The Hermits' Rest

Drowning my sorrows?

Today I tried very hard to find happiness amidst sadness about so many good people passing sway lately (famous and not-so-famous). I should get used to it, and normally I am. This is just a rough week.

I did find beauty! This is Ohio Spiderwort.

I got up early and dragged myself to a nearby park, Michael Crotty Bicentennial Park, where I wandered around and enjoyed many beautiful plants.

I then walked across the road to a nice dock with great views of the Intracoastal and native woods. I got to see birds and talk to a couple of nice folks. I still made it back in plenty of time to start work.

It stormed pretty spectacularly this afternoon, with lightning right on top of me. I enjoy watching rain over the ocean, and it brought peace except when the big booms came.

After work, I went for a nice walk. I ended up with more birds today than any other here so far. To reward myself for working hard and because I was kind of lonely, I took myself to a nice dinner right across the road from the condo. I had old fashioned and a dessert. Good thing my meal was nice heathy fish and kale!

I’m looking forward to reading and relaxing for a while. This condo might not be fancy, but it sure is nice and quiet. Time to reflect.

Also, thanks for all the good feedback on Stephanie’s poem. She is full of understanding.

The light of the world is dimmer

I’m glad I had my tarot group tonight, because I needed to be with beloved community as I processed the loss of the brilliant beacon of goodness, Dolly Parton. I know the loss hit so many of us quite hard, even if we only knew her second hand via her music, performances, and philanthropy.

I wrote this on Facebook.

I’m going to do my best keep to this vow.

This passing hit home, because I’m of the age when all my role models are passing and I’m turning into the “wise elder” person. Just as I was thinking about this, my friend shared this moving poem she wrote. I hope you enjoy it and it brings some comfort.

When the Torch Comes to Us

by Stephanie Perdue

When I was young,
there were so many running ahead of me.
Grandparents.
Parents.
Family and friends.
The voices and faces I idolized
who seemed as permanent as the stars.
There was always someone ahead.

But as I grow older,
I watch them disappear.
A grandparent.
A father.
A stepfather.
A friend.
Then another familiar name
from the soundtrack of my youth
is followed by two dates
and a lifetime reduced
to the space between them.

And each time,
my heart feels the quiet slippage of time.
The line ahead grows shorter.
Now I see my mother there,
her brother and sister beside her,
carrying the torch passed to them
by the generation before.
I don’t want their turn to end.
I don’t want to imagine
a world without their voices in it.
Yet time does not ask
whether we are ready.
One by one,
those ahead of us finish their race,
and suddenly we realize
we have moved closer to the front.

Perhaps that is what frightens me most
about growing older:
not my own finish line,
but watching those I love
reach theirs.
Knowing there may come a day
when the torch passes
from my mother’s hand to mine,
and my generation will look ahead
and realize—
we are the ones carrying it now.

So while the people I love are here,
I will love them.
I will listen to their stories.
I will remember their laughter.
And I will try not to save too much
for someday.
And when the torch finally reaches my hands,
I will hold it tightly.
I will remember all the hands
that carried it before mine.
And I will carry their light
as far as I can.

Because life is tenuous.
Life is terribly short.
But love—
passed from hand to hand,
heart to heart,
generation to generation—
can travel farther than any one of us ever will.

There’s a lot of water here

Since it’s Monday, I had to work. But since it’s Eastern Time, I didn’t have to work until late morning. So I took the opportunity to head over to Tomoka State Park, which is quite close to where I’m staying in Ormond Beach, Florida.

The park is surrounded by two rivers, the Halifax, which is also part of the Intracoastal Waterway, and the Tomoka, which joins the Halifax here. As you can imagine, there are beautiful views, many without any signs of humanity. My kind of place.

There are lots of kayak trails and camping areas. The nature trail and the trail around the point were what I focused on today, though I have plans to return and either go on a boat tour or hike another path.

Oddly, I didn’t hear many birds, just a very persistent Osprey and a Belted Kingfisher were loud. Blue Jays, Cardinals, and Carolina Wrens rounded out the songbirds, and I spotted an Anhinga, some Ruddy Turnstones, and a Great Blue Heron. Nothing too exotic.

There were plenty of very interesting plants to distract me from the lack of birds, however. The scenery was lush and verdant, with some new plants, like a hog plum (Ximenia americana), also known as a sea lemon. Apparently they’re common on the Florida coast, but I don’t remember them.

Take the tour of the nature trail with me! It’s fun.

There was lots of turtle and tortoise evidence here. I saw a nest that had recently hatched and found a beautiful gopher in its hole. I sure enjoyed gopher tortoises as a child!

Here’s more on the Gopherus polyphemus.

Okay, I’ll just share a few more interesting plants and insects I saw.

After exhausting my eyeballs from all this, I headed back to work and tried not to let the pelicans distract me as the majestically sailed by. The ocean was very blue.

After working I took a short walk on the beach to enjoy the sea birds and the shifting sands. This is a great place to come in summer after school starts. It’s warm but quiet. There are so many beautiful colors to enjoy.

