Author: Marcia Meara

#TenThingsYouMayNotKnowAbout – Author #SallyJaneSmith

/ Marcia Meara / 76 Comments

It’s time for another #TenThings post, folks, and today our special guest is author Sally Jane Smith. I know  you’ll enjoy learning more about Sally and some of her adventures, so without further ado, let’s get going! Sally, you’re on! 😀

#TenThingsYouMayNotKnowAbout #SallyJaneSmith

Thanks Marcia – after reading so many great #TenThingsYouMayNotKnowAbout posts, I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to participate 😊  Here goes…

TEN THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

  1. I’ve lived for a year or more in five countries on five continents: South Africa, Chile, the Republic of Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia.
  1. I’ve also been lucky enough to visit thirty-three countries, many of them multiple times. People have been telling me for decades that I should write about my travels, but it wasn’t until my first visit to Greece that I found the book inside me. When non-Greeks ask what was so special about Greece, I explain that it was the country that made me fall in love with my own life again. When Greeks ask, I say, “It was Greece that gave me my kefi”
  1. I’ve been bitten by a lion. (And I know I’m not the only author featured on this blog who can say that – what are the chances?) It was just a young cub, but, to be fair, so was I. We were at a small tourist park when the rangers invited me over for a photo opportunity. The lion cub was in a playful mood, I think, but its play-fighting was a bit on the rough side, and it took four grown men to pull the cub off me.
  1. After a traumatic solo travel accident in 2006, a series of events led me to move to Australia to help manage a wildlife sanctuary for two years. Insights from working in animal conservation make me wonder, now, about that long-ago lion cub and how that 1970s park was run. These days, I am sceptical of animal experiences marketed to tourists. If I’m not 100% sure they are reputable care initiatives that cause no direct or indirect harm to the animals in their charge, I don’t participate.Not my usual author photo: here I am with “Dexter the demented cockatoo” who is living his best life at Walkabout Park after a lovely woman rescued him from an unhappy existence in a small cage. This photo was taken around 2010, when I was still his best buddy. Now,  although he is happy to see me when I visit, he lives in a large aviary where he has learned how to be a bird again. Which, although it’s a little sad, we consider success!
    PS: I’m also sporting a dashing scar that runs more than halfway around my neck – a memento of the Sri Lankan bus accident.

 

  1. After dogs, my favourite animals are Australian flying foxes. These large bats aren’t at all scary (although I respect that some people have phobias – I have a couple of my own). Instead, they are like puppies with wings! When I was hanging up their fruit buckets, the mischievous bats at Walkabout Park would surreptitiously pinch my scrunchie from my hair or make away with my glasses. All for the fun of dangling them just out of my reach, making me jump – and maybe getting a tickle at the end of the game.
  1. I am clumsy and uncoordinated, forever walking into doorframes or tripping over nothing at all. When people ask why I don’t drive, I say, “Have you seen me walk?”
  1. It might not be a surprise, then, that I was the only girl at my high school who was let off participating in the compulsory sports program without a doctor’s certificate. Yes, I was that bad at sport. Instead, I became the scorer for the school cricket team. The other girls might have pitied my gawkiness but, hey, I got to go on national tour with the hottest boys in the school. Last laugh was mine 😉
  1. I love to dance, and don’t feel the slightest bit clumsy when I’m moving to music. The problem is, I also like to be in bed with a book by 7.00 pm. I’m usually up around 4:00 am, getting in a few hours of writing before heading out to the paying job. On weekends, I might sleep in till 5.30. If only there were all-day dance parties! As it is, I hardly ever get a chance to let my hair down on a dance floor.
  1. I have three university degrees, and I’m not directly using any of them (although my long-ago studies continue to enrich my experience of the world). After multiple intercontinental moves, I found that a knowledge of anthropology wasn’t hugely transferable to the jobs on offer. Instead, I discovered a surprisingly enjoyable talent for administration. I confess, I do have a fondness for a cleverly constructed spreadsheet. After six years working in a rewarding but stressful PA role, I moved to a lower-paid, part-time job in an art gallery so I could have more mental energy to write. Being surrounded by creativity in my workplace is a bonus.
  1. Unpacking for Greece was crafted as a Bill-Bryson-style travelogue, but most reviewers focus on the inner journeys of the story, both in recovering my wanderlust after the Sri Lankan bus accident, and in making peace with memories of my mother. I found an unexpected travel companion in her 1978 travel journal, and since that first trip I have returned to Greece again and again with her scuffed red diary in my pocket. At first, I tried to follow her footsteps. Now I take it with me to places she never got a chance to visit while she was alive.

