March 1st~ A New Month Begins

 Weekend getaways offer a necessary, quick
 escape to recharge, offering a blend of adventure, 
relaxation, and precious, short-lived freedom...

March begins and sure is looking to be much 

better than February, at least weatherwise.

  Warmth is back.  I've missed you a lot.

Arvid and I are enjoying our little getaway in 

Key Largo. It's been a while since we were last

 here.  Never disappoints.  Perfect way to start the 

new month.  We needed this little time away from 

everything that has/is going on with our lives🌴

A few days away and we will be back as new

 ready to face whatever comes.  Hopefully this will be 

a better month.  Maybe we get to see some family. 

 Arvid sure is excited and all we do is make plans.

March has many birthdays in our family.  

Today is Gabsy's birthday.  Both Arvid and I

 love this boy like a son.  There is something 

about Gabby that just melts your heart.

To all a very good day and a great March.  If all goes 

according to plans, Arvid and I will be doing a glass bottom 

boat tour today. I love doing the glass bottom tours.  We did it

 when when we lived in the Bahamas and it was amazing.  

A good day to all. May this month be good to us all.

Find me under the palms.

Sunshine and piña coladas...

~Nadiya~

February 28th~

When your head says one thing and your whole 

life says another, your head always loses...

Alligator Alley lanes reopen following 24,000-acre brush

 fire at Big Cypress National Preserve, Alligator Alley. The

 fire started on Monday and is still not fully contained. The smoke 

has reached us here and will continue.  Today Arvid and I will

 be driving through some of it on our way to Key Largo.

Alligator Alley Fire

Key Largo, the first and northernmost island

 of the Florida Keys, is a 33-mile-long, tropical 

destination renowned as the "Diving Capital 🤿of 

the World". Located about an hour from Miami.  As

they say, if you know you know🌴I'm excited.

Had Arvid not agreed to going, I most likely would 

have taken a solo trip this summer.  Happy he's coming.

  Always better when we make memories together, but I

 have no problems doing it alone as well.  Happy.

We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. 

 Beautiful sunsets and a lotta Piña Coladas 😂

Key Largo, you have the "key" to my heart...

~Nadiya~

Friday February 27th~

 Hope is a powerful force, often described

 as a light in darkness, a motivator for

 the future, and a resilient spirit...

Hope is the thing with feathers," MLK Jr.'s 

advice to "accept finite disappointment, but never 

lose infinite hope," and the reminder that "the 

darkest nights produce the brightest stars"  

This definitely applies to what happened to 

Punch, the little monkey. Abandoned by his mother,

 Punch was given a stuffed monkey to cope with because

 the other monkeys wouldn't accept him either.   

We humans also cling to anything that would give us

 hope.  For many it's our beliefs.  Whatever it is, this 

little monkey clung to a stuffed toy until one day his dim

 future became a better one.  He was accepted and he is 

loved. They say, monkeys are superior to men in this:

 when a monkey looks into a mirror, he sees a monkey.

Punch the monkey finally got the love he wanted.  

He let go of his little stuffed toy/mom, and finally 

found love in a real mom. Now if this does not

 pull on your heartstrings, you're not human.

Yesterday E26 branched. That's the stage where young 

eaglets (usually 9–14 weeks old) move from the nest 

to nearby branches, flapping their wings to strengthen 

muscles, improve coordination, and build confidence

 before their first flight (fledging). This behavior 

prepares them for independence. Our little girl

 will soon leave home.  It's a happy day and sad 

day at the same time. Soon she will be gone.

A good day to all.  For many the weekend

 has already begun.  Enjoy and keep making 

those memories that will last forever.  

When the going gets tough, put 

one foot in front of the other and

 just keep going. Don't give up...

~Nadiya~

Thursday February 26th~

 You must work with what you

 have, accepting that some games are 
unwinnable, but trying anyway...

Yesterday was the funeral for my cousin 

followed by the cremation.  Nina and David 

were also supposed to be there just like me,

 but for them also it did not happen 😔

The drive from Pennsylvania to  New York 

did not look good because of the snow. The 

family has no more tears to shed, and then to top it

 all so many relatives from Florida did not make 

it to the funeral.  Weather, so unpredictable.

