Ode to a King

 

     When I heard last night that Chadwick Boseman had died of cancer at the age of 43, I was shocked and in disbelief. I didn't think it was possible, this was another one of those grand internet hoaxes. Then I saw the official tweet from his account, and the sadness set in. 

     I became a fan of his when the movie "42" came out, and he portrayed Jackie Robinson as he broke down the color barrier in baseball. 

     I had seen him in other things, but this role showed his range and power as an actor. The emotion and turmoil he was able to achieve in the historic role was outstanding. Then He played another icon in "Get on Up". The incomparable Godfather of soul himself, James Brown. He brought James back to life with his dancing and command of the role. If you haven't seen either of these movies, I recommend that you do.

     Although I haven't seen it, but I do intend to, He played another icon in Marshall. Portraying the life of Thurgood Marshall. I will be watching a lot of Mr. Boseman's films this week in remembrance of him. The one I will be watching tonight at 8pm (which has been the call to do) is Black Panther. 

     This is my all time favorite Marvel movie. The beauty and culture that it encapsulates is incredible, and his performance of an icon that he has now created as King T'Challa is out of the world delightful. It was such a pleasure for me to look up on a screen and see true diversity in cinema. I saw a rumor recently that he was going to step down from the franchise and pass the mantle on to his sister in the movie, and I was stunned. Not that she would take over as Black Panther, but that I wouldn't see more movies with him in that role. If this rumor was true, I can see now why it was happening.

     He was diagnosed with colon cancer 4 years ago, and no one outside of his bubble knew of his struggle. He entertained and enlightened us while battling this ravaging disease, that has taken so many from us. He would often visit cancer kids in hospitals and lift their days, just by being the wonderful person that he was. 

     Over the night and into this morning, I have seen many personal stories about them, and all of them speak of how humble and kind he was. We should all strive to be more like him. He had a passion for giving people a better day, by stopping and listening to them about he changed their lives be being a superhero on the screen that looked like them. He would always tell them that it was an honor to represent them, and no that they should look up to him because of his accomplishments. His last tweet was one praising the choice of Kamala Harris for the democratic nominee for Vice President. She like him was a Howard alum, and he had great pride in that as well.

     Since the baseball season was thrown out of whack by the pandemic, Jackie Robinson day fell on August 28, the same day that Chadwick died. This was also the the birthday of the creator of Black Panther, Jack Kirby's birthday. The planets aligned in a mysterious way and took a true gift from us.

     Chadwick will be missed by millions, with me among them. I will always wonder about what could have been, and how much more he could have created. Chadwick has been called home to Djalia. Rest in power king.

Destinie Lamar

     On Friday night I sat down and watched the documentary Disclosure on Netflix. It was Executive Produced by Laverne Cox. If you don't know her, she is a transgender woman actress that is best known for Orange is the New Black. It details the struggle of Trans people and their history, and it is quite remarkable, and I highly recommend watching it. While watching this it reminded me of a short story I wrote some time back, as you can see from the date below it was 7 years ago. It just so happens to be about a Trans Woman of color. I rarely ever read through anything I write, so it was a bit of journey and an eye opener reading this. I also found that I did fall into one of the traps that they mention in the documentary, and have since retooled my ending a bit, to be more conscious of the Trans plight. 

     I have been a long time supporter of the Trans community and that was one of the reasons I wrote this piece, but even allies can get it wrong from time to time, and I'm correcting that wrong by posting this here for you to read and hopefully enjoy. 

     You may also notice that this is the first post in a while, and it will be a stand alone for the time being. I'm quite frankly to angry to write anything right now, and you need to be focusing on others instead. My voice will be heard again, but not now. I'm taking a break for a while, so take the time you would normally take to read this, and search out knowledge to better inform yourself on why what is happening right now in the world is happening. I leave you with Destinie Lamar, a character and a story that I didn't realize how close and in love with I am. Peace in and goodnight.

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Destinie Lamar

July 29, 2013 at 6:33 PM

     I met Destinie in 2006. She had moved here after the exodus out of New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. She bounced around for a while, from St. Louis to Houston, and then finally in Merritt Island Florida. Always looking for a home that felt something like home. She was born and raised in Shreveport Louisiana under the name Dennis LeBeaux. It was tough but she said the experiences she had there built who she became as a person. Growing up of mixed race was hard enough, her mother was black and her father was white, add in the fact that she always believed that she was a woman, and you can only begin to understand what she went through.

