One Leg Or Two?

Florida is a great place to live.
Some people may , and do, disagree.
We don't have seasons to speak of.
It's shorts and sandals weather most days of the year.

One thing for certain is once you visit or move to Florida,
the bugs will find you--the welcome mat being exposed arms and legs.
It doesn't matter if you're a tourist.
Suddenly, new blood is discovered.
Mmmm...good.

When we first moved to Southwest Florida, I'd feel the after-bite--
an intense itching.
I discovered that I couldn't even see WHAT was biting me!
Like the Far Side cartoons, you'd need an electron microscope to see the sand-sized critters nibbling your ankle .

Floridians call these pepper-colored specks No-See-Umms.
Once bitten, your itch-reflex kicks into hyper-speed.
Whatever the critter left behind, be certain of this: you'll be feeling it for months to come.

Mosquitoes, on the other hand, are dreaded, too.
Their numbers are squelched during the summer when
mosquito abatement takes place.
Planes fly over the preserves spraying for the intolerable insects.
I can deal with the skeeters.
Which is worse, of the two?
Almost head-to-head, No-See-Umms are the clear winners.


I think I've passed the time period of being an inviting newbie to the bugs.
There are tourists arriving here everyday..
nice and yummy, too...

Sunny Side Up...

Today's my birthday.
I don't feel 62.
I think I have the 'think young, feel young gene'.
My husband tells me “You're getting up there.”
Up where?
Age, to me, is a matter of brain matter.
If you think you're old, you're going to feel that way, and act he same.

I have a good friend Mary, in California.
When Mary was in her early fifties, she started wearing elastic waist pants.
She wore them because she'd put on a few pounds.
Mary laughed , said she was getting old.
I looked at her pretty face and realized she'd given up on wearing a little makeup, too.
“Too much trouble everyday,” she informed me.

It's never too late to make some changes, so I encouraged Mary to adopt a few.
She tossed out the cheesecake desserts, and the salted chips.
She lost a little weight too, and started feeling better.
Mary got involved with a senior group, taking trips to the Nevada casinos,
or day long trips to San Francisco.
Her outlook on life improved.

I may be getting 'up there', but my mind and body doesn't know it.
Not one to be a couch potato, I get out for daily walks.
I exercise everyday—I really don't enjoy it that much, but I push myself.
People say 'I eat like a bird.'
I like healthy salads, fish, chicken ,nuts, and fruit; I drink plenty of water.
If I fall into the pattern of feeling old, I'm afraid my
body will pick up on that, and decide to give me assorted aches and pains.

Sure, there may be days that I feel like spitting tacks,
when the day may not be going quite right.
I blame it on bio-rhythm--sounds like a good excuse.
I realize that if I put my thoughts and efforts on something else, small problems seem to dissolve.

I have many interests to keep me active and busy.
There's no time for negative thoughts.
I love to write, and I paint--not as often as I should.
I have to wait for inspired moments.
Photography is what I'm passionate about.
I love the creativity photography evokes.

Humor is the best ingredient for a long life, too.
My mom was young at heart, a real character.
She gave me her wonderful sense of humor.
We had great times together, always laughing until our sides split.
It's one of the things that I miss the most, now.
Every day I keep mom in my thoughts.
It's also what keeps me feeling young.