an article called "Taking Back The Rainbow" which was written in 2007. I believe that one's faith is personal, and again, I am not here to judge anyone for theirs. However, the article, based on the author's faith, clearly states the origin of the rainbow and why it is still important today. I would very much like to "take the rainbow back".

Below are links to how my blog actually got it's name. There was an real rose garden and a rainbow after a summer rain.

Reynolda Gardens (How I Named my Blog - Part I)

It's All in the Name (How I Named my Blog - Part II)

Celebrating 12 Years And Some Rambling

Today is September 21, 2021. I have been tapping away in this space (more randomly of late) for 12 years as of yesterday. A lot has changed. We have gone from three cats in the house to one and she is the queen, or so she thinks. Good times have been had and memories made. Many of those documented here on this blog. 

Facts and fiction have been written upon these virtual pages. Challenges issued and answered. Ideas shared with occasional wit and wisdom. Much of my writing has fallen by the wayside for a host of reasons. Leading up to this post, I have been re-reading some of my stories and looking at the pictures. I have characters that need to have their stories either continued or wrapped up. However life of late has not been conducive to creativity. 

There were once a number of writers whom I read regularly and traded comments with. They inspired me to put my best foot (or words) forward. But bloggers come and go, moving on to other things or just living life in real time. I do know that blogging is not dead. Hubby and I continue to read many interesting and informative blogs written by real people with real wit and wisdom and the ability to ferret out and present facts, which are getting harder and harder to come by.

Another thing that is in short supply, and I don't mean toilet paper, is common sense. I find that seriously lacking everywhere I turn these days. It seems like so many peoples' brains have just turned to mush and they can no longer think for themselves. They allow themselves to be spoon-fed whatever the so-called "experts" are dishing out. 

Next up, we need to throw that critical race theory right into the rubbish and get back to practicing good old-fashioned critical thinking. We need to rejuvenate our problem-solving skills and question everything before jumping on the bandwagon du jour.

And while we're at it, please stop rewriting history. It is ours...own it. For better or worse, we earned it. A new chapter is being written today. What will that teach those who come after us? As it often is with history, it will be lesson in what not to do.

As I move into my 13th year in the blogosphere, what stories shall I tell? Will they be fact or fiction, or more ramblings such as this from someone who longs for the world to be restored to the one she grew up in, however imperfect it was.

I'll see ya when I see ya! The virtual door is always open, so make yourself at home.

Freedom

The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do. - Eric Hoffer

Now there is something to think about!

Welcome Spring!

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~Henry Van Dyke 

This quote really sums up spring in my neck of the woods, and I assume it to be true in many other places as well. Often we have "spring days" in February. Tomorrow is the first official day of spring 2021.

A lot has changed over the past year all around the world. For months we have lived with the "new normal". Now things, it seem, may be slowly returning to the normal we have always known, albeit with some remnants of the recent past, such as curbside pickup. That is not something we ever did prior to covid, but we will likely continue for at least some of our shopping. 

We have not been in Walmart in over a year, and only last week did we actually "dine in" at a restaurant since March 9, 2020. Baby steps! Our church has been streaming services (as of Sunday) for a full year now. They are planning to return to in-person church on Palm Sunday.While things may normalize through the summer, the world, overall, has changed. I do not know what the future holds, but what I do know is that we should stay positive and live life fully. 

 How are things in your area?

The Ides of March

The Ides of March are upon us! 

Lest you think I am spreading bad vibes here with the Ides of March theme, it is actually NOT a time of doom and gloom as you read in books or see in the movies. Ides, as well as Kalends and Nones were really ancient markers used to reference different lunar phases. The Ides of March used to represent the beginning of spring, thus bringing with it rejoicing and celebrations. So let us rejoice the Ides of March and the coming of spring.