     Destinie always greeted everyday with a smile. Her mother had always told her that it was the only way to go through life. “You will always be faced with adversity child. It is how you greet that adversity that defines who you are.”. She told me her mother would always say that to her when ever she would get into fights just for being who she was. I can believe it. because whenever I saw her she always had a smile on. She never backed down from anyone. She was truly one of the toughest people I had ever met. Those rare occasions when I would see her at her worst she still would manage that smile and an air of southern charm. “My mama raised a lady, and my daddy raised a fighter.” she would say and then have a hearty laugh.

     Destinie had a dream that one day she would headline a burlesque show on Broadway. She made the move to New Orleans to learn her craft in the clubs at the far end of Bourbon St. That is where she met heroin. New Orleans is a great city, but it can chew you up and spit you out if you’re not careful, and Destinie was letting the good times roll. She was at her bottom on that day when Katrina battered the Crescent City. she took refuge in the Dome and saw the atrocities that occurred there. Then and there she vowed to get herself clean and never return to the state that she loved. 

     She grabbed one of the busses that evacuated the stragglers in the storm and made her way to St. Louis. Quickly she realized that the Gateway city wasn’t for her either, so she finally hitched her way to Houston. She had heard that most of New Orleans was there. It was the city without the city. Once there she found that it was the part of the city that she wanted to leave behind in the first place. After a few months there, she hopped a Greyhound to Florida. Since she couldn’t have the bright lights of Broadway yet, she would settle for the rockets red glare of the Space Coast.

     She settled in and worked at a club that did small drag shows. She was an instant hit. Destinie had an amazing voice, but her true talent could be found in her poetry and costume design. She was an artist in every sense of the word. I met her in an art supplies store. I had just begun my fascination with the world of art. I was standing in the acrylic and oil paint aisle. I was completely baffled by the selection, and since I knew nothing about nothing when it came to art. I was a lost cause with the selection and colors. I had no idea where to begin.

     “You look like a deer caught in headlights child.” I heard come from my left. A definite Louisiana slang accent.

     “I have no idea what I’m doing here. I want to paint, but I have no idea where to begin.”

     “Start with your soul. It’ll tell ya what to do.”

     With that I took my first look at her. There was that smile. She was tall and very slim. She was showing her age, but you could see that she was a looker in her day. I could also tell that there was something different about her but different has never bothered me. Different was something that intrigued me. I had questions for different. Our friendship began there.

     Destinie would teach me how to paint and I would ask her questions about how she dealt with people. It seemed like a very lopsided friendship. I offered nothing and she offered life experience. Destinie had a way of looking at people and seeing potential until they gave her a reason to see them any other way. That is how she would greet everyone and anything, with a smile.

     Destinie moved to Orlando two years ago, to renew the pursuit of her dream to headline Broadway. Working in clubs there singing and reciting her poetry. She even began doing a little stand up comedy. She would pack the house wherever she was. She shined on stage. It was where she belonged.

     I hadn’t seen Destinie in about a year. She worked nightly at the clubs, and with my career in art taking off. I didn’t have much time to go anywhere or do anything but paint. I sold my first painting six months after she had moved for a rather large amount of money. I sent her half of it with a note thanking her for all the advice and instruction that she had given me. She called me right after she had received the check and asked me what I wanted her to do with it. “What am I supposed to do with all this money? You are a sweetheart child, but a fool and his money are soon parted.”. I said she could do anything she wanted with it, but I would hope that she would put it towards her dream of Broadway. “I gotta make that dream happen myself child.”. She then gave the entire sum of money to a local Orlando LGBTQ group in my name.

     That is just how she was. If you have gathered by now that all of this has been written in the past tense, you would have undoubtedly come to the conclusion that she is now gone. You would be right about that. I got the news today that she had been killed over the weekend. The report says that it was a crime of passion. That she had surprised some unsuspecting. I know that there is no way that is true. Destinie never hid who and what she was. This was more likely a case of some guy looking for a chance to kill a “queer”. 

     I am angry and heartbroken and have no idea what to do about it. I want to lash out, but I know that is the last thing that Destinie would want. She would turn to me and say that quote from her mama, “You will always be faced with adversity child. It is how you greet that adversity that defines who you are.” I choose to define myself as that same kind and caring person that Destinie was.

     Destinie will be remembered by all that knew her. The spark of inspiration that she ignited in everyone she met, will forever glow within them, and they will inspire others. The chain will forever be linked to her. Be creative, be kind.

