Uncertainty - #MusicMovesMe #blogspot

A week late with last year's theme - oh, that tentativeness and uncertainty! But there's no doubt in my mind when I welcome you to another episode of Music Moves Me.


Who are the members of Music Moves Me?  We are bloggers who blog with music each Monday. If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only- Please post containing links to You Tube or Vimeo for actual music.  Other posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)  Every other week we have a theme and on alternate weeks we have "You Pick".  First, there is XmasDolly.  Her chief co-conductor is Cathy of Curious as a Cathy. Her other co-conductors are Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and me.  

Today, I once again welcome those in the Ultimate Blog Challenge to rock out with me.

For January, our guest conductor has been Michelle at Music and Merriment with Michelle.  Last week, I missed the theme, which was " Tentative as in a relationship that you’re unsure of can be personal or spiritual. Song inspiration suggestion, ‘I Can Only Imagine’ by Mercy Me."

It took me a long time to come up with my songs, except for this first one.

For me "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash is a classic 80's song (from 1982).  It would seem a lot of younger listeners have found this song through a streaming show called "Stranger Things".

I ran across a Blondie song called "I Know but I Don't Know" from 1978.  Should she break up the relationship?

I am not sure if this fits the theme but I also thought of Meatloaf's 1977 "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", featuring Meatloaf as a teen trying to get his girlfriend (sung by Ellen Foley) to "go all the way" and the uncertainty of if he will convince her. She holds out for a promise of him "loving her forever" and he swears he will "till the end of time" before she agrees.  Singing in a future where he can't stand her any more, he vows to continue to keep the promise he made to her that night.

One more, which is a song by Avenged Sevenfold called "So Far Away" where the band mourns the death of their drummer, Jimmy Sullivan, who died from an opoid/alcohol overdose in December of 2009.  I can't listen to this song without tears streaming down my cheeks, especially the stanza that begins "Plans of what our futures hold....".  Yes, nothing in life is certain.

No uncertainty about this, it's a musical wrap!

Join me again next Monday for More Music Moves Me.

Happy Belated Birthday #blogboost

The two people in the photo looked at me, as I looked at them.

Maybe it was a coincidence.  Maybe it wasn't.

Yesterday, I was watering my houseplants.   I have a table near one window sill. While watering, a picture caught my eye.  It was a picture of two people.  To be exact, it was a photo of my spouse's aunt, who died last year at the age of 107, and her younger son, who died unexpectedly in December of 2018, at the age of 72.  He lived with his parents all his life, and took care of his Mom in her old age.

The photo was taken at the birthday party when she turned 106.  Someone had thoughtfully written that on the back.  That day was proclaimed her day in Yonkers, New York, where she lived almost all her life.

And then there was another photo, just the aunt alone, and the writing on the back indicated it was taken January 25, 2019, the day she turned 107.

Yesterday would have been her 108th birthday.

Was it a coincidence that these photos were suddenly on that table yesterday?  I'd like to think so.

I used to call my spouse's aunt a "human wormhole", a link to our past, through her memories.  She was born three months before the Titanic sank.  She lived through the 1918 "Spanish flu" epidemic.  She worked in a bomb sight factory during World War II. She studied opera and had many talents I wasn't even aware of until her final years.  Spouse and I last saw her in March of last year, and dementia had taken her - yet, right before we left, she suddenly recognized me.

Now this woman, and her memories, have been gone almost a year.

Happy belated birthday in heaven to you.

Day 26 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Opposite Day #blogboost

Today is opposite day, a fellow blogger tells us.

I can agree that sometimes we just have to do things the opposite of how we normally do them.  But today didn't start well.  I didn't have dinner for breakfast (and I won't have breakfast for dinner).  I didn't put my underwear on last.  I didn't walk backwards (although that is good exercise).  I didn't brush my teeth with my non-dominant hand (actually, another good idea).

But nature had other plans for me.

I don't see my sleeping flower garden during the week because I am still leaving for work and returning from work in the dawn and/or dusk.  Plus, for most of this week, it was under the snow that fell over last weekend. 

But this morning, my spouse looked out the window and he saw something.  We had to wait until heavy rain (yes, rain, not snow) subsided to see what he was talking about.

My white Lenten rose is blooming.

Nature was observing Opposite Day.

Actually, it appears it's been blooming for a few days, totally without my knowledge.

Sigh.

The next cold wave (and there will be one) may well kill the flowers, but it is so nice knowing I have something in bloom out there.

