Day 59

Oh, Prospero...really?!  So at the back of our neighborhood, the developers have begun a new project—Indian Oaks Santuary.  Ah yes, can you smell the pretentiousness?  It's a gated community right in our own back yard, where we, the poor rabble, will always be the unwelcome chaff held at bay by an iron gate...or some dude in a guard shack.  Didn't anyone tell them how elitist this is?  Our nice family neighborhood has suddenly become lower class by comparison alone.  Ah, the folly of people with money in a depressed part of the country...

Day 58 — Happy Memorial Day

Every year, the ghost kids come with me to a cemetery and give thanks to the many men and women who have served our country.  Last year was our first trip to the local Leesburg cemetery, where we found a soldier who had fought in the Spanish American war, a few veterans of the CSA, as well as veterans from every war in the 20th century.  There was even a 20-year-old man who had served in this century.  On that first visit we noticed a few graves that had no flag to celebrate their service to our country, so this year we brought a handful of flags and placed them on the unadorned sites.  Sadly, we ran out of flags long before we ran out of veterans.  

So here's to all the men and women who have served and sacrificed for our country.  And to those who are now serving,  we thank you for your service and pray for your safety.  You are not forgotten.

Day 57

Danté has been nagging me to put him up on the blog, so here he is...a few hours late, but I think all of our critters have made it to the blog now.  Perhaps it's adolescence, but for some reason, he has started to slouch in his sit...just like the kid!  

Day 56 — HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GHOST SON!

Chillin' on the birthday.  When we asked Ghost Son what he wanted to do on his birthday, he decided he had not had enough Mama time lately, so he would like to hang with me.  ((I'm all verklempt again!)) So we had some Chik Fil-A, made a stop at the (excuse for a) bookstore to grab a magazine, and then hit our favorite café for a tasty Caramel Milk Tea on ice.  It's been a wonderful day...no matter how old it means I am getting...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDDY

Day 55

On the eve of his 14th Birthday...LOVE YOU, GHOST SON! MPWAH!

Day 54

 

Imagine a small backyard pool filled to the brim with giggling girls...and three unfortunate boys.  Then imagine our 92º day suddenly turning dark and cool and a crack of lightening reaching across the graying sky.  Yep...everyone out of the pool!!  That was our end-of-the-soccer season party this evening.  We never got the rain, but while the thunder and lightening toyed with us, we ate our hot dogs and chips, beat each other with pink and blue noodles, and collected our trophies and team love.  

Then it happened.  A little patch of blue in the middle of our noodle-limbo game and color spread across the sky.  There is our rainbow—small but mighty.  A few more silver streaks of light and rumbles of thunder, and then all was quiet...until the whole soccer team leaped back into the pool!

Day 53

 

Very interesting rig.  It says "45% Less Hate" on the side and across the hood it reads "whipped, fluffy chocolate-on-chocolate tast."  Considering ASU is an HBCU, it is quite a message.

Day 52

Day 51

This is our Principal's Scholar.  She is also the top student in Language Arts and Art.  I don't know how many times I teared up during the awards ceremony.  I'm so proud of our girl.

Day 50

Meet Arlo...frisky, fun-loving schnauzer/person.  No, I have not lost my mind and adopted another pet.  I like to think he has adopted me...or at least approved of me so I can visit his owner, my dear friend Nicole.  Arlo's favorite toy is a plush manatee (he's already thinking of retirement in Boca) and it is pretty much all he wants to do when I come over.  Never mind the pig in the photo, the manatee is wedged between my leg and the arm of the chair, precisely where Arlo dropped before he began to insist that I play fetch with him.  But how can anyone resist for long?

Day 49

The last gasp of duty-free water.  Unlike a significant portion of the country, southwest Georgia is headed for a drought once again.  We'll give CPR as long as possible before the state imposes water rations, so drink it up, sweet lawn and garden...

Day 48

As I was driving home last night, I wondered if my house could be on fire.  When I pulled into the neighborhood, I realized the smoke was coming from the land behind our subdivision, probably burning out some of the woods to make way for more development.  But the smoke was so eerie...like an atomic plume that just hung over the spot for 2 hours.  Of course when I finally got the camera, the smoke had begun to spread out and dissipate like normal. It's still creepy to see that plume hovering just across the street.

Day 47

I think I need to hang this one on my wall.  These fabulous emblems adorn a box that recently arrived in the mail, a box that held an essential tool for my creative relaxation—a painting board.  I look forward to the day when such a box holds a healthy load of my shiny new YA novel.  Better kick it into gear!  For now, I just imagine that I dwell in that box and these are my tattoos...or maybe just my mantras!

