The Ocala Star Banner online had a poll posted on their web site. It asked "What childhood game do you remember most?"

It mentioned several, among which were hide and seek, tag, climbing trees, collecting fire flies, etc.

I do remember playing hide and seek. In our neighborhood you played until the street lights came on and then you headed for home.

One game mentioned is probably my favorite and that was playing pretend dress-up.

I had a friend who had a large collection of high heeled shoes, hats and purses.
Every time I hear the name Imelda Marcos I think of her.

We never had fancy shoes growing up. Plain, serviceable oxfords were the norm.
Fancy meant penny loafers with real shiny pennies in them.

My friend and I spent hours playing with her hand-me-down collections. Learning to walk in them, picking a hat and purse to match. We were the ultimate young models on our own imaginary runway.

It didn't matter that we both were a bit on the chubby side, after all we were modeling, hats and shoes.

Those were the times of our lives. No cares, no worries, the biggest decision we had to make was what game were we going to play next.

Oh, it's dark outside, let's find a mason jar with a lid, and go outside and catch some fireflies.

June, the month for weddings.

A woman mentioned to me she had attended a wedding recently.
She commented on how beautiful it was.

That statement made me think. I believe all weddings are beautiful. No matter how large and lavish or small and intimate. When two people say their vows, it is a beautiful moment.

I also believe all babies that are born are beautiful no matter their physical features. What is beautiful is the miracle of birth and all that it encompasses.

It comes down to love. The wedding couple pledge to love one another and the baby is loved at first sight.

What happens years down the road between the married couple or to the child, has nothing to do with the beginning for both.

Love means comfort and joy.

Did you ever say to yourself, "if only I had time to..."?
I have so many times I've lost count.

I came across a book I'd bought years ago called "10-20-30 minutes to Sew". It was written by Nancy Zieman, a well-know seamtress who had a sewing show on PBS and owns a successful sewing notions business.

The concept of the book is, if you find 10-20 or 30 minutes here and there, devote them to a sewing project and you'll be amazed at how much you can accomplish.

I've done that over the years with sewing, quilting, and reading. Lately I've found it useful for writing as well. Whether it is idea storming, writing notes, writing this blog, or actually getting into the bones of a story it's works.

So when you can't find time for you, or something you'd like to do, try doing it in increments of 10-20 or 30 minutes.

You'll feel more relaxed and good about you.

After all who's more important?

Honesdale, PA, is a quaint, historic town located in Wayne County near the New York State border and the Delaware River.

The main street is lined with unique shops and restaurants.

The Wayne County Historical Museum hosts the replica of the Stourbridge Lion steam engine. It is worth your time to spend an hour or two learning about the history of the citizens.

The Gravity Railroad is a significant part of the town's history.

The Wayne County Visitor's Center, a beautiful building, is located adjacent to the Stourbridge Line Rail Excursions.

Farther up the road is the Dorflinger Glass Museum. This spectacular glass was manufacturer in Honesdale.

Since 2006, the business community has sponsored "Roots n' Rhythm Music & Arts Festival. It is held in the town square and is free to the public.

The band shell is set up in the center of the far perimeter. Vendor tents are lined up all along the outside perimeter.

Fragrant aromas waft over the area making one's mouth water to taste the cheese-steaks, funnel cakes, delicious ice cream creations and then wash it all down with your choice of the many flavors of Slush Puppies, lemonade or draft birch beer.

Families bring their blankets, put them down on the lush green grass, sit back and enjoy all the music.

The many shade trees provide a cool breeze respite from the sunny, hot day.

Honesdale is a pedestrian friendly town. Traffic must stop and yield to pedestrians in the marked crosswalks.

Kudos to the citizens and business' of Honsedale. Please keep the community spirit alive for many years to come.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary describes the following:

Common sense: ordinary good sense and judgement.

Logic: sound reasoning.

Priority: taking precedence logically or in importance.

3 words that unfortunately aren't taught in a classroom.

They're usually acquired, either by example or advice from others, or if one is lucky from the school of hard knocks, with the first experience.

Look around and you'll notice these three things are sorely missing today.

For instance, the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. Common sense would dictate logical sound reasoning, that the first priority is to stop the crisis by plugging the hole in the oil well.

Sound reasoning would be to listen, take the advice and suggestions of others as how to do it.
Then clean up the mess.

It seems today the lack of common sense and reasoning is to ignore a situation until the worst happens, then panic and chase your tail.

Remember the story of the Dutch boy who came upon a hole in the dike? What did he do? Did he run around and holler "the dike is leaking, the dike is leaking", no he simply put his finger in the hole and accepted help when it came.

FLAG DAY JUNE 14, 2010

Monday is Flag Day.