My mum’s diary in Naxos in April 2023, my most recent trip to Greece.


Blurb

 Join Sally as she embarks on a solo journey across the magnificent Greek mainland and islands.

When Sally sets out for Europe with her mother’s 1978 travel diary in her pocket, she is searching for the wanderlust she lost in a devastating overseas road accident.

As she ventures into the heart of the Mediterranean – wandering volatile landscapes, exploring historical sites, pairing books with places and savouring the tastes of Greece – she finds it is possible for a clumsy, out-of-shape woman on a budget to experience a life-changing journey.

In a story told with warmth, humour and a fascination with Greece’s natural and cultural heritage, Sally connects with her past, overcomes her fears and falls in love with life again, one olive at a time.

Author Sally Jane Smith

 Sally Jane Smith has lived on five continents and visited thirty-three countries, but she gives credit to Greece for turning her into a writer.  She has worked in museums, universities, a language institute, a residence for people with disabilities, an art gallery, a primary school and a wildlife park. She also co-hosts two book clubs and assists the organisers of a biennial book-themed convention. She is currently based in Australia.

Sally completed a Varuna residency in 2018 and has published travel articles in Gulf News and TripFiction, and craft pieces in Women’s Ink! and Brevity Blog. Sally’s story of her great-great-grandmother’s extraordinary life appears in the anthology Itchy Feet: Tales of Travel and Adventure. Her exploration of travel and grief is included in the Newcastle Short Story Award Anthology 2022.

Excerpts from the Packing for Greece series have been awarded First Place Non-Fiction in the Port Writers Open Literary Competition and shortlisted in the National Writing Competition organised by the Society of Women Writers NSW. 

In a story told with warmth, humour and a fascination with Greece’s natural and cultural heritage, Sally connects with her past, overcomes her fears and falls in love with life again, one olive at a time.

The best way to get a taste of Sally’s writing, view gorgeous travel pics and play destination-based games is to sign up to her newsletter HERE

You can find all Sally’s social media links collected HERE

Visit Sally’s webpage HERE

 

#ClassicPoetry – Featuring #WilliamWordsworth

/ Marcia Meara / 46 Comments


Today, I’m sharing a poem I dearly loved when I was in Junior High, and I find it still enchants me as much as it did way back then. Hope you’ll enjoy it!

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
William Wordsworth – 1770-1850

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:—
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the shew to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was one of the founders of English Romanticism and one of  its most central figures and important intellects. He is remembered as a poet of spiritual and epistemological speculation, a poet concerned with the human relationship to nature and a fierce advocate of using the vocabulary and speech patterns of common people in poetry. The son of John and Ann Cookson Wordsworth, William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, located in the Lake District of England: an area that would become closely associated with Wordsworth for over two centuries after his death. He began writing poetry as a young boy in grammar school, and before graduating from college he went on a walking tour of Europe, which deepened his love for nature and his sympathy for the common man: both major themes in his poetry. Wordsworth is best known for Lyrical Ballads, co-written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and The Prelude, a Romantic epic poem chronicling the “growth of a poet’s mind.”

And there you have today’s Classic Poetry offering.
I hope you enjoyed it!

#ThorsDaySmile – #AmLaughing – #Humor

/ Marcia Meara / 44 Comments

As promised last time, here are a few more silly horse memes to give you a smile or two, and to keep our enormous God of Thunder from becoming cranky. (Cranky Thunder Gods are somewhat dangerous to be around, you know.) Hope these give him (and you folks) some laughs.

And that’s it for today’s horsing around.
Hope you got a few chuckles here and there!

#GuestDayTuesday Featuring Author #RosieMitchell

/ Marcia Meara / 38 Comments

Hi, Everyone! It’s #GuestDayTuesday again, and today’s guest,  Rosie Mitchell, is a new visitor here on The Write Stuff. What do you say we give her such a great welcome, she’ll feel great about stopping by again in the future? That sounds like a Plan to me, so Rosie, the floor’s all yours. Take it away! 😊

Hello fellow writers and readers. I am a newbie at all of this, but I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to be on Guest Day Tuesday.

My passion is travel, which also includes house sitting, so is it any wonder that my first book, Open the Door, is about our early days establishing ourselves as international house sitters, something we having been doing since 2011. Thirty-six house sits and counting.

