This beautiful life – This {______

Today is my Mom’s birthday. She passed away two years ago on April 29, 2021.

Last year was her death day and birthday were hard for me. Lots of sadness and crying. This year I decided to celebrate my Mom and remember all of the good things.

On Saturday, April 29, 2023, two years after her death, I wanted to honor her creativity by trying to teach finger crocheting at our local library. Mom loved to knit. I still have the yellow and brown blanket she knit for me when I was a baby. Over the years, I have darned holes in the blanket but it is still in great condition. I will keep it forever.

Mom also created beautiful counted cross stitch pictures. She once cross stitched a hummingbird on what looks like nylon mesh to me. Isn’t it beautiful?

For Mom’s birthday, I had planned on having one of the meals I remember having a lot when we were kids. TUNA RABBITS. What is a tuna rabbit? You take tuna salad and put in on a plate. That is the rabbits head. Place a good scoop of macaroni and cheese and put it on the plate next to the tuna salad. That is the rabbit’s body. Dill pickle spears make the ears and olives make the eyes. I loved having tuna rabbits. I will make some this weekend.

Tonight, when I go to bed, I am going to read The Pokey Little Puppy. This is the story Mom used to read to me and my three brothers all the time. I have my well loved copy of this Little Golden Book and I think it is going to be a new tradition.

My Mom was kind, gentle, and could bake a chocolate chip cookie that you will remember forever. I miss her but, this year I mostly want to remember all the good times we had as a family.

Me and Mom at Ameriflora Festival in Columbus, OH – 1992

Thanks for all the good memories, Mom.

Thanks to my Dad too.

Thanks to my brothers.

Thanks to my extended family as well.

Thanks for reading.

This past Saturday, Mike and I visited The Celery Fields in Sarasota, FL. It is a very interesting nature park that used to be used to grow celery and other vegetables back in the early 1900s. It is currently used for flood water mitigation. Of course, all that water and swampy land make a great wildlife habitat.

The Nature Center itself is at the bottom of a big hill. The day we were visiting, there were a bunch of people running the hill, both straight up and up the curved path. Mike went up while I spent time in the nature gazebo.

View of the gazebo by the bird feeders from the top of the hill

Sitting in the gazebo watching the birds on the feeders was so fun. We, unfortunately, had missed the Painted Buntings and Indigo Buntings by 5 minutes! However we did get to see Nanday Parakeets up close.

There were grackles, common ground doves, catbirds, and red-winged blackbirds. Bluebirds were seen but I did not get a good picture of one.

Across the street from the nature center as well as down their road from the nature center, are boardwalks. You can walk out and see the different species of water fowl, egrets, sandpipers and such.