A Hodgepodge of Sage Conclusions

Fuchsia

A photo of flowers has been added to my blog header (at the very top). Many years ago when I lived in Seattle, I bought a hanging basket of Fuchsia to suspend from the eave of my deck. I was absolutely enthralled with the colors and design of these blooms. I still think they are remarkably beautiful in design and colors.

Sister, me and our Heinz-57 puppy, Susie ~ 1955 or 1956

Before I proceed further, here's a shout-out to Sister, who is having a birthday this week. Younger than me by 2 years, in keeping with today's post title, "... Sage Conclusions," she tells me she benefitted from lessons learned by observing our parents and my responses to them. 

There is some truth in the first-born being the "test kid." Sometimes in life "the second time around" is easier because we have a clearer idea of what to expect and perhaps some ideas on how to do it better. We must keep in mind that most first-time parents are inexperienced in their "newborn role," (pun intended) so we need to give them grace.

With that said, the kid turned out all right! A nearly life-long Christian, a college graduate, wife (married 50 years!), mom and grandmother, caretaker of our mother, and over the years she has had a total of 17 Basset Hounds living in her home (not all at the same time) -- lots of accomplishments in those descriptions!! Happy Birthday! ❤️

Today I'm answering Joyce's Hodgepodge questions. If you want to link up with your blog, click here.

1. What do you make more complicated than it needs to be? 

Overthinking is defined as "an exhausting mental loop of replaying conversations, second-guessing decisions, or predicting worst-case scenarios." (from Wikipedia) 

In recent years, opting for simplicity, deliberately choosing to let God stick up for me, and intentionally devoting myself to other things -- all that has distanced me from a lot of drama that used to tie me up in knots and sleepless nights.

2. What impresses you? 

Internet photo

good manners

politeness

expressing gratitude

thank you notes (email, too)

listening without interrupting

good eye contact

sincere apologies

3. On a scale of 1-10 how picky of an eater are you?  (1=extremely and 10=not at all) If you had to eat a meal made entirely of one color what color would you choose? 

On the picky eater scale, I'll rate myself at about 8 3/4. If I had to eat a meal made entirely of one color, it would be green (as in broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, dark leafy greens, peas). 

It is said that Broccoli is the healthiest of vegetables. Thankfully, I like it a lot (raw, steamed, roasted, boiled -- any way I can get  it).

roasted Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli
(internet photo)

My second choice would be red (tomato sauces in lasagna, pizza, spaghetti, pulled pork in BBQ sauce, sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and ketchup. Definitely ketchup). 

lasagna 
(internet photo)

4. What does balance in life mean to you? Does your life currently feel 'balanced'? 

internet photo

I try to keep my priorities in good order. When what is important to me operates smoothly, I feel balanced. When I have to rearrange my activities contrary to the original plan or against my preferences, I try to rectify that as quickly as reasonable. (Self-pity has proven to be of no value.)

If matters get beyond my boundaries, it is so helpful to remember that my attitude and my response are solely left to me. The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 - 1945) in Nazi Germany teaches the one thing others cannot take away from us is how we choose to respond to anything. The older I get, the more I meditate on that truth. It helps me to behave myself better.

5. If you could travel the world for a year what would be your first destination? 

Internet illustration

Traveling the world for a year is not something I want to do, especially at my age and with the conflicts in so many places. I feel safer not wandering too far away from home and/or for too long. 

Internet illustration

We have friends who post their world travels with wonderful photos on blogs and Facebook. I enjoy 'traveling vicariously' with them, allowing them to eat the unfamiliar foods, ask for the restrooms, figure out currency exchanges, and deal with cancelled flights, etc.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

my current project

In recent months I've added jigsaw puzzles to my pastimes, wanting to keep my brain strong. The photo above is my current project. It's been tough with a lot of dark, non-descript pieces, which I've saved for last.

