Category: Uncategorized
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Spreading out.
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Jan 15 A few more years passed, I got my work life in order. Maintaining the front planting area became my job. I started with the basics: pulling weeds. Neighbors sometimes made fun occasionally pointing out that if I had a yard like theirs, I wouldn’t have to work so…
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Going Native
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Jan 14 After finally finishing my Ph.D. I pulled up to the house (before the fancy driveway and the carport) and looked at the plants in the yard. They all looked the same. Upon closer inspection, I realized everything looked the same because they were covered with an invasive vine.…
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In the beginning
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Going to be writing about backyard wildlife and landscape….This is how it got started…. January 13, 2020 We bought this house more than 25 years ago trading Sarasota for Lutz. I was working more than fulltime at the Southwest Florida Water Management District—a job I loved. It was big and…
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We should support businesses that support the things that matter
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Turtles are in trouble. Water turtles, sea turtles, yard turtles, gopher tortoises….The climate is changing and with it, the gender of the turtles. They are mostly female and the projections for male populations aren’t good. Heat encourages females and things are getting hotter. That’s not all. Habitats are at risk,…
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A dream, a stolen purse and a writer in transition
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Losing your purse may symbolize losing touch with who you are or giving up habits or life situations that make you feel confident, or complete as a person. Dream Bible So, I’m a writer in transition. I’m transitioning from writing for lots of other people to writing what moves me.…
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The obvious signs
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My husband and I went out for breakfast one day this week. There’s a little hole-in-the-strip mall that I like because I can get a half-order of sausage gravy and biscuit. He can’t have eggs benedict but his back up Western omelet choice is perfectly serviceable. There are only seven…
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Tip them well
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We saw the movie Hustlers. First, let me say I love Jennifer Lopez. I wish that at 50 I had the ambition and money it takes to maintain your 30-year-old body…or booty. Still, last night on Stephen Colbert she talked about how hard it is to pole dance. It reminded…
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Gratitude from Random Encounters
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Today I went to the grocery to buy some things for my book club. It’s my turn to host. At the checkout line, I noticed a publication. Big headline: Memory. For a while, I’ve been refining a story titled Mama Killed a Cuban. The story begins with a random memory…
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Cows in the Career
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I’ve been making notes for a collection of stories about weird things that happened in my career. Then, weirdly, I realized there have been a lot of cows in my career. In one instance a hotel was discharging excess rainfall onto a farm. The farm owner explained to me, “cows…
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I went to the local grocery store to pick up some manicotti shells. My turn to cook. Got to the pasta aisle and…there was only one brand of shells. In-ter-est-ing. Normally, we live in abundance. I expected my usual process, read the box, look at the sodium, compare costs. It…