Recently, our skies were the canvas for some spectacular natural phenomena – a solar eclipse and the northern lights. Despite having been born and raised in Canada, I cannot recall ever having seen the Northern Lights, yet people here in north Florida were posting stunning photos of them. My wife and I even doused the porchlight and stood in the driveway gazing into the northern night sky but saw not a glimmer. I woke up very early the next morning and decided to try again. It was raining. I still have not seen the Northern Lights.
I’m learning new traditions and entitlements as my children get older, and I find myself having conversations with them that weren’t even a topic when I was their age. My daughter’s husbands have brought up evaluating jobs on how long they will have off for paternity leave when they start have babies or continue to do so. Really? I was lucky my husband was in this country when I had babies.
I’m not complaining that the spring football game between Navarre and Pace was postponed a couple of weeks ago.
I was driving back from Fort Myers after covering a state baseball championship game the night before.
I have a vivid imagination and have had it all my life. It is so vivid that I imagine myself to be six feet tall with brown wavy hair and sporting washboard abs. Others see a man whose hair has turned white, some of it turned loose, and who is sporting washtub abs. They just lack imagination!
We are only a few days away from Navarre High School Class of 2024’s graduation, a milestone in every teen’s life. It’s the first step toward adulting. Some will go to college, some will take on a trade, some will become executives. Some will stay home.
There are moments in your life where you know you’re crossing a significant milestone off of life’s journey.
Graduating high school is definitely one of those moments.
Sports seasons are complete and the only thing remaining for the senior athletes in the area is to walk across the stage and receive their high school diploma.
They’ve spent the last four years representing their schools on football fields, baseball fields, softball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, volleyball courts and more.
I came to faith in Christ 40 years ago in a church in southeast Florida. The members of that small congregation embraced me as family, inviting me to their homes for dinners and cookouts. I marveled that such a loving group of people existed and even came to perceive them as being without fault. It wasn’t long before I realized that they, like me, though redeemed in Christ, were real human beings who had to deal with a sin nature.
We have had a very busy week. After putting out three papers on Monday, our editor, Daniel Evans, left Wednesday to move his family from Georgia to Pace, Florida. They signed the paperwork in Georgia Friday morning because they were selling and buying at the same time. They arrived Friday afternoon at their new home and had to wait to get into their new house until they got the go ahead from the seller’s Realtor and received the key to their new home. They worked very quickly and were able to return the U-Haul by Friday evening. As they were getting settled in their new home, they found out they couldn’t operate the stove top and oven at the same time and the dryer didn’t work. There are always things that don’t go according to plan, but it was a major feat to coordinate selling, buying and moving withing 1.5 months. I credit Daniel’s wife for the precision with which everything took place. And there were other complicated factors – and it all came together because of awesome planning. And in honor of Mother’s Day this past weekend – I have to say – moms are awesome and they are the driving force behind getting things done for the family. From planning moves to planning vacations, moms know that where there is a will – there is a way.
