Who and what we are...

Earlier this week, Emily and I stopped at a convenience store on our way home from the city. Emily was wearing one of her many Gator t-shirts that night, and as she walked in the store's front door, a man coming out said, "Go Gators."  A few minutes later, as she was leaving the store, the cashier said, "Go Gators."

Getting in the car, Emily laughed,  "I love it when my life is a commercial."

Watch this {it will only take a minute}...

It identifies who and what we are. 


And it makes me think, what do people see when they look at me that tells them who and what I am?

And I read this - and my heart is broken. 

And I wonder if the world knows who and what we are by how well we love each other. {thank you, Ann}

{Photos - Emily at the 2007 UF/FSU Game, a fence near the UF campus 2011}

Beautiful hearts...

...that flame bush in the backyard




...that's supposed to be attracting hummingbirds




...but all I've seen




...are spiders and insects.

Taking a little break from watching the College World Series (It's Great. To Be. A Florida Gator) and working on a guest post for (in)courage. (I'll let y'all know next week when it's up.)

I do love those girls over at Dayspring's (in)courage, and I'm jumping-up-and-down thrilled to be able to write for them. If you're ever in need of a little encouragement from your sisters (which for me is daily), I highly recommend spending time reading and commenting and letting those beautiful sister hearts speak to yours.

Speaking of beautiful hearts, Shaun Groves new release 3rd World Symphony is ready to preview and pre-order, and I wasted no time doing both. I can't listen without thinking of my beautiful friend Ann and my family's adorable Compassion child, Diego, from Guatemala.

Third World Symphony by shaungroves

 Jeff Goins, Writer, is one of my favorite new reads. His blog is a wealth of information for writers, bloggers, and other creative thinkers, and the guest post on his blog today, The Clean Water Crisis, reveals his beautiful heart of compassion, as well.

Modus operandi...

My apparent modus operandi for life these days is "fits and starts." I'm a bit like those bullfrogs in our pond - barely moving for hours in the muck at the edge before suddenly leaping forward, skipping across the surface of the water in a succession of quick jumps, then sinking to swim back to rest in the muck again. I can be quite productive, accomplishing much, in those leaps forward. It's the resting time that can be my undoing - where I can lose my focus and goals can grow dim. My "On Trial" series is a perfect example. There's good news, however, for the handful of readers who've been patiently waiting for more. The next installment is in the hands of my critique group and will likely be posted later this week. On one of my recent skips across the water, (with considerable help from Louis and Emily) I completed a major cleaning of our master bedroom and painted the walls in the living/dining room, a small hallway and two foyers, but I swam back to the muck before I finished painting the trim and doors. It's a resting place where I've been distracted for too many days. Refocused and leaping forward, I'll be back to painting today, but I'm curious. What is your modus operandi? Are you a "fitter and starter" like me?

Photos: from recent ramblings 'round the pond (yes, the gator is still here), the green fruit of wild beauty berry wrapped in grapevines at the creek, and an assortment of insects crawling and fluttering about.

Heeeeeeere come the gators...

A few days before my birthday last week we drove to Gainesville to eat peanuts and slather on sunscreen and watch the 4th ranked Gators beat Georgia in baseball.

The weather Friday night was perfect - mild and breezy - even a little chilly at times...

...but Saturday afternoon in Florida's bright sunlight and 90-degree heat was brutal. Before the game on Saturday, we stopped by the campus bookstore to purchase more must-have Gator paraphernalia. Did you know that you can buy packages of "official" eyeblack already printed with "Phil 4:13"? And yes - I bought a pack.

We also stopped by Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, also known as Florida Field and thanks to former coach Steve Spurrier - The Swamp.

It was Coach Spurrier who said ".....a swamp is where Gators live.....a swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous. Only Gators get out alive."

Our seats for the baseball game were near the top behind home plate on the 1st base side of the field.

Perfect for capturing that walk-off Gator home run in the bottom of the 9th inning Saturday afternoon.

A couple of days before we left for Gainesville, we discovered this gator swimming in our pond.

We hoped he would move on while we were gone, but two weeks later, it's apparent that he likes Pollywog Creek as much as we do. He's not a big gator. He's young, maybe 4 or 5 years old and about 5 feet in length, it's hard to tell. But a gator is a gator, and like all other gators, this guy has big teeth, a healthy appetite and a less-than-pleasant disposition.

I shot this short video yesterday as he moved from the bank of the pond back into the water...

We have had gators in the pond before, but never one as brazen as this one. He fails to retreat when approached and will actually follow me in the water as I walk around the pond. This gator definitely qualifies as a nuisance gator so we've called for a trapper to remove him.

Stay tuned in. I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be able to post: Heeeeeeere goes the gator...