A Sweet Hodgepodge

A big thank you to Joyce @ From This Side of the Pond for providing the questions and hosting us all for the Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. The sweetness of summer...where have you found it recently? If you're in the Southern hemisphere, feel free to tell us about the sweetness you're finding in winter.  In this most unusual year, I haven't found it in the usual places...no fairs, festivals, concerts, ball games or amusement parks...but more in the small things...a child's delight in bubbles floating on a summer breeze; the "ooh's" and "aah's" at the wonder of a neighbor's colorful fireworks show; the sweet burst of a just-picked blueberry on the tongue; the twinkling magic of a tree full of lightning bugs; the majesty of a summer rainstorm; a cool, dewy morning after days and days of sweltering heat; and the feel of the soil as I tend the garden.

2. Take your sweet time, sweet tooth, home sweet home, short but sweet, the sweet smell of success, sweet talk...choose a sweet idiom and tell us how it fits your life currently?  I'll go with sweet tooth, because I found a container of White House Cherry ice cream at the grocery store on Sunday. I'm not a big ice cream eater, but White House Cherry is my one exception and it's really hard to find around here. Usually, if I do find it, the ice cream is pink. No, no, no, NO! The ice cream must be white with sweet red cherries in it. I only know of one company that sells in our area that makes it right and every summer I watch for it. So, since I found it. I've been enjoying a scoop or two every evening. Yum!

3. Sweet as honey, sweet as sugar, or sweet as pie, which phrase do you use when a sweet phrase is called for? What's the last sweet treat you indulged in?  I actually don't use any of those phrases and as for the sweet treat, that would be the above mentioned ice cream.

4. First thing that comes to mind when you hear the word fidget?  Both of my grandsons and me when we're supposed to sit still. We all fidget and squirm in our seats. Seriously, I'm 55 and I am always moving and readjusting at church, the hair salon, the movies, etc. I hope the boys grow out of it, but I don't know...

5. Share with us one of your favorite childhood travel memories.  We didn't really travel much when I was a kid other than one or two vacations that I've previously shared about and the constant back and forth trips to my grandparents' home. That was a 3-hour drive one way and I usually slept through most of it.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  Speaking of that 3-hour drive...I am making it again today. Megan and Colton and Leah are accompanying me. This is the next step in meeting the relative I didn't know I had. Today I am going to meet my half-brother, the sibling closest in age to me. I'll also meet his wife and daughters. 

I'm excited and a bit nervous, too. I do know that they are quite a bit more liberal than I am and even though my brother has a masters degree in American Religious History, he doesn't particularly believe in God and he definitely doesn't believe in organized religion. Still, I can remain neutral. I hope they can, too. His daughters are excited and are planning to make us a big brunch of eggs, potatoes and pancakes when we arrive.

I hope I will also get to see my father again and introduce him to his granddaughter and great-grandchildren. I have a gift for him, too. A photo block and mug with pictures of our first meeting.

I am also meeting up with a cousin on my mom's side to give him all of my dad's slides. He is going to transfer them to CD or DVD for us. I'm sure he will do a good job, but I have to admit I'm nervous about leaving all the slides with him. We don't have copies or photos made from them if something would happen. It's worth the risk, though, to be able to see them again and share the pictures from my childhood and the years we lived in the wildlife preserve with my kids and grandkids.

So, big day. I'll catch up with everyone late tonight or tomorrow morning.