This is a rose from the garden of my friend Betty Peterson. Tomorrow (Feb. 5) is her birthday and I’m posting it in her memory. R.I.P., dear friend with whom I shared so many adventures. oxoxox
Betty’s Rose, FOTD Feb 5, 2023
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Author Archives: lifelessons
New Stone Age
New Stone Age
We construct a life, then fate takes it away,
constructing its own plan it changes day-to-day.
All that man constructs it conspires to pull down.
Everything will vanish—every roadway, every town.
Our most intricate circuits will be ripped to shreds—
our efforts all discounted for what comes in their stead.
It seems we’ve done our least to save the world we’ve hexed,
so nature gets to try again to see what it builds next!
Prompt words today are vanish, least, discount, circuit, construct and fate. Image by Pavel Nexnanov on Unsplash.
Almost Flowers, Feb 4, 2023
For Cee’s FOTD
Gina and Judy Add Color to My Life–Even in Absentia!!!
My pal Gina Cameron and I got together Lestats Hillcrest yesterday afternoon to catch up with each other’s stories and to color in our new coloring books “When Old Dames Get Together and Other Confessions of a Ripe Old Age,” with poems by Judy Dykstra-Brown and illustrations by Isidro Xilonzochitl. What a hoot! We had so much fun. Remember how calming coloring can be? You can do it too. Here’s info for Judy’s book: Amazon
Look for Judy Reeve’s new book coming out. I’ll give a link when it is available. She’s also conducting a writer’s workshop at the wonderful resort across the lake that I published photos of earlier—Quinta San Carlos. If anyone is interested in coming down to a beautiful part of Mexico and participating in her Wild Women Writing Workshop, I can furnish info on that, too. She’s conducted them for us for six years, I think, in La Manzanilla, on the beach near Colima, in Puerto Vallarta, Nueva Vallarta, Acapulco and at Quinta San Carlos. (If I left any out, please remind me.) This year we’ve convinced her she needs to do an additional one for others who want the experience. Let me know if you are interested and I’ll pass the info on to Judy.
Hi Gina! Hope you are coming down again this year. You need to help us in our Wilding!!!!
Anyone else who has ordered the Old Dames book, please send me a shot of your response.
Murphy’s Law
Murphy’s Law
An ambivalent lawyer cares hardly a jot
about whether he wins your law case or not.
An optimist one day, pessimistic the next,
if he’s your advisor, I fear you are hexed.
In the legal arena he just mills around.
His decisions are iffy, his judgement unsound.
An unusual confidant, when in a bind,
he’ll find it convenient to just change his mind.
So taking all factors into account,
as the trial goes on and the legal bills mount,
wrap up the case and accept your defeat
as a legal disaster you’ll never repeat!!
Prompt words today are optimist, arena, unusually, ambivalent, lawyyer andjot. Image by Ruthson Zimmerman on Unsplash.
A Rare Sighting: For Bushboy’s Last on the Card Prompt, Jan. 2023
For Bushboy’s Last on the Card Prompt, here are my two last shots for January, 2023. So excited to see the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) for only the second time since I moved to Mexico 21 years ago! I was out in the hot tub well past midnight, looking up at the stars, and suddenly realized what I was seeing. Luckily, I had my camera. You must click on the photos to enlarge them to see the stars. I turned the photo sideways to make the Dipper more obvious as there were lots of stars around it and it was not so obvious tipped on its side. In the second photo, I included my roof lline to show how the photo was shifted 1/4 revolution to the left.
Hibiscus: FOTD Jan 3, 2023
Yesterday there were two perfect hibiscus blooms on my bush. Today, alas, one is still aloft but the other lies curled up on the grass. Click on photos to enlarge and look closely at the first photo to see evidence of tomorrow’s upstart! Almost always a new bloom or blooms on this prolific bush.
For Cee’s FOTD
Candelaria, 2023
Friends to share a meal with…
And friends who won’t leave your side, no matter what.
(Please click on photos to enlarge.)
This is the party where the folks who got the babies in the cake at the Tres Reyes Party on January 6 have to bring the tamales for the Candelaria party on February 2. Morrie got to come to the party but Zoe and Coco had to go to the doggie hotel. Morrie was so upset when they left with Pepe, thinking they got to go on a walk but he didn’t. He more than made up at it for the party, however, where he got all the attention. He was a very good boy.
If you don’t know about this tradition, here is a shortened explanation from trip savvy:
The holiday of Candlemas has many names in English, such as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, but in Mexico, it’s simply referred to as el Día de la Candelaria. Even though this religious festival is observed in Catholic church services around the world, Candelaria in Mexico has its own special traditions that don’t exist anywhere else, some of which tie back to Aztec times before Christianity even came to the Americas.
What Is el Día de la Calendaria?
El Día de la Calendaria in English is known in the Catholic Church as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ. It commemorates the day when his mother, Mary, brought him to the Temple in Jerusalem for the first time, as described in the Book of Luke, chapter 2, verse 22-23 in the New Testament. The feast is one of the oldest celebrations in Christianity, dating back to at least the fourth century in ancient Jerusalem. It’s also sometimes known as the Feast of Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary since traditions.
Outside of attending church services, Candelaria is celebrated at home with a big family dinner, usually with tamales. The tradition actually begins a month earlier on Three King’s Day when families eat the typical holiday cake called rosca de Reyes, which has a small figurine of baby Jesus baked into the dessert. The person who finds the figurine in their slice of rosca is in charge of hosting the Candelaria party in February—and providing the tamales.
Another important custom in Mexico, particularly in areas where Catholic traditions run strong, is for families to own a doll-sized version of baby Jesus called Niño Dios, or Christ Child. The Niño Dios is first placed in the home Nativity scene on Christmas Eve and then given gifts on Three King’s Day. On Candelaria, people dress up their Niño Dios and bring it to church with them, just as Jesus was believed to have been presented
Salvia: FOTD Feb 2, 2023
For Cee’s FOTD
Morning Menu
Morning Menu
If you desire a breakfast that’s full of health and crunch,
that will cast away your hunger from awakening to lunch,
lay a corn ear perpendicular and mash it all to bits,
relinquishing it’s former shape to turn it into grits.
No one will guess its origin. They will not have a hunch,
but it will solve their appetite if they eat a bunch.
Prompts today are crunch, origin, castaway, perpendicular, breakfast and relinquish.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 