I don’t know if it’s my age, my circumstance or the fact that the holidays are fast approaching and I always reminisce at this time of year.I think about all the people that I’ve known and wonder where on Earth they are. I wonder about the path not taken, the mistakes, the regrets and how things might have been different. Maybe that’s why this book moved me as much as it did, I don’t know, maybe it’s just simply a very good book. Whatever the reason, I loved the story. The heroes don’t alway turn out to be heroes and who you think you are isn’t always accurate. Perceptions can shatter in a moment and instead of being frightened by that, it comforts me instead.

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Does that title sound familiar to you? If it does, please email me. I’m searching desperately for the entire poem, or short story, I’m not even sure which it is. One website had it listed as a song. Whichever it is, it was published in a book called “Gems for the Fireside” which was published in the late 1800s.

It was something my mother read as a child in a book that my grandfather owned, that has long since disappeared. Probably explains a whole lot about how morbid the family is though… eh?

Anyway, if you happen to have any information about the title, please email me. Thank you.

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Last week while my mother was here we took a field trip to my favorite state park. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this here before, but if not here goes…

Homosassa Springs State Park is a wonderful place. It’s peaceful, it’s beautiful, it’s an important landmark. Run mostly by volunteers, the park is a refuge for wild animals that have been injured and need a place to recuperate. They boast the largest community of manatee in the world in captivity, but they only keep the ones that can not be returned to the wild.

In the five years that I’ve lived in Central Florida, the park has undergone enormous changes. It gets more and more beautiful each time we go and this time, the cats weren’t available for viewing due to the fact that they’re getting a brand new, beautiful new habitat. It should be completed by the end of November and you can bet that we’ll be some of the first to visit!

It’s really a great place to take the kids. It makes it incredibly easy to show your children why we need to do everything we can to protect these beautiful animals.

My favorite have always been the manatee, but I have to tell you that the recent otter pool is running a very close second!

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As seen over at Michele’s

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We had such a wonderful time last night. Really the best Halloween we’ve had since moving to Florida.

We went out at 6:30 on the dot. The kids would not give it another minute.
There weren’t that many apartments participating, so we went to eight or ten of them and then I asked the kids if they’d rather go home and hand out candy. They were very excited to do that, so off to home we went.

I put a candle lit jack-o-lantern in the window and moved the portable CD player to that window as well. A few years ago I bought a CD that has nothing but themes to scary movies on it. We played that out the window and the trick or treaters came in droves! Everyone was really done up in costume, even some of the parents. There was one kid whose father was a great werewolf! We had lots of princesses, Disney and other wise, a few ballerinas, vampires galore and a family of little girls dressed as cats, but they looked like they were off to star in the Broadway show. I know that mom spent all month on the costumes.

We had a terrific time and were out of candy by the time it was over.

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