My horoscope today:

“Okay, you got a little bruised in the process, but you've picked yourself up, dusted yourself off -- and to your great surprise, you're actually ready to start all over again. Isn't it amazing how resilient you are?”

Who says horoscopes are bullshit? I’m a believer! :)))

***************************************************************

Despite my whines and slumps there is still so much that fills my heart with awe & gratitude.

***************************************************************

It has rained on and off the past few days. Yahoo! I have moderate arthritis, so watering my yard is often a huge and cranky chore. In fact, there have been times I’ve hired someone to do the watering for me during our extended drought. I know that sounds insane, but I’ve had to. So, yay rain!

***************************************************************

I’ve devised some new ideas for my canvases. For years I’ve focused on beach scenes. I’m segueing into forest scenes. About time, I say!

***************************************************************

The Sewanee Music Festival is simply the best. Yesterday I was so blue, I literally had to force myself to get dressed. My feet weighed 100 lbs. I could barely move.

I sat through the first portion of the program, which featured the students attending the Festival. They masterfully played the Overture to Nabucco by Verdi, Concerto for 2 Trumpets by Vivaldi, Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky-Korsakov, and Pirates of the Caribbean by Badelt. It was divine – made me swoon and smile. Yet, I chose to return home at the intermission. I was proud and pleased with myself for attending at least a portion – but I wanted to return to my cocoon.

***************************************************************

I love my little *Purrs & Wags* business. It doesn’t require a career wardrobe, I meet wonderful animals and their owners, I get to be outdoors playing or walking with my charges, and the animals give me more love than a person deserves. And I get paid!

***************************************************************

Mountainisms:

• Sign at a local resort: Welcome Pygmy Goat Farmers of America.

• Sign in Kimball, TN: Shirley’s Style Senter.

• The following is one of my favorite mountain stories – such a fine example of the small town I live in. A few months ago, I was at a local nursery. The gentleman who was loading plants into the bed of my truck suddenly stepped back and remarked with a thick country accent, “Why, are you drivin’ Floyd’s truck?” I replied that I was. He said, “I thought it was Floyd’s truck. This here is a mighty fine truck.” I swear to you, this story will make me smile for the rest of my life.

• It won’t last forever because *progress* eventually intrudes everywhere, but I live in a town with no stoplights. Also, when I give someone my telephone number, all I have to say is 3003, because we all have the same exchange. Sometimes one is apt to be overly sentimental about these things, but I do so love my small town.

***************************************************************

Something amazing recently happened at Reenie’s Reach. The other evening at dusk, I pulled into my driveway after a pet sitting visit, and spotted a small object in my yard. Upon closer inspection, I discovered a box turtle. It had dug a hole and its hind was poised over the hole’s deepest part. The turtle stretched its neck ever so slightly to eyeball me, too. Instinctively, I determined I had discovered a Mrs. Turtle laying her eggs. Yikes! I quickly pattered off – not wanting to disturb the fragile balance of the universe. I scurried to my computer to research my find. Box turtles, do in fact, inhabit my woods. They love forests with deep, leafy floors, but also need to lay their eggs where there is plentiful sun. Voila! Mrs. Turtle had reached the perfect place at Reenie’s Reach!

The next morning I discovered the hole had been neatly covered and, presumably, Mrs. Turtle had returned to the forest to find Mr. Turtle.

I plan to contact people/agencies via the links I found. Mrs. Turtle probably laid about 7 eggs, but, statistically, only 2 will survive. The hatchlings will be about 1½ inches long and vulnerable. Though I know Mrs. Turtle is a very fine turtle, in her culture mothers abandon their eggs and never return. Obviously, I am at odds with this and want to find out find out if I can improve the survival rate. Is there anything I can do to protect the eggs from predator deer, raccoons, snakes, or birds? And once they hatch, can I relocate the newborns to the greater safety of the forest around my home?

Or, in the clichéd mystery of life, should I not interfere? I have until the first week of September or so to determine my actions, if any.

***************************************************************

It’s a beautiful day. I feel so much better about everything. I rarely post sad stuff. Yesterday’s post required Herculean strength – but my sorrows lifted with each word I typed. Thanks, again, for your support and kind works. SH, special thanks to you dearheart – an email is on its way. I can be such a ninny sometimes, but depression can momentarily warp a person’s perceptions.

Oh, and of course I’ll continue to write. I’ll stop writing when I stop breathing – both are essential to me.

xoxo