May 2024- Already!

It’s already May the 9th. This year is flying by. I told a friend a couple of years ago that it seems like it’s always Thursday and here we are, Thursday again. And it’s in the 80s here with heat index in the 90s. Sunny. Though we expect storms tomorrow.

I really don’t have anything fun to write about this month. I had an auditor here last week for my official position and even though I know they always find some nit-picking things, it is still stressful to have them in your office digging around in your files trying to zing you. And the preparation is a pain too as they don’t tell you in advance what cases they want to look at so they all need to be shipshape. We tend to slack on hole punching files here sometimes. I complain ALL the time about that, but it’s like talking into a void.

The guy tried to write me up on two things that he said he didn’t think I was following the handbook. Advice: Don’t mess with lawyers because they will pull out the handbook and read you the words in there. 🙂 One thing said it had to be done in a reasonable time” and he tried to tell me that meant 30 days. The handbook said “reasonable time” and I said, “Define reasonable. If they meant 30 days, they should say 30 days.” The other was on my accounts receivable. I have a log I use on the computer. He said I’m supposed to be using a particular program. Nope. Read that handbook again, my man. The dude ended up backing off of those two things pretty swiftly. I’m an advocate for my clients, but also for myself. LOL

Nothing else much to report this month. I wrote over 14,000 words in April and these are the first words I have written in May that aren’t legal words. Last week was a bust and so far this week, it is again. I’ve had a lot of court and work to get ready for court. Since everything at work is electronic, at some point, I can’t deal with looking at a screen any longer. Whine, whine, whine. 🙂 I’ll get back on track soon as I always do.

Jewelry, Gem and Mineral Show Treasures

Jillian here. Happy April. One time a very long time ago when my kids were still at home, we happened to be on vacation at a friend’s cabin in North Carolina and there was a gem show while we were there. There are also a lot of gem mines in NC and we mined at a couple and it was a blast. I bought a couple of pieces way back then that I still wear.

This past weekend, there was a jewelry, gem and mineral show here and I went and had a great time. I bought a few things on Saturday and went back on Sunday to pick up another couple that I was thinking about. Luckily, the admission ($4.00) was good for all weekend.

I didn’t take pictures of the sun catchers, selenite bowl, and jasper I got on Sunday but here are the pictures of my Saturday haul. A Madagascar banded agate, a selenite egg, an Australian Opal necklace with white topazes, an ammolite necklace from Canada, and a jade money frog. You put a penny in his mouth. His back legs are crossed so the penny is saved and thus, you save money. LOL. I just thought he was adorable. I also got a little heart rock car decoration. So cute. I think it goes on the visor but mine was too thick.

It was so fun to browse and choose what spoke to me.

March- Haiku

Jillian here. It’s March already and close to double digits in the days. Wow. Time change weekend, too. The one that kicks my rear and makes me drag my tailfeathers (to quote my mom) for months as I try to recover that hour of sleep. Such a vital hour for me.

As I pondered what to write about this month for this post, I thought about an article I read from AuthorsPublish.com where the author talked about keeping a haiku diary as a form of honing her craft as well as keeping a journal. Link to article

Some folks might have seen my FB post about cutting my foot and bleeding all over the house. Well, it was because I wrote a haiku in my sleep and needed to get it down for posterity before I forgot it. Didn’t know the husband had left broken glass all over the floor! Never let it be said I won’t bleed for my art. 🙂

Here is the haiku that came to me at 5 a.m:

Unpredictable

Cold, windy, and blustery

Then March sunshine comes

Then, for good measure I wrote one about my foot as I was working on this post:

Idea, rise, glass

foot, blood, ouch, mess, help not come

find bandage, help self

Using the 5/7/5 syllable pattern, in the comments, tell me how your day or week is going. 🙂 Carry on with your March and have a great rest of the month.

Historical Area -Pensacola- Black History Month

Jillian here. Happy February. Since it’s Black History month, I thought I’d share a bit of Pensacola’s Black History. We have a rich cultural history here for the African American community. My office is very close to the area I plan to focus on today. It is called “The Blocks or the area of Belmont and Devilliers Street. This is a traditionally Black neighborhood and played a big part in the music scene in the early days of the blues. Many, many of the famous singers you know made their way here and played their music. Sam Cooke, B.B.King, Louis Armstrong, and Percy Sledge to name a few.

One of the places I love to eat is called Five Sisters Café. In fact, I ate there yesterday with five friends (haha- no pun intended). It’s good old soul food and they serve huge portions. It is decorated with old posters from blues shows as well as old photos of the people who lived in the area. Long ago, the building housed Gussie’s record Shop. I love this old neighborhood and am glad it is undergoing some revitalization by the city but I hope they don’t take it too far and that it loses its character. Sometimes, revitalization can lead to pricing the members of the community out of their homes and neighborhoods. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen since there is so much history here.

