Variations on a Theme

Miniature landscapes from a rainy May day in mid-Missouri. 

Burger King and the Better Bite Burger Barn

Our band juniors are traditionally 'crowned' at the end-of-year band banquet by the graduating seniors. It marks a milestone: a coming-of-age. Freshman band members covet the golden crowns for 3 years until it is FINALLY their turn.

Next year's seniors will have to travel across the 3-mile bridge to get the coveted crowns for next year's juniors because the Gulf Breeze Burger King just closed this week. Our royal crown-procurers barely got there in time to get these all-important items. Talk is that there will be a Chick-Fil-A in the old Burger King's place. I think we all can probably remember the food joints that have come and gone over the years in places we've lived. It makes me wonder if the Better Bite Burger Barn is still in Osage Beach, Missouri. You read that correctly: The Better Bite Burger Barn. Hey - don't laugh. We didn't have a McDonald's, so Better Bite eventually went from a tiny drive-through place to a eat-in restaurant with soft-serve ice cream AND a bakery. This was a Pre-Frappe Era. Better-Bite-had-it-all. [Sorry, I noticed I was getting hyphen-happy.] But I digress....

Milestones. Traditions. Coming-of-age. Feelings for these are happy-sad, but more happy than sad.

So ~ good luck graduating seniors, and congratulations to the rising seniors! May you always keep the music and your band friendships in your heart. <3 And hang on to those golden crowns. They might appreciate in value as you pass more milestones in the future.

Why Music Matters for Alzheimer’s Patients

Why Music Matters for Alzheimer’s Patients

Time Flies

 

Two of my favorite photos of all time for you today. 

(I'm the short one.)

I remember so distinctly how I felt when my first daughter was about 2 weeks old. 

My mother came to Florida to help me with the birth of our first daughter in 1991 (and again for our second daughter in 1994). I had a C-section both times, and in 1991 Kelsey also had to stay in the hospital for 10 days for antibiotics. They thought she had neonatal pneumonia due to aspiration of amniotic fluid. She was big and healthy, and aside from the IV antibiotics and velcro sunglasses for jaundice, she was perfect. We were and continue to be very thankful. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - Mama (that's me) was recovering from major surgery. That was the easy part. When Kelsey came home at 10 days old was when the fun began. 

Motherhood is the greatest opportunity for growth for any woman on the planet - I firmly believe that. No matter how sore or exhausted you may be, there is a new person who depends completely upon your ability to nurture through the pain. Life suddenly becomes one huge slumber party - without the slumbering. At one point, I was so exhausted from walking the floor with my little Dictator that I was actually in tears. My mother said calmly: "I'll take her, dear." I can hear her voice right now, and it brings tears to my eyes still (the good kind). 

It was at that moment in my life when I truly appreciated what my mother went through to have four children in four years (1957-1960). She did not have electronic babysitters (video OR audio), nor did she have the convenience of disposable diapers and nursery monitors. 

That Moment = Pedestal + Mother

I have always adored my mother, but at that moment, I truly knew the depth of her love for her children. 

Now that I'm a mother, I understand. I love her more now than I ever have, despite the fact that she has Alzheimer's and doesn't know who I am. One thing she does know is that I love her, and she loves "that girl" too. 

My two children are now 17 and 19 and will hopefully be mothers themselves within the next decade or so. If I can only measure up to what my mother did for me. My... how time does fly. 

Working at the Car Wash

I went out to wash my car this morning and got roped into watering plants, weeding, laying out pine straw, and helping to chop down a tree and drag the branches to the chipper. 

At one point I got distracted by our amazing Japanese maples. 

I can never resist the glint of sunlight on a colorful leaf.