Do Better

     I have a feeling that I'm in for another sleepless night. Do you have any idea what it's like to be sitting in the same room with a persons that continually talks nonsensically nonstop? It's maddening. I really do feel like I'm losing a part of myself each and every day. There is no reason for when it starts or when it is absent. There is no correlation to actions or anything she eats, it just randomly starts up, and when it does, it doesn't stop. Today it was first thing in the morning, which usually means she will stay up talking and arguing with herself throughout the night and into tomorrow. The bright side of this, is that in a day or so, she will be so tired that she will actually sleep through the night, but in the meantime, I get no sleep. Even on those days that she sleeps through the night, I have become so anxious, that she will be up at any given time, that I still don't sleep well. I'm gettin by though, and that's all I can do.

     On a positive note, although I haven't weighed in this week, but I can tell by the mirror that I may have turned around that week or so of stress eating. I have done this by having set meals. In the morning I have my breakfast salad, and a protein shake. In the midday, I have cottage cheese (this week I've had some pork rinds with it), and then at dinner I have whatever I make. All being keto of course. By structuring my day like this, I have kept myself from stress eating. Set meals means no room for stress eating. As I said, it appears that it is working out really well. I will take my weight and measurements tomorrow and fill you in on Sunday.

     You may or may not know that this month is Pride month. This is the time of year that they usually have the Pride marches, parades and what not. Even though I have always felt like an ally, and with coming out as Pan last year, I never truly felt a part of the LGBTQIAP+ community (yeah I went with the full alphabet there). This is mostly by my own doing. I've never been a joiner, and have always felt better alone, but I felt this year it was time for me to do something different, so I'm going for joining the community as best I can. You don't have to worry, I'm not going to be outspoken, because that's not really who I am. As you have seen I rarely bring it up, and I'm only doing it now because it is Pride month. I will update you from time to time how things are going in that area. Oh, I will tell you that Queer Eye's newest season starts tomorrow, so I will be watching that, and I do suggest that you give it a try. You can learn a lot about cooking, decor and fashion. They also take the time to help each person break through their personal hangups. Even though this has little bearing on Pride, the new and final season of 13 Reasons Why comes out as well. Once again, if you have not watched that show, I suggest that you do, and you don't watch it alone.

     Now for those of you asking how you might help out the black community with all that's going on. I can't give you all the answers, but I can give you some ideas. First thing is, to start listening to what they have to say. It has been too long of us saying we are listening, but it's only with one ear. Stop doing that, and listen to every word and understand. If you don't understand ask questions, they will gladly be answered. Do your best to support black owned business in your community. If you don't know who they are, find out. The internet is an amazing tool. If you want to try a great online company for some really cool masks and clothing, I suggest DIOP. here is the link WEARDIOP Check them out, they have really cool stuff, that changes seasonally. Use your social media to boost those that need their voices heard. Share videos, images and stories that amplify the cause. It is time that we lift their voices up and tone ours down. We have said enough, it's time for them to talk. I will do all I can to lift up voices that truly need to be heard, and I hope you do the same. Peace in and goodnight.

It Was A Good Hour

     I got a small break today. It was a short one, but it felt so good. With the stress of this week and everything that is going on in the country right now, it was so freeing to ride Saki again. I finally broke down and got a battery. The bad part is, that it was the wrong size, that's what I get for going cheap. I had to cut up my seat and a rearrange a few things to be able to get it in, and have my seat so that it wouldn't fly off while riding. It took some work, but I was able to finally get it in place with all the wires tucked in and ride it today for about an hour. It was probably less time, but it seemed like an hour.

     Of course I snapped a couple of pictures while I was out. The other great part was riding while not being fat. Let me tell you how much more comfortable a ride was without my gut pinching my belt and stuffing myself into my jacket. The jacket was actually loose and might actually be too big for me now. I did take it easy, since it's been a year or maybe longer since I actually rode last. I didn't take the turns as fast as I would have liked, but by the end of the ride, my comfort level was going up. I few more rides and I'll be back to the old swing of things. I'm expecting that I'll only be able to ride once a week, unless I take a very early ride in the mornings after my meditation. That is if I manage to get up at 4. I might get a few of those rides in. It will give me a good reason to put the running lights on.

     Huh, it turns out that that's all I have to say tonight. I'm a bit frazzled right now, so I'm going to keep it short. I can't guarantee that I'll have a Tuesday night post this week, but if I have something to say, I'll surely post. I'll make sure that I have something to say by Thursday for sure. Peace in and goodnight.

