It’s MY Season! My Season Is Here!

Yesssss.  I ventured out on Friday.

However… in my Defense… I always make sure I’m getting more bang for my buck whenever I invest in a risk.

Of course… I’m very careful.  I keep my hand sanitizer inside my car.  I use the towelettes in every store that provides them.

Social distance is very easy for me.  It’s nice to see so many people being as considerate.

Altogether… it was a round trip to Walmart… Lowes… then a final stop at Costco to get fuel for the lawnmower.

Anybody who knows me… knows… I’m feeling like I’m 6 years old again… and Christmas Day has arrived!

I love Spring!  It is MY season!!  Life brings beautiful color again!

Herbs and vegetables!  I’m excited!

All my herbs get haircuts when they get to the house… before anything else.

I do this to help the plants harden a solid support structure.  They thicken up much better as well.

This… is not trash!  Went right to the sink for rinsing… patted dry and stored in a container… inside the fridge!

I’ll get to enjoy canning my own tomato paste again.  I have three San Marzano’ Paste Tomato plants coming through snail mail.

And these Cherry Tomatoes!  I prefer them in my salads.

Blueberries!  I’ve never had a Blueberry bush… until now!

I plan on wearing out my new FoodSaver.  But I plan on doing quite a bit of canning as well.

And that’s what I love about being able to work from home.  I can work my schedule around everything in my life.

No more of this crap with my life having to work around a schedule someone else chooses for me.

Either way… I’ll be working.  I’ll be working on saving money when I’m in the kitchen… or… out in the yard.

More than anything… being back out in the yard tending my plants will be like meditation for me.  Your mind wanders.  It clears when you get out there and get busy pulling the weeds around the plants… or trimming off any dead leaves and such.

We all have so much going on right now.  Our world has been turned upside down.  A giant cleansing.  Mother Nature has hit that Reset Button.

I’m hoping and praying this situation reaches a climax strong enough to humble a lot of people.

Bring everybody back to being considerate… thoughtful… conscientious… kind and helpful.

Bring everybody back to learning basics at home… rather than only knowing how to waste for convenience.

Learning more about everything home has to offer.

Maybe the almighty dollar needs to fail.

Girls might explore how to cook and sew again.

Boys might be taught how to mow yards and wash windows around the house.

There is a feeling so different that hits you after doing so.

The first thing most kids do is compare it to wherever they might hang out with friends… just standing around and talking.  Or… doing crazy crap… which is known to land somebody in trouble… or the Hospital Emergency Room.

You realize how you feel after learning and helping your family at the same time.  Yeah.  Sure.  It’s always fun being with friends.  But you can still do that.

They can come do it with you.  And then you can go to their house and do the same thing.  Everybody learns.  Everybody feels really good about what they did.

Guys don’t have to learn how to sew.  Although I will say... a lot of guys have been learning in the past few years.

Even if you don’t want to learn how to sew on a machine… or quilt… You can learn how to make a quilting rack for your Mom and sisters… with the power tools.

The one you make will be stronger and nicer than the cheaply made store-bought ones with ridiculous prices.  Yours will last forever.  And the story about you making it will go down to whomever gets to use it in all the next generations.

You’ll be famous!!  LOL

Maybe even learn how to make tables for working in a craft room… cubies for storing fabric and supplies.  Guys and Girls can learn how to custom design their own furniture on paper.  And then build it!

More kids might learn how to grow their own food… and learn to like homemade French fries from their potatoes… that they grew… more than going to McDonalds.

More families might become close again.

Swapping canned goods between extended family members and neighbors might happen.  There might be more baking at home.  More fighting for secret recipes!

Neighbors might become close friends… like they were before the 1990’s.

Everybody at home might learn how to use power tools… to build whatever they want… rather than blowing money on buying it… just because it’s convenient.

Paint fights can be fun!

They invented showers… sinks… bathtubs… washers and dryers for a reason!

Learn how to have fun working at home and getting dirty!

We all need to come closer with those we love and those that live in our neighborhoods.  We all have something of value within ourselves… that can be helpful and encouraging to others.

