Solve the mystery of The Persistent Stranger

 

(redacted to protect writer)

It all began on the 20^th with a text and a picture from a number I don’t know.

Neighbors

          My morning walks around our complex are usually just me, my headphones, and the news.

Blooming Late

          During my years as a stay-at-home mom, I was always looking for something to fill my day.

Hole On One

 

     My golf game is unpredictable at best.

Brand New Day

     The signs of a new start are everywhere – even on the pickleball court:

Living in the Moment

It occurred to me today that not unlike humans dealing with dementia, it must be terrifying to be a dog and only live in the now. 

One More Day

Outside of initially believing it was Saturday, reading Friday’s newspaper and deciding I’d been wrong and it must be Friday, then finding the correct paper and learning that, yes, it really was Saturday, yesterday was stunningly dull, but kind of soothing.

Change of Pace

 My words have been a bit dark lately, so how about some images instead. These are all from the two laps I do around our small complex each morning. It's pretty repetitive, but there's often something new to see.  

 

 

 Florida can be surprisingly drab

 

 

 

 

 

 

But then you turn a corner, 

and. . 

(And by the way, why can't I place photos side by side anymore? Thank you, new Blogger.)

Some of our resident wildlife. 

Yes, we have our own gator. This is the larger of the two. They seem to stay in the lagoons, but sometimes I feel like I'm walking bacon on a leash when I take Mamie out.

 

 

 

 

These tree roots fascinate me every time I pass by them. 

They look enchanted, like something from Lord of the Rings.

And this discard from a palm tree looks like finely shellacked mahogany. 

Doesn't it look as though we should be able to make something beautiful from it?

 

This wild area is across the street, but with the rampage of new construction going on, it likely won't last much longer. 

And finally, last night's sunset.

 

Ignorance, Isolation, and Insurrection

     In the latter part of my career, I was coordinator for my high school’s International Baccalaureate Programme. By their latest definition -

A worldwide, nonprofit education program founded to give all students the opportunity to receive an education fit for a globalizing world. 

Thank you, Blogland

 

Being in Florida is lovely, but it’s definitely a different climate – in every sense of the word - than Massachusetts.

Yes, Words Matter

 

     This has been quite the week. With the legions of people discussing, explaining, analyzing, justifying, and obfuscating, I wouldn't dream of adding my own two cents. (Whoops. Metaphor alert!)  Commentators have been working overtime, and so have the metaphors. To share just a few, these heard on the various news reports seem to track events fairly accurately.

Well under the radar

House of mirrors, poisoning followers (a mixed metaphor if ever there was one. 

Stonewalling

Tool in the toolbox 

Monkey wrench thrown into the process

Genie out of the bottle

Snowball set in motion

They're pounding on the door - Oh, wait, that's from a loan company's ad about creditors. . . . 

Rock bottom week for the GOP

Rats fleeing a sinking ship

      And some metaphors from the international outlook:

"America no longer defines the course, and therefore has lost all right to set it." (Konstantin Kosachey, chairman of the Russian upper house foreign affairs committee.) 

      But more hopefully:

"A new chapter of U.S. democracy" will begin in two weeks. (Angela Merkel)