The Plane Went

     It has been a really bad week, which is mostly the reason I didn't write on Tuesday night. That and the fact that I didn't feel like I had anything to say, which goes hand in hand with the bad week. The moms has been increasingly erratic this week, and has been staying up most nights yelling and arguing with herself. That has led to me not getting much sleep at all. Last night for example. I attempted to go to bed at 10, but was kept up by her constantly entering and exiting her room and loudly talking about how dark it was. I can remember her waking me at 12:30, so I must have fallen asleep for maybe an hour. I was woken again by her arguing loudly in the hallway at 3:30, which I just laid in bed until I couldn't take it anymore and just got up at 4:10. I did my cardio and then just zoned out for a while before my meditation at 5. This has all led to some not so great eating decisions, which are mostly eating multiple times a day, and I tried adding oranges into the diet, and I think that was a bad idea. No adverse effects other than putting on weight, and it's not the good kind. I will be eliminating the oranges as soon as they are done, cause I don't want to waste food. Monday starts up back to the old way of eating. Oh and when I say weight gain, I did weigh myself this morning at 158. That's the highest I've been since last December, I believe. I don't mind being this high in weight as long as the body fat is at the right percentage, which according to the calipers has gone up 1%. I will get this all in order and back to my goal of 10%. It's just going to take a little more time. Stress eating is bad you all.

     I don't usually get political on here, but you know of my dislike of Facebook, so you won't be surprise when you read what this is about. It's been reported that Mark Zuckerburg has made 34 billion dollars during this pandemic. That is atrocious, in any form. Then it came out yesterday that he believes that it isn't Facebooks responsibility to fact check prominent figures posts for accuracy. That brought me to today. Unfortunately I'm tied in to the point that I have to have a minimal presence on their, but the doesn't mean I can't take action. Today whenever I've been on there, I've blocked any sponsored add, even if I support the business. Those adds are one of the ways that Facebook makes money. The more I block, the financial presence they have on my timeline. I'm asking you to do the same. Hit them where it counts. Since they only see money, the lack of it coming in, is the only way to get back at them for their inaction.

     Now for something fun. As you know, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, which in turn makes me a JK Rowling fan, despite some of the terrible things she has said about transgender people. Yeah, you can look that up. I'm not proud of my continued support of her, but here I am. Anyway, a few years or so ago, she wrote a book that she was considering publishing, but then she went a different route with her adult themed books. She instead read the book to her children at night and they loved it, it went in the attic and that was that, but when the pandemic hit, she decided she wanted to try something different, and she dug the manuscript out, and made some changes, read it to her children again, and they asked for some changes to be returned to the original and she has decided to post it online for free. She has been posting a single chapter each day, and also instructions for a art contest based on each chapter, where winners could have their artwork published in the print copy which will be available later this year or next. The story is called The Ickabog. I will give you no details other than that, but I will give you the link so that you can read it if you so choose. This is the homepage which explains the story behind the story read that as well, and then dive into a new fantastic tale. https://www.theickabog.com/home/ I'm just going to leave it as the straight link so you can easily see it.

     I could fill you up with a bunch of garden pics, but I'm choosing not to tonight. I do want to share my dinner with you from Monday. It was just cheese burgers and asparagus, but the burgers had some more reaper on them, and that reaper is truly next level heat. This was the second to last pod that I had and it was maybe the size of a nickel. I diced it up and split it between the two burgers, and the heat level was insane. I honestly don't know if I can take a raw one at this point, but I might try. I have one more pod on the plant ripening right now and I may do a video with it raw. It's a decent sized one, so it would the the proper one for a video. I can't do a video with a small pod, that just seems wrong. Here are those burgers.

     Oh, that's jalapeño pimento cheese on top. It's kind of dirty keto, but still within the perameters, only 1 net carb per serving, it just has some not so good ingredients in it. That gives you a good look at that reaper, and it does really live up to its name.