I am forcing myself to finish it for the benefits of mental acuity and disciplining myself to endure; but I've concluded that puzzles limited to 500 pieces are my standard. I've also decided to be more discerning about the pictures I'm willing to tackle. A lot of light-colored pieces are easier than a lot of dark ones. 

Here (below) is the next puzzle, a loan from Jersey Girl. It looks more fun and cheerful with only 300 pieces, and they are larger. (Oh look! There's a jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table!)

Regarding puzzles, mysteries, and the complications of life, here's a Bible verse that comforts me:

The Lord is my light

and my salvation. 

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. Finished!!!!!

Our Anniversary Celebration

 Thank you, everybody, for the kind and thoughtful comments on my previous blog post where I made the announcement of our anniversary. The actual day was the 14th (yesterday, as I write this) so today I will show you the snapshots taken as we celebrated. 

cards and Mother's Day flowers

My guy has many sterling qualities. One of them is that he gives me THE BEST cards!!! I save them all, making note at the very bottom on the inside of the card the year it was given. Now after 4 years of birthdays, Valentine's, Christmases, and anniversaries, I have a wonderful collection of the sweetest, most heartfelt words. His sentiments are no joke (I mean, his cards are serious), which stirs my heart. My personal "love language" is Words of Affirmation, which explains why his cards to me are so precious. 

click here for
purchase information

By the way, if you don't know what your "love language" is, look up Gary Chapman's book, pictured above.

diamond and garnet earrings

We began our day with the exchange of cards and then a small black box appeared from Kay Jewelers, you know the company that says, "Every kiss begins with Kay". (it's true, you know!! ❤️) Inside was this pair of beautiful earrings that match the necklace Gary gave to me for Valentine's Day. So, be-decked with jewels and a smile on my face, we headed out for our day-trip.

anniversary celebration destination

We both have been to St. Augustine before, and more than once, but this was our first time to go there together. Having found the address for free parking at our destination, we entered that into the Waze map app I prefer to use. (it's free and very user-friendly. Check it out on your cell phone's app store) 

Waze

Although this was probably my 6th trip to St. Augustine, I had pretty much seen the same [few] things on every trip and had never taken a real tour. After enjoying the trolley tour during our November trip to New Orleans, I became convinced that is possibly the best way to acquaint oneself with more than a general familiarization with a city, so that's what we did in St. Augustine.

stickers on our shirts 
for trolley admission

While not an inexpensive option for sightseeing, we saw and heard a lot of information in a 90-minute ride that made the $$ worthwhile. There was also the benefit of free parking just steps from the ticket booth. 

By the way, here is the address of where we parked. If you plan a road trip to tour St. Augustine, put this into your GPS:

167 San Marco Avenue

St. Augustine, FL 32084

There are other parking options, but this one worked very well for us.

We had a choice of 4 different tours, each one including admission to features we preferred. Our tour had 22 stops:

Oldest Store Museum

Visitor Information Center 

Potter's Wax Museum, Old Drug Store, Huguenot Cemetery

City Gates and Pirate & Treasure Museum

Colonial Quarter, Castillo de San Marcos

Bay View

Hypolita St., St. George St., St. Augustine Shipwreck Museum, Medieval Torture Museum

Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church, Grace United Methodist Church, Ancient City Baptist Church

Villa Zorayda Museum

Lightner Museum, Flagler College, A Ghostly Experience, Haunted Pub Crawl, Savory Faire Food & Wine Tour

Lincolneville Museum and Cultural Center

St. Augustine Distillery

San Sebastian Winery, Whetstone Chocolates of St. Augustine

Plaza de la Constitution, Government House, Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, Pena-Peck House

St. Augustine Marina, Ripley's Bayfront Mini Gold, Schooner Freedom Scenic Cruise, Eco Tours, The Black Raven, Spanish Military Hospital Museum, Zimenez-Fatio House, St. Augustine Parasail

Oldest House, Fernandez Llambias House

Castillo de San Marcos

Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Red Train Tours

Old Town Trolley Welcome Center, Ghost & Gravestones, Uptonw San Marco Shopping District 

Mission of Nombre de Dios, Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche

The Old Senator, Villa 1565

Fountain of Youth

me with Mr. Ponce de Leon himself!