We’re all suffering through a really bad situation right now.  Some… are suffering so much more than others.  But a really bad thing… can become a blessing in disguise.

This bad thing will be remembered for some terribly tragic losses that our hearts will never stop hurting over.

Maybe all the… ‘MANY’… that make it through this bad thing will choose to make it become many blessings in disguise.

To honor those that… paid an ultimate price for something.  Something that is so far away from being convenient… for anyone.

For those of you suffering right now… know that prayers are going out from all over the world.  We do have Angels from above helping.  You may not see it happening.  But trust me… the healing is coming.

We will come through this feeling a profound difference in our lives and around this world.  We are strong.  We can be steady.  We should be willing… to be the change that helps this world heal… and become a better place.

Know that you are not alone.  And you are loved!

We Are NOT One. We Are MANY.

I believe this experience with the Corona-virus is a wake-up call to the damage humans are doing to this planet.

Words have never been enough.  We have refused to listen.

Now that there is so much quarantine and shelter-in-place… all those touristic areas in the world are sending out photos… of all the health and beauty… that is coming back.

It should give us all reason to pause… and contemplate… one simple fact.

We ARE NOT ONE.  WE ARE MANY.

One… cannot destroy the world… without the exception of any single Idiot in Power that would choose to order firing nuclear weapons.

But Many… can dirty up the water so badly you can’t see the bottom.  You can’t even see the damn fish!

Many… can ride something mechanical… enough to fill the air with such incredible amounts of toxic fumes… you can’t even see… or breathe.

Many… can crowd transportation sights… enough that nobody can move.  Consider your local Airport(s).  Now realize… every Airport in the whole world.

Many… can stop traffic with cars that jam the flow.  Consider your own city or town.  Now realize… every city or town.

Many… can board humongous cruise ships with… One that brings serious illness… to everybody on-board.  You ARE NOT above… being that One.

Consider the Port available where you board.  Now realize… all the Ports in the world.

If anything should be dying right now… it should be all those pathetic ‘Me… Me… Me’ attitudes and dispositions.

If anything should be dying right now… it should be the pathetic Lifestyle of Convenience… manufactured with plastic and paper.

If anything should be dying right now… it should be the Corporate Transportation Industry mentality of… ‘bigger is better’.  Seriously… do you really need so many different models of your brand?

Look at the bone yards of metal… YOU are creating.

If anything should be dying right now… it should be Production According to Demand structures in business of any kind.  Period.

Greed is killing this planet… and creating one hell of a nasty mess.  Be it Wholesale… Retail… or… even worse… Personal.

Yes… Personal.  Do the math.  You give them the excuse.

Look at the sloppy… pig-headed… unconscionable waste and INCONVENIENCE it is TRULY creating.  The trash in the oceans.  The Landfills… which you build residential neighborhoods on top of… which fills the damn hospitals and cemeteries.

No matter which way you work the numbers.  No matter which way you try to… design… the social impact.  What we are all experiencing right now… is the bottom line result.

Just because we can… DOES NOT always mean we should.

Let this experience with the Coronavirus teach us all to reclaim the truth.

WE ARE NOT ONE. WE ARE MANY.

 

When All You Can Do Is… Be You.

I couldn’t seem to get out of my kitchen Wednesday afternoon.

And in my life today… it usually means I’ve reached the end of my rope over something.

In this case… it’s very true.

But I don’t care to waste my time talking about it.

I’d rather talk about what did get all my attention.

My big pot of chicken soup made on Monday reminded me of when the girl that gave birth to me would make Tacos for 14 people in the house… with 1 pound of ground beef.

And yes… this is one example for why I became enamored with cooking at a very early age.

No.  Thank God… we had Home Economics classes in school… from the time I was in 8th grade.

Anyway…

There was no more chicken in the freezer.  Perfect excuse for a trip to Costco.

That turned into a detoured trip beginning at Target… followed by going south to Ingles just to get 2 jars of Dark Wildflower Honey (for Carlie’s grass allergy)… before heading back up Kingston Pike to Costco.