     Before I leave for the night, I do have to tell you about the dream I had on Tuesday morning. Since my moms hasn't been sleeping during normal hours, when I wake up for good around 4 or so, I have that time to myself. After meditating I have put on audible books to listen to, and on a few days, I've fallen back asleep, but the weird thing is that I don't seem to miss any of the book I'm listening to. In the case of this dream, I was listening to the book during the dream, anyway, this dream was intense. Out of nowhere, I came to on a plane, it pitched upwards into a loop, and then dove towards the ground. I could see the ground growing closer out the window as the plane accelerated towards the ground. I heard the screams and gasps of the other passengers, and felt myself brace and push into the seat. My breath ran short and caught in my throat as I knew the plane was going down, then a strange calm came over me as I accepted my fate and relaxed as I waited for the inevitable to happen. That's when the dream broke, and I didn't even bother to open my eyes. I felt my pulse slow down in a matter of seconds, and I continued listening to the book. It was truly unusual, and I've never had a dream like that before. The panic was real, because my heart was beating out of my chest when I woke, but just like that it was all gone. I don't know if the dream broke because I gave into the outcome, or because by doing that I knew I was in a dream, but the plane never reached the ground. I looked up what plane crash dreams meant and the mostly focus on a manifestation of anxiety, which could be a result of what has been going on this week. It was an experience to be sure.

     That's all I have for tonight. Have a safe weekend, and wear a mask. Peace in and goodnight.

What Does It Mean To Be Pan

     There are very few days that I've ever marked. I don't care about birthdays, I don't remember the exact day I started keto. The only day I can remember marking was the day I stopped drinking, January 7th 2017. I have no idea why that stuck in my head, but it has. Another date I failed to mark was the day I came out as pansexual. I know, that I could go back and find the post and look at the date, but it really doesn't matter, just like the date I stopped drinking, and that is simply because the past is just that, the past. It's the here and now that is most important. I'm brining all of this up, today is pansexual visibility day. I don't announce my sexuality except for when I came out, and of course today. The only reason I'm doing it today was some of the posts that I saw and the comments that were on them today.

     Before I get into all that, let's have a little fun at the pans expense. As you all know that the pride flag consists of the rainbow. The original flag consisted of 8 colors, those being; pink, red, orange, yellow, green turquoise, indigo, and violet. What you may not know is that each one of those colors represents something. In the order of colors above, they are; sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic/art, serenity and spirit. That flag was created in 1978 by Gilbert Baker. We can all agree that the rainbow is pretty cool, whether you support the lgbtqiap+ community or not. Yeah I went for the full alphabet today. The bi flag makes a lot of sense, because it is pink, blue on either side of violet, which is those two colors coming together. The transgender flag is a stripe of white with two stripes of pink and blue on either side, once again makes a ton of sense. What about the pan flag then. Basically we have the worst flag ever. Are you ready for it?

     There you have it. Magenta, yellow and cyan. It looks like a hideous version of Neapolitan ice cream. I will run down the colors and what each one means, but that only leads to the confusion about pansexuals, and the comments I saw regarding the, and the need I have to clear things up. Magenta symbolizes women and those of the female spectrum, yellow symbolizes non binary, and cyan symbolizes males and male spectrum. Ok what does female and male spectrum mean? The spectrum is those that identify themselves as that gender; transgender women and men. Let's get to non binary. That is those that don't identify within the norms of societal genders; asexual, gender fluid, bigender, androgynous. Are you thoroughly confused now? Yeah, I figured you were, and I'm sure there are some questions. That's what I'm here for, I'm going to try to explain what all the means, to me. I can't speak for every pan person, but I think I speak for most.

     A few of the comments on the posts I saw were asking the difference between bi and pan. In a general perspective you could see why someone would ask that. They only see men and women. It's understandable. That didn't bother me, what did bother me was the people commenting that the difference was as simple as, bi people like only men and women, and pan people want to sleep with everyone. I am paraphrasing there, but that is the sentiment of those comments. I can tell you, that I don't want to sleep with everyone. There are only a few people that I would consider sleeping with, but not all at one time. Despite what that comment would imply. I am very monogamous. So what is the difference? The short and simple answer is that a pan person looks for personality of sexuality. Bisexuals have a preference for men or women, and will sometimes lean towards one more than the other. Pansexuals don't consider gender and look more for other traits in someone. That can range from personality, physical appearance, and intelligence. If all of that is in the right package, it doesn't matter what the gender is.

     I may be over simplifying the bisexual experience with that very limited definition, and that is because I'm not bisexual and can't truly define their experience, so I implore you to talk to a bi person if you truly want to know their definition of who they are. Like I said early on, I can only speak truly for myself. Now, I do have a gender leaning despite identifying as pan. The reason could be that I've only experienced dating women, but where I differ and why I identify as pan, is because I don't rule out the possibility that a different gender could attract me. When the right person comes along, I will greet them with an open heart. I must reiterate, that I do not want to sleep with anyone and everyone. I do have standards and ideals of who I want to be with, so when you see a pan shirt that says "All the butts", that may be funny, but it's nonsense and garbage.