Day 46

Even in the garden, I'm struggling for more thyme.  Other fine things keep crowding it out, demanding attention, hogging the light.  But as the shadows stretch up and out, so will I and this wonderful WIP will soon grow into something strong and beautiful and full of flavor.

Day 45

Posted at the entrance to the Albany Applebee's...yep, it's southwest Georgia...

Day 44

Day 43

A RITE OF PASSAGE— It had to happen sooner or later.  Ghost Son is officially working for the man.  He now has the responsibility of mowing the lawn.  In return, he will earn a heftier allowance and a healthy respect.  

Day 42

Of course I could never leave Savannah without stopping at Colonial Park Cemetery and visiting a few souls, especially the more curious ones.  As history would have it, the Union Soldier who slept in the cemetery during their campaign in the South had a little fun with some of the headstones.  This is a likely example.  If you'll notice, young Josiah Muir died at the tender age of 11, leaving a 17-year-old wife and a 12-year-old son who died 17 days later.  Those rascally rebels...

Day 41

The ghost gals on the beach in beautiful Hilton Head Island.  Our dear friend Lee Levato snapped this photo of our seaside antics. Ahhh...feels so good!

Day 40

Thanks to Blogger's downtime, our post was a little late.  

Soccer Finals — the girls fought hard against a team that has played together for 4 years.  It was a tough battle, but we are proud of our girls for an awesome season.  

Day 39

Don't you mock me...

Day 38

Soccer seems to go on and on and on...  Tonight we played our first game of the final tournament.  The girls worked hard and after one 5-minute overtime and two shoot-outs, our Defenders finally won!

Day 37

Saint Francis has joined the chicken in the herb garden.  For Mother's Day, the ghost family got me this beautiful statue of Saint Francis to grace my humble little herb patch.  With 3 dogs, 1 bunny, and a guinea pig, we have some serious animal love here!  It was one of the best Mother's Days ever!

Day 36 — HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Day 35

In honor of the Kentucky Derby, and my natural passion for all things equestrian, I have snapped a photo of one of my favorite little bits of fun, which hangs in my window.  I bought this ornament shortly after my story "Abe and the Magic Lantern" was accepted for publication in Cricket Magazine.  My article chronicles Eadweard Muybridge's motion studies and his subsequent creation of the zoopraxiscope, an early forerunner to the modern movie projector.  His initial subject was a horse named Abe Edginton.  When this little bauble turns in the light, the horse appears to gallop in place.  And yes, it's like the images in Rufus Butler Seder's "scanimation" book, which came out after I had written my article...(I was ahead of the curve on that one, even if my story didn't see print until afterward). *snaps fingers.

As for today's race, I had my (metaphorical) money on Nehro who came in second.  I also laid a sentimental bet on Pants On Fire who faded to ninth place.  True to form, our Albany TV affiliate dropped the feed and went to a commercial just as the horses were coming down the homestretch!  I missed the end of the race because some idiot hit the wrong switch!  Okay, who got fired today?  

Day 34

Day 33

Once again, from the iPhone...Ghost Daughter and her awesome teacher at Field Day yesterday.  It was a perfect day for running and jumping and cheering and laughing, and we all did a lot of that!  We love you, Mrs. Whatley!

Day 32

Courtesy of my iPhone.  My photo safari of TOES Field Day was a bust thanks to technical problems with the "good" camera.  All my fabulous action shots are toast.  In their place, I'm sharing a quick shot of last night's show—a thunderstorm that never quite hit Leesburg. It was beautiful.  Not quite the technical prowess of our Nikon, my iPhone caught a hint of the splendor, but it could not capture the depth of light and color that spilled through the clouds last night.  I'm hoping our technical issues are solved without a heavy price tag and that I'll have some decent shots for the rest of the project.  (But I'll keep dreaming and saving until I get that new Canon Rebel...)

Day 31

Yes, another soccer photo.  It seems that all I do these days is run to soccer practice or a game.  This game, however, was our last of the regular season.  The girls growled and donned their war paint and came out to kick some serious butt.  And that is exactly what they did.  They won 4-2 and played so well.  

Day 30

It's a Monday...

Day 29

Golf Widow?  Sort of...  Ghost Hunk and I played golf together today. I have a love-hate relationship with the game.  It is quite cathartic to smack the crap out of a ball and stuff it in a little hole.  Of course when the little hole decides to play possum, the whole thing can drive you to need therapy.  Fortunately, today was a catharsis day.  It will never replace my horses or my farm or my access to endless diversions and cultural manna, but it is something I can do with Ghost Hunk and something that can at times offer an almost zen-like escape.  Until I triple bogey the next hole, anyway...

This little scene sits beside the 8th hole.  That bridge leads to the 11th tee and welcomes the occasional egret or ibis or family of ducks.  The alligator prefers the pond at the 16th hole.