I have been praying here lately much more than usual... asking lots of questions, seeking answers to so many controversies in the beautiful world we live in. I have asked a thousand 'why's'. Nothing has been received in black and white...except the Bible, nothing written in stone, smoke or the clouds nor have I heard an audible voice. However, I think from time to time I feel a touch of His sense of humor, His love and I know I have seen and felt His healing power in my family.
Thanks to my mother and grandparents; never once did I doubt God's existence or experience a period in my life when I did not believe in Him. For that I am a very thankful, sinful person; who believes much better than she behaves. I have said all of this to relay a story that happened over the course of the past two days.
I was sitting outside yesterday enjoying the sound of what I thought were exotic, mysterious unseen birds. I had visions in my mind of parrots with their bold flamboyant feathers. Their chirps sounded beautiful to my ears. Turns out they were starlings and back home in Missouri we shoot them as 'nuisance birds! Hmmmm... they sound better down here however, when I asked Lisle about them he says " We hate those birds down here too". It looks like to me that 1,500 miles for some things just doesn't make any difference. So it is with people and problems in life. At daylight, the starling sounds enjoyable by 3 p.m. the neighborhood is ready to shoot them out of the trees. It makes me think of the nature of mankind. Has there ever been one day when the inhabitants of this earth didn't kill each other...no...not in my lifetime.
Tuesday I was once again enjoying things in nature I seldom see in Missouri. I photographed a banana tree in our back yard. It has stalks of bananas hanging everywhere. As I looked I noticed that all of the bananas grow upward instead of how I thought they should grow...all facing down. I was thinking to myself, "so God, why did you make the bananas grow up instead of down??"
I felt a warm laugh occur. In my head I heard, "of all the problems in the world you are concerned about the direction a banana grows!!" That remark was probably me talking to me but the warm laugh...that belonged to Him.
If it is Florida in late July it is hot!! It is the kind of hot where by 8 a.m. I am soaking wet from sweat. There is no point in applying any makeup or trying to style my hair. This is as good as it is going to get! As the day progresses the hair goes in a pony tail of sorts and out comes the baseball cap! It is all high temperatures and humidity...and I can live with this fact. I also will spend most of my day in the air conditioned home of Lisa, my daughter. However, inquisitive person that I am; I cannot stay inside for any length of time. Florida is alive with an exotic beauty I am not used to seeing; and once again I am afraid if I stay inside I will miss something I may never see again. We only get one chance at life...make the most of it. I have learned to pick my times of day to wander around. Early in the morning is the best time for me. A cup of coffee, my camera and I am set for close to an hour. That is about the length of time it takes for the 'no see'ums' to arrive with a vengeance. If I make it to Heaven, the first thing I am asking God is, "Sir about mosquitoes, ticks and no-see'ums...you were just messing with us right??? They really had no reason to live??"
Alligators...at least three...have claimed the canal behind Lisa and Lisle's home as part of their territory. It also has leather back turtles, tarpon, and probably a mixture of other creatures I do not want to know anything about, but would love to see just once...except for the snakes. I can live without ever seeing another snake! This feeling applies to any snake, any state! I am an equal opportunity 'snake hater'.
In the profile photo above, I am standing under a bamboo trellis Lisle built. The beautiful trellis has become the home of largest Philodendron plant I have ever seen. It is coiled, tangled and spiraling around the trellis, the fence and the roof. Some of the leaves are eighteen inches or longer. Playing hide and seek in the midst of this mini jungle of air plants, hanging moss and a banana tree, are geckos of every size.
There are bromeliads that grow wild here.
This one grows freely in a compost pile close to the canal. I paid five dollars for the same plant in Missouri. I buy one every year because they remind me of the Alien that punched its way out of Sigourney Weaver's stomach in the last 'Alien' movie. Go figure...It adds a touch of humor to my sun room.
I seldom hear English spoken in Naples. That fact reminds me of when Tommy and I lived in Yuma. We were the minority in that border section of Arizona...according to the news we still are. There are some beautiful people here. I enjoy the mixture of cultures. Just don't try to buy a pimento cheese sandwich at night...I do not think pimento cheese has made it to Florida yet.
Nearly everyone in our community has a screened in lanai attached to their home. Some people have swimming pools, others have pool tables, bars and patio furniture. People sit outside at night protected from the flying insects and talk to family members or play music. Sometimes it is a night of Latin music. When one elderly lady plays the piano everyone stops to listen. The kid with the pool table has a party as soon as his parents go to work. Last night it was down home country music. It was humorous hearing the doors slam as the old woman and the Latino's went inside. I have to admit the kid did have it cranked. Halfway through Hank Williams, Jr. rendition of "Why Do You Drink and Why do You Blow Smoke,?" I heard a loud splash and then silence. I don't know if the neighbors threw the kid in the canal or he threw his empty bottle away. Whatever it was, it was time for me to go back inside.
That goofy bug, 'no see'um' may have a story behind that name.
This week has been an emotional roller coaster ride for everyone in our family. Lisa, our oldest daughter, had brain surgery Tuesday. It turned out so much better than I expected. We owe this outcome to answered prayer from God and to all the people all over the world who have prayed for my daughter's health and for our peace of mind. Thank you does not feel like the appropriate words. It doesn't go deep enough nor does it seem as sincere as I want it to be...but it is true. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know with time my daughter will be well.
