13: Only in Floyd
1. The weekend was all about fireworks and flowers, and some fireworks are named after flowers and some flowers are named after fireworks.
2. There are lilies named Fire King and All Fired Up and a firework that I call Nana’s Zinnia.
Dahlia Umbrella is another one.
3. I also watched my first rubber duck race.
4. On my way home from covering the 2nd annual Floyd Replenish Festival, a faith-based music festival, I passed Wildwood Farms, one of the largest daylily farms in the state that also happens to be in Floyd. I pulled over and walked in wonderment through the more than 600 lily varieties in bloom, while smiling and thinking to myself, “Ah, now this is my kind of church.” See HERE.
5. Earlier in the week, I took a picture of my favorite three red sheds.
6. It all started with baking a blueberry pie for my son Josh who came for an overnight, a few days before his birthday. But before that it was finishing up a story about four women farmers and going to my women’s dialogue group. After that, it was babysitting my grandsons, meeting them and their dad at the Floyd fireworks (which I was covering for the paper), having them overnight, and then driving out to the Willis part of the county the next day to cover Replenish Festival.
7. By Sunday I was walking around with only one croc on and trying to sort through a desk top of scrap paper notes so I could type out the stories and photo captions.
8. I recently posted on Facebook that my corn was tall as a teenager, but then I took a look and it seemed to have grown over night. Now it’s taller than me, which, at 5’ 1,” isn’t really that hard to do.
9. HERE is proof of my Mission Accomplished.
10. I’m one who appreciates the richness of the inner life that is often dark in the way dreams are. I actually pay more attention to a bad dream because it gets my attention emotionally, has so much to teach me about myself in an uncensored way and shows me my progress.
11. At a certain point in my life I became exhausted with positive life formulas and practices. Now my practice is no practice, just being with what is and seeing what I find myself thinking and doing. After 65 years of living, I woke up recently one morning and, while dragging myself out of bed, I surprised myself when I heard myself say, “I think I’m finally getting the hang of this.” For me, that meant being okay with the unknown, with chronic fatigue and with knowing that heaviness lifts, often by the simplest thing.
12. “All lives matter but black lives haven’t always mattered.” – Read the rest of When Suddenly No Lives Matter HERE.
13. I’ll always brake for motorcycles with Spider Man riding on the back and for pick-up trucks that are pink.
________Thirteen Thursday
July 14th, 2016 12:23 am
I’ve been to an iris farm, but I didn’t know there were daylily farms. Rubber duck races sound like fun. We have a collection of them.
July 14th, 2016 1:47 am
The pink pick up truck certainly has character as has the green bike in the first photo. You’ve had a busy week.
July 14th, 2016 6:01 am
I guess Black Lives did not matter too much when West Africans sold other West Africans in the slave trade??I am blessed to live in a very loving area of the country where no disparaging racial remarks are ever heard and respect is prominent .I imagine there is an undercurrent in the homes but we never see or hear it and love seems to reign above all
July 14th, 2016 7:01 am
Waiting for fall as my summer is way to packed with stuff this year. A little tired and cranky.
July 14th, 2016 9:33 am
Ha! I love your take on life and how much fun you have living. Thanks for sharing it with us. I like your description of the corn, and the picturesbof spider-man on the motorcycle and the sheds.
http://tinyurl.com/zd5ws2h
July 14th, 2016 10:18 am
For many years we’ve had an annual multi-heat rubber duck race in the stream by the pub at the end of the road.
It’s always first duck under the bridge that wins.
July 14th, 2016 1:54 pm
Love the opening pic — you’d love the Duckmobile, frequently seen around Madison. My T13
July 14th, 2016 3:09 pm
I am glad you are still writing for the paper. To answer your question on my blog, yes, I have had people try to insist they read the article before I send it to the editor. I have even had people walk away from interviews because I said no. I have made minor concessions such as calling the person to recite direct quotes, but that is my limit.
The daylily farm sounds wonderful. We have in Daleville, but it is small, and I am not sure it is still open. I have not seen advertisements for it this summer.
July 15th, 2016 10:44 am
Your 13 is like a magazine I look forward to seeing every week. Sometimes It takes me all week to finish, but at least it doesn’t stack up on my coffee table like in the old days! I’ll read the more serious pages (links) later, but note that our 6 ft 2 teenage grandson is visiting us … And how is your corn keeping up?
July 15th, 2016 11:37 pm
It’s got tassels, silk and some cobs taking shape!