Sentencing...

I've never been to jail & I have never been arrested.
Not to imply that I have never boken the law, I started doing that at a very young age.I have NEVER had control over my DH, but I have tried to support, love & influence him to make healthy choices.
I knew the police were coming.
Suzie's mom-ality had called my Mother to tell her that it was only a matter of time.
I hid in the back bedroom with an Beatles album...deciding now would be a great time to read every word on the cover, on the sleeve and in the insert.
I was five.I've never called the cops. I'm not a control freak, but feel like I am losing control.
I heard the knock at the door & heard my mother pad her slippers across the sandy floor.
'Paige it's for you...'
I asked her to tell whoever it was that I wasn't home.
'I love you baby, but I cannot lie for you.'
Bam! Bam! Bam! More knocks at the door.
'It's for you. It's two gentlemen. You need to go answer that door.'
And, I did.
My first run-in with the cops.
1972.
Vandalism. Destruction of public property.
My name, my hand prints and some numbers...6-72, I think. If my heart were the sidewalk, he has not only walked all over it, but has also vandalized it with the names, dates & handprints of 1000 lies.
Scribbled and smooshed into the fresh concrete that paved the latest extension to our neighborhood sidewalk.
Suzie's momality yelled at us & we didn't understand why.
She said she was calling the cops & we looked over our shoulders for the 'bad guy,' the stranger, the vicious stray dog.
But all we saw was her...eyebrows wild, hair blowing, arms slapping her sides.
Control freak out of control.
How did she ever make it to adulthood without ever being a child? I filed for divorce & feel like the next 5 weeks are a jail sentence.
Photos compliments of Google & the WWW

Spit Again

'You know, my son started out just like that & now he does it all the time.'
'Ha, yeah... I figure he'll figure out not to do it facing the wind soon.' 'It's a disgusting habit.'
'It really is. I do it all the time, especially when I'm in a mood.'

La Florida, as named by Ponce de Leon...Spanish for 'Place of Flowers'

...where I born & raised. Where the bulk of my clan continues to reside. A place I only visit or vacation to.

Timmy Toes marks a line in the sand that covers the well-worn-anyways walkway that leads from the crushed periwinkle parking lot to the decades old Tiki Bar....with our rooms sprinkled in between the two.

Armed with thick slices of ice-cold, hot-pink watermelon, an afternoon breeze & a slow-setting sun, we all plopped our bigs toes right on that line. Seeds tumbled, spewed, sped & shot out of our mouths. Tiny black teardrops from the heart of the melon... bounced, skipped, skidded & plopped their way into the sand & seashell shavings that would later pay host to the various vehicles of the nightly guests.

Objective? Spit your seed the furthest.

Three seeds into it, I sit out...I really have no desire to spit & three slices of watermelon later, the boys finally give, announcing the winner.

20+ feet was the record and Skinny had it by a long-shot.