Thawing Out

 

Pelicans in one of our golf course community lakes

January is gone. Finally. For the most part (in my world, anyway) it was a very long month with a lot of unusually cold weather. As a result, we didn't ride our bikes nearly as much and we did a lot of quiet reading of our library books on the lanai with the space heater nearby. 

We turned the calendar page on the pantry door to February and then had to face this guy.....

from Facebook

I think nearly everybody in the continental USA groaned in unison upon hearing his prediction. But then this gal added her two-cents' worth, and maybe some of us began to feel a little better.

from Facebook

But with all of that said, our recent days became warmer. It was time for my feet to consider wearing sandals again (i.e. time for a pedicure).

choosing a nail polish

I chose 075 Tiramisu Slice, which is a definite change from the many shades of pink I usually select. I pay extra for gel nail polish because it's just so pretty, and more durable. At my age there is no need to spend much $$ for myself. When we are careful as to where we "throw our money," we can afford to spend a little more on the niceties. 😉

pedi in progress
(TMI?)

When I got home and showed Gary my toes, he exclaimed, "Brown?! Why did you get brown? What happened to pink?!!"

This polish is more of a dark purple ....  I suppose one could say it looks like chocolate but I like it. Anyway....

Opening ceremony of the Olympics

Of course the next big thing in the first week of February was the start of the Olympics. I need to backtrack for a moment here. In my last post I gave a rather low rating when asked for my attention to the Olympics. I have since realized my real opinion is that I enjoy the winter games more than the summer version. Part of the reasoning for that is the participants wear more clothing for winter sports (yeah, I'm kind of a prude when it comes to modesty, but I don't apologize for that). 

opening ceremony

The Italians really do have a strong bent for art, don't they? (what an understatement that is!!) I was entranced with those huge tubes suspended above the center stage, especially when the "paint" began to flow out of them. How clever was that?!!

On Saturday the weather was warming up enough that I convinced Gary to take me outside -- the Olympics will be on TV for the next [however many] number of days. After so much cold weather and cloudiness (with next-to-no rain!!), I wanted to be out in the sunshine. 

We drove to a county north of here to walk through another car show. Yes, we do that a lot, but most of these shows are free, the atmosphere is casual, and there is usually 50s and 60s rock'n roll music blaring out of speakers and a lot of people from our generation. It's a pleasant and convenient pastime.

purple flower in a succulent

I had been to that general area before, although Gary had not. I kinda like it, so after the car show, I wanted to share the town with him. 

When we reached the antique district, Gary was not impressed. It was too rustic for him. Not everybody defines "charm" in the same way..... 🙄 😉 Fortunately for me, one of Gary's mantras is, "If Mama ain't happy, nobody's happy!" 

one of two outdoor dining venues

I was successful in getting him to park the car so we could find some ice cream before heading for home. (One of my mantras is, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach!") 

The ice cream (we both got Coffee flavor) was over-priced (but what isn't these days??). We were able to enjoy it in 70-degree sunshine in the dappled shade of huge, moss-laden oak trees. So for me, all that was a definite win and Gary cooperated nicely.

historical marker

Near our truck was a historical marker that we both found interesting. Then we avoided the interstate to make our way west and then south....

CR234 in Alachua County

"Country roads

take me home

To the place I belong...."

(John Denver)

the Super Bowl

On Sunday morning we did our usual church routine (the sermon was on bitterness and forgiveness). Gary served his usual offering of hot chocolate with a gigantic marshmallow floating on top. That afternoon Gary's son, who lives in Minneso-cold, called to catch us up on family doin's up there. Then of course, we watched the Super Bowl. We cheered for the Sea Hawks since we both hail from western states-- and as we all now know, that turned out to be a winning choice!

Turning Point USA half-time show

We have known all along that Bad Bunny would NOT be our half time entertainment. 

About 20 minutes of the alternative half time show produced by Turning Point USA held our attention. It was well-done with lighting and sound effects, and so forth, but clearly Gary and I are past knowing the music we saw and it just wasn't "us," so we watched America's Funniest Home Videos and then switched back to the football game in plenty of time to enjoy the last quarter (and more). 

(I'm sorry if our choice disappoints some of my readers, but it was more of a generation-gap type of thing.)

While reporting on the events and highlights of this first week in February, there has also been unpleasant news, including the apparent kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, and Lindsey Vonn's skiing accident at the Olympics. But keeping true to my personal blogging standards, I will not say much about those things. 

I like the clever way my friend Nancy W. of Jacksonville recently described her social media posts, "I prefer to keep my Facebook wall free of politics and hardships ... posting just rainbows and unicorns." 

Admittedly, I get more serious than that with my frequent inclusion of scripture; but in our culture, people have to be wary and so wise when spouting off their opinions lest they somehow have to pay for them in some very ugly ways. It's just the world we live in right now now. We must be praying about current events and choose our words to the public with genuine prudence.

from Marcus Stanley on Facebook

I close today's post with this observation from the great theologian, Charlie Brown: 

from Facebook

Until next time, grace and peace. 

Barbara

P.S. Visit the blog, The Christian Lounge, where a devotional thought by yours truly is currently featured at this link:

http://thechristianlounge4u.blogspot.com/2026/02/continue-to-expect.html