Most surprises Nature gives upstate New York in January aren't pleasant ones, so this was a wonderful sight.

Has Nature given you a surprise lately?

Rosy Fingered Sunrise #SkywatchFriday #blogboost

When I was in high school, growing up in New York City, I wasn't much into sunrises or sunsets.   Nor was I much interested in classic literature.

I was so bored by us having to dissect (every year, it seemed) the ancient Greek classic The Odyssey.  The translator gushed about "rosy fingered dawns".

Never did I realize that, one day, I would love sunrises and sunsets.

Like this sunrise yesterday.  It was about 18 degrees outside, and my fingers did not want to be exposed to the cold.  Nevertheless, the beauty finally got my courage (and heat) up, and out my cam...I mean, phone came.

This isn't the first of the series.  A couple of the photos came out so blurry you couldn't see anything.  It's a problem I'm seeming to have more and more with my iPhone SE.

As I walked along, I enjoyed the view.

These three Bradford Pears patiently awaited the sunrise.

I couldn't wait any longer, but the sun was getting ready to make its appearance.

What a show!

Joining up with Yogi and #SkywatchFriday as I do each Friday.

Day 24 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Red and Yellow #ThursdayTreeLove #blogboost

A number of bloggers who participate in Parul's twice a month #ThursdayTreeLove live in climates where snow is rare or nonexistent.  They enjoy photos I take in the winter - winterscapes that are ho hum ordinary to me but are a treat for them.

This winter, we've either had too much snow or hardly any.   After a miserable Saturday with snow and some ice, we are now going back into warmer than normal weather.

So here is a snow picture from my "archives".

Snow is pretty (in my humble opinion) as long as you don't have to shovel it, drive in it, walk in it, but there is more to winter than snow.

But some trees here are planted just for their winter interest.  In our local botanical gardens, we have these two trees.  These look like bushes, but are actually a type of dogwood tree.  In the winter, one shows off its red bark, and one shows off its yellow bark.

Dogwood trees don't only show their personality with lovely flowers.  Sometimes, it's also....(wait for it....)

....their bark.

Day 23 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Yarn Bombing in Punta Gorda #WordlessWednesday #blogboost

Downtown Punta Gorda - come to a yarn bombing.

In the City of Punta Gorda, Florida, the local downtown permitted some holiday yarn bombing (a type of "urban graffiti" consisting of fiber crafts covering outdoor objects).  This isn't always done with urban government permission, but this time, it was.

There was a Santa...

A Grinch....

A toy soldier...

And (perhaps off topic), a bicycle.

As someone who has crocheted for nearly 50 years (wish I could knit) I enjoyed this so much. Thank you, City of Punta Gorda!

Linking this week with Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

Day 22 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Blue Monday #blogboost

Yesterday was supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, also known as Blue Monday.

According to Wikipedia:  "The concept was first published as part of a 2005 press release from holiday company Sky Travel, which claimed to have calculated the date using an equation."  Blue Monday is the third Monday of January here in the northern hemisphere.

Well, people who know me know that I am not very good at math.   Since yesterday was Music Moves Me, I am talking about Blue Monday on Tuesday.

For me, anyway, Blue Monday was not blue.

True, where I live in upstate New York, snow was on the ground, we had a harsh wind chill, and the weather forecast was...well, wintry.  The break in the cold the Northeast United States experienced the weekend before last is a memory.

But, consider this.  It was sunny, something that usually only comes with cold in our winters.

Yesterday, in our United States date notation, was 01/20/2020.  When will that ever happen again?

Spouse and I had lunch with two cousins, as we were passing through where they live.   It's nice to visit with family.

And, speaking of blue, note this sunset from last night.

This was taken during the "blue hour", a time after sunset but before darkness descends.  The sky is still blue and you can see a pink cast looking east.

As the sunset progressed, the blue remained and there was a yellow glow in the west.

A perfect end.


Day 21 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Songs that Appeal #MusicMovesMe #blogboost

It's the third Monday of a new year.  It's time for #MusicMovesMe!
Who are the members of Music Moves Me?  We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only,  please containing links to You Tube or Vimeo for actual music.  Other posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)   First, there is XmasDolly.  Her chief co-conductor is Cathy of Curious as a Cathy. Her other co-conductors are Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and me.  

Today, I again welcome those in the Ultimate Blog Challenge to rock out with me.

