Xasparilla was getting old. She was now a faded red and her paint was starting to peel. The time for a repaint job had arrived. In fact, it was overdue. Now she would be painted for the third time.
It was 1989 when I began painting ladybug rocks. Every rock was given a name. Sometimes my children and I held a ladybug naming party to choose the names that I would paint on the bottom of each rock. We named them A to Z. Albert, O’Rock, Ima Rock, Don’t Bug Me, Esmerelda, Quigley, Hillary, and Z’End were some of the names we chose. We invented names because some letters of the alphabet were harder. I printed a registration certificate and gave ladybug rocks to my friends and family. One ladybug from each series is kept and placed in my flowerbeds.
I have named ladybugs A to Z fifteen times and am currently giving rocks from Series 16 away. Ladybug rocks have traveled beyond their home state of California. There are ladybug rocks all up and down the West Coast from Washington and Oregon down to Southern California. Ladybug rocks have been given to friends and family in Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Arkansas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Florida , Virgina, Australia, and Germany. One rock went to the Persian Gulf and back and another traveled to and from the Dominican Republic.
Xasparilla has the distinction of being part of Series 5. She was first painted in 1990. Her first repaint job was in 2005 and she was repainted in May of 2020. She smiles now because she looks as good as new.
Like Xasparilla, I am getting old. The golden highlights in my hair have been replaced by gray. My steps are slower. I have a few more wrinkles, aches and pains than I used to have. But that is only the outside appearance. My heart and soul are still young. I don’t have time to complain about the things I can’t do because there are so many things I can do. Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed. I may grow older, but I refuse to grow up. I tell my children that I plan to live to be a hundred or die trying.
This is who I am and I like who I am.
This is absolutely heartwarming. I love that you’ve given so much lives to these rocks. This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing this.
I love letter X posts! Always such variety.
It’s hard to believe the blogging challenge is almost over. Then the after survey, reflections, and the road trip sign-up.
Plus, I’m taking part in the Bout of Books read-a-thon in May. So much excitement!
J Lenni Dorner~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author
Thank you for this post; it warmed my heart.. and has inspired me to really get started on creating my very own Xasparilla..
visiting from atoz as i look at all the blogs i missed..i will be back to read more stories