Lisa took a short walk today. They were checking her balance and endurance. Her vitals have been fine and she ate a soft diet. She slept a lot and that is to be expected. She also has horrible headaches that will unfortunately be with her for awhile. Her sense of humor was in rare form for a few minutes, and her memory was intact. She proved this when she started telling "Mama and the Hospital" stories much to her delight and at my expense. We all had a good laugh; unfortunately it made her head hurt even more than normal and had to have medicine immediately.
Here is my version of the 'old' story.
Years ago Lisa had to have outpatient surgery in Columbia, Mo. She was married to her first husband, a man I later referred to as" Satan's Spawn", although at that time I loved him very much. He worked 3-11 at a local plant. The surgery was going to run over into his work schedule. The plan was, after surgery I would take Lisa back to their house. However, something went wrong and Lisa needed to stay overnight. I called her husband and we agreed I would stay with Lisa and he would come over in the morning. The last time I saw this young man he was wearing a red t- shirt and jeans.
About 10 p.m. Lisa and I called it a night and I went to the day room searching for a place to sleep. I found a fold out chair bed by the window. The room was dark and full of tired, cranky people. There was a lady resting next to the bed I took to sleep on. A vacant chair bed lay to the right of me. The lady and I talked for awhile exchanging stories and then we drifted off to sleep.
I woke up around 2 a.m. There was a tall young man in a red T-shirt and jeans standing in the doorway scanning the room, trying to find a place to sleep. I thought it was my son in law because I can not see squat without my glasses. Plus from a distance he looked like Lisa's husband. So I hop up, wave the young man over and proceed to make him a bed by me. I asked him , "How is she sleeping?" He paused and said, "She is getting ready to sleep now". I was delighted. He laid down in bed and I covered him up. Then I jumped back in my bed and went to sleep...satisfied all was well in my little world.
The next morning I wake up at daylight. I grab a cup of coffee and then went back to my 'bed'. I am watching the sun rise and thinking about Lisa. The young man rolls over in my direction.This time I have my glasses on. I looked at him and then I bent down and looked a little closer at him...it was not my son in law.!! Needless to say I grabbed my bag, shoes and I ran out of that day room as fast as possible. I had no clue who that young man was I had tucked into bed last night... but he was not my son in law.
I never did find out his name but I heard a baby had been born early in the morning....so I figured it was his. I would love to hear how he tells his version of this story to their child.
"Son, you will not believe what happened the night you were born. You did not make your arrival until after midnight. Mom was exhausted but we were too excited to sleep. After 2 a.m. we finally became sleepy. When your mom had dropped off to sleep, I went to the waiting room to find me a bed. I am scanning the packed room when all of a sudden this older woman jumps up on her bed and started waving her arms. I didn't know whether to call a doctor or a cop! She motioned me over and I reluctantly ambled over to see if she was sick. Immediately, she threw a pillow on the fold out bed, grabbed a sheet and a blanket and told me to lay down. She asked if your mom was sleeping so I figured she was some part of her family. I laid down and damned if she didn't cover me up!! I thought I would have a long-long talk with her and my wife in the morning. Next thing I know she jumps across to her bed, turned her back and said "Good Night". When I woke up the next morning she was gone. I think she was real but I wouldn't swear to it because it made no sense at all...and your Mom had no family spending the night. We have decided she was either your guardian angel or a crazy person who escaped from the psych floor at the hospital and they found her!! I lean toward the crazy lady!"
Tonight I find myself once again at a hospital with Lisa, trying to find a place to sleep. The chairs do not make beds. I have long passed the hours when I should have been asleep or around strangers. In other words, I have been nice as long as I can. I need some sleep and a quiet mind. You never know what tomorrow will bring... famous last words.
Tommy and I have a lot of strange conversations. Just when I think we have discussed everything that could possibly be discussed, we come up with a new avenue of conversation.
A couple of weeks ago, we were driving to town and out of the blue I asked Tommy a silly question. "If you could be an animal what animal would you be?" I thought this would take some time to comment on but immediately Tommy says "An Otter". That statement took me by surprise and I started laughing. In fact I could not stop laughing.
I remember saying, "Tommy don't you want to think a little longer on the answer? Just kind of mull it over in your mind. I mean there are lots of animals to pick from."
"No, that is my answer...I would be an otter! Why do you find that so funny?"
I didn't have an answer to that question. I just thought it was funny. I asked him if by any chance he had been thinking about this and he started laughing saying, "Hell no!! You are the one who asked the question. I just gave you an answer."
He had me there. Then I seriously wanted to know why he would be an otter. After 44 years of marriage I knew there was a story there somewhere that I had not heard. Here is his explanation. "Otters have fun. They play most of the time. They are family oriented. They enjoy their work and they don't have a lot of enemies." Great answer. He looked at me and wanted to know what animal I would pick? Hmmm... Fourteen days later I still haven't decided. However, Tommy picked one for me. He said I would be a turtle. Here is his reasoning, " Turtles travel with their home...you know how you are about your home. They seldom get in a hurry and they live a long time." Hmmm... I am still thinking on this silly question. I guess 'turtle' is as good as anything. However it would not have been my answer.
We had a good time that day. Laughed a lot and made some silly memories. I learned something new about my husband...if he were an animal he would be an otter...who knew?
Want to hear something really odd...Tommy would make a perfect otter. That is his description to a 'T'. There is some insight in there among the B.S.
