Hodgepodging is back!

Joyce at From This Side of the Pond is back this week, after a much-needed break, to give us some more very thought-provoking questions to answer. I'm glad you stopped by to read my response.

1. Since you weren't Hodgepodging last Wednesday, how did you pass the time?

I just went about my normal routine. I don't think I even posted anything last Wed. I did miss seeing Joyce's questions for us. 

2. What's the first word that comes to mind when I say marriage? Yes, one word.

Trust.... without it you cannot have a good marriage.

3. Summer officially arrives in the Northern hemishpere later this week. Does it feel like summer where you live? Describe your idea of the perfect summer day.

Oh, summer weather has arrived here with a bang. We went from mild temperatures in the 70's to 90° with very high humidity. The kind of day when you step outside, it's like opening the oven door. A perfect summer day, for me, would be lying on a beach somewhere, in a lounge chair with a good book. 

4. "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability."(Sam Keen) Is laziness ever respectable? Do you have a lazy summer planned, or something semi-ambitious?

I used to think laziness was not respectable, but as I get old(er) I find I'm spending a lot of my days being just plain lazy. Oh, it bothers me that I don't have more ambition than I do, but the work will still be there for me tomorrow. I know, that's NOT a good thing.

5. Past or present, who's your favorite television dad? Why is he a favorite? Is he anything like your own dad?

Charles Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. I think he had it all.... patience, understanding, knowledge, humor. 
Was my father anything like Charles? In a word... NO.

6. June 18th is International Picnic Day...share a favorite picnic memory.

When our daughters were little, we all loved to pack a picnic lunch and drive over to Lake St. Marys. We would lay out the big blanket under a shade tree and open up the basket to get out the sandwiches. Then the girls got to go down to the sandy beach to build castles and splash in the water. 

7. The travel site Trip Advisor lists the top five islands in the world for 2014 as - Ambergris Caye in Belize Cayes, Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, Bora Bora in French Polynesia, Marco Island Florida, and Lewis and Harris in The Outer Hebrides (Scotland). Have you been to any of these? Of those listed (and if price were not a factor) which would you most like to book for a holiday?

I can't even pronounce some of them, and only know where a few of them are. I do envy anyone who has been able to visit any of these places. I think if money was not a factor, I would love to go to Scotland. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

A couple months ago, I made contact with a childhood friend, Penny. She's moved away from here, to Riverview, Florida, 40 years ago and I lost track of her. I got to thinking about her a lot lately, so I contacted her sister that still lives here in town to get Penny's address and I sent her a letter. The first written letter I've sent in ages. We then went to emails. Now, her grand-daughter is getting married and they drove up for the wedding. Penny and her husband came by here this morning. It was so good seeing her again. It was like nothing had happened to us in the last 40 years. We picked up right where we left off. That is an amazing feeling. They're all going to be so busy with wedding plans, but we made plans to get together Friday. We'll have more time to talk. Another good thing.... our husbands get along great.