For January, our guest conductor is Michelle at Music and Merriment with Michelle.  Today, and I apologize for this, I am not going to be following the theme, mainly because the death of Rush's drummer Neil Peart derailed me a little and, due to circumstaances, the only thing I could do was move the post I intended for the 13th into this spot. So come back again next week.

Today, I feature songs that have appealed to me recently.

From 1962/1963:  Vince Guaraldi Trio  and the Grammy Award winner "Cast Your Fate To the Wind".

From 1966, The Left Banke and "Walk Away Renee".

From 1984, Talk Talk and "It's My Life".

From 1965, Gerry and the Pacemakers with "Ferry Cross the Mersey". 

Ricky Nelson, with his 1961 hit "Traveling Man". 

"We Gotta Get Out of this Place"by the Animals - a 1965 classic beloved by those who served in Vietnam.

Wrapping up with Del Shannon and "Runaway". 


See you next week - same time, same place.

And, while we are at it:  day 20 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Restaurant Nostalgia #blogboost

Last Sunday, I wrote a post suggesting we say no to nostalgia, and...here I am being nostalgic.

Do you remember restaurant chains that have gone under?  I thought about that after reading an article predicting the possible demise in 2020 of various restaurant chains:  Steak and Shake, Ruby Tuesday's, Friendly's, and others.


It's curious.  Chains that have come and gone in the 30 some odd years I've lived in the Binghamton, New York area (some of which are still alive and well) include:

Ground Round, Pizzeria Uno (Uno Pizzeria and Grill), Hooters (yes, even a Hooters couldn't make it here), Fuddruckers, and more.

Which led me to another thought:  how many restaurant chains I knew from my childhood and early adulthood no longer exist?

Many.   Let's name a few.

Horn and Hardart.  Remember the Automats?  I do, from my New York City childhood.

Howard Johnson's.  There was one in the Bronx (near to where I grew up).  My aunt would take me there and it was such a treat.

Steak and Brew, which became Beefsteak Charlie's. My spouse and I had many dates at Steak and Brew.

Or Lums, which I remember from living in Florida for a brief time in the 1970's.

Chi-Chi's Spouse and I frequented in Wichita, Kansas in the late 1970's.

Steak and Ale.

Charlie Browns, a chain my mother in law loved.

It's quite a list.

Do you have any favorites to add?

 Day 19 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow #blogboost

At Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida, we ran across a beautiful blooming tree called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

The blooms open as dark violet, then lighten, and in its final hours, turns white.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Alas, this is another plant I can't grow in my upstate New York zone 5b garden, as it is only hardy to zone 9.

Another plant for my dreams, along with the camilla (which I did try to grow in my yard, and it didn't end well for the plant) and crepe myrtle, which can grow in Southern New York State but not where I live.

Day 18 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Spirit of Punta Gorda #SkywatchFriday #blogboost

The weather for sunset wasn't promising, but I had learned my lesson last week, and we went to a park in Punta Gorda, Florida just in case.  Am I glad we did.

There, in a park, we found a statue erected after Punta Gorda survived Hurricane Charley.  It's called "The Spirit to Punta Gorda".

This statue was created in 2005 by artist Peggy McTeague and friends, who welded various pieces of metal, including I-beams from destroyed hurricane trailers.  At the base (you will have trouble seeing it in my photos) there is a sundial, with a shadow at 4:27pm marking the time Hurricane Charley hit the city.

Approaching the statue, which is one upright palm and one bowed down palm separated by a sundial.

I think this one was my favorite.

Here you can see both metal palm trees, with real ones in the near distance.

Just think - Punta Gorda ("Fat Point" in Spanish) remained unbowed despite being hit by a Category four hurricane in August of 2004.


Join Yogi and other skywatchers each Friday for #SkywatchFriday.

Day 17 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Nine Pieces of Blogging Advice #blogboost

As we approach the thrid week of the January Ultimate Blog Challenge, I wanted to share some hard-learned lessons with you.  I've published some of these observations before, but good advice never gets old.  Here are nine things I learned  from all my years of blogging.

1.  My first piece of advise will be strange.  Do you REALLY want to blog?  If so, why?  You have to know yourself AND the audience you want to attract.  I really wanted to blog but I just started to blog one day (after having "thought about it").   I blogged for over two years without any kind of readership, and it is a bit lonely out there. I would not be blogging today if I hadn't been told (by a friend who is a writer) about them. This leads to advice #2:

2.  I wish I knew there was such a thing as blogging challenges when I started.  If you want to grow your readership (and who doesn't want followers, for either personal or business reasons?), this is one of the fastest ways to increase your readership.  In turn, by reading the blogs of those in your challenge, you will quickly learn what works - and what doesn't.

