Running Late Walking

This walking is becoming addictive. Let me be clear here. I don't race walk. I just walk. Maybe a little more quickly than what would be considered normalo around here, but I stop a lot too. A photo here, a 'whatthehellisthat' there. Friends drive by, we chat a moment or two. Tourists drive by and sometimes ask for directions. But while I used to only walk to get where I was going and usually get a ride doing that, this is just because walking. Sometimes I incorporate a mission into the walk. My walk, my rules.

There is no goal here except getting off my butt after being on it for so long with elbow issues. As I swing my arms a refrain of 'No pain! No pain!' sometimes burbles to the top and I realize how much I am grinning. A lot. That whole no pain no gain thing? Really? I think if you have to go to that level to be fit and healthy, you are doing something wrong in your every day life, but that is just me. Take it from anyone who has lived with chronic pain, all you gain is a very weirdly crafted fortitude you'd rather not have at all.

Oops, digression! How did that happen?

Some of these photos are not from walks, but just where I happened to be over the last few days. Maybe I'll walk this far regularly in time. But, I doubt it.

The point is...it is winter. It is breezy. It is not sweat your brains out hot. It is so incredibly blue skies, brief showers, crayola rainbows, scudding clouds, water changing  hues of blues and greens and greys and purples - yes purples - with the speed of literal light, that it can almost crush your heart and explode your head with the hugeness of oh wowness. Oh yes. Oh wow. And we live here and we notice, every day. We do.

I do love living by the water, but over and over again I realize that hillsides have a drama factor of quite a few points more. Good for visiting, but I can't maintain the mental altitude for too long without risking head implosion. You're welcome.

These next are so you can see the variety of moments possible in a few hours. Or a few minutes.

Sometimes it is just difficult to close my eyes. Like tonight, the full moon starts and runs full all night long. It's the apogee moon and if you've forgotten what that is, you can be reminded by going to Earth and Sky and reading all about it here.

In a year that holds a few super moons, this is just the opposite, with the moon appearing smaller (in your rearview mirror) than it truly is.  You can call it the Old Moon or the Moon After Yule, or for those in the far south - and they always seem to get the cool names - the Hay Moon or Buck Moon, the Thunder Moon or the Mead Moon. Really. The Mead Moon. What's not to love about that name? Who's got mead?

This could very possibly call for a moon dance.

Have a whispering of whimsy Wednesday. Do something wondrously wayward.

Back to the Beautiful

It's not easy to maintain a mood of rant when a) it's really hot and humid and anything requiring a massive amount of energy is just too draining and b) there is so much natural distraction around. I'm sure there's a c) in there someplace but why push it?

A living wall of flowers

With fish and fruit everywhere around us, hunger doesn't need to be an option. There are chickens and eggs too, for things most fowl.

The spider lilies are blooming madly, filling the air with their deep musky scent. Oil of spider lily should be on the shelves.

 

 

Plantains are 'almost' ready. Unless you are making something with green plantains, then they are really almost ready.

Have a tensionless Thursday. Do something topsyturvy.

Random Acts of Natural Beauty

Yesterday was one of those glorious days that Goldilocks knew all about. Sometimes in the squirm of life, a few things come along that are just right. Luckily, the just right things didn't require a break-in, only eyes wide open.

I wish I'd been able to take a photo of the two red-tailed hawks that flew overhead. Their screaming brought me outdoors to see them, dipping, gliding, making a skywide ballet. Afternoon light was slanted just enough to catch the underside of their  wings, gilding the lily indeed. The sight of them was the heart and spirit lifter I needed so much...all I could do was say thank you. All I could feel was bigger than words.

The yard is decorating itself for the season. And you thought we didn't have winter!

On a clear day, this is plenty of forever

Every time this orchid blooms, I'm in awe. It is the first thing I see when I walk out the door and always always reminds me to look for the O Wonder! After I'm sated, I usually pluck one and give it away... ...some things are too good not to share.

The other morning I finally pulled out the blanket, the morning coolness was just enough to say Away! with the light covering and it has stayed that way since. Yes, laugh that 72 degrees is chilly. I will be snug and not smug.

The chicks are calling for breakfast. Lucky for them, I will still buy my poultry.

Have a make your own magic Monday. Do something multicolored.

Free Range Friday...shhh, it's a secret!

I can't tell you what is on the menu for Free Range Friday as I've been sworn to secrecy until afterward, but I promise, I will share later on. In the meantime out of doors called to me so kindly this morning - the air is cool and soft, the sun up, the sky a slightly more than pale blue with a background of birds chitter chattering "Hello! Fabulous day, did you see that flower/pepper/herb/bug down there? Delicious!". Yes, there are clouds on the horizon, but we have to look beyond clouds...most of the time.


I answered the calling. I think I need one of those backpacks that you can sip water from, except I'd fill it with milky, sugared hot tea so I could take photos and sip tea at the same time.

This aloe blossom looks lit up from inside...maybe it is

Port and starboard habs

This big boy has chased the little guy/girl?
around the yard all morning

Bougie bloom

If all my dishes and glasses break, I still have these...

Aloe blossom close and personal

Stay tuned and have a fantastic Friday! Do something frivolous.