Another place to eat there in “The Blocks” is Blue Dot BBQ. Basically, the menu is hamburger or cheeseburger with no special orders. You get it like it is. The other thing on the menu is ribs which you can get as a slab or sandwich. Chips and canned soda. That’s it. The whole menu. But some say, and I agree, it’s the best burger out there.

Another great place to eat soul food (which is in another downtown area) that has now been closed since we got hit by Hurricane Ivan is H & O Restaurant. I drive by there all the time and I hate that is looks so haunted now. I plan to set a story there since the building “speaks” to me. They had the best lima beans and country-fried steak back in the day.

Some links for your leisure reading:

Pensacola Blues History

Five Sisters Blues Café

Blue Dot BBQ

H&O Restaurant (which reads like it’s still open, but it isn’t)

Sam Cooke – Chain Gang

Things We Discover in a Cemetery

Jillian here. Happy January. Like Laurie, I didn’t know what to write about this month. All the New Year, New Me stuff bores me so I didn’t want to go there with this post. Instead, I thought about one of the things I like to do, which may sound macabre to some, but I enjoy walking in old cemeteries. They truly are peaceful to me and soothe my soul.

I took some pictures as I usually do on my visits and these four are pretty poignant to me. The cemetery is one of the oldest in Pensacola and it called St. John’s. It is pretty close to my office so I sometimes go there on my lunch hour. It is old but still actively burying people. Some are people I know.

The Perry family is a prominent one from way back in our history– both in Pensacola and in the state. We had a Governor Perry and there is a town named Perry on the other side of Tallahassee. The three graves here in the Perry plot make me sad as none of these men had a chance to grow old. William Allen Perry- even though it looks like he was born in 1844, it is actually 1814, but either way, he was young–only 39–when he died. George Perry–who has no date of birth on his tombstone, died at age 52 in 1862, so we can presume he was born in 1810. This makes me think these two were brothers except for the fact that William’s tombstone says he was the son of Captain George and Polly Perry and George’s doesn’t mention parents. Unless the parents were deceased by then so weren’t around to add their names. Which makes sense to me.

The other George Perry only lived 30 years, 6 months and 21 days. Someone loved him so dearly, they counted the number of days he was given on this Earth. I have wondered what was the cause of death of these Perry men? All very young. Of course, we know medicine wasn’t all that advanced and a mere infection could be the end of you back then. I also wonder if the George who died in 1862 was a civil war soldier, but I imagine he would have been old to be on the battlefield.

Salena Smith Wilson is buried nearby, but not in the Perry plot so she isn’t related to them. She was only 25. I imagine she might have passed in childbirth, but can’t know that. On the Findagrave website, she has parents and two siblings listed but not the spouse and no children. This doesn’t really prove anything as that site is one that anyone who signs up can edit. But I think about poor Salena and her short life and the husband who loved her.

I do enjoy my walks in the cemeteries. It piques my curiosity as well as stimulates my imagination. I’ve taken many a name from a tombstone as a character name in a book. First names, especially. 

What about you? Do you like to stroll through cemeteries?

Recapturing Memories

Jillian here. December already?!? This is a tree in downtown Pensacola in a breezeway between shops. Isn’t it pretty?

I have had a hard time since my mother passed away remembering her as she was before the change in her in the last months of her life. A good friend reassured me that what I was feeling was normal due to the trauma of those months that I may not have even been aware I was experiencing. This friend had a similar experience with the death of one of her parents and said it would take some time for the memories of my mom how she really was to return.

This week, I had a bit of a glimmer of hope that I would one day recall all the fun times and how much Mom enjoyed life when I was watching a show I discovered about a month ago that has been rerunning on our PBS station. It’s called “Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.” I understand this show still has new episodes in the UK so I hope for more of these as they are super fun to watch.

I think they are also available on Pluto and Tubi TV for free here in USA.

The premise of the show is that two celebrities team up with two experts in antiques and drive around in classic cars searching antique stores for items to auction. They each start out with 400 pounds to spend and, at the end of the episode, they take the items to auction to see who did the best shopping. The auction parts are usually pretty funny as they can totally bomb and it’s very competitive between the teams.

You may ask how this show helped me remember my mom as she was. She loved, loved, loved going to these kinds of shops. A fun day out for her was looking at every item in the shops. She didn’t always buy something but she loved to pick up the little things and explore. She collected bells, birds, wreaths, and other things. She was a magpie and absolutely had a blast milling around and inspecting tchotchkes. My sister went with her most of the time but I went too, on occasion. My sister would get frustrated sometimes with the touching everything Mom liked to do.