But again, you need to know your "why".  Why are you doing this? Personal satisfaction?  Connecting with people with similar interests?  Gaining customers for your business?  Getting experience so you can write blogs for businesses?  Challenges go only so far.

3.  I wish I knew that consistent posting is key.  I highly recommend daily posting, at least for the first month or two of your blog.   Once you establish yourself, what becomes necessary is not daily posting, but, rather, consistent posting.  If you don't want to post daily - and many bloggers don't want to, or can't - then it helps your readers to know that you have a schedule. Then stick to it.  I know successful bloggers who blog only once a week.  Or only on weekdays.  Whatever works.

4.  I wish I knew there is no such thing as a perfect blog post.  Perfection is not necessary.  Passion IS necessary.  If you don't like what you write, your readers won't, either.

5. If you love something, work that into your blog posts.  If you couldn't care less about that topic, don't bother.  Blog about something you love.  I can't emphasize this enough.  That dislike/boredom/lack of passion will show right through your writing.

6.  But, you must know what your readers want.  A blog is not all about you.  It is about your readers, too.    Your readers may want to know about you, but they also want to learn, or enjoy the music/photos you post, or - there has to be a reason for them to keep coming back.  And, don't ever take your readers for granted.   There are (literally) hundreds of thousands of blogs out there.

7.  I wish I knew how important blogging comments are.  Those comments are more valuable to a blogger than breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even good chocolate. People love to be appreciated?  If you get a comment, try your best to find the website of the commenter (it isn't always easy) and check them out.  That's the least you can do to say "thank you".

Confession:  Even now, when things get busy in my life, I forget to respond to my commenters - not a good practice.

8. If you do disagree with a post, which is fine, please, please, please, be respectful. There is a person, a living, breathing human being with feelings, on the other end of that blog post you like or dislike. If you lurk, please comment on some other blog posts today!

9.  Pictures.  People love pictures.

Flower picture from one of my walks

BUT.

But don't use photos without permission - EVER.  But no one is going to appreciate people who get photos off of Google Image searches.  Even if the site says you can use photos, please read the fine print.  Do you need to ask permission? Or, is the stated free use without strings attached? For example, if you make money off your blog, that "free use" may go away.

So:  anything to add?  Anything you disagree with?

Day 16 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

January Violets - Garden Bloggers Bloom Day #blogboost

The first Garden Bloggers Bloom Day for 2020 leaves me, in my zone 5b garden, a bit short of blooms.

Despite record high temperatures this past week, nothing much is growing outside my home near Binghamton, New York.

Inside, my amaryllis aren't blooming yet (I intentionally planted mine late) so I don't have much to offer you.

Just some African violets, all of which you have seen before.

But what is wrong with reruns?

This is a specialty violet I had bought from a local nursery the beginning of January, and I recently transplanted it into a self watering pot because the small pot had been drying out so rapidly.

Finally, my Thanksgiving cactus, after having a banner year, haven't done that well bloom-wise this season, but one does have a flower to show you.

My thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for keeping the gardening fires alive for us in cold climates (and letting us see the flowers of warm climes) each 15th of the month.

See you again in February!

Day 15 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Not Hanging Out in the Waiting Room #blogboost

A blog post I read yesterday hit home so hard that I decided to base my post for today on it.

This blogger's question to us is:  As we grow older, do we become "more"?

I was thinking about this just the other week at work.  I find myself climbing up and down several flights of stairs several times a day.  Recently, it has hit me how I cling to the rail, moving slowly up and down the stairs.  But people working for my company who are 20 or 30 years younger than me bounce up and down those stairs, seemingly without effort.

Once, I was like that.

Another thing about stairs: if stairs don't have rails (and you'll be surprised how many stairs don't) a little thrill of fear goes through me and I almost have to force myself to go down those stairs. ("Up" isn't that hard - yet.)

My back hurts.  My right shoulder hurts.  My knee sometimes hurts.  I have to do stretching exercises.

I am stiff when I get out of bed.

But some of the up sides this blogger mentioned have happened to me, too.

I have discovered the sunrise and the sunset.

I've discovered how wonderful a good meal can be.

I treasure sleeping through the night the way the mother of a newborn baby does.  (Well, maybe not the same way).


I am not afraid to stop and smell the flowers in public (although my sense of smell isn't what it used to be).