Each time I go to a funeral, and it seems like it is 

quite often.  I think of my parents.  They are also

 getting older, and fear grips my heart.  Yesterday we

 went to mom and dad's for a little.  Always good.

This cold spell is coming to an end.  Florida

 is back to being The Sunshine State.  Yesterday 

was supposed to be a "non stressful" day.  Sure 

didn't turn out that way. Today will I am sure.

If tears could build a stairway, and 

memories a lane, I'd walk right up to 

Heaven and bring you home again...

~Nadiya~

Wednesday February 25th~

Life comes with good days and bad ones too...

 Thank goodness for my Florida Panthers 

hoodie.  I kept me very warm yesterday.  Now 

I have to figure out how to stay warm today, 

but it seems I have more winter clothes than

 the norm for one living in Florida🌴.

Yesterday I received sad news from my friend 

in Puerto Rico.  All the kitties I loved except for 

two are no longer there. Marbles and Baby are still 

alive.  My MacGuyver is dead; so are the others. 

I’m so heartbroken 💔💔 Why is life so cruel?

I have no plans for today. Neither does Arvid, 

yet he has a busy day. So it's cold and just checking on 

our weather and the weather in Branson, to my surprise, we 

here in Fort Myers have it currently colder than Branson.

Cold or no cold when I am home I go feed 

Legacy. What makes me happy is knowing that 

there is also another person/persons leaving food

 for her.  She will not starve if I am not around.

A very good day to all. Florida is really having a 

wicked winter.  We live after all in The Sunshine State.

Cold! If the thermometer had been an 

inch longer, we'd all have frozen to death!

~Nadiya~

Tuesday February 24th~

Take care of all your memories. 

For you cannot relive them...

 Last night as Arvid and I lay in bed he said 

to me that the night before while I was asleep he 

was awake thinking of Brutus when suddenly

 he felt a whiff of cold air across his face.  

He said he looked at the time on the clock and it was 

11:11pm.  That was Brutus' time.  Every night he came 

to bed with us at 11:11pm.  After he told me that I just 

cried for a long time while Arvid held me.  We both 

miss Brutus.  At the same time Sniff was laying

 between us purring loudly.  Sniff is my saviour.

It's back to some cold days here. Lots of 

posts all over social media about falling iguanas 

again.  Poor iguanas, they don't seem to catch 

a break. Yes, I know they do not belong here.

 Green iguanas are highly invasive in Florida, 

causing significant damage by digging large burrows 

that erode sidewalks, seawalls, and canal banks. They 

destroy residential landscaping, defecate in pools and 

on docks, and can transmit Salmonella. Additionally, they

 harm native ecosystems by eating endangered plants and 

threatening native wildlife like the Miami Blue butterfly.

Today is the wake for my cousin in New York.  

Once again I really wish I was there.  Arvid of

 course is smiling and he's saying, "so happy 

you did not have to leave us all alone."

A very good day to all.  The heat is back on

 and will remain so for the next few days.  By the 

weekend we should be back to warm weather.

Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, 

except for the one present moment that goes 

by you so quick you hardly catch it going...

~Nadiya~

Monday February 23rd~

Waiting for a flight is just

 part of the travel experience...

 The new week was supposed to see me

 going to New York for my cousins funeral. 

That is100% not happening anymore.

Due to bad weather all flights are cancelled

 today, tomorrow.  Yesterday all flights were also

 cancelled. None of my other relatives flying out from 

different airports in Florida will be making it either. 

 Nor anyone flying into New York.  ALL flights 

so far are cancelled due to the blizzard expected.

I am very sad and so disappointed I am not 

going to make the funeral.   I know this will be one 

of the saddest times coming up. All families are 

close, but this family has gone through hell.

When they finally thought that things were

 getting better, she died. She freaking died of

 the damm flu! As mentioned in an earlier post; 

Where is the so called justice in any of this?

I hope your week is a better one.  Life is

 short  don’t forget to say a thank you and to 

count your blessing; as I have said many

 times, the things you/we take for granted 

someone else is really praying for.

Wishing everyone a good week. There are times one

 has to really look for the good in life. This is one of 

those times. One of the very best left this world and my

 question is WHY??  Why is life so unfair at times? Earth

 has one gentle soul less, And Heaven one angel more.

While they may not be present physically, 

they remain in our hearts and memories... 

