from the porches

mom's birthday

 

Today is my mother's 87th birthday.

 
We celebrated yesterday at The Great Outdoors restaurant with her best friend, Lil.

 
Chris, Mom's hairdresser, and the other ladies from the beauty shop stopped by to give Mom a hug.

 
Even Blake, one of the employees at The Great Outdoors restaurant stopped by our table to give Mom a hug.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

sparrows

 
Monday afternoon I took Madeline and Oliver to swimming lessons.  What sweet children!  On the way to the UF swim complex, each of the children read a book of their own.  Since Madeline is in first grade now, she is devouring words on a page as fast as you can hand her a book and Oliver thinks he can read just like she can. 

Oliver was reading an animal book and at one point, Madeline said, "Oliver, let me help you."  Oliver's instant comeback was,  "I DON'T NEED ANY HELP!  I CAN DO IT BY MYSELF!"  True.  He talked about the different animals in his book and decided he liked the giraffe the best because it could help him get down from a tree."  Eventually, after many, "Nana, what is your favorite animal?", I had to say I changed mine from a cat to a giraffe because if I'm ever stuck in a tree, what better animal to rescue me.

 
Once we arrived at the pool, four-year old Oliver asked, "Nana, do you want to take my picture?"  That might not seem very special to most folks, but usually Oliver thrusts his hands in front of his face and screams, "NO PICTURE!" 

I told Oliver, yes I wanted to take his picture, but I had to wait until he climbed the rail to pose.  That was clearly his suggestion. What a sweetheart!

 
Then off he ran after Madeline.

Then came the thirty minute wait while the children took their swim lessons.  I wondered what new things I could photograph.  You may think I'm going to show you the typical pool pictures, such as kids in the pool, swim teachers, and goggles.  But Monday I found new subject matter to focus on.

 
Palm trees . . .

 
and sparrows.

 
Sparrows eating cookies from the top of a garbage can . . .

 
Sparrows watching little kids swim . . .

 
Sparrows on wires . . .

 
And sparrows on iron fences.

 
But mostly, sparrows watching me.

And in the end, I was pleased with the swim lessons on Monday. 

 

cat and mouse

 
Saturday night Truett and I didn't get home from the Florida/LSU game until 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.  We were exhausted and I couldn't wait to collapse in my bed.

But around 2:15 a.m. Maggie and Lily started barking and causing quite a raucous in their pen. "HUSH!" I yelled; but they kept on.  I had no other choice but to personally scold them, so I crawled out of bed and went to their pen.  "SHUT UP!"  I screamed.  They did for about ten minutes, then the barking began again.

I crawled out of bed, looked at the clock and saw it read 2:30.  Blah!  I tiptoed in the room where the puppies were and scanned the room.  I saw Roger hunkered by a basket beside the front door in the TV room.  Bleary-eyed, I looked in the corner behind the basket and saw a mouse.

Not to worry.  I knew this little mouse didn't have a chance in my house.  Not with two dogs and two cats!

Well, yesterday all was quiet in the house.  Roger and Punky, Maggie and Lily went about their normal routines.  Punky spent a lot of the day guarding the piano, so I assumed the mouse was hiding behind it.

 
This morning, however, when I picked up my house shoes, I saw the mouse.  Poor little thing.  It should know better than to come into a house with two dogs and two cats; but so is life. 

 
I waited for Truett to return from Lake City and had him pick up the mouse to give to the yard kittens.  I figure it's time they know what a mouse is and learn how to kill them before one gets in my house again.

 
And the game began.

 
 
 
The blurry part of this photo happens to be a flying mouse as the kitten tossed it in the air and caught it.

 
At least I have one kitten who knows what a mouse is now.

some games

 
Some football games are just downright frustrating.  After the Gator's loss to LSU last night I'm trying to piece the puzzle together to see what I could have done differently to change the outcome of our loss to LSU. I know I'm not the only one who is supersticious regarding football games, now am I?

 
Maybe it was started during our tailgate party where all the Gator fans laughed and laughed as Alabama got beat by Spurrier's team.

 
Maybe it was because our bicycle driver told us he had to go to the emergency room that morning with diverticulitis.

 
Oh, I've got it.  We lost to LSU because of the red sunset.  Yeah, that must have been it. Red is an omen, isn't it?