     If you have gotten this far in reading this, then I thank you. The pansexual community is vastly underrepresented. You probably didn't even know there was a pan flag, even if you are in the lgbtqiap+ community. Even the Human Rights Campaign only recognizes us on this day. I can't give them too much flack though, because they barely acknowledge the bi community either. So we will all rest easy under the umbrella of the pride flag, mostly because our flag sucks. I do hope this brings some understanding to you, and a little knowledge to help you navigate this very alphabetic world the I am a part of. Peace in and goodnight.

It's Accountability Time

     It's update and picture time. Which as the title denotes, it is also accountability time. That is the real reason I do these posts that could seem more like a vanity post of "look at me". As long as I have this in writing and pictures, I can't fall back on myself, or at least I hope I won't.

     With that in mind, here are the numbers. I weighed in yesterday morning which is technically day 31, but I wanted a full 30 days on this one, so thats why I went for a Wednesday weigh in. That came in at 130, which was jut a touch less than when I started, and as you remember, this is no longer about weight loss, but fat loss. My waist to height measurement remained exactly the same, and the body fat calipers ticked in at slight less, but it was such a small amount I'm reading it as staying the same. That means that although I really had no changes, I have found two ways of eating that are good for maintenance. One ideal (the one I'm doing now), and one that is not exactly ideal, but can work (the carb cycling).

     One big difference I've noticed is my strength level, or at least my perceived strength level. Pull-ups have been increasingly easy, as well as the new push-ups I've been doing. They aren't your standard pushups. I've been using paralettes, so that I get an insane stretch at the bottom which makes them quite a bit harder. I feel that this has also been improving my shoulder pain. Yeah it's still there.

     It's picture time now. There is some difference from the last time, that could be from lighting or actually body change. I did take these picture early in the morning when the house is better lit than at night like I usually do. Anyway, here comes the vanity part.

     The top picture is from yesterday while the bottom one is from right before starting my current way of eating. You can definitely see more definition, but there are also still those glaring flaws. There is also the issue of my quarantine sweats. I do feel that I'm on the right path, and I will hit my new goal of 10% body fat. It's just going to take some time.

     I forgot to post a back photo last time, so this one is going back a few months, and maybe the beginning of the year. I think better lighting is definitely making the difference on this one, but there is signs of better definition. Now for the glamor shots, The first one will be the proof that I'm not flexing or "sucking it in" on the other photos.

     I see those shots, and I'm happy, but not at all satisfied. I have such a long way to go, but I can't lose sight of how much further along this path that I have come. That is what you always have to look at when you are trying to lose weight or improve your physical appearance. You have a bad day and eat terribly, it's not the end of the world. It's one day. It took you years to get to the point that made you change your eating habits. After that bad day you have a decision to make, was it worth it to put all that time to get you where you are now, or do you want to give up and go back to how you were? For me, the answer is clear. I have put far too much time in this to fall to the bottom.

     On a vastly different subject, I received a surprise in the mail today. Quite some time ago, I wrote about the time I went on a kind of date with a friend of mine, but it was all in an effort to set her up with a friend of mine. It wasn't until after that date when I was driving home, that I had the best date I've ever had, and that maybe I made a mistake. I won't go into all the details on why it could or couldn't have been, if you want to know more you can look for it, and no I don't remember the title of that post. Anyway, I got a handmade postcard in the mail from her today, and it put a huge smile on my face.

     Also in the mail was the prequel to the Hunger Games, which I devoured. It seems fitting that the post card came on the same day as that book, since she is a huge fan of reading. The postcard is not going to be the bookmark for the new book. Not only will I smile while reading, but I'll smile because of the postcard. It was truly a special thing for her to do and I greatly appreciate it.

     I could do a series of garden photos, but there really isn't anything new, except for the new seedlings that sprouted this week. It was a shock since I planted them on Sunday. It only took them a few days to sprout. It's all herbs that sprouted, so no new peppers yet. I expect them to take another week at the very least. All these herbs are more of the flowering variety, so they are mostly for appearance. I need to up the beauty factor of the garden and bring just a little more biodiversity into my life.

     That's all I got for you tonight. Peace in and goodnight.