My husband and travel companion Victor, comes along for the ride and always steers me in the right direction so I don’t get lost. My navigation skills are not the best but I do excel at booking our airlines tickets, arranging the travel insurance and the most wonderful house sits.

House sitting may not be everyone’s ‘cup of tea’, but for us, it gives us the opportunity to travel for extended periods of time, and have the opportunity to explore new neighbourhoods, and feel like we are part of the community and not just tourists. Mind you, every now and again we do like to take ourselves off and spend time in hotels and soak up a bit of luxury.

I should at this point make it quite clear that we do not get paid for our house-sitting services. We feel that it is a privilege to be asked and given the opportunity to stay rent free in such beautiful homes around the world. We miss our dogs who have now passed on, so we are only too happy to shower our love and affection on the pets that come with the property, be they dogs, cats, fish, chooks or whatever. We do draw the line at reptiles. Snakes in the backyard are more than enough to cope with!

You Can Buy Open the Door HERE

BLURB:

‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’ — Loa Tzu.

Open the Door. Just take a deep breath and one giant leap forward. Venture out into the unknown… As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’
So, take a chance to dream and explore a new way of life. It’s not going to be easy at first, but the rewards and the self-confidence you gain in knowing that you have achieved something you have wanted for a long time will make it all worthwhile.
So why not seize the day? Fear is the thief of our dreams.

You Can Buy Avaning Around in Arabella HERE

BLURB:

When the world was gripped by the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, Rosie Mitchell and her husband sold their property in the Riverina, New South Wales. Trapped by lockdowns and border closures and with no chance of escaping overseas, they bought a small caravan, planning to spend time travelling around the wonderful country of Australia.
This book follows Rosie’s first book, Open the Door, which describes their international house-sitting adventures.

Author Rosie Mitchell

Hello fellow readers. I have now published two books, the first called Open The Door, which is about my early house sitting adventures and other overseas travels through Europe, Malta and the USA. My second book, Avaning Around in Arabella, was written about our caravan travels and house sitting experiences in Australia, which took place during the Covid19 pandemic. I enjoy writing for pleasure. I love to read and when I am at home I enjoy sewing and cooking. Travelling is what I do the most. In June 2022, my husband and I finally escaped overseas on our extended senior citizens gap year. My third book is now under way. I look forward to sharing the dream with you.

Special Bonus:

Excerpt from Senior Citizens on the Run
Intrepid Tales of International House Sitting
*****

Chapter 1.
Getting organised and booking house sits in the UK.

You know all those things you always wanted to do? You should go DO THEM!

We decided on business class tickets. Normally we would have been happy with premium economy or even economy, but since the Covid19 pandemic had taken hold of the world, we had become a lot more conscious of needing our own space. We had travelled by road around New South Wales and Queensland for nearly two years, staying in caravan parks and using public amenities without any incidents. So, perhaps we were being just a little too precious.

Finding the right travel insurance, something we would never leave home without, was a nightmare. As well as being exorbitantly high in price, making sense of all the fine print was a minefield. We had planned to travel continuously overseas for two to three years however, we were only able to get a travel insurance policy for twelve months, due to all the fine print about covid cover. This meant that we would have to return to Australia mid-2023, and then take off again, which was not a big problem for us. Perhaps by that time, the cost of airline tickets and travel insurance would be a little more reasonable. We were forever hopeful. With this in mind, we decided to concentrate our travels on the UK and Europe. There were just so many places to tick off on our bucket list.

Having made the decision to escape, within a few weeks we had booked a number of house sits in the UK which would take us through from the end of June to early December. We started off in Somerset, across the country to London, then Cambridgeshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire, back to Somerset, and finally to Kent. Christmas/ New Year would be spent in Huntington, Long Island, New York, where we had secured a house sit from early December to mid-January 2023. It wasn’t hard to get all the pieces to fall into place.

Meanwhile, we spent the last three months back in Canberra, where we had booked a house sit for two months on the north side of town. During this time, we sold our dearly beloved Arabella, the Avan Aliner camper. We sorted out our personal belongings, and stored a few more items in our storage unit in Griffith in the Riverina, which also contained our household items from Stanbridge. Our trusty steed, the Mitsubishi Outlander was next to go, and like the Avan it sold quickly within twenty-four hours.