And finally, I got to hang out with Vicki, whose headache was over, thankfully. We ate at a fun place in a non-touristy area with a great ocean view. After an amazing grilled cheese sandwich and much conversation about taboo topics like politics and religion (where we disagree less now than at other points in our lives), we went to a quiet beach park and watched pelicans dive as the sun set. A fine day with much water!

The cordoned off areas are turtle nests.

Sleepy time!

Hooray for friends and nature endorphins

I’m having a good time in Ormond Beach, which, by the way, is just north of Daytona on the east coast of Florida. I spent the morning getting set up and organized, then went to get my friend Vicki for breakfast. We went next door to her apartment, which is an old local favorite. The food was good, but the conversation was the best! I love being around people who know me very well but still like me. Having known each other since we were teens means we can poke fun at each other about stuff others are unaware of. That’s fun.

After lunch we rode around town, so now I’m much better oriented and know where all the vital places are, like where to get socks (I forgot socks). I just love looking at all the pine forests that cover north Florida and all the houses that look like the ones we grew up in, only more brightly colored. Sorry, but the only photo I got with Vicki was this Cattle Egret we saw while in line to get a soft drink.

I took Vicki back home to have a migraine (I’m such a good influence), then set off on a trek to get socks, an extension cord for my laptop monitors, and some food. It all went fabulously. Marshall’s had socks and nothing else that tempted me. I got all my groceries and nail polish remover at Publix (yay, the chain Mom shopped at when I was a kid), and I got an extension cord at Dollar Tree, thanks to a helpful Publix customer suggesting it.

I can see the ocean from my desk. The only place with a good view.

In the afternoon I got my nature endorphins. I really needed them, since I didn’t get much solo nature time in Ruidoso. First, I took a walk along the beach, which was pleasantly uncrowded and full of friendly shore birds. I like the beach sand here, which has a lot of pink in it.

I kept walking and crossed into the neighborhood across from the beach. I tried to listen for birds, but there weren’t too many, other than a persistent Osprey and many Blue Jays. I enjoyed all the houses in various states ranging from disrepair to perfection. Of course, I also recorded weeds/native plants.

I was surprised to see a small garden and trail that the garden club made fairly recently. I mostly took pictures of specimen plants, but it was a nice, neatly labeled, oasis of semi-wildness, right next to a pretty cemetery.

I continued walking and was about to turn back when, suddenly, there was a sign directing me to a museum and garden. Garden? Yes! I found a woodsy wonderland at Ormond Memorial Museum and Gardens. Coming the back way, it sneaks up on you.

Okay, someone really loves this place. It’s beautifully designed and cared for, with sweet surprises everywhere you look. So much tropical greenery, with water trickling everywhere. What a gem! My heart was filled with pleasure at every turn, even if it was bursting with non-native plants. They were still beautiful.

Entrance, which would be prettier with fewer signs

The turtle pond was my favorite surprise in the garden. It was so lush with water dripping and bubbling everywhere. And so many turtles! I didn’t try to ID the ones I saw, since they have so many kinds, but I did sit and watch them for a while. I love a good turtle pond.

By this time, I was a bit warm and tired, so I headed back. It was 104° at home, so I’m not complaining about the high 80s. I realized I’m really out of shape since I stopped doing horse stuff and hiking all the time. I’ll just use this trip to get back my walking legs. At least my last pleasant sights didn’t use my sore muscles. I got all these sunset photos from my balcony, from where I can see a sliver of water. I liked how the colors of the water and sand also changed.

Getting there

Today I traveled all day! That makes for a heck of a long slog, but there were plenty of bright spots. And of course there were some challenges that seem more amusing now than when they happened.

I got to Austin airport (thanks to Lee) in plenty of time, which was good, because even the first class check-in was slow (I used points to get it). My carryon bag got inspected, and the woman who looked very hard at my jewelry bag didn’t close the zipper all the way! Luckily I lost nothing after dragging it all across the airport in that state.

At the waiting area, I enjoyed friendly people chatting with strangers, then ended up chatting away to my own stranger. We bonded over our love of Navajo jewelry (she was covered in beautiful silver). That was so much fun! Now she wants to go to Santa Fe together, ha ha.

The first class flight to Charlotte was pleasant and included wine. I needed it to get through the wait for the next flight to Daytona Beach. I met nice (but confused about flying) people while waiting, too. We were delayed due to misrouted luggage. That delay was the catalyst to the longest part of the long day.

There are not enough seats in the area where passengers on tiny planes must wait.

I ended up sitting next to an incredibly chatty elderly woman who was struggling with pain and some cognitive issues. So I listened to her the whole flight. I know a lot about her dating and marriage history and her illnesses and her attractive great-grandchildren. She’s only 5 years older than me! I think I helped her make it through the flight, which I was glad to do.

However, my patience ran thin when we arrived exactly when a thunderstorm popped up, and we had to sit on the tarmac a long time. This got the elders around me all in a tizzy. Why are we sitting here? (it’s dangerous to the ground staff to stand around in a storm). When will it stop raining? (when these here clouds on the radar move off.) Why can’t we stand up and move around the plane? (The wind is blowing really hard.) Plus Debbie (that was her name) decided she was going to die, then began singing and praying. Oh boy. She called her daughter and said she knew she’d be okay because she was sitting next to a meteorologist (me). I guess the Clime app impressed her.