The tour bus allows riders to jump off and on at any of the stops. Fortunate for us, one of the main things we wanted to see was at our last stop, The Fountain of Youth. This was one of 3 or 4 attractions included in our trolley fare, so we just had to show our trolley receipt to get in. 

The water for the Fountain of Youth was inside a stone building and dripping out of a clay urn. Disposable cups were provided. 

We both drank deeply and our thirst for hydration was satisfied. No immediate physical changes took place. It's now about 24 hours later as I write about it and so far we are both as gray-haired, wrinkled, and in need of an afternoon nap as we were yesterday. 🙄

However, as born-again Christians know, the real 'fountain of youth,' or another way of phrasing it, 'the water of life', is our belief in Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New Testament where Jesus said, 

"Everyone who drinks this water

will be thirsty again, 

but whoever drinks the water I give them

will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them

will become in them 

a spring of water 

welling up to eternal life."

John 4:13-14

milky white Gardenias

After exiting that building, we toured through the gardens, which were much more quiet than the noisy (although enjoyable) trolley ride.

One notable exception to the tranquility were several peacocks strutting about announcing their presence with their noisy call. I took 3 snapshots of this one but even with the tools in my photo program, I'm not able to bring out the vibrant colors of his feathers. He walked in a particular way, much like those showgirls in Las Vegas when they wear huge headpieces as they swagger across the stage.

As I said earlier, our trolley fare included some attractions. After enjoying fast-food-type sandwiches (which were very good) at outdoor picnic tables, we got the tour of The Oldest Store Museum. My photos of that follow. Wax figures looked shockingly real.....

 

This (above), however, is no man made of wax! Nor is the jail bird pictured below.....

The Old Jail tour

Probably the most revealing information I gathered from the entire visit to St. Augustine was given at The Old Jail tour. Our guide (above) gave us a very interesting as well as entertaining excursion through the original jail house in St. Augustine. Comprised of 3 floors and lots of metal cells lacking absolutely any means of privacy for the most personal of needs, this tour should make anybody think twice before committing a crime -- at least in those days!! 

In this photo, some government officials were having a meeting in one of the jailhouse rooms. Both men are made of wax. The one on the right, especially looked so real that I had to squint my eyes as I approached him, not sure if he was alive or fake. His left hand had the blood vessels and bones showing through his skin as it is on my hands. It was an amazing work of skill and art!

It may have been that same man who mercifully released us so we could leave the dark gloom of that jailhouse, (hopefully never to return!!). You see our documents of pardon pictured.

Back outside in the brilliance of sunshine and freedom, I couldn't resist taking this picture of Gary since his military service included law enforcement, security, investigating crime, and wrestling bad guys to the ground.

These two museums were in the area of our free parking, the kiosk where we had bought our trolley tickets, and a large, well-supplied gift shop. With plenty of touristy-type T-shirts in my closet already, I opted for refrigerator magnets. There were many from which to choose and they were reasonably priced! (such is not always the case)

The gift shop also had ice cream, so Gary got a chocolate mallow blend in his cone, and mine was rainbow sherbet. We enjoyed them in the car on the drive back home.

It was a full day, well-spent. We made more good memories to add to our happy marriage, for which we are both profoundly grateful.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

Frank Responses to Life Circumstances

This week's Hodgepodge questions stirred up some observations on life from my perspective as a senior citizen. 

Click here if you want to join with your blog.

1. What's one piece of advice you would give a recent or soon-to-be graduate? 

Every choice or decision we make in life has the potential of life-altering and life-long consequences, so choose wisely and don't be in too big of a hurry. 