Source: Ides of March

Profiling Sophie

This is our beautiful Sophie. She will be 15 years old in May and she came to live with us in November of 2007. At that time we only had Rosie inside, and Dood still lived outside. After he was injured and had to come inside, Sophie had two boys to deal with. Rosie was 10 years old and Dood was 7. She was the baby at 1 1/2, and it was fun to see all the interactions of the three as they sorted out the pecking order. It was soon established that Rosie was the alpha cat, despite his gentle spirit. 

However, for the past 6-plus years, Sophie has been the Queen of all she surveys. She visits you in the bathroom, loves life on a pedestal, even if it is just a piece of paper, and give her a box and she is thrilled (it seems a new one arrives every other day).

I miss my boys very much, and as much as I would love to open my home and heart to a new furry friend, I think Sophie is perfectly happy as things are and I don't want that to change. So for now, I love my Sophie-girl.

Getting Started

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one. - Mark Twain

Sounds simple, right? It is and it isn't. We, and I speak from experience, look around at our house, our list of projects and suddenly feel overwhelmed. We may even utter the words "if only..." At this point it may seem easier to battle space aliens than deal with our tasks at hand.

It is easy to let things get out of hand and pile up to the point that we have no idea how it happened or where to begin. It can start by putting off one thing, saying "I'll do that tomorrow". We continue to do this in favor of what we'd rather be doing. After a while we have a backlog of undone tasks. 

These are often things that would have taken only a few minutes had they been done in a timely manner. Now we are faced with tackling a laundry list of tasks, one of which may actually include doing laundry.

As Mr. Twain states, break down your big task into little tasks. We will use a desk as example, and this is particularly apt with more people working from home these days.

First start by putting away everything that doesn't belong there. My desk is a catch-all for everything I don't want to deal with at the moment, and you know how quickly that can get out of hand. 

Next sort out the papers into file, recycle, shred piles. Put the recycles and shreds into their appropriate bins. Now you're left with filing, and that's everyone's favorite thing to do, right? No peeking at my desk now. To make filing easier, sort papers into related piles, e.g. bills, receipts, medical papers, work-related, and miscellaneous (which translates to "I still don't know where that goes".) Hopefully you already have a filing system –⁠ albeit neglected...or we wouldn't be here would we?

Most of us know these things, and once we have gone through the onerous process, we vow that we will never let it get that way again. Let me know how that works for you.

Merry Christmas

 Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Winter Cheer

It is feeling much like winter today, without the snow. We had freezing rain earlier, but now it is just cold, having apparently reached the high today of 36, and we are headed down to 28 degrees tonight. I would have much preferred to look out the window this morning to something akin to the scene below. Alas, the 10-day forecast is for dry and mild-ish days and cold nights so it seems there will be no white Christmas for us. 

Mild and cold are relative terms, of course. What is weather like where you are this year?

 

I Missed It!

Can you believe it? I actually missed my 11th Blog Anniversary Date! I guess this year has really messed up things. So, instead of reminiscing or rambling down memory lane, I will show you our lovely Sophie.

I love to use the features of my smart phone camera to enhance pictures, adding special effects and a frame. I took this one a step further into Autodesk Sketchbook and softened the background because this was just an random picture taken in a cluttered room. Pretty cat but not so pretty backdrop.

Thanks to Sophie for helping me belatedly acknowledge my 11th blogoversary (September 20, 2009).

 

Project Obliteration

The dog days of summer are brutal here in the South, and sweat runs in rivers before you have taken three steps. Alas, we must push onward. There is much to be done. Unfortunately, I again failed to take before pictures, so my description shall have to suffice.

This has been an eyesore for years with overgrown vines covering fallen sticks and hiding rocks from past flower gardens. The vines were mostly obliterated with the weed eater and out of control bushes were given a dramatic makeover. It's not finished, but at least it is not the embarrassing mess it was.

Project Obliteration shall continue until all the vines have been...well obliterated.

Garden update: We have gotten a number of shishitos from our one plant. The poblano has several peppers, as well as the bells. One tomato plant has some green tomatoes on it. The other, I think, is too chewed off to bloom. Maybe I can get some carrots planted for fall. Right now it is too stinking hot for tender plants to survive.