~Nadiya~

Sunday February 22nd~

Travel is glamorous only in retrospect...

 I woke up to a travellers nightmare.  My flight to 

NYC for my cousins funeral was "rebooked" as it said. 

 Only problem is that it was rebooked days after the funeral

 is over, and of course there is no one who can help.  The so

 called "virtual assistant" only responds to certain questions 

and mine is not one.  Calling customer service says,

 "your hold is approximately three hours"  To say

 that I am beyond stress is putting it mildly.

Yesterday we had lunch/BBQ at mom and dad's. 

 Since we were heading to a concert afterwards

 my dad and Arvid had a few cold ones.

Arvid and I enjoyed an afternoon/evening of

 music with Albert Castiglia.  It was very good.

I am still on hold waiting to hear from someone.

Hope your day is better than mine right now. 

I have now been on hold close to 4 hours.

 Sniff is my stress reliever in this mess.

When all’s said and done, all roads 

lead to the same end. So it’s not so much 

which road you take, as how you take it...

~Nadiya~

Saturday February 21st~

Life is not a matter of holding good

 cards, but of playing a poor hand well...

 When Arvid works he works hard.  When he relaxes 

he also does it in style. Ever since Branson he has taken

 it onto himself to play solitaire when he needs to think 

and clear his mind.  He claims that it truly relaxes him. 

Yeah, e showed me how to play the game as well 

and he also played a few games with Gabsy.

I spoke to my aunt yesterday.  She cried and cried. 

 I cried.  She is my dads eldest sister.  Last year her 

husband died. Now it’s her daughter and the prognosis

 for one of her granddaughters is definitely not good.

  She said to me,”Nad I’m not strong anymore.” 

Just those words broke my world.

To top it all we saw a manatee from the bedroom

 window. All excited Arvid calls me to see it.  What I 

saw was a manatee that looked like it was dying.  Due to 

the cold 25 manatees died on Fort Myers Manatee Park 

this past week.  So seeing this manatee outside our

 bedroom window not moving got me all scared. 

I called (FWC) Florida Wildlife Conservation.  

Arvid took off to talk to the dock master see if he 

could speed up help coming to the manatee.  No help

 came, the manatee left but it was not looking good. 

Coupled with my cousin dying this really upset

 the rest of my day.  It was death all around. 

Arvid and I had a little outing yesterday.  I wanted

 to get out and see people. Musicwalk was going on, 

but we did not stay out that late. We went to our favorite

 Friday hangout and on the way back home stopped to

 feed Legacy.  Though late she was there waiting.

The day is looking good.  Going to mom and dad's 

for a BBQ and depending on how we feel we may also 

go and listen to some music.  One of my/our favorite

 musicians is in town.  To all a very good day.

Life is a rollercoaster of, joys, losses, 

and constant change, requiring resilience to

 navigate its inevitable highs and lows...

~Nadiya~

Friday February 20th ~

No one but you knows exactly what it's like

 to walk in your shoes and experience your loss...

 Yesterday we received devastating news. Another

 family member died. My cousin battled the worst cancer

 for years. For years it was touch and go with her. Chemo 

almost killed her several times. Well the side effects, 

yet she persevered. About six months ago she beat

 the cancer and was on her way to remission.  

She was doing really. Last week she got the flu.  

Led to pneumonia which led to her being on a ventilator.

 Yesterday she died a this woman fought and beat cancer

 so many times, but the flu killed her. Where is the justice 

in this?  Just a little sentence, "Nad our life is a living

 hell. We lost our sister."  What do you say?

Life goes on.  Here at home Arvid stays busy

 watching the men working on rebuilding the boat 

dock that was destroyed by Hurricane Ian. 

Arvid is happy because there is a lot going on in

 the rebuilding of our marina.  We are looking

 forward to seeing the finished dock soon.

Suddenly a weekend getaway is not looking

 so good. I feel like there is something I should do to 

make this better, but what can you say to a family 

whose life has been a nightmare for years?

Our morning began once again with the fog which 

has now already started to clear up. Wishing everyone a 

good day and may your weekend be a happy one.

It's so curious; One can resist tears and

 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief. 

But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind

 a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud 

only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter

 slips from a drawer... and everything collapses...

~Nadiya~