Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Squirrel Thoughts – Stress

August 5, 2010 By Sandra Heska King

I’m still high. Hazy headed.

Because of Bath & Body Works.

Yeah. Their fault.

I ran drove (that’s the first time I ever used the strikethough–just had to try it) to the mall after meeting with my co-teacher this morning. She’s teaching from Colossians, and I’m teaching from Hosea this fall.

Oops. You don’t care about that. SQUIRREL thought! Sorry.

Anyway, I went to the mall. Because I needed body wash and lotion. A particular kind. Stress Relief. Tranquil Mint. Only found at B & BW.

The first time I used it, I smelled a little like men’s aftershave. But I got used to it.

Now I like it.

Love it.

Because it pretty much does what it says.

Relax and refresh. Peppermint Essential Oil refreshes and combats mental fatigue. Rosemary Essential Oil improves thinking to foster creativity.

Perfect for a writer.

Bet you want to be aromatherapized now, too.

Where was I?

Oh, yeah.

Force of habit. I drove all the way to the end of the mall. Where I always go in. Because I seldom go to the mall. Unless I need a book fix. At Barnes & Noble. And a coffee treat. Or a chai latte. Maybe a roasted tomato caprese sandwich. And that store is at the end of the mall.

But soon it might be discontinued.

Because B & N has put itself up for sale.

That made me start to stress and crave minty tranquility.

I turned around and found a parking spot near the entrance at the other end of the mall. Entered B & BW to discover an entire display of candles.

Nectarine Mint. Seaside Escape. Fresh Bamboo. Some new fall scents.

They begged to be sniffed.

Sniff. Sniff. Inhale. Sniff.

Uh oh. I remember this feeling.

It happened in Gaylord last year. When they told me that the Tranquil Mint line had been discontinued.

Talk about stress.

I’d have to find something new.

Sniff. Sniff. Inhale. Sniff.

I felt funny.

High. Dizzy. Hazy. Clammy.  With heart palpitations.

Darkness closed in.

Aromatized almost to a dead faint.

Step away from the lotions.

Step away from the candles.

So I chose my lotion and my body wash.

Tranquil Mint.

Not discontinued after all.

Buy two, get one free.

I chose some sugar scrub for my hands.

Which I obsessed over on the way home as the sunlight highlighted wrinkles and sags. I tented (that’s a nursing term) the skin on the back of my right hand.

Must. Need. Water.

Where was I?

Oh, I got a coupon book, too. I could get yet another free item today. So I took a second lotion.

Four for the price of two.

Good deal.

Looked like Victoria’s Secret, directly across from B & BW, where “everybody loves lace,” looked like they might have some deals, too.

I didn’t go there.

I wonder if there will be some deals now in B & N.

They might close. That makes me sick. I want to throw up.

Which reminds me. Why does Scruffy insist on upchucking after I brush her? I mean, I brush to avoid hairballs. I knew one was on its way when I heard the typical preurp meow. I let her toss the ball on the leather chair. Easy to clean.

I forgot to take a picture for you. Sorry.

But later, she cried again. While on the floor. On the carpet. What to do? I ripped a page out of a notebook and slid it in front of her.

Bulls eye!

I picked up the paper and enfolded her deposit. But the slimy brown liquid spilled out, trickled down my leg, between my toes.

Ewww.

Gross.

Reminded me of the other night on the porch when I felt something slimy under my bare foot. A little green tree frog.

Ewww.

Gross.

That’s when I used up my Tranquil Mint.

I need to be tranquilized and aromatized.

Daily.

I think I should have gotten eight for the price of four.

This post linked to Duane Scott’s Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays. Check out today’s other disturbed posts here.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. HisFireFly says

    August 5, 2010 at 2:48 pm

    Passs the lotions please.. this has all made me a bit edgy!

    No, I’m smiling actually.. thanks for the fun..

  2. Laurie Hoddy says

    August 5, 2010 at 3:05 pm

    Ewwwwww Snady….some things don’t bear sharing. 😛 OTOH, I completely relate to the squirrel thoughts….but ick, I will not be having inside pets that might urp anywhere inconvenient anytime soon, thanks. ew ew ew.

  3. Jamie says

    August 5, 2010 at 3:07 pm

    Recently, I went through a mall where I grew up. It was deserted. No people. The stores were all there — the news about B & Noble not all that surprising. And it is sad. But the lotion sounds wonderful. Can smell it from here.

  4. ~Brenda says

    August 5, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    I can’t go in those places. The smells make me so nauseated. I don’t wear them either, because I would be walking around throwing up, and my husband would be sneezing. Wouldn’t that be pretty!

    And I’m glad I ate lunch BEFORE I read this post. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to put anything in my mouth after reading about the urp. Nasty!

  5. Jay Cookingham says

    August 5, 2010 at 3:29 pm

    I love the smell of “Tranquil Mint” in the morning, it smells like…victory! Randomly funny!

  6. Nikole Hahn says

    August 5, 2010 at 5:32 pm

    I love Bath and Body works!

    Very disturbing…lol

  7. S. Etole says

    August 5, 2010 at 7:21 pm

    tell me again why B & N sells body lotion …

  8. Susan J. Reinhardt says

    August 5, 2010 at 9:15 pm

    Hi Sandy –

    I love Bath & Body, which is why I avoid going in there unless I have someone with me to drag me out. They have some fabulous coupons.

    Nooo, not B&N. Of course, I don’t shop there too much because they’re too pricey. Does that mean I helped put them out of business? I hope not.

    Oh dear, this squirrely thing is catching. 🙂

    Blessings,
    Susan

  9. Billy Coffey says

    August 6, 2010 at 7:59 am

    I was gonna get all manly here and make fun of your lotion, but you know what? I write every day with a scented candle burning, and it smells like mint.

  10. A Simple Country Girl says

    August 6, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    After reading your stinkin’ aromatic-gaggifyingly disturbed post, I wanna take a bath. Down in the creek.

    I reckon I will wait until the FedEx man drops off a delivery because I don’t wanna scare him and have that big ole truck drive off our bridge and land in the water with me…

    Thanks for the laughs.

    Blessings.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in