Oh was I relieved to get off that plane. I was effusively complimentary to the car rental lady, just because she seemed so normal compared to my plane companions. I was not thrilled that it was dark before I could go find the condo where I’m staying, but the rental car is a Honda with all the controls where I think they should be. That helped a lot.

I found Ormond Beach at last. It looks pretty in the dark. The condos are not as fancy as usual, but they are obviously improving them to meet the Hilton brand specs. They can’t make them bigger or actually have ocean views, but that’s okay. Why? Because I came to see my friend Vicki, not to bask in luxury. And to do nature stuff, which this part of Florida is chock full of. (I will also work, which should go well with my fancy new fold-out monitors.)

Quirky. There is a weird window looking into the main bathroom.

It feels weirdly good to be in my home state again. Everything seems “right” somehow. Probably the familiar plants, house styles, and street signs help. Florida road signs are easier for me than Texas ones. Strange.

We will see what I think when the sun comes up. Anyway, here are tiny condo pictures.

Take me back to Antelope Canyon

If you could relive one day from your past, which day would it be and why?

If I could, I think I’d endlessly relive the day Lee and I visited Antelope Canyon in Arizona. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. Plus you have to give money to Navajo people to see it.

The drive to Page from Sedona takes you through the Navajo Nation, so I got to see some hogans. It was a great day, even though the visit to Cameron Trading Post was a different day (fry bread and someone weaving a large rug).

But mostly I enjoyed the beauty of the slot canyon, especially when I could get away from other people and the (sweet) tour guide. It’s a magical place, exuding copious good vibes (for a tourist site), and getting there and back was also interesting. I could do it again.

I’m sure you want more photos. Ok!

BYW, this visit was on June 15, 2024. A greeeat day for me.

It’s just great…

Imagine that said in the voice of the boss in The Office. I always use that voice when I see these guys.

And all the things I can talk about are greeeat, too. Work is great. I have a greeeat new orange suitcase for my next trip. And I got this thing that gives a laptop three screens. It will be greeeat for working at condos and in the RV.

Nothing that’s really on my mind is bloggable. So I’ll thank everyone who responded to my last post, remind my family who reads this that I love you, and let the rest of you know I appreciate your kindness to me. You really are great, without any sarcasm.

If I could mess with time

If you could erase one event from history, what would it be?

I think I’d rather stick with “the devil you know.” The possibility of preventing one atrocity that leads to a worse one makes me leery of even contemplating erasing an event. There always seems to be another evil lurking in the wings after one’s eliminated.

That’s also why I don’t wish anyone, even my least favorite human, would die earlier than nature intends. Just think about what may happen next. Or not. That leads to disregulation.

Breathe and think about birds, trees, or cute little dogs. I happen to have an example dog. This is a series of Benito playing.

Who writes these prompts? I guess I can’t imagine anyone really wanting to erase an event. But maybe I read too much science fiction as a youth.

I can believe this

What’s a conspiracy theory you actually find believable?

I’ll tell you. I would not be at all surprised if the powers running all the world’s political entities are a class of people who aren’t citizens of any nation, are loyal only to each other, and just want everyone else to do what’s needed to support them.

I’m running out of other theories.

Thus, I plan to continue to do what’s needed to keep me and my family mentally and physically sound, until I no longer can.

Hmm. This question brought out my existentialism. I better go find another nature book.

What are little dogs made of?

We have a better idea about what at least two of our dogs are made of, now that Carlton and Benito’s Embark tests have come back. There were mysteries solved and theories confirmed, too. My guess is that Penney’s swab didn’t take, because hers didn’t come back.

You don’t need DNA results for us. We are obviously American Stair Dogs. (They spend much of their days here. Penney is trained to move her front paws when I approach.)

I was pretty sure Benito was not the purebred Chihuahua that he was purchased as. People guessed he had Fox Terrier or Miniature Pinscher.

I was right about our little fellow. At least one of his parents was a mutt.

My guess is that one grandparent was a total mutt. The Poodle surprised me, though.

I never had any good guesses about Carlton other than there must be some pit bull in there. And there had to be some breeds with the Merle gene.

We had a nice rest this evening. He’s my big lap dog.

It turns out Carlton is a big ole mix, as we knew, but there are some good surprises in there.

He’s about as pitty as I expected but the Mountain Cur thing threw me for a loop. I didn’t know we had any of those here. We do have lots of cowdogs that they call curs, but I thought those were mostly Black Mouth Curs. Seeing the ACD in there makes me surmise one parent was a working dog with those breeds mixed in. Then the other parent was probably a small dog that looked like a lab. Carlton has carefully hidden his Chihuahuan heritage. That’s a hoot.

Who knows how it works out? They are both quite the mixes! And I know enough to take these analyses with a grain of salt. I would have loved seeing what breeds contributed to Harvey, but there was no way he was gonna let me swab his saliva!

I didn’t pay the extra money to get their health analysis. Benito should be hardy now that his heart worms are treated. And I know Carlton has weird eyes. That’s enough.