We were excited to finally be on our way. The dream was at last coming true, and even though a few people thought we were perhaps just a little crazy to be taking the risk, we felt quite comfortable with our decision. What did we have to lose? We had already sold our country property and had spent almost two years in limbo in Australia, so venturing overseas was no big deal for us.

Buy Rosie’s Books HERE:

You Can Reach Rosie on Social Media HERE:

FACE BOOK Rosie Mitchell: www.facebook.com/rosie56mitchell

 

#ShareAReviewDay – #FindingHunter – Reviewed by #YviMC – VINE VOICE

/ Marcia Meara / 39 Comments

Once in a while, I feel an urge to share a review of one of my own books, and this new review of Finding Hunter made me so happy, I could not resist doing so today. While I know not everyone will understand the youngest Painter brother and his struggles, especially with PTSD, among all of my books’ characters, Hunter has always been second only to Rabbit in my heart. It’s wonderful when readers really “get” him, and love him, too. *happy sigh*

Hope you’ll enjoy this review, and will be inspired to check out Hunter’s story for yourself.

Thanks so much Yvi!  

Yvi MC
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, how I love Hunter! 🙂
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2023
Verified Purchase

I absolutely love Hunter! He’s such a pure soul, but he has no idea how special he truly is because he lives in a world of fear and pain. Luckily, he is loved unconditionally in a way most of us may never experience. This was a fantastic addition to this series.

The author does an incredible job of diving into anxiety and depression through Hunter’s words and actions. Just as powerful is Willow’s journey in struggling to go on without Hunter while being determined to keep hope alive. I loved how the author used poetry to tell one storyline until the two stories merged together.

I also enjoyed seeing characters from the first book of the series. The author seamlessly created new threads of storylines for other characters that will be visiting in the next book. The ending is a bit of a punch to the gut, but it makes me want to dive right into book three!

This was a wonderful story of loss, love, and resilience. If you enjoy stories that dare to dive into the struggles of life while also shining a light on the human spirit, then I highly recommend this book!

BLURB:

In Book 2 of the Riverbend Series, Marcia Meara, author of Wake-Robin Ridge, A Boy Named Rabbit, and Harbinger, takes a look at the devastating effects of a family torn apart by a horrific tragedy, pitting brother against brother, and focusing on battling PTSD with the redemptive power of unwavering love and support.

Before, I never thought about taking a life. Not once.
Now, the thought fills my mind day and night, and
I wonder how I’ll hide that terrible need,
As an old car swings to the shoulder,
And stops.

~ Traveling Man ~

Hunter Painter’s darkest fears have shaped his offbeat personality since he was a child, crippling him in ways invisible to those unable to see past his quiet exterior. In a sleepy Florida town known for its eccentric inhabitants, he’s always been a mystery to most.

Only one person sees beyond Hunter’s quirky facade. Willow Greene, the new age herbalist who owns the local candle and potpourri shop, has secretly loved him since they were in high school. When, sixteen years later, she discovers Hunter has loved her just as long, Willow hopes her dreams are finally coming true.

Willow soon learns that Hunter fears happiness at her side isn’t in the cards for him. With her natural optimism and courage, she almost convinces him he’s wrong—that they can really have that life together they both long for—but even Willow can’t stop what Hunter knows is coming.

One by one, his worst nightmares become reality, culminating in an unthinkable tragedy, which devastates everyone it touches. Willow’s battle begins in earnest as Hunter is plunged into a bleak, guilt-ridden despair, threatening to destroy not only their love, but Hunter, himself.

Finding Hunter is the story of a lost man’s desperate struggle to make his way home again, and one woman’s unshakeable faith in him and the power of their love.

 Author Marcia Meara

Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of over thirty years and four big cats.

When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. She enjoys nature. Really, really enjoys it. All of it! Well, almost all of it, anyway. From birds, to furry critters, to her very favorites, snakes. The exception would be spiders, which she truly loathes, convinced that anything with eight hairy legs is surely up to no good. She does not, however, kill spiders anymore, since she knows they have their place in the world. Besides, her husband now handles her Arachnid Catch and Release Program, and she’s good with that.

Spiders aside, the one thing Marcia would like to tell each of her readers is that it’s never too late to make your dreams come true. If, at the age of 69, she could write and publish a book (and thus fulfill 64 years of longing to do that very thing), you can make your own dreams a reality, too. Go for it! What have you got to lose?

