"May the 4th Be With You"

Star Wars has been an important part of my life since 1977.  It was the last movie that my brother and I saw together and one of the few that we both became obsessed with immediately.  I had Star Wars sheets, a Darth Vadar doll and had a big crush on Luke Skywalker.  

Although my crush didn't last more than a few years, I have been a fan of the series for the past five decades.  I saw the subsequent movies in theaters, got excited for the prequels, watched the finals three movies as well as along with the offshoots, Solo and Rogue One.  I even watched all of the Star Wars based television series that Disney+ came up with over the past few years and anxiously await the new Mandalorian and Grogu movie coming out on the big screen this month.

I am glad that my love of Star Wars carried over to my children.  They may not all match my level of enthusiasm for it, but each has seen the movies and know enough to be able to answer my question "Who is your favorite character in Star Wars, and is this person the best hero in the series?" Thankfully, two of them had the "correct" answer right away saying Obi-Wan and yes.  Cameron got a pass as he had a good argument with Obi-Wan as favorite character and Luke as the best hero.  Brett, however, even got a head shaking response from Doug when he said that "Qui Gon was his hero and Darth Plagius the Wise was his favorite character."  I almost kicked him out of the group chat for that answer, but then I remembered that he was the one who just sold his At-At Walker for over a $100 on eBay.  Who am I to argue with his opinion after that.

The "Big Ugly" Challenge

Cameron called today to announce that he and two of his friends had completed the "Big Ugly" challenge at Bub's Burgers, a local restaurant down the street from his apartment.  I had never heard of the challenge before, so Cameron explained that the goal was to eat an entire one-pound hamburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions in one sitting.  Those completing the challenge would get their picture on the wall in celebration of the moment.

I was glad to hear that Cameron had succeeded in his quest.  He was proud of the accomplishment and subsequent picture, but most importantly had a lot of fun completing it with his friends.  I asked him what he ate the rest of the day and wasn't too surprised to hear that it was "very little - a handful of almonds and a scoop of ice cream at the end of the day."  College is supposed to be fun.  This semester hasn't quite been that for Cameron with all of the commitments that he has had.  Hopefully, a break this summer will really help.  Either way, only one more year to go.

A Servant's Heart

Every week at mass, the priest talks about service and giving of ones "time, talent and treasurers."  When we first moved down here, I was overwhelmed with the thought of it all.  In August of 2023, we didn't have much to give monetarily and I never felt like I ever had a "talent" that would serve the church.  I was exhausted from the move and after spending a good part of my life volunteering, I definitely didn't feel as though I had any time to give.  

Thankfully, all of that has changed in the past three years.  I have been able to create a budget that always gives to others including the church first, and I have found a way to give my time in a way that works best for our schedule and Blessed Trinity's needs.  I realize that working in the gift shop after 11 a.m. mass isn't a large commitment compared to how much I had volunteered in the past, but it does help.  During that hour, fellow parishioners in need of a gift for a First Communicant, or a card for a newly ordained priest, or a religious statue for their home have a place to shop, ask questions and mostly importantly feel part of our church's community.  One day, I even stayed late so that an elderly woman had a place to rest while waiting on her son to pick her up from mass enabling me to use what I believe is my greatest talent - compassion.

Soon, I will be even busier serving the church as I will be the Parliamentarian for CCW.  My role will not be as big as when I was treasurer, but it will be an important one.  Plus, I will be able to support the newly elected President as she has become one of my closest friends in Ocala.  It may not seem like much, but being a part of our church's community has truly changed my life and has made me realize that no act of service is too small in the eyes of God.  

Welcomed Visitors

Doug and I spent the morning in the yard repotting plants and trimming trees.  With that, the long walk at Sholom Park and the heat, we were both pretty tired when we finally sat down to rest this afternoon.  I had just asked Doug what he wanted to watch on television tonight when the phone rang.  It was Meg.  She and Nick had just gotten rained out at Blizzard Beach and were wondering if we wanted visitors.  We quickly said yes and started to make plans for a spaghetti dinner this evening.