Fortunately… I was able to get gas there afterward.

I was able to get another FoodSaver.  The other one went to Missouri.

So Wednesday afternoon… tripled the amount of chicken and added it to the soup before loading it into storage containers to freeze into blocks… which I will transfer into FoodSaver bags after freezing.

And then I grabbed that huge bag of baby spinach.

Felt like I was back in my element… blanching and bagging.  That loud moan of the motor on the FoodSaver before it kicks in the heating sealer.

Two Cantaloupes.  Cut up one into slices and stored in a gallon size Ziploc bag for the fridge.  Cut the other into chunks and set out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to freeze… before putting the FoodSaver to work again.

Unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded halfway.  Handwashing 2 big pots.

Making room before setting up Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookie dough.

About two thirds went into freezer containers.  The rest in the fridge… for baking on Friday.

First time I’ve run that dishwasher twice in one day.

Housework.  Laundry.

Happy with all that I accomplished on the Homefront.

Not happy with the root of the problem that stimulated the non-stop multi-tasking without a break.

This business with staying at home because of the Covid-19 has nothing to do with it.

Living out in the country gives one plenty of time to acclimate in this type of atmosphere.

I decided to act on a decision.

As Lauren Alaina sings it…

I’m not okay but I’m gonna be alright…”

I went to Instagram early this morning… thinking I was the only one feeling this way.

I found out I am in way too much good company.

But at least I can feel really good about… being a good woman.

God knows… I’m a good… honest… strong… wise woman.

And He’s on my side.

That’s all that matters to me right now.

Knowledge and experience sit with me… holding my hand.

Telling me… “You know healing takes time.  You got this.  And you can even take care of your life while in the process.”

 

Peaceful Brainstorming

More time spent at home.  More time to contemplate.

More time to daydream.  More time to prepare for setting intentions!

Because the New Moon in Aries appears… on Tuesday… March 23rd.. at 5:28am eastern time (U.S.).

Thinking about… how I want to live… once this COVID-19 has reached an end.

Releasing us all to test ourselves.

Discover how much we have learned about ourselves.

What we require for staying alive.

What we don’t really need in our lives.

Materialism… having it all.

Is that truly where we find happiness?

I think it’s joy that we should find within ourselves.

I think happiness should be found with whomever we choose to share our joy.

Why confuse the two?

Why water one down?

Each deserves respect for its own value.

Just as every man… and every woman.

To acknowledge… and learn to appreciate… is a gift you give yourself.

Balance.  In all things.

This brings the world… and ourselves… to our center.

What’s good for me… may not be good for someone else.

How much I wish in my life… may not be enough for someone else.

I can only speak for myself.

I am only 1 puzzle piece.

It’s like… finding that next puzzle piece that fits… once you have all the edges put together.

I wonder what puzzle piece fits beside me.

All this plays into everything I’ve been thinking about… for my life.

Simplifying.  Downgrading the numbers in some areas.

Allows room for more attention to other areas.

Different priorities.  Refreshment.

Peace.

Which wheels right back around to… the joy inside myself!

There is a particular family I have been keeping up with on YouTube.

I’m simply amazed by the happiness they have created… on one acre of land.

The first thing I love about all they’ve created is the obvious time they took to plan… everything… so thoroughly.

On a personal level… what really tickles me is how they’ve managed to choose a location that allows them to grow just about anything!

Everything you can grow in California… without having to live there!  HA!

If you know me… such a place must be Heaven.

I could… actually… consider relocating.

I love living in East Tennessee.

The countryside is just absolutely beautiful.

But I have learned so many lessons in my life… about life.

Even beautiful land cannot be allowed to own me.

I cannot be bought.

I cannot be owned.

I can only be gifted.

And I come with boundaries of my own.

I hold the keys to my gates.

I get to choose… who gets in… and what gets in… to become part of my life.

For now… I pray.

While I daydream.  I only have hours to get those intentions lined up!

Get ready for that New Moon!

Wherever you may be… Know that you are not alone.

And when you get a chance… click here to go listen to this Beautiful… Beautiful song called… We Are.