Buy Marcia’s Books Here

Novels
Wake-Robin Ridge: Book 1
A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2
Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3
The Light: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 4

Swamp Ghosts: Riverbend Book 1
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2
That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3

Riverbend Spinoff Novellas
The Emissary 1
The Emissary 2 – To Love Somebody
The Emissary 3 – Love Hurts

Poetry
Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love

Reach Marcia on Social Media Here:

Blog: The Write Stuff
Facebook
Email: marciameara16@gmail.com

#WildlifeWednesday – #NotesFromTheSt.JohnsRiver – #LittleBlueHerons

/ Marcia Meara / 40 Comments

Back in December of 2016, I was asked by my friend and mentor, the late Doug Little, if I’d like to be part of a brand new blog on his St. Johns River Eco Tours website. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, and was honored to be invited to create some nature-related posts for him, in a series called Notes From the River. 

Now that my Bird Nerd friend, Dennis Burnette, has joined me here at The Write Stuff with his own nature-related posts, I thought it would also be fun to share some of the ones I did for Doug’s blog now and then, too. I’m starting this off with one I hope you’ll all enjoy.

#NotesFromTheRiver:
When Is a Little Blue Heron NOT a Little Blue Heron?

When It’s a Calico Heron, That’s When!

 Today, I’m going to share some lesser known information about the Little Blue Heron, and yep, that’s one above, even though most photos show little blues looking like this:

Adult Little Blue Heron

The truth is that even though little blue herons end up a solid, slate blue, with a purplish cast to the neck, just like the picture above, they ALL start out white. See? The bird in this next photo is also a little blue heron, but in juvenile plumage.

Immature Little Blue Heron

When little blue herons fledge (leave the nest), they are solid white birds, which means they are often misidentified as snowy egrets or cattle egrets. Only their smaller size keeps them from being pointed out as great egrets, as well. But if you look closely, you see immature little blue herons have greenish yellow legs, and blue-grey beaks with a dark tip. Snowy egrets have black legs with golden yellow feet and black beaks, and cattle egrets, which are usually seen in fields and pastures rather than wading along the water’s edge, have bright yellow legs and beaks.

As you might imagine, if the bird starts off white, and ends up dark blue-grey, there must be an intermediate stage to get from this:

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

To this:

Adult Little Blue Heron

Et voila! Here’s the aforementioned intermediate stage!

A Juvenile Little Blue Heron Molting
into Adult Plumage
(Again, this is the stage when they are often called calico herons.)

Little Blue Heron Range Map


As you can see, the little blue heron is a wide-spread bird, and breeds throughout large portions of the southeastern United States. They are very common birds, with no current population issues, which means birders have a good chance of spotting them any time they are on or near freshwater ponds, lakes, marshes, swamps, and rivers. They are sometimes found on marine coastlines, as well.

So, if you want to add this bird to your life list, you probably won’t have to go to any great lengths to find adult specimens. And the white juvenile birds are often easy to spot, as well. But if you’re hoping to photograph them in the calico stage, you might have to hunt a little longer, and at the right time of year. It’s an in-between stage, after all, and doesn’t last forever. As you can see in the next photo, the blue gray adult plumage on this bird is definitely taking over from the white. Won’t be long before it looks just like mom and dad.

A collective of herons is known as a battery, a hedge, a pose, a rookery, and a scattering. Take your pick.
I’m hedging my bets with “hedge.”


Little blue herons are medium sized waders, standing about 2 feet tall, with a wingspan of around 40 inches.They eat a variety of fish, insects, and various other invertebrates, including crayfish, like the one  below.

Hapless “Mudbug” About To Go to Crawdad Heaven.

These birds are colony nesters, quite happy to join other egrets and herons, including cattle egrets, which is interesting, because those are not even native to North America. Little blues lay as many as six pale, blue green eggs at a time, which they incubate for 22 to 24 days, before the eggs hatch into some rather scruffy chicks, sporting some seriously punkish spiked “hair.”

From this . . .

To this . . .

 

. . . then this . . .

and finally, THIS!

Adult Little Blue Heron

And there you have it, folks. Hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about this common, but very beautiful, heron. Keep your eyes open when out on the rivers and lakes, and maybe you’ll spot that equally beautiful, in-between stage, known as the calico heron.

NOTE: This post with Doug’s photos first appeared on the
St. Johns River Eco Tours blog here:
When Is a Little Blue Heron Not a Little Blue Heron?

