Hau`oli la Hanau Shellbelle

SSSHHHHH! It's a surprise party.... a mermaid birthday surprise party!  I'm linking up with Mermaid Loui from Mountain Mermaid to celebrate a milestone birthday for fellow mermaid blogger of all things coastal & beachy - Rhonda of Shellbelle's Tiki Hut. Wishing Shellbelle warm sandy hugs on her birthday.  60 is really 40 with 20 years experience.

Karen & Rhonda (aka Shellbelle) on Sanibel 2010

If I would've been born 500 years ago I would have been perfectly fine being a hermit out in the boonies somewhere or a monk if it was an order that took a vow of silence.  I am perfectly happy all by myself.  I can go hours, even days just reading, walking the beach, or whatever introspection I can get myself into.  Then I remember....Oh crap, I have a husband that requires a relationship.  My family - mother, nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers, & in-laws, out-laws all need a word or two from me from time to time. I try to be a good girlfriend but it really is an effort for me. 


 Girlfriends want my time - phone calls, hanging out, doing stuff.  I can count the number of close girlfriends I have on one hand.  For me, it's quality not quantity. Over the years I have had lots of friends that stayed in my life for just a season. It was not  meant to be a life-long thing.  Kids, divorce, relocation, or some other life happening just caused whatever bonded us as friends in the first place to simply fizzle out.  Then there are the special ones like Rhonda that no matter what is happening in our lives our friendship transcends it and carries on.  We can go six months without spending any significant time together and we just pick up right where we left off without missing a beat. 


 Before Rhonda I only had friends who were just like me - the same politics, same spirituality, same world view. I never had a friend who was the total polar opposite...she doesn't eat like me, camp like me, shop like me or vote like me. (whispering) She's a Democrat. We have been friends for almost 20 years now and I am a better person for knowing her.  She has given me the gift of widening my horizons and learning to love people outside of my little box. One of  Rhonda's favorite authors is  Maya Angelou - so I'll let Maya share her insights & wisdom about being a woman of a certain age.

This could be the year you find that Junonia

Maya Angelou said  this:


'I've learned that no matter what  happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on,  and it will be better tomorrow.'

'I've  learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the  way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day,  lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree  lights.'

'I've learned that regardless of  your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them  when they're gone from your  life.'

'I've  learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing  as making a life.'

'I've learned that  life sometimes gives you a second  chance.'

'I've learned that you shouldn't  go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands;  you need to be able to throw some things  back...'

'I've learned that whenever I  decide something with an open heart, I usually make  the right decision.'

'I've learned that  even when I have pains, I don't have to be  one.'

'I've learned that every day you  should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm  hug, or just a friendly pat on the  back....'

'I've learned that I still have  a lot to learn..'

'I've learned that  people will forget what you said, people will forget  what you did, but people will never forget how you  made them feel.' 

Shellbelle on Blind Pass - Sanibel 2010


Happy 60th Birthday My Friend!

As they say in the tropics:  "May your coconuts always hang higher than your grass skirt."