Tom Trapp.  The Conductor.

That handsome man reminds me so much of my Daddy!

Know that we all have Angels we can call upon to guide us and protect us.

Especially during these difficult moments.

Know that you are loved.

As above… so below.

And so it is.

 

Doing Our Part

This whole new reality… this entire world is sharing at this time.

It’s been very fluid… to say the least.

Yet… for the most part… it does not matter where one is located on this planet.

Love from the rest of the world is being sent.

We keep each other in our thoughts.  Our prayers.

We encourage each other.  We offer support and help whenever… and wherever we can.

We stand together to square up those few attention seekers… that just cannot help stepping out of line.

Will they ever learn there is nothing good to be gained… by choosing to be ugly?

Perhaps it is easier for them to learn there is more than they can handle… by choosing to be ugly?

Those of you making those choices… need some food for thought.

The Courthouses are closed.  No immediate arraignments for you.  HA!

Still thinking about choosing to be absolutely stupid?

We are here at home… doing our part.

Carlie and I have been Good Girls!

Everything has been sanitized a little more than the usual.

I do need to run to Costco tomorrow for basics.

But I think I will also pick up another Foodsaver.

I’ve become more the Observer through the Internet… watching how people react.

I’m calm.  I’ve always been prepared… for the most part.

But then… I always avoid the news… for the most part.

I don’t allow myself to get sucked into all the fear mongering.

But then again… I’m smart enough to do my own research.

It makes no sense… to cry later because I’m drowning in truth after a fair warning.

I tend to research and find what I’ve been raised to call… ‘The Horse’s Mouth‘.

I seek videos shared by individuals going through their personal experience with the virus.

I feel honored to hear their considerate message.

Who better to be in a position to be honest?

Doctors have come out of retirement and are reporting from the battle areas… where they are helping with trying to heal patients and get ahead of this virus.

There have been moments when my soul has lost control of tears soaking my tee-shirts.

To see… and listen to so many Italian hearts come together from their balconies and sing in unison.

Ahhhh, they had me crying and laughing at the same time while watching one particular video!

Singing one of Black Sabbath’s songs!  That was just classic!!

Then… just when I get a handle on my emotions…

Nico Mastromatteo pulls a stunt.

He and that violin out on his balcony… playing my favorite Ed Sheeran song!

Yes… it was… Perfect!

So beautiful!

Like I say… I avoid watching the news.  And I’ve had to make a trip to my Pharmacy… as well as the grocery store.

But when doing either…

To see a cashier working inside a grocery store.

Seeing all the employees present at my chosen Pharmacy.

To see a Governor ask for closed hospitals to be opened for bed space.

To see Restaurants that normally open only for inside seating close down… and set up Curbside Pickup and Home Delivery Services!

And all you Home Delivery Drivers!

The Mail Carriers!

Fedex and UPS Drivers!

Convenience Store Cashiers!

Petroleum Delivery Drivers!

Distribution Workers!

Inventory / Grocery Truck Drivers!

Each and every one of you… and anyone else I may not have mentioned (please forgive me)… are so greatly appreciated… more than words can describe!

I’ve taken this time to reconsider my current environment for living.

I really do miss my garden.  I’m not allowed to plant one where I am now.

However… I have ordered supplies for some alternative plans.

But this experience shows me how I need to consider some of my past experiences in sustainable living… when it comes time for buying a home.

Makes me think about something.

I see all these HOA’s creating a nightmare for the real estate market in the near future.

City Halls need to take a serious look at all their Regulations as well.

Disallowing homeowners to grow real food… rather than mow grass… makes YOU look REALLY stupid.

Poultry Hens (not roosters) should be allowed in any fenced back yard.

Human Beings have a born right and necessity… to eat healthy food for nourishment.

It’s already been proven that the demand can’t be met by our Government and the Corporate World.

Get out of the way and let us grow our own damn food!

There is absolutely no reason for anyone to be going hungry in this world.

Especially in the United States.

And our Farmers in this whole Nation deserve the right to sell their products… on their premises… to the local people in their areas… in EVERY state!!!

