Confessions of a Misplaced Southern Belle

Not so misplaced anymore!

Vote

Three weeks ago I was able to visit Washington DC for the first time.  For as long as I can remember, I have loved history and for as long as I can remember, my parents have always told me that it was my duty to vote.  My parents both held local offices, my father was mayor of our small town for eight years and my mom served as an alderwoman for twelve, so voting for me was never an issue, it was, and still is, a privilege and a duty.  I think I have had a hard time putting my brief visit to DC into words mainly because I had such a short time there and because it was overwhelming.  I don’t know what I expected, but I think my history geek neurons nearly exploded.  I had such a short time there, that I knew that the one place that I needed to go was the National Archives.  I needed to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in person. Riding in the Uber towards the Archives, I caught a glimpse of the Capitol and of the Washington Monument and it nearly took my breath away.  Here were those building and monuments that I have read about, seen on television, and where some of the greatest men and women in our history have worked to create this not-so-perfect Union.  Standing in front of the Declaration and the Constitution made me want to cry. (Which to be honest, was a little embarrassing) There it was, the document that set us on a collision course with Independence and the document that eventually gave suffrage to everyone.  Don’t get me wrong, it took a while for that to happen, but it did!  Millions have died, and millions more have served, to protect our freedoms, including this precious right of ours to have a say in our democracy.  Everyone, who is eligible, should never take this for granted and should vote in every election from the school board race to the Presidential race.  Change doesn’t happen by sitting in a chair complaining. Change happens when you vote.  I voted last week.  I let my voice be heard.  Have you?

 

Weekending

We finally had a beautiful day here on the west coast of Florida yesterday.  Amanda and I took advantage and went to the local Dia de los Muertos Festival in the Village of the Arts.  Their huge shrine this year was dedicated to the the 2000 tons of sea life that has died along our coast due to red tide this year.  We also took a little tour of the galleries and in one area got mother/daughter henna, picked up some local honey from Myakka Gold Apiary (ooh, and sampled and purchased some creamed honey…so good!).

I have been itching to get to my ‘local’ yarn store, A Good Yarn, and by local, meaning a nearly 40 minutes drive in Sunday traffic.I did buy some pretty yarn for a scarf for my mother in law, but I’m not showing the yarn or the color, even though she knows I’m knitting her one, some yarn that reminded me of fall.  NO clue when or if I will get to knit it, but I liked it, so it came home with me.I then spent some time browsing Barnes and Noble, but shocker, didn’t buy a single thing! I did get some new ideas for magazines that I’d like to try.  I should have purchased them while I was there, but maybe that is the excuse I need to go back.  My nearest bookstore is a Books a Million and it just doesn’t have the same feel as a Barnes and Noble.  Is that weird? Does anyone else feel that way? Of course, my preferred bookstore would be an independent one, but those are few and far between here, which is just shocking to me.  I could go to Tampa, but that is just as far as driving into Sarasota!  While on my way home, I took a detour to St. Armands Circle and picked up hubby some macarons.  He loves them and it’s been months since I’ve picked him up any as I don’t get to our local mall to get any.  I’ve noticed that if I can’t get it delivered or I can just pick it up, I don’t get out much.  There are some benefits to that, but I think that I would risk missing out on some lovely local shops if I continue to do that

Oh! I’m knitting on the Weigh it Yowza 4 by Susan B. Anderson.  I’ve been knitting on this for over a year…well, actually, NOT knitting, but I’ve picked it back up and am determined to finish it up so I can wear it next month when we do get some cooler weather and I can wear it.  Tomorrow is back to work, but I also have a board meeting to attend in Orlando on Friday and puppy raiser day to photograph on Saturday.  Good thing we have the following Monday off in honor of Veteran’s Day.

How was your weekend?

 

Saturday Sky—Flashback edition

Thanks to Vicki over at Knitorious, I was reminded of years ago when the knitting blogging community was huge and we had several ‘things’ that we all did.  One was Ten on Tuesday and one was Saturday Sky. I participated fairly often, and today was a nice reminder of what ‘used to be’.  I miss that community sometimes. I’m sure it’s still fairly active, I’ve just been away for a long time.  Anyway, I present my Saturday Sky, which actually, isn’t a Saturday and wasn’t today . It was a Friday, a couple of weeks ago, but I liked it, so I wanted to share it with you.