In the Service of Her Majesty The Queen

Another morning with few clouds, lots of sun and the ever present bluejays.

I do wish the jays were not so aggressive. I miss the other birds that they
have driven off. After awhile, the jay monotony becomes boring.

I am up too late to find the shutter lizard, and I do not find any of the
black lizards, either. One of the lizards that has turned brown, a little
one, sits on the porch railing until I come too close and scoots off into
the leaves on the ground under the bushes.

A tree frog was sitting on my chair on the porch late last night, or early
this morning, whichever you prefer. So I stood there smoking my last
cigarette.

I hope you have a good day.

 

My grandmother hated jays...and she was a good shot.

 

My Mom was the same way with pigeons.

I was the one who taught her how to shoot the air rifle (that I WASN'T supposed to be playing with, heh, heh!). She became quite a good shot as well. After she decided to aim at smaller objects in the basement. Poor lightbulb.

 

I don't shoot birds.

Don't even have a weapon, unless you consider a real hunting boomerang a weapon. Which it would be for an aborigine. Not for me. It's under my bed. It's edge is um
very sharp. Very.

I used to have a .357. Wore it on my hip, in a holster. I doubt if I could have hit a
bird, though. Bears...yes. That's why I had it. Never did have to use it, though. So
no hair standing up stories there, heh. Except maybe the stories about why I decided
to learn how to use it.

 

Late, late, late.

Sorry about that.

Nothing interesting outside on the porch tonight. No frogs in sight, no bird singing
in the middle of the night. Not even any large strange bugs, thank you.

So...


To all who sleep tonight on the dark side of the world,

The Nightly Mission:

When the night closes down on you
and empties out your heart...
find whatever is the light,
for you, and let it do it's part.

Carry it with you to the morning.

G'Night!

 

I was up late enough last night (or early this morning) to hear the
birds wake each other up with their song. By the time I got up
today, the temperature was 95 degrees outside.

95 degrees in Florida. It looks like the long summer is here, finally. Kudos to
those who like the heat.

So I abandon the porch and the front yard and sit where there is some shade.
The squirrels are busy climbing the pine trees in the back yard, where there is
more food than there is in the live oaks. The birds are not as active, but I see
one of the smaller redheaded woodpeckers, clinging to the trunk of a pine tree,
drilling away. A lizard zips around the house, escaping my presence. It is a
small one, smaller than the one that lives under the shutters.

No work today, so I am stuck with my thoughts.

I hope you had a good night.

And that the day finds you busy.

 

I hope you had a good day.

And that the night finds you well.


Faith is long in the borning,
easiest to find in the morning,
hard come by in the night
when there isn't any light.

But find it you must.

My knees ache,
they are bleeding,
torn like the strength
of my needing,
it is all
that I am when
seeking comes
close to the end.


To all who sleep tonight on the dark side of this world,

The Nightly Mission:

Wake up in the morning.

G'Night.

 

Another late night, another late morning.

Too hot out to spend much time looking for
birds and lizards, who are all hiding from
the hot sun, anyway.

I spent more time talking to the neighbor
woman about her teen daughter than
observing wildlife. Teens, especially
girls, are another form of wildlife, though,
so...

I hope you had a good night.

Mine was fair, with progress toward my
goals. It's like taking a bath...jump or
fall in and get soaked, then climb out
and dry off slowly.

I hope you have a good day.

 

I hope you had a good day.

A couple of cicadas make their noise tonight.
I don't like the noise cicadas make. When I lived by the lake,
there were hundreds of them, making a terrible racket.

In the background, the crickets chirp. Much more pleasant
then cicadas.

One little treefrog clings to my front door.

The stars are out, so is the moon.

I haven't seen any more fireflies.

We are in hurricane season now. So today, I wash and
clean my gallon jugs and fill them with water. I put them
in the bathtub that I don't use.

When my potters wheel comes, I'll have to move them
somewhere else. Maybe in the spare shower. I'm going
to put the potters wheel in the bathtub. It is a huge tub,
so it will fit. Might sound strange, but it is the only place
in the house where I can use it and not get slurry all over
the place. Slurry is almost impossible to clean up.

A quiet day today. My work schedule this week has been
crammed into the end of the week. Good thing, as late
as I've been staying up.


To all who will sleep on this side of the world tonight,

The Nightly Mission:

Sleep well and get enough
to wake up rested tomorrow.

G'Night!

 

Good Morning!

It is very warm and muggy outside this morning,
and the air sits still. There are clouds streaming
across the sky that warn of rain later today.

I think the lizard that hides under the shutter comes
out now and goes about it's business earlier than I get up.
Probably due to the increasing temperature in the early
morning.