Oh, it's not a paid day off holiday. Nor is it a picnic or party holiday.

It's a day to honor our Flag. A seal and symbol of a country united against all enemies.

The white in the flag stands for purity and innocence.

The red for hardiness, valour and bravery.

Blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.

The fifty stars represent each of the fifty states.

Take a moment and visit the website http://www.usflag.org/ and refresh your memory of what you pledging to when you say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Many have died to preserve the Flag of our united nation. Many today are serving and dying to protect it still.

On Flag Day, fly the Flag, remember what it stands for and pray that it will continue to fly over our free, undivided nation.

God Bless our Flag and the United States of America.

YIKES!

What happened to summer?

Technically it isn't summer yet, it's really late spring.

Today, here in the northeast, the temperature never went above the low fifties.

It was raw and damp with a cold, all day rain, more like early spring. Brrr!

It definitely was a soup day.

Hubby requested homemade chicken soup. So I made it for him. It really warmed us up.

I had to cut up onions for the soup.

I don't know about you, but onions make me cry when I cut them.

However, I have a solution for that. I put my cutting board in the vicinity of the gas burner that is turned on under the soup pot.

When you have an open burning flame it burns off the gases the onion emits and voila, no tears.

If you don't have a gas stove, burning a candle works too.

I didn't use all of the onion, so I put the remainder in plastic baggies and then into a plastic container to freeze it for later use in soups or casseroles.

It is supposed to warm up to more seasonable temperatures by week's end.

I hope so because the grass needs cutting and the neighbor's horses are busy eating their own grass.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC


The picture above depicts many people enjoying a lazy day at a beautiful beach.

Why can they enjoy this beach without fear or apprehension?

Because 66 years ago today thousands landed on the beaches of Normandy, France in World War II.

Thousands lost their lives opening another front to beat back the Germans and eventually liberate France.

The war didn't end in Europe for another year. The war continued to rage in the Pacific for another year also.

Do you know a veteran that fought in WWII?

They were proud of their country and fought for it.

Sadly we are losing them everyday because of age.

I had three cousins that fought in the Pacific Theater in the Air Force and Navy. Thankfully they all survived but are now gone.

I remember people saying that they fought that war so their children wouldn't ever have to go to war again. Yet a generation later their sons and daughters were fighting in Viet Nam.

Now we are at war again on two fronts.

Many say the Iraq War should never have been fought, that will be debated for generations to come, but the Iraqi people were liberated from a despot. However, we fought in Europe in WWII and our nation wasn't attacked, but we liberated France, and most of Europe from a despot.

Our shores were attacked in the Pacific when Pear Harbor was bombed, thus the war with Japan. Just as our nation was attacked on 9/11/2001, thus the war in Afghanistan. Another country liberated from tyranny.

And so it goes.

Edmund Burke, a British Statesman and Philosopher, stated "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."

ARTHUR RAVENEL JR. BRIDGE

The bridge pictured above is also know as the New Cooper River Bridge.

Click on the picture to enlarge it and see how awesome it is.

It is a cable stayed eight lane bridge that connects downtown Charleston, SC and Mt. Pleasant, SC. It is Rt. 17.

Isn't it majestic? Approaching it is a beautiful sight, then riding over it gives you an appreciation for the engineer minds behind it.

Now on to another subject.

Tip of the day: I had the unfortunate experience of burning the bottom of a stainless steel pot the other day.

Either I didn't put enough water in it to steam the broccoli or I didn't put any in it. The second scenario is quite possible since I fixed the broccoli first thing when I arose in the morning, BC (before coffee).

So how to fix it and not through it away?

I covered the charred area with baking soda, sprinkled salt on top of that, then covered it all with hot water. I let it soak overnight and the next morning I scraped the softened charring loose with a plastic scraper. The curved areas I couldn't scrape, I used steel wool.

Voila, a sparkling clean pot.

CHARLESTON, SC

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Charleston don't miss it.

A city of rich history with spectacular homes and gardens.

Many homes are built narrow and long. This affords the owner to have a side porch facing the harbor breezes.

Before air conditioning people slept on the porches covered in mosquito netting.

Notice the home in the picture above has front porches, because this one faces the harbor.

Touring this gracious southern city you'll notice many steeples. Churches were very much a part of the resident's lives.

They were well constructed out of stone, and brick with intricate, ornamental ironwork.

In fact most of them weathered Hurricane Hugo with minimal damage.

Imagine riding in an open air, canopied buggy pulled by a loping horse around the quiet streets, a hundred years ago.

Can you hear the cadence of clip, clopping hooves on the pavement? Can you smell the fragrant magnolia and jasmine? Can you see the women in their hoop skirted dresses and the gentlemen in there waistcoats and top hats?