Category: February 2024

Vaca Vida

I love my job! In my younger years I experienced what I call mayhem at work. Jealousy, backstabbing. Who needs that? I walked off as many jobs as I had. I could not survive in that environment. I would have had to become like them. I refused. I sought another way and I found it. It’s not for the faint of heart. No one gets it. Everybody wants it. Find your path and sojourn. I love my job!

Vaca Vida means Cow Life. I live like the cows. Have you ever watched a cow? They are serene. I stepped off the edge of the planet and sold my beach house on Amelia Island. Built a house in Costa Rica. Bought three more houses on Amelia Island. They said it couldn’t be done. Not by me. I got no support, except from God, the Universe, and the people who cared, which were few. I have found, for the most part, the people around you, don’t want to see you do well. I have had to cut those people loose. It has not been easy. But I learned early on that the some of the best things in life are the hardest to come by. Then you can relax and watch the sunset.

Patience and perseverance is the key to all success.

I’m the kind of person, that runs ahead of the crowd. My good fortune has been my love of nature and dislike of pretentious bullies.

Who am I?

Daily writing prompt
What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?
View all responses

To continue to write. To write better. To learn. I have been studying social justice. It’s been an underlying theme in my life. I have found myself at odds with people in Jacksonville FL concerning race issues. I seek peace. Discovering Thomas Sowell has been a huge plus. I would like to enroll at the University of Peace, here in Costa Rica. One term, one class. Conflict Resolution. My main opposition often insults the poor and uneducated. I don’t want to do battle. There has to be a better way. A higher road.

I am a Cracker by Birth, A Redneck by Default, and a Peace Seeker Through Reading Writing and Education.

Get an Education

Daily writing prompt
What advice would you give to your teenage self?
View all responses

I would advise my younger self to go to college. I would tell her that all the hell of her life will fall away on the green. She will finally be home, in academia. College is not like high school. Your life will take root and you will bloom.

Believe in yourself. Trust me. I know.

Watch The Grass Grow

Daily writing prompt
What bores you?
View all responses

If you are bored – you are boring. I always say I am not a jealous or envious person because I am fascinated by my own life. I’m the kind of person who can enjoy watching the grass grow. I almost got bored thinking about what bores me. I drew a blank. Then the grass took off.

*This photo was taken in Cordele GA. My granddaughter drove as I snapped shots with my Canon 7d. One of my favorites. This shot is symbolic of the South. Coming apart at the seams.

People

Playa Avellanes

*I took this photo at sunset with my Canon 7d. A desire to watch that ball of fire descend beneath the horizon draws people together. It’s natural. It’s free.

This is how I prefer to live my life. Being in nature. Living a slow life by the ocean.

Continue reading People

Side Step Cancer

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite drink?
View all responses
Screenshot
Screenshot

Google it.

I have been a student of the Hippocrates Institute for twenty years. It’s real. I initially went there because of a friend, given a prognosis of 3-6 months. The oncologist said – “we are going to cut out you lymph nodes. You will have no taste or saliva glands. You will have to carry a pump spray.” He thought, why would I do that, if I only have months to live.

He heard of Hippocrates and signed up. I talked to my friend the other day. He still drinks wheat grass and green drinks. He works out. Twenty years with cancer in the rear view mirror.

I thought, “Why wait to have cancer. Why not learn about my health now and circumvent this disease.” I have been to the institute twice and can’t wait to go back.

I have yet more testimony.

Both my younger sister and my daughter were diagnosed with stage four cancer, a month apart. My sister went to Hippocrates right away. She has been cancer free for five years. She has never looked sick and she plays pickle ball every day.

My daughter on the other hand was influenced by my older sister. Steeped in processed food. Over indulgence and vats of wine. She is an RN and favors all things western. She chases psychotropics, antibiotics, tests and more tests.

When I offered to pay for my daughter’s visit to Hippocrates, her reply was, “MaMa, that would be doing nothing.”

She lived eighteen months in excruciating pain. She passed. She chose MacDonald’s milkshakes over green drinks.

Cancer is personal.

The Highly Unusual

Daily writing prompt
Who are your favorite people to be around?
View all responses

Characters in Carl Hiaasen novels. All of them. Miscreants and law abiding. Rich and poor. They are all in Florida and like people I have known in my life. But these folk are in the book and removed from reality. My preferred habitation.

* this photo is one I posted in my instagram @everydaypaparraza – yes that is Flea. Bass player for Red Hot Chili Peppers and my friend Ellen Zoe Golden. Miami journalist turned New York publicist.

Quit Complaining – Start Walking

Daily writing prompt
Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.
View all responses

It was 2005. My mother took myself and my sister shopping. She was in a wheelchair. My sister had her checkbook. I chose the shoes in the picture, which are from another blog post. Worn Out Complaints

https://wordpress.com/post/fisheyefarm.com/6867

I chose those shoes and my sister said no, you really need to find a less expensive pair. Those shoes were 75 dollars. I said no. I want those. I got them. My mother had so much money. My sister just didn’t want me to have them.

The same way when I was fourteen, she wouldn’t allow me to be on the journalism team. I couldn’t sign up for art or music. She put me in horrible low level classes that I could have stood up and taught. Those classes and her dominance over me sent me on a dark and negative path.

This post hit a nerve.

I walked, hiked, traveled and danced in those shoes.

I had to learn to stand up for myself.

I am now a flip flop millionaire.

I quit complaining and started walking.

That’s A Question For Mr. Trump

Daily writing prompt
Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?
View all responses

I am an individual. Stranded. Weighted down by politics and economics.

I float ~ when the tide rolls in.

I am a Whitehouse/Westside Miscreant

Daily writing prompt
Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?
View all responses

Oh hell yeah – I stayed one step ahead of the shoe shine, two steps away from the county line. Just trying to keep my customers satisfied. Satisfied.

*I have written about it throughout my blog* My writing is full of the truth. Confessional. That is why it is obscured. But it can be unearthed. You have to want to know.

*The photo is of my 1991 Toyota that I drive on Amelia Island, FL. Land of the rich and famous. One time sunny place for shady characters. Some consider keeping this rusted, mule of a vehicle, on the road – criminal. I have fun.

*Catch me if you can.

*Whitehouse/Westide is a part of Jacksonville FL – It is called Zone 4 – which is across the board, known as a heart rate zone. It is where I am from.

*whoops – I read the prompt wrong.