But I see a brown one on the bottom porch railing that
scampers across the porch, very nearly under my chair,
then flings itself into the bushes. One that is black is on
the ground where it usually is. When I walk by, it runs
underneath the porch.

The wasp that is so interested in the wood railings and
posts of the porch is here again this morning, I wonder
what attracts it.

The jays mostly stay in the live oaks, but the doves are
back, pecking at the seed that the squirrels scatter on
the ground by the bird feeder.

I hope you had a good night and that the day goes well.

 

Rain off and all today and this evening.
All the creatures are asleep.

I had a good day today, and I hope you did, too.

I work tomorrow. And the next day and the day after.

The moon comes full soon. Gather your wits, everyone.


To all who sleep on the dark side of the world tonight,

The Nightly Mission:

I wish sweet dreams for you and hope happiness sits
on the bed and finds you, stays with you in the morning.

Blessings

G'Night!

 

It is dark out this morning, the sun hides behind a shroud of clouds.

But warm and the breeze rides my skin, blows my hair around and
generally says hello.

Drops of rain fall, stuttering and faltering as the clouds decide what to
do with their heavy load of moisture.

I do not see any of the lizards.

The bird that I noticed the other day, bluish on top, red on the breast,
comes to the loquat tree again. I decide it is a female Cardinal, young
and slender. A jay promptly chases it off to another yard.

My neighbor sits pensively on her porch steps, smoking. I wave, but
she is deep in her thoughts, staring from inside whatever vision holds
her captive.

My thoughts focus on what I have to do today, and I walk them back
into the house.

I hope you had a good night.

May the day give you a smile.

Good morning!

 

I had a good day and a good night.

I hope you did, too.

I was busy driving all over for work.

The moon comes full soon. And like the
tides, it pulls at the hormones and we
get busy at work. Very busy.

Walking on the sidewalk into the office,
coming back from a trip in the van,
a little frog was hopping every which way
around my feet. So I practically was hop-
scotching my way along until the silly thing
managed to get out of the way.

I probably looked pretty silly myself.

Best part of the night though, at work.


To all who should be sound asleep by now on this side of the world,

A very belated Nightly Mission:

Sleep, sleep, sleep
and I hope you don't
wake up weeping in
the wee hours.

Jump out of bed
in the morning.

And feel good.

G'Night!

 

Good Morning!

I hope you had a good night and woke up feeling good, too.

I haven't seen the shutter lizard in a few days. I miss it.

I did see the largest lizard that hangs around the porch, on the
ground, brown. The next time I look, it is black. So much for
my theory about why they are sometimes black. I have no clue.

The large redheaded woodpecker visits the live oaks again.

Off to the east, the sun shines and there are scattered clouds,
white, high in the sky.

But a heavy lower layer of almost black clouds moves swiftly
in from the southwest, bringing wind and large drops of rain.
I move to a sheltered spot, because I know it will be pouring
water soon. And it does. The wind blows the rain in on me,
a cold rain. Lightning crashes all around.

The lightning here seems different than other places I have
lived. A lot of cloud to cloud lightning. And the pause between
the thunder and the lightning doesn't count out the same, either.

Sometimes the lightning looks to be very close, and even though
the thunder crackles and hisses when it comes and it sounds like
the lightning ripped through the air. But the count is much longer
than 1, 2, 3 before I hear the thunder. I don't know what is up
with that.

People here drive like maniacs, trying to get somewhere before
the rain comes, or just trying to stay ahead of the front. Lots
of accidents. There are no break-down lanes in this area, not
anywhere I have been in Florida actually, so it is dangerous to
pull off the road in one of the heavy storms. Vision is very limited
when the rain is falling hard, and you run more risk trying to slow
down to pull off onto the grass than if you just keep going.

And I am off to work, or rather getting ready for work.

Have a good day!

 

Rain off and on all day.

Flooding in Miami. Not here, though.

Potters wheel came today. Sitting out of
the rain in a um huge box. May have to
rethink the bathtub. It's a portable, though.
So a couple of planks across the tub should
work. Or not.

Or partition off part of the spare room and
rip up the rug and put linoleum down. A
longer range project than I wanted. But
doable.

I knew someone who built a boat inside
his house, in the living room. Then had
to remove a wall to get it outside. And
he didn't own the house.

I hope you had a good day. Mine was
busy, again. The waxing moon is upon
us almost in full bloom. All the crazies
and some not so crazy are rip-roaring.

I hope you have a good night.


To all who will sleep tonight on this side of the earth,

The Nightly Mission:

May the full moon's energy
bring you joy, and not madness.

May your heart swell with life
and not, tonight, with sadness.

Sleep at ease and then rise
to a day without sighs.

Corny. Well meant.

G'Night.