#ClassicPoetry – #SaraTeasdale – #TheLook

/ Marcia Meara / 33 Comments

Those of you who have been following my blog for some time know that for a while there, I was running a series on Classic Poetry. Somehow, during the pandemic and all the other things which have happened in the last three years, this series fell by the wayside, and that’s something I plan to correct starting today.

I won’t be setting a specific schedule, but I do plan to share some of my favorite poems from years ago, many of which I discovered in my junior and senior high school years. They are just too good to let slip away into history, including my short, but truly wonderful, selection for today. Hope you enjoy it!

The Look
Sara Teasdale – 1884-1933

Strephon kissed me in the spring,
Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all.

Strephon’s kiss was lost in jest,
Robin’s lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin’s eyes
Haunts me night and day.

Sara Teasdale

Sara Teasdale was an American lyric poet. She was born Sarah Trevor Teasdale in St. Louis, Missouri, and used the name Sara Teasdale Filsinger after her marriage in 1914. In 1918 she won a Pulitzer Prize for her 1917 poetry collection Love Songs.

Extra Tidbit: If perchance you’ve read my Riverbend series, you may remember that Willow Greene had a great fondness for this poem. (That’s because I do, of course.) She and Maggie have a little conversation about it in one scene. I couldn’t resist including it in  Finding Hunter, as it seemed to fit the relationship between Willow and Hunter Painter perfectly!

Be back next time with something longer.
Hope you’ll stop by to see what it is.

 

#This & That & The Other Thing

/ Marcia Meara / 49 Comments

Happy Saturn’s Day, Everybody! Hope your weekend is going to be a great one, filled with all your favorite things and people. 

Just wanted to update you folks a bit. I’m still on “house arrest” and that will likely remain the case for a bit longer. We haven’t been able to reschedule the imaging of my heart earlier than September 6, and until my doctor has the results from that, he won’t be able to come up with a definite plan on managing this issue. I’m NOT in crisis mode, obviously, or emergency steps would be taken, but I do have a list of things I’m not allowed to do until the assessment is completed. Consequently, I’m way, way behind on many things I’d normally be taking care of each day. *sigh* (Can we say “frustrating,” boys and girls? 😄)

The good news is, I’m feeling pretty good, and even the AWFUL pain from my disastrous dental experience has eased greatly. (Plus, I can see my NEW dentist Monday for an assessment, and we’ll see if she agrees with me, or with my EX-dentist. It will be interesting, for sure. ) Also,  I am not having the issues with dizzy spells that I did for months, and the extreme fatigue has eased greatly, so that’s all good news.

I am still running way, way behind on my blogging, and about all I’m able to do right now is “Like” and share posts from my favorite online sites. I know you’ll understand if I can’t comment as often as I usually do. I’m looking forward to catching up one of these days, and being able to have more FUN with my fellow blogging friends. In the meantime, just know how important each and every one of you is to me, and here’s wishing you all a great rest of the summer, with plenty of good times ahead!

Here’s a picture I received from a nice lady who brought her little boy to my last wildlife presentation on Central Florida’s Fabulous Owls, five months ago. He was very attentive and asked several good questions. Afterward, she told me he wanted to have his picture taken with me, if it was okay–which of course it was! After nine years of giving talks twice a month at two very special venues, I really, really miss all the great folks who came to learn a bit about our wildlife. This picture arrived in my Inbox just in time to lift my sagging spirits.

Jesse and I – February 2023

One final update. I am feeling the stirrings of creativity once again, and am hoping to get some actual writing done on Cole, Cole, & Dupree, Rabbit’s latest adventure. Will let you know how that’s going in a week or two.

And that completes today’s Update.
Granny and I  wish you all a wonderful weekend.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

#ThorsDaySmile – #AmLaughing – #Humor

/ Marcia Meara / 36 Comments

Welp, it’s time for another ThorsDaySmile again, and wouldn’t you know, our sometimes-cranky God of Thunder decided he’d simply love to see some amusing images of horses, especially if said images made said horses look silly. (Apparently, he’s had a few otherwise stalwart steeds refuse to allow an enormous God of Thunder clad in lots and lots of heavy metal climb aboard their backs. 😲) I agreed with his request because … well … enormous God of Thunder and all that! So without further ado, here are today’s horse memes. (I’ll let you decide if they’re silly or not.)

And That’s It For Laughing at Horses Part 1.
Stay Tuned for Part 2 Next Time!