I'm okay and so are you!

It is a beautiful Sunday morning. 

Let this little red leaf remind you that it's okay to be different.

 Be yourself and enjoy your day!

The Sky Aglow

Never waste any amount of time doing anything important when there is a sunset outside that you should be sitting under! –C. JoyBell C.

Original Photo of Roses to Rainbows: St. Pete, FL 2018

It would be a shame to let such beauty go to waste, and as you can see, we did not. This was our view over the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago. My advice, when you see a beautiful sunset, is to drop what you're doing and go enjoy it.

Shishitos and a Garden Update

This year's garden has not produced much to date...except for these little beauties. These are Shishito peppers and the first thing to be harvested. I'm looking forward to trying those tonight.

My green beans weren't great to begin with and then they got the tops eaten off by, most likely, deer. The same ones that munched on the tomatoes. The tomatoes are surviving, blooming even. We put cages around them and tied white plastic shopping bags on the wire. I read that it might discourage deer.

The bean plants are still hanging in there with a few beans almost big enough to pick, but I didn't see any more blooms. I suppose I will pick what there is an try replanting.

I did get some carrots on my first try, so maybe I'll plant some more for a fall garden.

Other things include parsley, green onions, a zucchini, red and yellow bell peppers and a poblano. And that is how the garden grows so far this year.

Independence Day 2020

Again, a bit sporadic with the posting. Such is life, and life has been busy and we are adjusting to a new normal. I don't know if the new normal will be with us forever or this is just another season. What I do know is that teddy bears are like a big hug, and couldn't we all use a hug now?

I don't know if you are busy or bored, happy or sad or just putting one foot in front of the other, so here is my big teddy bear hug to you. 

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

Gentle Waves

Many of us find peace at the beach. For me it is a great place to recharge my internal batteries. If the beach is your thing and your batteries are running on low, I hope you can recharge and draw some peace from this picture.

Love from Sophie

Sophie sends her love in this autographed photo. She is absolutely the sweetest thing, and makes us smile many times every day.  I hope she helps you, too.

Down By The River

This is a beautiful, peaceful place. Drink in the beauty and let it soothe your mind and soul for a moment...or ten.

In Stitches

Hey everyone! It's been a while (again), but I've been a bit preoccupied with what has been going on in the world for the last few months. We won't talk about that now, though. I think we could all use a little chuckle.

When I sat down to write, I looked into my drafts folder and found this fellow looking back at me from an otherwise empty page. What is his story? Let's listen in and find out.



















"Hey Spud, what happened to you?"

"Aw Doc, they put a newbie on the plow and he dang near sliced me in two" groaned Spud. "Can you fix me up?"

"Yep, but I'm afraid it will leave a scar and you won't make it to the gourmet aisle. Nope, you'll probably end up bagged and tagged at Walmart" said the Doc.

"That's okay, Doc, at least I won't end up in one of those new frou-frou recipes, you know boiled, whipped, beaten and baked, then drowned in cheese, or spiraled into boiling oil. No, I want to be fried up nice and crispy in some hot bacon grease.   Now that's the way to go."

The Doc was nearly in stitches himself, and laughing he said "good luck, Spud. I'll be looking for you in Wally World."

Are You Really Living?

If you are not living this moment, 

you are not really living. - Eckhart Tolle

I'm not sure that this even needs an explanation, so I'll pose a few questions instead. 

How long has it been since you took a quiet walk in the woods? 

When was the last time you sat outside in the sun's warmth eating an ice cream cone? 

What did you talk about over dinner last night?

These are examples of moments to be lived...fully and completely, and these are times we are more likely to "live in the moment". However, each day is made up of moments that too often pass by without a thought or glance. 

Think about this next time you see the sunset or watch the birds at your feeder or visit with a friend. Cherish the moments. Live life!