Every day is special, just because I woke up.  I don't have to be on vacation to feel that way.

Have you found this shifting of thought in yourself, too?

The only constant in life is change, but, during a recent visit to Florida, I've also seen how that change can enrich you.  Aging is not hanging out in "G-d's Waiting Room" (a certain relative's take on aging and Florida.)

More on that (hopefully) in future posts.

Day 14 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Exit Peart #MusicMovesMe #blogboost

It's Monday.   It's time for #MusicMovesMe!

Who are the members of Music Moves Me?  We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only,  please containing links to You Tube or Vimeo for actual music.  Other posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)   First, there is XmasDolly.  Her chief co-conductor is Cathy of Curious as a Cathy. Her other co-conductors are Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and me.  

Today, I again welcome those in the Ultimate Blog Challenge to rock out with me.

For January, our guest conductor is Michelle at Music and Merriment with Michelle.

Michelle's theme for today:  "Your Pick".  I wish I didn't have to pick this artist, though.  It's another sad day, with another rock legend gone to the Great Gig in the Sky.

Neil Ellwood Peart, drummer and chief lyricist for Rush, dead of brain cancer on January 7, at age 67.  My age.

This You Tube video claims to be the first recording (bootleg) of Peart, back in 1974.


Next, from 1982, one of my favorite Rush songs - Subdivisions.

Some claim that the song "Tom Sawyer" has been overplayed.  It doesn't matter because this is classic Peart, from 1976.

Listen to the lyrics of "Freewill", from 1980.

Speaking of songs of great power, I end this with an instrumental from 1981 that showcases the talent of Neil Peart-YYZ.  I never knew where the title of the song came from, so I looked it up - it's the transmitter code of the Toronto airport.

And that's a wrap.  I encourage you to listen to other participants in Music Moves Me using this:

Join me again next Monday, same time, same place.

Day 13 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Say No to Nostalgia? #blogboost

Recently, spouse and I visited a neighborhood in Tampa, Florida, which we lived in as newlyweds.  In 1974.

Tampa, Florida has changed drastically since 1974.    It's a bit dizzying, driving down streets that were once familiar and no longer are.  Only the names are the same.  And, speaking of names, there are all the streets that didn't even exist when we lived there.

Oh, for the good old days.

Sometimes, I feel like this sad face I found on a rail trail in Dunedin, Florida.

But wait.  There is no such thing as the 'good old days".  Never has been.

If you are in your 20's and 30's, just wait.  In about 20 or so years that nostalgia mosquito is going to bite you.  One day you'll find yourself frustrated with technology that your 10 year old child uses effortlessly.  Or you'll suddenly realize that TV shows (if they even have TV in 20 years) just aren't made the way they used to be.

That "my childhood is a museum" feeling that I used to get talking to my soon to be 30 year old son will be your feeling, too.

"Those days" weren't ideal.   Not everything was great.  Not everything has gone downhill.

So exactly what it is about the "good old days" that I don't miss?

1.  Coke-bottle eyeglasses.  If you wear glasses and have poor vision (like me) I am thankful daily for ultra light lenses that don't leave permanent sores on your nose and your ears. And I'm grateful they aren't made from glass.  I remember the pair I broke minutes before a job interview, back in Tampa.

2. Typewriters. 
And anything connected to them: carbon paper.  Correcttype.  Onionskin. 

Typing was a complex process:  inserting paper into a roller, rolling it into position, setting the margins, typing.  When you heard a bell, you knew you were about five spaces from the end.  Time to hyphenate, then return the carriage to where it started, and start typing your next sentence. 

Nope.  Don't miss it.  Give me a computer, spellcheck, and cut/paste any day.

3.  Old fashioned medicine.  I'm probably going to get an earful about this and I totally agree our current medical system in the United States is dystunctional.  But I have a medical condition, easily treated today for many people with diet, exercise and medication.  My grandmother died from the same condition in 1937 because there was no treatment.  That condition, by the way, is high blood pressure.

I may also have died in childbirth without modern medicine, which is a story for another day.

Modern medicine has a lot of problems, no doubt about it.  But enough of us are walking around right now who may not be on this earth if we hadn't expanded on the medical knowledge of the 1950's.

4.  Long distance phone service.  In my childhood, a long distance call (which included, if you lived in New York City, calling another borough) was an expensive proposition.  If you wanted to call another country, what a process that was.

Now, we keep in touch with people from all over the world with ease.  That includes reading each other's blogs.