Meg and Nick arrived around 7 p.m. tonight and we had a lot of fun visiting with them.  We talked about our week, Nick's time in Ohio, Meg's work, the current Survivor episode and everything else going on in our lives.  Phil joined us out on the patio and spent time defending his stance on underestimating my knowledge of 1970s baseball and taking heat from Meg for not listening to the new Sabrina Carpenter and Madonna duet.  All in all, it was a wonderful evening, and we were very happy to have visitors here in Ocala.  

The Burn Ban

One of Doug and my favorite things to do on weekend nights in Florida is sit out on our back patio with the tiki torches and candles burning enjoying the cool evening weather. It gives us a nice time to relax and catch up on the week that just passed. Unfortunately, Marion County instituted a burn ban recently which changed our routine. We still enjoy our weekend nights on the patio, but it does feel like something is missing when we can’t light up the sky with our tikis.

I had never even thought about there being a burn ban until we got news of wildfires in Northern and Central Florida while we were in California. It made me take our drought a lot more seriously and I am glad to follow the rules as I remember how quickly the grass burned one night after a fallen tiki ember lit it on fire several years ago. I won’t complain too loudly as I know the summer rain will begin soon and the burn ban will be lifted. Until then, I will just enjoy the lights on our tiki bar and small decorative palm tree. They are fun to look at and a lot safer right now.

Unwanted Visitors

Monday morning, I woke up to find a mound of dirt in our backyard behind our lone tree.  My heart sank when I saw it as I wasn't quite sure what caused the huge dirt pile.  It almost looked like a hill of fire ants, but after investigating, I realized that there were no small creatures coming out of it.  My next suspicion was the armadillo that had been crawling around our home at night, but I had never heard of them digging up yards.

Since I had no clue what was causing damage to our yard, I decided to do some research online.  Although Google Gemini agreed that it could be an armadillo, they said that the most plausible answer was either a gopher tortoise or a pocket gopher.  I knew that the first one was a protected species in Florida, so I stopped physically poking around the mound immediately.  Instead, I called the "gopher guy" who I had seen several people post about on our HOA Facebook page.  After not getting an answer or a callback and seeing another hole pop up in our yard on Tuesday morning, I started to panic.  Thankfully, I remembered that our pest control guy was local and that he might have a suggestion.  He instantly texted me back the number of a wildlife company that agreed to come out today.

After walking around our backyard, the trapper told me that it was for sure a pocket gopher and set a live trap in the second mound.  If the gopher wasn't caught in two days, she would fumigate the tunnel on day three.  I was relieved that we had a solution to the problem but soon found out from Doug that we had another unwanted visitor roaming around our backyard.  A black snake had made a home under the grill recently.  Much to the dismay of Doug's coworkers, I instantly spread Epsom salt around the entire grill and fence area where the snake was last seen.  I know it will scare off the rodents, but having a snake in my backyard is too close for comfort to me.  

The Locket

Doug's dad contacted Meg recently to ask her if she had Jeanette's locket from their trip to Alaska many years ago. That seemed strange to me as he knew that Jeanette had given Doug and I the locket several years before she died after telling us the story about panning for gold on their last vacation with Grandma Brucker.  Although she didn't wear the locket often, she did have fond memories of that trip with her mother. 

I hadn't heard Carl mention the locket in years. He had alluded to me several times before we moved to Ocala that it was very valuable, but I knew that the flakes of gold were worthless. I had already asked our jeweler if it was something that I should have insured, but she told me that although it was a great keepsake of Jeanette's trip, it had no monetary value.  Maybe Carl just wanted to know if one of her grandchildren had it, but I was more afraid that he was going to ask for it back. Since Jeanette's intention was for us to keep it for her grandchildren, I had never contemplated giving it back to him.

I did take a picture of the locket today in case Carl texted us about it, but we never heard anything, so I put it back in Grandma Guard's jewelry box with other memory pieces from both sides of our families. That way if any of our children want to see their grandparents' jewelry, I will be able to share it with them.  I have learned over the years that I can't keep everything, but I can hold on to the memories of others that were "priceless" to them.