mskitty38583

thank you for posing that....its true. if you want to feel better, play in the dirt, smell the dirt. now you know why cats and dogs roll all around in the dirt.....they are depressed. my dogs always say they feel better when they have had a good roll in the .........dirt. lol!

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WELCOME TO THE GATOR NATION

chong

I forgot to tell this. Gardening used to be a form of punishment for me. As I was considered to be the blacksheep, my punishment was to do the chores at home after my parents let our maids go. And since I dropped out of my first time at Sophomore year, I was at home doing all the chores - cooking, housecleaning, dishwashing, washing clothes(by hand), and watering the plants. Funny, though, after several months of this, I actually loved doing them, and was actually proud that I could do all those things. The best part was it actually prepared me for parenthood, as I was also taking care of my 2 baby brothers, who were only 14 months apart.

I remember the afternoon plant waterings where I would actually begin to talk to my Mom's plants, and after a while, I noticed that our plants were the best looking plants in the neighborhood. So much so, that our neighbors were asking my Mom for plants. I think what clinched it was my Mom would tell them that she'd have to ask me first, before giving them any. And all those Mrs. were so beholding to me for consenting to give them some. I mean, I was welcome to their homes, they fed me snacks, I could come visit their daughters!

Ahhh! If I had to do it all over again, I could have been a gigolo in my early teens! But, sadly, I was too naive. Get this, I just wanted to be nice . . . .

CookieCows

I was very touched by how you turned a negative period of your life into a positive result. When I go through trials in life I try very hard to figure out what it is that I need to learn from it but often times I get those answers later when it's over. Still it helps me to have the belief that adversity is necessary for inner growth. We can either let it take us down and be consumed with more and more negative or we can find how it can make us strong and more understanding.

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Bob

There's the purest form of joy when you first smell the newly prepared soil in the spring, a whiff of the distinctive tomato plant smell , a plumeria bloom or a new rose.
Outdoors in the garden there's time to listen to the birds, cicadas in the heat of summer, bees gathering pollen, the wind in the trees.
In the dead of winter the mind will wander to the depths of the far off unexplored and mysterious tropical places when I look at an "Orinoco" or "African Rhino Horn". The first taste of the new seasons' "Brandywine" tomato( with fresh mozzarella and the best olive oil). Being able to feed your family and friends. Spitting watermelon seeds. Lounging with a cool drink on a lazy day...................And no damned "honey do"list when I'm out "working"!

CookieCows

Jeez Bob keep talking ..... I can hear the sounds, smell the breeze and taste the food!

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shopgirl2

Peace and quiet inner strength. Almost like being in church. How grateful I am that the cretor has given us this gift. Enjoy it, embrace it, love it.

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Orinoco by the sunlight.