When I was younger, we went to the local auctions all the time where they auctioned small items as well as big furniture items, but they phased out the regular ones and we haven’t been in years. Mom would get so excited bidding, she’d sometimes end up with stuff she didn’t really want. She especially loved to bid on the boxes of things the auction house would pile together to make less sale lots. She enjoyed the discovery of what treasure might be in the bottom of the box.

Thanks to this show, I’ve recaptured a bit of my mom, and for that, I’m grateful.

Hope everyone enjoys their holidays this month no matter which you celebrate.

NaNoWriMo, Veteran’s Day, and Historical Cemeteries

Jillian here. Happy November. The end of the year is galloping toward us and it seems like it’s always Thursday. The weeks are flying by. I’m participating in National novel writing month again and working on book three in a series. I haven’t had any of them published yet as I’d like to have at least three done before I put them out there to ease a bit of pressure to keep going. 😀

This series has a protagonist who can see and talk to spirits. I’m using our local lore regarding historical figures as well as some of our famous deceased community members. Andrew Jackson, who was the first governor of Florida, has been an integral part of all the stories.

We have two historical cemeteries here in town. One is St. Michael’s which no longer is an active burial ground. Many of the city’s founders and historically significant people are buried there. The other is St. John’s which also has some famous folks buried there. Some with much more colorful pasts and a few of them will be in this latest story. This cemetery is still active and many locals are still being buried there. I love walking around both these places and looking at the graves. It’s kind of a thing for me when I travel too. Old cemeteries are just so cool and the memorials are fascinating.

In honor of Veterans Day, I thought I’d share one of the veterans buried in St. John’s (if I recall, there are close to 130 out there). Lt. Louis C. Hightower is the one I want to highlight today. He was the inspiration for Prince Charming in Walt Disney’s Snow White movie. Pretty cool, huh? See below.

Pensacola’s most famous Madam is also buried in St. John’s. The good ladies of the church had her tombstone removed because people would visit and leave keepsakes or merely touch her tombstone in order to bring themselves good luck in love. Eventually, the better citizens (and that’s my opinion  😀 ) of the city replaced her headstone and now the same thing happens. Last time I was in the cemetery, there were baubles on her grave. Two lovely bracelets among them. 

Railroad Bill, Morris Slater, is an infamous man buried there— the most famous Black train robber. There’s even a song about him. He  was a worker who became disgruntled with how employees were treated where he worked and he became a train robber. He stole goods from the freight trains and tossed them off the train to help the people of the Black community. It’s also rumored he sold some of the goods as well. Most of his activities were in the southern part of Alabama in cities close to Pensacola. He shot a deputy in Bay Minette (about 30 miles from where I live) and also shot Sheriff McMillan (an ancestral family member of a friend of mine) in Brewton which is about 50 miles in the other direction from me. And that always makes me think of the song, I Shot the Sheriff.  Link

Railroad Bill didn’t have a great fate. He was ambushed and killed. They then embalmed him and took his body on a tour like a freak show. No matter what he did in life, I believe he didn’t deserve that. Eventually, he was buried in St. John’s in an unmarked grave in the African American section which was more like a potters field. His grave was rediscovered and marked. See below for his neat tombstone.

And now you know way more than you ever wanted to know about this old cemetery that fascinates me. 😀

Honor a veteran this month. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving for those who celebrate. 

My Dad, My Hero

Jillian here. It’s August already. Wow. This is going to be long, so feel free to skim….

My dad has always been my hero. He’s the strong, silent type and rarely says he loves me but I know he does. He has shown his love for his family every day of our lives. He had two daughters and if he was asked if he wished he had sons, he never swayed from stating he was absolutely proud to be the father of daughters. Neither my sister nor I were ever told we couldn’t do something because we are females. We couldn’t have asked for a more supportive father.

He served in the Navy for nine years and then federal civil service for thirty-one years. His civil service was around the globe in a number of hot spots, including Saudi Arabia, El Salvador, Columbia, and other places. He traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, Central America, and Australia. He was brave and never flinched from where the government sent him. He did say once, that when he landed in a particular country and the person greeting him at the helicopter to take him where he needed to go handed him two side arms to keep on him at all times for protection, he was a bit daunted by that.

If I had trouble with anyone, he was ready to defend me. Even calling our church preacher one time and threatening to kick his butt when the man told me I was going to hell for quitting the youth choir. A few years ago, I was upset with someone and he asked, “Who do I need to beat up?” It’s pretty funny because, normally, my dad is the gentlest of souls, but bother one of his chicks, and he can be ferocious.

He truly proved his heroism to me these last months. My mother had dementia and she was coping pretty well with it for about eighteen months. Sadly, my great-nephew, her oldest great-grandson, passed away after two weeks in a coma. The day the doctor told us he’d probably never wake up, she burst into tears and said, “I’ll be dead in a few months.”

