Zest Zoom and Zip lock bags

Last year’s Z entry was an attempt to compare a Zip line to life!

This will be another try!!
Too bad the alphabet ends with probably the least used letter- other than poor X

I mean wouldn’t it be nice to go out with a Bang or a Mystery or even a Poem!
But alas I digress- so on with it I go!

You know I don’t think I’ve ever used the zest of a lemon - orange or lime— and why not- I mean it sounds pretty simple but elegant

Zestyness sounds  exciting- something only the adventurous achieve
Most of us preferring to stay with simple salt or pepper

They even have a soap with the name zest- and although it will dry you out- it smells heavenly

Much of life is seen from a distance- obscuring the true view

I don’t know much about photography but one thing I once read about it has stuck with me-there are no bad pictures just ones not taken close enough

Zooming in at just the right moment is the trick- staying focused on your subject- most importantly their essence or what you see as their essence

Not taking your eye off the hidden message the shot holds- just waiting to be captured and caught for all time

And zip lock bags- where shall I begin- life is so much better with a zip lock bag-
Completely serious- it makes life so much easier and tidy but not too tidy- you will have all those baggies sitting around or cluttering up your cabinets

But when you want a little something fresh and tasty- there it is just waiting for you to taste it’s freshness- making it easy to make the correct choice as you can see right through it- no surprises - you get exactly what you want

Now that zest might not be as good in those little see through bags- so make sure and package some things differently- the things that are unexpectedly delicate and close dated



Congratulations to all of you that participated in this year’s  az challenge

May your days be filled with ideas and your pages full
Great job!!

And may I say a special thanks to my loyal blogger friend Betty- your encouragement kept me going!

Yesterday

I’ve written a couple of poems about yesterday

But today I keep coming back to this for my Y blog
And why- I’m not sure

Yesterday is gone they say but in a very real way it’s not- wouldn’t it be nice if some yesterdays were gone for good- never to be thought of again - only if we could redo the thing that holds the horrible consequences of some yesterdays

Sometimes yesterday is a comfort in retrospect- knowing it’s behind us and done with

Some things if you didn’t get to yesterday you can easily finish today or even tomorrow
But you’ll never know if it might have been better done yesterday

Yesterday we might have felt like doing whatever but today that feeling is missing somewhere in yesterday

Don’t let your yesterdays control your todays though- even yesterday wouldn’t want that

So plan for your future yesterdays- knowing that a sorrowful look back at yesterday is inevitable but a grateful heartfelt glimpse is always welcomed

X-ray of the heart

Yes there are many ways doctors have to view the heart
To see if it’s healthy- whether it needs medical attention

Our real secret heart does not have the ability to be seen or examined

God only truly knows our heart’s intentions and desires
Thank goodness right!

Keeping one’s heart soft is important and necessary for wholeness
A hard heart repels the light that seeks to enter and warm

“The heart is a lonely hunter”
But lonely can embrace a fragile heart or cut off the flow of life

An X-ray of the heart would only expose us to more pain and condemnation- which there is no more in Christ

And if the wrong person were to read the results- it could easily be misconstrued or unnecessarily corrected

So the heart doesn’t need an X-ray- only our careful watch over it and a healthy opening of it

What do you Want

Isn’t it odd how we are asked that question so much in life— what do you want for dinner— what do you want to be when you grow up- what do you want from me!

As we grow and change and resign at times— we decide we want different things or mostly we settle for not we want but glad to not get what we don’t want

We can definitely be influenced in what we want- more like what we think everyone else wants-  so it must be on our list too

Do we want things until we get them or do we get them only to discover we didn’t even know we wanted them

Do you want world peace or at the moment that last piece of chocolate fudge cake

Do you want what you can’t have
Do you want it if it takes much effort

What if we got everything we thought we wanted
Is there an end to want

And here’s one of those quotes for ya
“ you can’t always get what you want- but if you try sometimes-well you might find you get what you need”

the Vegetable stand

 Nothing feels more like summer to me than passing by a vegetable stand and better yet stopping

I love it all- the lush local tomatoes- the fragrant cantaloupes and the silky corn

And oh how I adore it when I can find butter beans that haven’t been shelled

And the homemade jams and jellies and if you’re lucky pickles!

The flowers and plants really catch my summer fever too— they always manage to have the most beautiful geraniums- which keep tempting me though I don’t have much luck with them

Visiting the vegetable stands makes me adventurous in my selections - but sadly sometimes they go home to rot

Oh how I love to come upon ones that have their own baked goods- some of them are almost like visiting a farmers market

I will never forget stopping by one of our favorite stands with two of our grandsons- letting them pick out flavored honey sticks and ice cold drinks- the soda pop kind- out of an old coke ice chest

I plan to stop in lots more this summer
And I hope it’s a hot day-  with decorative flags flapping in the mild breeze
While I pick out all the colorful fruits and vegetables we can hopefully use
Possibly making a cobbler of those fat blackberries in those adorable cartons

Taking it all in as the cashier puts my purchases in a crisp brown bag
I might just have to eat one of the luscious peaches before I put my seatbelt back on

Used to

We are all guilty of things we hold onto - things we’ve gotten used to

Some are merely comforting habits
Like how I have my section of our sectional sofa- doesn’t feel right to sit anywhere else

The bathroom I prefer - and not just because it’s downstairs but lots of little things- its configuration - the way that particular toilet flushes- okay I’ll get off of that! Haha see what I did!!

I am used to the way I fold clothes-  but I’ll let anyone do it their way - I’m not crazy

I’m used to my eight little dolls/animals sleeping with us
I’m also used to this weird blanket I recently bought- being on top of our comforter even though I don’t much like it—

I’m used to having a few peanut butter crackers before bed and my frozen waffles with cream cheese and sugar free strawberry jam for breakfast

I am very fond of my oversized Santa mug- using it everyday

Whatever brings us joy or consistency can become a used to thing

It’s a yearning in us to have things we can count on - things we can feel comfortable doing and things that don’t challenge us but are there waiting for us in soothing tones

And how remarkable the short  time it takes to get used to it
Like do you find yourself on a week’s vacation- maybe telling someone else— that’s how we did this or that each day- it’s like we search for things to get used to

It’s a good thing we so easily adapt at what we are used to — cause like my mother often would tell us— “old man used to’s dead and gone”

Teachable moments

With school being out - I know a lot of parents are worried about many aspects of their children’s life

They all mostly miss school- their teachers- their friends
Their routines- the parents’ freedom haha

I worry my grandkids won’t want to go back to school-
I also worry their goals won’t stay the same- but I know that doesn’t have to be a bad thing

I kinda worry for the school system- for some they have discovered learning at home is working for their family
And even the schools and universities just might realize they could be effective online

It is surely a time to teach new subjects and new ways to teach old ones

I’m sure lots of parents are getting a crash refresher course in many subjects
Which could lead them to a new occupation or interest

Our “regular” teachers are sure finding new and exciting ways to communicate and keep up with their students— I bet so many kids are only now realizing how much most teachers care about them

We can learn from anything and everything- and as we do let’s share the information like never before