It's true that our modern world has lots of frustration to it, especially if you have ever been hacked, or had your identity stolen, or other things that a person of the 1970's would have stared at you if you had gone back in time and complained about it.

But nostalgia?  It has its place.  But let's be real - our modern age has a lot to recommend.

Do you feel nostalgic for your childhood or teenage years?  What don't you miss about it?

Day 12 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

International Blog Delurking Week 2020 #blogboost

It's that time of the year - the time that comes once a year.

Are you a blog lurker?  I am, at times.  I admit it.  How about you?

What is a lurker? You like a blog, and you may even read it regularly, but you rarely (or ever) comment.

Maybe you are shy.  I understand. I'm shy, too. Maybe you feel you have nothing to say.  I understand.

This week, the blogging community asks you to speak up.    It's International Blog Delurking Week and it lasts until tomorrow, January 12.

This year, a blog I like to read (Happiness and Food),is hosting International Blog Delurking Week. Parul also hosts the #ThursdayTreeLove twice a month meme I enjoy participating in.

The badge?  Go to Happiness and Food, get it and comment there, too.

Blog comments are like chocolate to a blog writer.  I'd love to see you comment.

You can just comment below, where it says "Post a Comment", and say "I'm here!" (unless, of course, you're a spammer.  If you are, don't even think of commenting.  Just
go away.)

I know, Blogger blogs can be difficult to comment on.  Today, I ask you to try.

  You can ask me questions.  You can suggest topics you would like me to blog about.  You can talk about the weather, food, or chocolate.  You can follow me on Twitter or Pinterest (see right sidebar), too.

I am honored by everyone who comes by to read my posts.  Thank you, if you have commented before.  And thank you for commenting today, if this post moves you. (And thank you if you have delurked on your own!)

I look forward to hearing from you today, but, most of all, if there are other blogs you like where you won't you comment on them today, too?  A new blogger, especially, gives up if he or she blogs in silence.  Please make a blogger's day today, even if it isn't me.

Day 11 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Don't Turn Your Back on a Sunset #blogboost #SkywatchFriday

I should know better.

I was taking pictures of a sunset.  It started out promising.

Soon, a bird joined me in watching, as the sun went behind a cloud.

And then another bird, as the sun peeked out one last time.

As anther bird arrived, we all took a final look.

Yes, I turned my back on the sunset.  It was cold.  The wind was whipping and I only had a light jacket on.

So spouse and I went back to our motel, and I made the mistake of looking back at the western horizon.

To my combined horror and enjoyment, the entire horizon was on fire, but I couldn't see most of it as it was blocked by buidings.

I did manage to get this.

I hope the birds back at the beach had a better view.

Join Yogi and other bloggers from all over the world for #SkywatchFriday.

Day 10 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Palm Trees at Sunset #ThursdayTreeLove #blogboost

It's no secret to readers of my blog that I love palm trees.  They can not grow where I live in upstate New York (too cold in the winter).

But I fell in love with them the first time I visited Florida (in 1966), and I have never lost that love.

Every once in a while I must travel to where they thrive, to nourish my soul.  So I did that just that recently  I spent time in the land of palm trees.  Although it was winter in Florida, I didn't mind the cool weather one bit.

I can look at palm trees all day long.

And, seeing them during or after sunset is even better.

 Beauty can be found almost anywhere.  And when I see these trees, I can hope that spring will come to upstate New York one day.  It won't be this week.

Or next week.  Or next month.  Or the month after that.

I couldn't wait.  So spouse and I traveled about 1,200 miles (1931 km) to escape winter.  I know some of you were expecting a snow picture, and there will be more snow, trust me.  Just not today.

Join Parul and other bloggers who love trees the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at #ThursdayTreeLove.

Day nine of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Christmas in Florida #blogboost #WordlessWednesday

I've spent almost all my life in the northern climes of the United States, where Christmas is intertwined with winter - snow, snowflakes, Santa at the North Pole - our Christmas imagery is full of cold weather.

The other day, a co-worker, knowing that I lived for two winters in Florida (back years ago) and had spent some of January last year in Florida, recently asked me "how do Floridians decorate for Christmas?"

Well....it's a little late, but you don't need snow to celebrate the Holidays.

Orange decorations are a natural.

As is a palm tree with a present attached.

Not sure about a shoe, but why not?

Next to a Mexican restaurant is a cactus decoration.

Meanwhile, back in the Southern Tier of New York...

Day 8 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Joining Sandee at #WordlessWednesday.