That was pretty much the last day she was the mom I knew and loved. She spiraled into the abyss then. The dementia took over. She could still talk, eat, and take care of her needs like showering but needed help with some of it. Dad had been helping out with cooking and things for over a year, but as she deteriorated, he was doing more and more.

Her hallucinations got worse and he’d call me in the middle of the night to come as he couldn’t stop her from roaming around the house and inside and out the door into the yard. She ended up hospitalized four times with hysteria and dehydration as she’d stopped taking food. Dad would give her sweets as that’s all she wanted. It was to the point we had to give her something and milk shakes with ensure was her only nutrition on some of the days.

As she worsened, he was changing her Depends, helping with baths and basically all her needs. He was determined to keep her at home.

Eventually, he made the decision he couldn’t keep doing it as she kept sliding off the couch (she’d become fearful of sleeping in the bed) and he couldn’t lift her dead weight. At first, she could help climb up, but by then, she couldn’t.

We were able to get her into a memory care center. He went every day to be with her even when all she would do was sleep and mumble. She only lived seven days in the memory center, passing on the morning of the eighth day.

Dad truly showed how heroic he actually was with the loving care he gave to my mom in her last months. In the hospital, he was her advocate and at home, he nursed her as if he was born to do it. He’d taken care of his own father at the last stages of his life as well. From a man whose wife always had dinner on the table when he walked in the door at the end of the work day to a man who had to help that wife to her final rest, he was a hero. An absolute hero.

To my friends here at OTBF, you’ve all been my heroes too. From your support for me these last months to the emails cheering me on since my mom’s death, to the beautiful plant you sent, I thank you from the depths of my soul. You’re all superstars. Here is a picture of the plant. I will update as it grows.

July Already?!

Jillian here. This year has gone fast even though my family has been going through a lot of things/stress. It will be December before we know it and Christmas will be upon us. I hate to say, but we will be missing some people this year when we gather for the season and it is going to be hard.

Treasure your loved ones while you can. As we age, it seems like we lose friends and family too often. Even young family members on occasion. I was thinking this morning about my family members we lost during Covid. My uncle (Dad’s brother) would have been 80 on the 9th and my husband’s nephew would be closing in on 40 in the next year. They are very missed–my uncle kept me entertained with jokes and memes–I miss seeing his emails and FB messages. A more recent loss was a family member who was two months short of his 21st birthday. That one hit hard, too. A wonderful young man with a cool personality (see below for last Christmas).

So, as we sit in the heat, with Christmas in July movies on the television, I sadly think of the much different holiday season that will be 2023. Don’t you sometimes wish you could go back to when you were the kid and all you had to worry about was what would be in your stocking? When your parents, grandparents, cousins and others surrounded each other with love, friendship and shenanigans. Oh, to be able to go back and see all of the ones we’ve lost over the years. What a gift that would be.

Happy Juneteenth!

Jillian here. Happy June. Juneteenth is a now a federal holiday (since 2021)—If you’re unfamiliar with Juneteenth, here is a link with the history. Basically, it’s a commemoration of the end of slavery in Texas. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863, since Texas had seceded from the Union, it wasn’t really enforceable as there weren’t really any union troops in the area at that time. With the war ending in April 1865, there still wasn’t a way to enforce it until Major General Gordon Granger signed an Order on June 19, 1865 declaring the slaves free. The word Juneteenth was coined putting together June and 19^th.

Dido Elizabeth Belle (LINK) was the child of a female slave in the West Indies by the name of Maria Belle. Her father was Sir John Lindsay, a British Naval Captain stationed there.  John Lindsay brought the child back to England with him and had his uncle (the first Earl of Mansfield) raise the child alongside a cousin who the uncle and aunt were already raising. An interesting side note—Lindsay paid for the freedom of Maria Belle and granted ten acres to her in Pensacola where she built a home.

Dido was raised as an English gentlewoman and eventually married and had three children. A movie was made about her in 2013 and its called Belle. It’s very loosely based on the truth. LOL! 

The reason I bring all this up is on Saturday, June 10, an organization I’m in along with the local chapter of the National Coalition of Black Women are having a Juneteenth celebration where we are going to a private theater and watching the movie, Belle, and then going to a place downtown named Adonna’s (link) which is a local bakery/café. We’re having tea there with assorted sandwiches (chicken salad, cucumber cream cheese, Southern pimento cheese), a macron, pastry, and a pot of tea.

We’re also going to hear from Margo Stringfield, a local researcher with the University Of West Florida Archeology department about her research into Dido’s mother, Maria and her connection to Pensacola. I can’t wait. It’s going to be really interesting to learn more. Check out some info here.

I’m really looking forward to this event. It’s a great way to help our community celebrate Juneteenth and foster a good relationship with another organization. It’s going to be a very nice day out.