 
I keep reminding myself, "It's only a stupid old football game."  But the Florida Gators are just not used to losing two games in a row.

 
Surely, it wasn't those ugly old orange jerseys our guys wore.  Surely, not.  I kept thinking our boys looked like Miami players.  I want our blue jerseys back.

 
Then I thought about Merry Jennifer and Sam sitting with us.  They normally don't, so there is that possibility that they may have to sit in their regular seats way across the stadium from us from now on.That's a sad thought.

 
I suppose I'll never know why Florida didn't win against LSU.  Some people think the refs had something to do with it and others believe it was bad coaching. I really think it has to do with inexperienced players. 

Nevertheless, we love our Florida Gators and will support them to the end. 

catching rainbows

 
One thing I love about our stained glass windows in the living room is the way the morning light shines through the beveled pieces of glass and scatters rainbows on the floors and on the furniture. 

 
Catching rainbows is what I call the early morning game I play from time to time.

 
It's much like being on a scavenger hunt.

 
After a few minutes I recheck rainbows and find they change their shapes, like the one above. 

 
 I can tell it's the same rainbow because of the tiny white piece of paper laying near it.

 
Catching rainbows in my house is a bit addictive.

 
If I'm not careful, I'll spend too much time waiting for more rainbows to appear or for the original ones to morph.

Catching rainbows is a relaxing thing to do on a Saturday morning. . .or any morning for that matter.

a quick wave

 
Ever since the 2010 school year has started I have looked for children walking on the sidewalks at the elementary school.  . . the school where I taught for so many years.

 
But I never see them, which, in itself, is a good thing because I know they are being taught in their classrooms and shouldn't be wandering the sidewalks. 

 
All I want to do is wave at them and ask,  "How's it going?  Having a good year?"

But I never see them.

 
Today was different, however. 

This afternoon Mom and Truett and I were returning from High Springs when lo and behold, at the only stop light in Fort White were school students.  Little kids. Third graders to be exact.

"Roll your window down," I shouted from the back seat.

"No...don't.  I don't want them to see me."

 
"Ohhh, they're third graders!  There's Mrs. Blanchard and Ms Lockley and Mrs. Harris!"

But by then the car windows were rolled up and no one. . .no child . . . and no teacher saw me waving frantically at them from the back seat of my car.

My friends tell me I should substitute; but I just can't.  Not now.  I couldn't find the time.

So for now I'll just have to give a quick wave to the children from the back of my car.

the wonder of chameleons

 
This afternoon Truett and I took Madeline and Oliver to swim lessons.  We had to park behind the swimming complex because Sesame Street Live was to be held tonight and the closer parking lot was closed.

 
On the long walk back to the car after swimming lessons Maddie spied a tiny, baby chameleon.

"Oh, Nana!" she squealed.  "Look!"

It was a cute little chameleon and had not gotten its color yet.

 
Then Maddie proceeded to try to catch the little 2 inch chameleon.

"I've NEVER caught one before," she said, "And I really want to!"

Then I was reminded of the Tennessee State Fair Sherry and I went to when we were nine years old.  A vendor was selling live, green chameleons from Florida to anyone willing to spend fifty cents.

Around the chameleons necks was a thin string and attached to the end of the string was a miniscule gold safety pin.

Sherry and I bought a chameleon and pinned the  string to our collars while the frightened green chameleon darted around our necks, across our shoulders and down our blouses.

Talk about animal abuse!  By the time we got back home we had dead chameleons to show for our fifty cents.

 
I tried to convince Maddie that the little chameleon was only a baby and was very fragile and to just enjoy watching it dart around.

But. . .with Truett's encouraging words, Maddie caught it anyway.

 
It finally leapt to the ground where it landed belly-up. 

We then convinced Maddie to pick it up and toss it in the bushes to be with its mommy. 

Of course Maddie is no dummy.  She said, "But Nana.  The bigger lizards will eat it."

After it was tossed in the bushes we headed to the car and I felt sad for the baby chameleon.  I doubt it will ever dart again.  Then I thought about the fair and how children are drawn to the wonder of chameleons.

Oliver's 4th birthday party

                    Happy Birthday, Oliver!