More and more… as we all sit inside our homes… I hope and pray… more people take the time to reconsider their priorities.

I pray more people figure out that their most significant needs… should be their greatest wants.

I pray more people become more considerate of… and for… one another.

I pray more people come to honor the fact that… in many cases… just because you can… does not always mean you should.

YOUR actions determine the health of this planet.

Everything is connected.

Everyone is connected… in one way or another.

It’s time to wake up and be a part of that fact.

Know that you are not alone.

Know that you are loved.

 

 

Let’s Talk About Babies

If anyone has ever paid attention to my blog postings.

If anyone who knows me… has ever paid attention to anything I say.

If anyone I have ever shared conversations with… has genuinely taken into account whatever I have shared.

Then you will recognize what I am about to say.

Very little has ever been mentioned… about my birth father.

Because he never made a sole effort to inject himself into my life.

Even as a child… it was me who had to reach out… to him.

And I got lucky with being able to do that.

It was my Dad… the man that raised me as his own… from the time I was 16 months old… who made it possible.

However… he insisted on telling me… what he decided I should know about my birth father.

I was only 9 years old then.

I had found a letter from my birth father’s second wife… explaining away not being able to pay child support.

Maybe I was only 9 years old.  But I could do simple math.

I was the oldest kid in the family.  And I was the only one that never got sunburns and peeled in the summer.

I now understand the pride in my Dad… blowing off the child support.

I can almost hear him say, “I don’t need that S.O.B.’s money.  I’m doing okay raising her myself.”

Me standing on the bed… him standing at the foot of the bed in their bedroom.

Holding my arms gently… telling me… his version of the story.

He’s passed on to the other side now.  He knows I know the truth now.

He knows I know… that he never met the man in his whole life.

But he knows the whole story.  Right?

I know.  I’m laughing, too.

Anyway…

At the end of the conversation… I asked if I would ever get to meet the man.

He promised I could… if we ever moved back to California.

I was 16 years old… when I got that opportunity to meet my birth father for the first time.

Finally… I could look in the mirror and see the other half of myself.

But fulfilling that promise came as a harsh blow to my Dad’s ego.

He felt as if all he’d given to raising me meant nothing.

His pain came out by way of violence… with the help of alcohol.

I have never forgotten that night… after coming back home from that visit.

At 16 years old… I felt like everything was my fault… simply because I wanted to meet this other man… so I could see who I looked like.

Things were never the same.  In some ways… things became much worse.

The healing between my Dad and I came after he divorced the girl that gave birth to me.

That real father-daughter relationship… actually showed up.

Sadly… it happened 2.5 months before he was killed by a drunk driver.

But he will always be my Dad.

As a man… he was aware of the clout this world gives a man… compared to any woman.

He used it… to do something he never had to do.

He gave me the guidance of a father… flawed as it may have been.

Flawed as it always is.  Parenting does NOT come with any manual.

But I am forever grateful for having my Dad.

There are babies that grow up in this world and become adults that carry flaws to the end of their journey.

Yet… one can look back and see the efforts they DID try to make… to do better… to be better.

But then… there are babies that come into this world… become adults and choose to remain stagnant throughout and to the end of their journey.

Some of us are born and grow up.  Some of us are born and only age.

My Dad did the best he could with all the knowledge he had… even when he didn’t have to.

My hope is that this will awaken some young minds to understanding how accountability enters our lives.

We enter this world as babies.  Initially… there are a woman AND a man… given with expectations… the positions of raising us until we reach the phase of adulthood.

Mainly because it takes a sperm and a womb to get us here.

Pay attention to the fact that I put the sperm in front of the womb.

Let that sink in.

This jacked up world has created a lousy bowl of gumbo in society that has generations growing up and giving no serious consideration… to the significance… of how we all get to this world.

And above all else… WHY.

Way too much confusion for babies and kids.

We all ask to come to this world.

But NONE OF US… ever sign up for THAT.

That’s WHY we have parents… who choose to take on the task of guiding us to adulthood… once we are conceived by their choice they both made… to make us possible.

