Bouquets and Reflections

I suppose it's time for an update. I hope that you enjoy these pictures of different bouquets that I have put together using flowers from plants that I have both in my front and back yard. I can say that I enjoy bringing in flowers inside from outside when available because I do enjoy the color and life they can bring into an inside space. I like to make arrangements that are somewhat organized but at the same time don't look like they are trying too hard and just are beautiful on their own. Kind of like my yard currently that I probably should mow but enjoy the unorganized and a bit messy clover and wildflowers (what most consider to be weeds) grow in my yard that are in sharp contrast to the organized landscaping plots that also have a lot of weeds right now if I am being honest. Anyway, I thought I would start the post off with the simple, but breathtaking beauty of flowers.

Along the same lines, my garden is doing okay. I had a friend give me about twelve green bean plants and they are doing pretty well and I have harvested a modest amount of green beans. I have had a colleague and his wife bring me two rather large and established tomato plants and literally dug up some ground and planted them then and there. My tomato seedlings are still small and I am not sure if I am going to get any tomatoes from the ones I started from seed. I have a couple of cucumber seedlings, but once again not sure if they will produce. I need to rehaul my garden again by digging up the ground and adding a lot more soil and nutrition to the ground. I have had some surprises though in terms of a borage plant looking magnificent and I have five big garlic cloves that will be ready for harvest soon!

Since Zoe has been gone in Korea (she comes back this week, yay!), I have managed to watch some TV/movies. I have watched all the episodes of season 2 of Poker Face and I am enjoying it. I think it is a bit less dark or scary (if I can say that) compared to some episodes from season 1 and I think I enjoy it being a bit lighter this season so far (but maybe that is just my feeling). In the latest episode, one of the characters was born in Springfield, Missouri (where I'm from), and that was cool.

I watched the first episode of season 3 of The Gilded Age and I am already into it, but as you know I like this show. I would like season 4 of Abbott Elementary to come out on Max, but I am not sure if or when that is going to happen. I might have to find another way to watch season 4.

I've watched a couple of movies. The first was Casablanca, the 1942 film with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. I have to say the movie seems as relevant as ever and for some reason I feel like acting back in the 40s and 50s was on another level. I have seen Humphrey Bogart in other films that he did with Lauren Bacall, and he was a force!

Other than that, yesterday I was looking for a good movie to watch. Max recommended under the romance genre (I guess) We Live in Time (2024) with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh and I thought it looked interesting. I would recommend this movie, but it was very sad and I am still feeling the feelings about it. I would agree with some critics that some of the writing and details could have been a touch better, but the acting and the chemistry was excellent. It is one of those movies that I think reminds you to cherish the time you have, your loved ones, and the things that are dear to you that aren't really about money or material possessions.

As far as reading, I am reading The Hours (1998), the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Michael Cunningham. It was also made into a movie. I am finding it interesting and another reality to imagine myself in. Lately, I haven't done much in the way of writing or working on any of my novels. I would like to work on Betty and Clark to self-publish this summer, but in some ways I am not sure if I am emotionally ready to go back to that story right now. My relationship with Clark of Betty and Clark and of the third novel I wrote last summer is very meaningful to me but at the same time it is deep and complex. I am not sure if we will reconnect again in the future and if his story will still continue even after the novel I wrote last summer, but I do know that distance, time, and space do not seem to be an issue. When Clark wants to find me and connect for a while, he finds a way with not much effort on his part it seems and it is on me to make the space to sit with him for a while.

What else? I finished an online class about the Biblical character of Abraham through The Bible Project that was very illuminating and provided a lot of insight. I have barely started the next class on Jacob. They are pretty in-depth and get into the details of every verse and even every word, but it has helped me to understand better, which helps me to grow in my faith and my relationship with Yahweh. I am to the point in my life that I am seeking and really wanting to know the Bible more completely, what it is actually saying and means, and how this whole story (the Bible) is more than I can even comprehend or imagine, and how I fit into this story and what Yahweh God is saying to me through it today. At this time, it has emerged as one of the most important things in my life and the influence that it has and should have in all aspects of my life.

I believe that my faith even influences or has influenced my writing and my relationship with Clark as mentioned above. I know that a lot of Christians and believers would probably judge me for my novels and not want their children to read them or be anywhere close to my novels (and I agree, my novels are not for children), but also believe that real life is messy and that God can use our stories-even messy ones-in meaningful ways. I don't think by reading my novels that someone should question their whole life or ideas about sex for example because they read something one of my character does or even accept what they do/did (because I wouldn't and don't), but we might learn something about ourselves or other people in the process.

There are many other important issues and points that I could have written on about the state of the country, but ended up taking a more meta approach to this post in some ways at least towards the latter half. I hope that it gives you some insights into my life right now and even some ideas or things to think about or at the very least a TV show or movie to check out.

Please take care now!