Hello everyone! It’s been a while. I hope everyone is doing well. I mean to write more, but I just can’t find the words.
I love warm weather and walking barefoot in the grass. Bitter cold and snow along with all the things that come with them are not high on my list of favorites. They’re actually on another list… 💩
But even when I’m scraping snow off my car and getting plowed in by the snow plow, if I take a moment to look up, it’s marvelous. ❄️
©️2025, itsamyisaid.com, all rights reserved
I met a lion once
Male lions are majestic, but still just big cats
He wasn’t my lion, you can’t keep a lion
(You also can’t keep a lyin’, but I digress)
I knew him as much as you can know a lion
Lions are wild animals
You should never let your guard down
But one time I forgot
The lion scratched me
It was an accident
You know, like when your house cat accidentally scratches you when you play?
That, but a lion’s claws are so much bigger
In time it would heal,
But the scar would remain
No one can see it
But I should’ve known better
Than to pet a lion’s mane
©️2025, itsamyisaid.com, all rights reserved
Thank you for the gift
Of two more blooms
Off-season
Much too soon
But also too late
Much too late
From dead bark
Arises life
One last time 
ERJ, my eastern redbud that I’ve written about multiple times on my blog, has been slowly dying all summer and now into the fall. Strangely, he had the most beautiful blooms this year he’s ever had. This past spring, I mean. He’s got borers. They did their damage. I tried everything, but I couldn’t save him. I knew I wouldn’t be able to, but I tried anyway. The loss of this tree really hurts. Some parts of his branches are still pliable, but most are brittle. The bark now splitting from lack of life. But I noticed today a bright spot of pink. And then another. Arising from the broken, cracked bark and perched alongside seedpods as brittle as dead leaves, ERJ blooms one last time.
©️2025, itsamyisaid.com, all rights reserved
Butterflies don’t have norireceptors
They can’t feel pain
At least that’s what they say
They also don’t recognize human voices
Well, that’s what they say
I’ve only seen three this year
The most royal of all of the butterflies
I’m a finder of lost things and valuables that belong to others
And animals that are lost or hurt
I found her struggling on the sidewalk
I halted my walk in more ways than one
Scooped her up in my hands, and she desperately tried to fly
She had no visible injuries
Not to my eyes
I took her to my neighbor’s where I thought she might find some blooms
I offered her water from my tiny bottle cap
She did lap it up and for a moment, and I thought that was that
But she still could not fly
Even though she desperately tried
So I brought her home in a shoebox with some flowers
But that’s not the part I really want to talk about
I want to tell you how she recognized my voice and how her antennae responded when I talked to her kindly
I want to tell you she was perfect with not a spot on her to explain why she was dying
I pet her little body and talked to her sweetly
I told her she was beautiful, and although she couldn’t get to her destination
She would stay here with me
I hoped for a miracle overnight, but I knew better
At first light, I checked her shoe box and she was nearly dead, so weak she was, ants were crawling on her
I brought her in the house and showed her all the plants
I told her I loved her and would take care of her
I put her in a plastic bag and placed it in the freezer
(This is how to humanely euthanize butterflies when they are already dying)
I took her out twenty four hours later and laid her on the table. She looked the same, but her body wasn’t contorted anymore. Her antenna relaxed to a normal position rather than contracted in a sort of grimace
They say butterflies don’t feel pain. I don’t believe them.
I want to know why a beautiful, gentle creature meant to migrate thousands of miles only flew a few feet before starting to die
And other malevolent beings are granted the gift of a lengthy, destructive life
I want to know why
Hey everyone, it’s really hard to put into words how beautiful the wildflowers have been. And it’s almost a disservice to talk about them when they could be shown. Forgive me, I’ve left off the monarch butterfly and the hummingbird. I will need to make another video to showcase them.
I hope you enjoy this video and that wherever you are, you’re having a great weekend.
p.s. my categories selection isn’t working after some type of update, so if you never see this, I won’t be surprised. Thanks, WordPress. 
Create an emergency preparedness plan.
Tell me, why would I create an emergency preparedness plan and post it here? Not everyone needs to know your plans. Pretty sneaky, WordPress.
My plan begins and ends with brownies. Don’t worry, there’s enough for everyone’s emergency plan.
How do you plan your goals?
How could I not answer this prompt in this way? Happy Thursday, everyone!
It’s late summer now, and the plants feel like they’re done. It’s been far too hot, far too rainy and the plants are tired. My eastern redbud is dying, its leaves have been dropping all summer and at the base of the tree, you can see the borers doing their damage. The shock of ERJ being sick combined with several other losses this summer broke my heart a little bit. But after some tests, the doctor says my heart is normal. It broke, but it is getting better. I saw a hummingbird a few days ago. I opened the front door and it was hovering above the red Zinnia, staring at me. It looked displeased. I apologized for the lack of selection, but most of the Zinnia had to be pulled because they got powdery mildew. A few days ago, a monarch butterfly arrived to the same plant, and was visibly irritated by the lack of selection. Hopefully they don’t leave me a bad review. I’d like more visitors next year.
I’ve seen a cicada shell, in the usual space I see them. On the clothes pole. I never catch the live bug – I arrive too late.
Ma’am has been here on and off. She had babies this summer, and her face is totally healed. I saw her last week. She’s looking good.
I have four fledgling robins in my backyard, two young squirrels, many sparrows, and very demanding Cardinals. My backyard is the nursery for all of the babies. There was plenty of water at ground level and above in the birdbath, and there are peanuts, served daily. I just wish the moms would come back and pick up their kids!
The hibiscus just finished up blooming. Acorns are dropping prematurely from William I, my 100-year-old Willow Oak. It’s likely due to the weather, or the small acorns not being pollinated. As I said, it was a rough summer.
We’re heading into spider season. I’ve got an office mate named “Stephen with a ph,” and he takes care of any fruit flies for me. I have to be careful not to bump him with my chair or he runs and hides. His cubicle is quite small, so I don’t insist he pay rent. Plus, he’s doing me a service. I only wish he could get the mosquitoes down to his lair.
Here are some photos of late spring and summer. I haven’t posted photos here in a while, and I have missed it. Watch the space for a 🕸️ post.
©️2025, itsamyisaid.com, all rights reserved
What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?
Even when it’s difficult, even when others don’t do the same, try to remain kind, because we don’t know what others are going through. And if we had the choice, we would want to be treated with kindness. It is challenging to try to keep kindness in your back pocket each day, because it seems we are met with so much cruelty and things that are unkind as soon as we leave the house. But if you look for it, kindness is out there, and sometimes it needs a starting point to gain momentum or to turn a grumpy person in the grocery store to a laughing one. It’s not easy to do this. It requires discipline and practice. Sometimes kindness does not work. There will always be those people who will not budge into a softer version of themselves. That’s OK, but do please leave those people in the dust.
Look for the ones who reciprocate the kindness – they will understand why you carry it with you.
Happy Saturday/Caturday, everyone!
Describe your life in an alternate universe.
The title is my answer. Have a great Friday, everyone!
“It's Amy,” I said. 