2. May 15th marks the birth date of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At this point in time are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain. (responding to all 4 options)

Brains: I could always use more brains!! 🤔 

Courage: In the past 5+ years, I have been challenged like never before. Although I've had a relationship with Jesus Christ since I was a little girl, the biggest lesson I've learned in recent years is that God wants me to trust His character. No matter what I'm facing, I can be confident that God is in control.

Heart (which I'm translating to "love"): the older I get, the more I am profoundly impressed with God's love for me when I mess up. 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation 

for those who are in 

Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1 NIV

A trip back home: Where is home for me? Both my father's career and that of my first husband moved our family many times across the USA. Currently in my grief journey, I have no desire to go back to previous residences.  Social media does a good job of keeping me in touch with family and friends where I used to live. 

Where is my home? Heaven, of course, as the old song says, "This world is not my home. I'm just a-passin' through." 

downtown where I currently live
(Internet photo)

3.  "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement? 

😅 Traffic where I live in Florida has increased greatly in recent years, as well as the number of crazies behind the wheel. My county was the fastest-growing metro area in the USA in 2025. Many times, as we pull into the garage, I sing aloud to Gary, "Hey, it's good to be back home again!" (from John Denver's song titled, "Back Home Again.")

4. May is National BBQ Month...do you own a grill? Who does the grilling at your house? What's your favorite thing to throw on the grill? What's the last thing you grilled? 

The gas grill sat in our lanai for a long time. It was a lot of bother to wheel it out onto the patio, so eventually I convinced Gary to get rid of it. He has a counter-top electric grill that is the perfect size for our meals. But truth be told, we use the hot air fryer for things we used to grill and that's even easier to clean!

As I've said many times before, Gary is the primary cook in this household (I bake and make salads). 

My favorite things that he grills are salmon fillets and steak. Salmon was the last thing he grilled.

5. What's a memory you replay in your head when you need a little joy? 

Can you handle a real honest answer to this? It's the first time Gary kissed me.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

As a tag-on to the previous question, our anniversary is this week! 

We had a short courtship, but when you're as old as we are, there is no time to waste! 😆

Until I arrived at these recent chapters in my life story,  I had not given thought to widowhood or second marriages, blended families and so forth. Such life conditions ushered in (irreverently at times) a newborn sensitivity to experiences that were previously distant from me. 

From the outset Gary and I shared with each other who we are, where we've been,  how we got to where we are and how we felt about all of that. Something he said really sunk into my head: "If you've not walked in my shoes, don't judge me." 

I was also very impressed with how the lessons of life molded him into the man he is now. I said at the beginning and I still say it often, "You know stuff!" He replies that you don't get to his age without learning things. My response to that is always the same, "I love a mature man!" (and it's true)

the day we met with our mutual friend (white sweater)
who very purposely introduced us to each other.

"Walking in my shoes..." that statement came alive for me as I faced the dilemmas of my circumstances, and sometimes found no easy answers. After my late husband's fairly sudden death, a lot of things clamored for my attention. As I learned, often we really don't know what we would do until confronted with issues.. Sometimes what we do is different from what we might have assumed before it all came about.

But here we are, four years later and more happy with each passing day. He still makes me laugh, and holds stronger than ever to his commitment to me. I marvel that the Lord has given us this opportunity for such happiness after the deep sorrows we experienced before our introduction to each other.

I think of the verse in Matthew 7:1 that says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." This is instruction, of course, to not be a harsh critic of others or we may find ourselves acting out the same behavior of those we are criticizing. 

But I now I look at it from another perspective: "If you are faced with similar circumstances, you may be surprised what your response will be. Don't be real hard over." One pastor has said, "I've had to eat crow boiled, baked, fried, and steamed. None of it tastes good!"

We had a brief courtship, a private ceremony, and later, a small gathering of neighbors to help us celebrate with cake and champagne. 

We are grateful how things have turned out. The Lord has allowed us to enjoy this season of our lives together. 

"And so together they built
a life they loved" 

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara