Haiku My Heart: Wooden Wisdom

Engraved on a plank

Underfoot, now in my heart

To share with others

for more friday haikus, visit  Rebecca

Always...Sometimes...Never

I always...

~love mexican food

~enjoy road trips

~see the good in people

~miss those I love who are not within a 30 mile radius of me

~have powdered sugar on my french toast

~burn my candles

~remember the names of the dogs in my neighborhood

I sometimes...

~remember the names of the people in my neighborhood

~go to a movie by myself

~imagine that I sound like Grace Slick when I sing

~rinse my hair in the rain because my mom always said "it's good for your hair"

~indulge in a meal from a hot dog cart on the side of the road

~pay a toll for the person behind me

~wear vanilla perfume

I never...

~eat squid

~run just for the fun of it

~have ridden on a Harley (yet)

~go out in the ocean beyond where I can touch

~know how to apply make-up properly

~rearrange furniture

~enjoy the game Monopoly

 (but love that it provokes memories of Atlantic City)

O "Happy" Days!

Some of you know about Happy

He is a Lab/Pit mix who showed up at the Interlachen house

three months before I moved away.

He was emaciated.

He was scared.

He was extremely skittish.

He looked at you with eyes that said "Help".

Hope and Michelle were staying at the house at the time.

And he took an instant liking to Hope.

We fed him from afar,

as he wouldn't come within 100' of the house,

and I tried to find his owner

to no avail.

After days he started to come closer

and then allowed Hope into his scared world.

And then the rest of us.

Hope called him Happy.

I asked her why?

She said, "That's how he makes me feel"

And he stole our hearts.

We all fell in love with him...

the whole family.

He started to flourish,

became less skittish, especially around us ladies.

And he did make us happy!

He was special boy!

But the house was selling...I was going to a condo

with a 14 lb. weight limit on pets :(

I seriously reconsidered the condo option

because of him,

but other reasons kept me on that path.

So I worked with a rescue group

and my local vet,

and they made room for Happy

at a no-kill shelter

the weekend that I moved.

The day I brought him there

I had to carry him from

the barn area to my driveway

(all 79 lbs. of him I later found out from the vet)

because he wouldn't follow me down.

He was smart.

He knew something was up.

And he was very scared,

but not one iota of aggression

did he show even in this scared state.

I cried bringing him there,

and I cried on my way home.

And I've cried over him since.

And I wondered many, many times about him.

I couldn't help it.  A picture of him and me together

is right smack dab in the middle of my refrigerator,

just at my eye level.

(Thanks, Peter!)

That is, I wondered until tonight.

I went on craigslist,

where I went to see about a puppy that

Christa wants to buy.

(sidenote:  she did buy it... little Lexi!)

And there I saw an ad for a "lab/pit" mix with a picture attached.

And I'm a sucker for clicking 

on pet ads with pictues.

I like to look!

I sat there and stared at Happy looking back at me

 with these words of the ad...

Great large breed dog rescued through the humane society. house broken and gets along with cats and other dogs as well as kids of any age. great protector of the yard, barks and lets you know when someone is around. he is about 90 lbs but not agressive. already micro-chipped and has shots, neutered, but kinda skiddish, but he will open up to you. needs fenced in yard though. very playful with a laser pointer light. I have paperwork from the humane society. I got laid off and lost my house and I would hate to return him to the humane society where they will put him back in a cage with barking dogs all around and he will go back into his shell. 

I called immediately

and compared notes with the placer of the ad.

It was Happy a/k/a Jagger (as in Mick).

This man's sister worked at the shelter and told

him about this dog that needed help.

So he took him in

and fell in love with him.

As did the rest of his family.

When his parents found out that he couldn't keep

Happy Jagger,

they told him they wanted him.

So it was an easy transition this time for the boy.

To a home close by with people he already knew

and was comfortable with. 

I'm told he has a large fenced in back yard

where the mom leaves the sliding glass door

cracked open so he can go in and out at will.

and

I hear he's a very "happy" camper!

And this definately make me happy!!!

(Jagger - pic from the ad - all 90 lbs. of him now)

A Pictorial Story of Ryan's Adventure on the High Seas

(Preface:  You may need to change zoom level to see

the small dots in the distance)

Postscript:

(1) Short Road Trip, (2) Favorite Activities, (3) of my Favorite People

While Charlie, Michelle and Hope were here

we set off to Blue Springs in hopes of

seeing a manatee,

which we didn't

Nevertheless,

it was a wonderful day

Happy Face

We kayaked the backwaters of the St. John's River

Notice that I'm staying in the middle of the river

If there is a gator sunning,

I want to admire it from a distance

and not up close and personal

I switched kayaks with Charlie

as he wanted to explore

the small tributaries

and we wanted to stay in the middle

(we found a small sandy beach for the switch :)

Entering Blue Springs Run

the water went from tannic acid brown

to crystal clear blue-green

This is where manatees gather in the winter months.

Beautiful!
And with the waters being so clear
I didn't mind the narrow passageway!

Little Miss Adventurer, Hope

After the kayaking,
it was snorkling time...

My underwater happy face

I've forgotten how much
I LOVE snorkling
I was in the midst of a school of
Florida Gar well over 3' in length

(about 3 dozen gar are captured in this frame)

and for a few moments in time I was having
an eye to eye encounter with one
He was accessing me
as much as I was accessing him :)
As I reached out to touch him,
the split second before I would have made contact,
he gave a swish of his tail and gone

Another near touch scene

Then we had a swim upstream

where Charlie and Hope

are on the verge of the mouth

of the spring...

So, as I said,

no manatees,

but a ton of fun!

I plan on going back in the winter

when the manatees will be there!

Debbie/Donna Day

The Reales are down from Jersey...

YAY!!! 

  And Donna and I took a quick time away to grab a lunch together

 and take a scenic ride down A1A back to the rest of the fam. 

In deciding where to have lunch, we picked Old City Subs. 

 Since our mom LOVED their French Dip,
and we wanted to have one in her honor

 In fact,
I attribute that sub to helping my mom get her appetite back when she first arrived in Florida. 

Business card board...

Where in the World is Jessica DellaVecchia...

The crew posing for a pic

even while still working (taking a phone order)...

They were so sweet in their condolences when hearing about my mom!

We made a quick stop in Barnes & Noble

where I couldn't resist a shot of this T-shirt...

...and then meandered down A1A

and stopped at Marineland beach

to take in the ocean

so green and clear this day...

...note the top left of the pic,

the ocean is there!

We ended our day with a bike ride over to

European Village

where I can still get Donna to do silly things

since I'm the older sister (hee-hee)...

And she took a less silly pose of me

since I AM the older sister

and she knows better :)

~Happy Birthday, Michelle~

Happy Birthday, Michelle Marie!

 Born on July 20, even though your due date was on the 13th,
my birthday!
But you are still my best birthday present ever!

When I was pregnant with you, I worked at
Crisp Realty/Property Management,
surrounded by people who were as excited for your arrival as I was.
They pampered me, even to the point of sending me off
for a lunchtime nap,
and not waking me up, but letting me sleep the afternoon away!

And I got paid for this!

Also during this time, we moved to a great neighborhood in St. Pete
and into Soncoast Community,
where the quaintest garage apartment on Burlington Avenue
waited for us.
 However, it needed sooo much work. 
A friend from Jersey, Abbot

(who was an avid surfer),

stopped by on his way to Puerto Rico where he was going to spend a month surfing.

 He looked at the apartment, and said
“So, that’s where you’re gonna live!?" LOL ,
as he glanced at my belly.

And off he went dreaming of blue water and big waves.
Well, just a couple of days later he showed back up on our doorstep.
(Did I mention he was a master carpenter!)
 He spent his month vacation making our home a home.
This was before HGTV, but his expertise turned this neglected apartment into a showpiece.
 But he didn’t do it alone…

 many, many hands went into beautifying our diamond in the rough.

 I distinctly remember Yuriko scraping away on a paint-splattered French door.

Your room was painted the yellow of daisies,

with checkered curtains on the windows made by Anita,

and a bright flower vine snaking up the wall lovingly painted by Charlotte.

You loved your Winnie the Pooh light fixture hanging from the ceiling.

 And your favorite crib toy was a Dalmatian puppy dog brought back from Europe by Mark.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here…

I remember the night of the 19th. My water broke around 12:00,

and your dad rushed back and forth in our little apartment frantically gathering my packed belongings while I sat patiently waiting to get in the car.

And then off we went to Bayfront Medcal Center,
which is in sight of beautiful Tampa Bay.

 Once there, my labor started around 4 o’clock and you made your appearance right after 8 a.m.

(No wonder you’ve always been a morning person!)

I had an easy birth, and you were an easy child! Spoiled me in fact!

These were the days when there were stringent visitor’s hours at the hospital,

 but somehow Annie snuck up and spent a good portion of the day with us.

When we did have someone question her presence, we would just say,

“But we’re sisters!”
(see the resemblance:)

You were the only baby amongst many adults for quite a few months.

So you can imagine all of the lovin’ you received.

At one point I had to have a
“no, you cannot pick up Michelle” rule

so that you would be able to learn how to crawl!

And I can’t forget to mention your “2nd Mom”, Misty.

Your first friends: Misty, Lynn, Dorie

I think she was around 11 at the time you were born.

 And she sure did love you!

And helped take care of you!

And watched you!

 And played with you!

At such a young age, she truly had a mother’s heart,

 and even diapers or spit-up did not deter her.

So the 20th of July is forever a special day in the history of the world!

The day of your arrival!

 You were a gift and blessing then, and continue to be so every day!

The happiest of birthday wishes to you, my dear daughter,

I love you,

Mom