City Girl? Country Girl?

I think I am officially a part-time resident of Roswell, Georgia. 

I now have a primary care physician here and I like him. Already he has made a difference in my health. Today I began a four-week schedule of physical therapy. I have joined a gym and I go there once a week to walk in the water at the pool. 

Tonight I realized I am truly learning to live as a city person. I called and ordered dinner for myself, drove over in the dark of night, and picked it up. I don't like to drive at night, and driving in the city at night is a little scary with all the traffic and bright lights in my eyes. But I made it and did not get lost.

If you live in a city or have lived in a city, you probably smile at my being concerned about going out at night and bringing home my dinner. But I have always lived a rural life and I love it. I can drive all over Clay County NC day or night with no qualms. And when we complain about the traffic it is because the summer people have arrived for a few months. I might have to wait a few minutes before I can drive out on Highway 64 and head to Hayesville five miles down the road. I admit, I don't drive at night much anymore even in North Carolina, because my vision is not so good. Here in Roswell, I ride with my sister or her husband driving. My car sits in the yard covered with pollen most of the time. 

But this week I decided to get out and do some things on my own. The exciting part of that is I have begun my deck garden here like the one I have at home. The shocker is how expensive everything is in the city. But I forgot that as I potted plants and got my hands really dirty again.

Got my hummingbird feeder up but so far no one has visited

I saw these cute little birds that hang on my pots and love the owl and the cardinal.

As you can see, a lovely little lake lies beyond my deck. Today the ducks were loud and flapping away.

Lexie loves our deck and is very happy to be outside when I am working with the plants.

In the big blue pot is an azalea with some creeping jenny at the base of it. It will be pretty. 
The yellow flower claims to be a pollinator and will entice birds, bees, and butterflies.

Although I plan to go back to Hayesville for most of the summer months, I will come back here often to visit, see my doctor and spend time in my comfortable apartment. I am so fortunate! Gay has a housekeeper come every couple of weeks and she cleans my place as well. In Hayesville, it has become very hard for me to find help. Wish I could do all my housework as I once did, but sadly I have to depend on others for the hard stuff.

Her is another of my poems for you. 

Gardening Then and Now, July 2015

                 By Glenda Council Beall 

Once tall azaleas sprawled
across my ground, pinks, whites
and lavenders. Outside my door,
blue hydrangeas bloomed.

Gardenias’ fragrance filled
my yard space, sent me back
in time to bell-shaped skirts,
verandahs in a fantasy southland.

Today I water red geraniums,
pink petunias in pots stacked
and spread across my porch perched
above tree limbs decorated with yellow
finches, Carolina wrens, and blue buntings.

I watch tomato vines, squash blossoms,
a spineless melon plant climb up wire cages.
No longer do I wipe sweat, kneel on hard soil,
bend to dig in dirt, and pray the deer don’t eat

my seedlings. From my easy chair, I observe
my favorite things in my container garden—hovering
hummingbirds, butterflies, and squirrels. I smile
as a doe and two young fawns pass by below.

Holidays - soon they will be over, but we have memories to keep

It is almost 2018 here in the United States, but some of you live in other places and have celebrated the coming of the New Year.

As the year ends I am concentrating on my blessings of the past twelve months. I am not going to make resolutions. I never do. I like the idea of choosing a word for the year and letting that word guide you through everything you do in the coming months. I subscribed to a site that will send me a directory to use to choose my word. I will work on that tomorrow, but tonight I am listening to the angelic voices of Celtic Woman and writing my posts for this weekend.

I have spent the holidays with my sister and brother-in-law, Gay and Stu, and it has been great. I sleep whenever I want or need to, and eat whenever I get hungry. I go to good restaurants we don't have in the mountains and experience different foods or good food that I don't give myself permission to purchase at home where I am on a frugal budget, frugal for my bank account and for my health account. I have enjoyed a two week vacation in the city. My bedroom is private and so comfortable. I look out over a pond with wildlife and woods surround the house on three sides. 

I have access to the kitchen at any time to cook or to raid the refrigerator. My hosts went away for a few days, and I had the entire place to myself. 

Today we went to see Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman. (Hugh is Barry's first name) It was fun, exciting and filled with uplifting music and story. He is the epitome of a great actor. He sings, dances better than anyone, and has a smile that melts the viewer. In one scene of this movie, for about one minute, his face alone expressed amazement, enjoyment, wonder and sadness - that was miraculous. His movies that I have seen are all great entertainment and show his singing and acting abilities. I would not want to see Wolverine and I think those were movies to make money which they did, but the kinds of movies I like have drama, sentiment and character at which Jackman excels. The Greatest Showman is a PG movie which I also liked. No f-words or unnecessary sex scenes. I'm glad the public is embracing this movie.

We came away feeling happy. We all need to do that this time of year when so many are fearful of what is to come. 

I also took advantage of the Downton Abbey Marathon this weekend. When I could not sleep last night, I watched several episodes and another this morning. Of course I have seen them all, but it was fun to re-visit those delightful characters again. If I could go into a time machine and visit another time and place, I would go to old England where gentility and respect prevailed. I know what I see on TV and movies is mostly fictional, but I can dream, can't I?

As we head into the next twelve months, we don't know what lies ahead, but I am holding on to my belief that good will prevail over evil. I am not a Polly Anna, but I do believe that we reap what we sow. 

When we make good moral decisions and think about the benefits to others, we make this a better world. We can look for the best when choosing people who make our laws. We can listen to the needs of those who don't have a voice in our culture. 

What can we give? We can give love, caring and concern for those who need it. I don't have money to give to all the charities that ask me for donations. But I can give encouragement, support and my time. No one can buy these things for another, but we can offer them to people we know. All around us are men and women who are suffering in some way. Perhaps they are worried about their future, their children, their parents and just need a good listener. I am not a certified counselor, but I can listen and encourage. I need that kind of person in my life and I imagine many others need that person, too.

I wish for all my readers the happiest and healthiest coming year. May your problems be small and your dreams be fulfilled, may your joys in simple things bring you laughter and love, and "May the Good Lord Take a Liking to You."