Just because you can… never means you should.”

For a lack of a better term for understanding… I refer to parents as parental authorities.

I leave it in a general sense because not all children have a heterosexual set… or even a full set… of parents living under the same roof throughout their entire childhood.

But let me make this personal opinion very clear.

This world seems to bash LGBT COUPLES for wanting to raise children.

To that I say it’s time to examine the insecurity that arises every time you consider the subject.

Why are you so afraid?

You lacking in something for which they exude fine detailing?

No judgement.  Simply a question.

As children we see certain adults raising us as parental figures with authority.  And we are expected to respect and obey.

We are supposed to be able to trust them as well.  But that’s another conversation.

That’s not what we’re talking about here.

Anyway…

Too many of us are growing up with such a mix-mash of parental authority figures.

We are expected to adhere to the guidance of parental authority… until we reach that phase in our lives of adulthood.

Once we walk through those doors… that entire picture changes.

All those choices… are on us.

And yes.

We have a problem with parents who are confused… very confused… about that line where they must STOP… stand behind… and wave farewell… to giving all their instruction… as well as… holding expectations from us… any longer.

That’s where our first struggle with finding our true selves in our personal journey begins.

My birth father was… a teenager… still living at home with his mother.

By the time I was 9 years old… he was 27.

Wow.  I just now realized… he was the same age as my Dad.

That impacts my thoughts… feelings… everything I’ve realized about the man… even more.

People can argue about what I am about to say next… forever.  But deep down inside… everybody knows in their heart… this is the God’s honest truth.

This world still struggles with men refusing to allow women to be considered Queens.

Not only that.  But… Queens with intelligence.

Governmental… organizational… business sectors.  Even many religious sectors.  Men in these positions have a really insecure mindset that makes them feel threatened by… women.

And for the record… Eve was just another relative of all the women living in this world today.

Seriously.  Do some simple math.  This is… the year 2020.

Anyway… all these sectors have no problem putting more focus and effort into pressing down women… before and rather than… putting that focus and effort into other issues… that can sustain a whole collective.

Power.  Authority.  And it receives all the money and other material riches to make the world go round.

It is what it is… and it remains… in this year of 2020… which is downright pathetic.

With all that said…

This issue has everything to do with the responsibility of boys becoming men.

And in my case… there came a time when my birth father had the world standing behind him… and giving him… everything he needed… to inject himself into my life.

Giving him.  He had it made.

With two exceptions.  His focus and effort.

He was warmly welcomed into learning the craft of a machinist in tool and dye.  Earning that paycheck that buys the house and provides for the whole family.

You think any mother would receive the same?

That gave him all the power in the world to make choices.  Act on decisions.

He chose.  He cowed to another woman.  He chose.  No action toward his child.

This world needs to stop looking at women to do everything a man doesn’t feel like messing with… in relationships… and at home.

Because babies are being born.  It takes a woman… AND a man… to make that happen.

The Divine expects the woman AND the man that conceive that child… to guide that child until they move into that phase of adulthood… regardless of whether or not they ever choose to separate in life.

BOTH… are accountable for making damn sure… BOTH are allowed to do so… without any interference.

It’s time to stop family members and others in their circle from interfering in your role as a parent.

It’s time for YOU to stop using a child as a weapon… and/or for manipulation and control in your own journey.

It’s time for all those Governmental… Organizational… Business… AND Religious sectors… to STOP all the biased… half-ass effort.

It’s time to get behind BOTH… the sperm AND the womb…  FOR the baby born from it… ALL the way… in EVERY way of human rights that sustain their lives.

If you want a reason for why we’re all facing this Corona-virus and social distance from one another…

HERE IT IS!!

IT’S TIME FOR THIS WHOLE WORLD… to put its focus and attention on the protection of human rights of every baby coming into this world… and BOTH of their parents… regardless of their gender… their color… their religion… their sexual preference… as well as their predisposed societal judgment on this planet.

Truth be told… YOU need ALL THREE of them… just as much as anybody else in this world.