It's Not All Fun and Games

When I am in Ashland during the week, Michelle and Marc still have to go to work and the kids have to go to school. One day, Michelle suggested she would take her lunch hour to come to the Hawk where Marc works and we would eat there. 

Marc is in charge of the pizza station at the Hawk, the food service at Southern Oregon University.

Here he is at work at his 600 degree professional pizza oven.

Pizzas get rotated and removed with a peel. 

I learned that word from Marc especially for this blog.

I like watching Marc work. He is very good.

And on this day, his dessert pizza of peach and pineapple

with a cream cheese base was Excellent!!

My First ComicCon

I went to my first ComicCon today. Having no costume, I decided I had to have a story. I went as a 25th century historian who had returned to research some 21st century cultural phenomena. We had decided that in order to blend in, I would come back as a 21st century grandmother.

I went to ComicCon in the company of 

Michelle as the Joker ~ 

Akira as the 4th Dr. Who ~ 

And Trinity as Edward (well, ok, Edwina)

from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Akira entered the costume contest and here he is offering

the judges Dr. Who's iconic Jelly Babies.

The judges were delighted as you can see by the 

hands reaching into his bag. 

His costume and the Jelly Babies earned him an honorable mention!

Useless Worry

Last week I arrived home to find a blue tag on the door knob. The Public Utility District was having to do some infrastructure revamping and so our water would be off from 8 until noon today. This didn't surprise me as I had made friends with the PUD guys trying to find the major leak at the condos across the parking lot. The leak had been found and I assumed this was a clearing of the pipes and system in the entire area.

The timing frustrated me though because I usually do laundry on Mondays and today was important because I am traveling tomorrow and wanted all my clothes clean and packed by this afternoon.

We did everything the blue slip suggested: made sure we had a couple of pitchers of water in the fridge for drinking; I filled the tea kettle so we could have hot water; and we even have a bucket that is filled with shower water while it gets hot to be used to water plants or fill the hot tub. We were fine. It was only for 4 hours. Plans made. I even did laundry yesterday.

My plans were to walk this morning, stay in exercise clothes until this afternoon and then shower, do one more load of laundry and finish packing to be ready to go in the morning.

Snow kept me from walking so I showered early. We had breakfast and 8 o'clock came and we still had water. And we have had water all morning. As far as we know, we have not been without water for even a few minutes during the four hour time period. All that worry and bother for nothing.

All I can think is that the little blue slip was put on our door by mistake. Was the water off at the condos? Did the snow keep them from being able to do whatever it was and it will happen again? Who knows? I do know I have felt just a little off balance all day because none of my well laid plans were needed. Just a little weird.

Coyote Tale

Dean and Oso walked up the hill this morning. All of a sudden Oso took off like a streak of lightning. And came to a quick halt in front of a coyote. There was a bit of a stand off and then the coyote started to scream. Oso, the bear chaser, turned tail and ran back to Dean like the bats out of hell were after him ~ or maybe just a mother coyote defending her den. 

Shear Randomness

1) I have found that on my walk, I can text vocally by going through Siri. For several days when I was getting up to four laps, Siri would tell Meredith that "lap for" was hard. Then one day it started to rain in the middle of the walk. I don't like walking in the rain so told Meredith I didn't want to "risk rain on the hill." Once it was sent, we both noticed that I didn't want to "risk Ryan on the hill." Poor Ryan. I want him to stay safe!! 😃

2) The other day Meredith had lunch with a friend at Neiman's in Boston. Afterwards she and I had a lovely conversation about all sorts of Neiman's memories. Neiman's Tea Room in Dallas was one of the places my mother taught me company manners. We would shop at the Blue Door (the door to the children's department) and then she would take me to lunch at the tea room. I felt very sophisticated. And the day I went as an early college student with my best friend and no mothers, I knew I was an adult!

3) My morning laps on the parking lot have increased to four laps. Four is now normal. And yesterday for some reason they were really, really hard, to the point that when I finally made it upstairs (four flights of stairs), I felt almost sick. I wonder why that is? I guess that's why they call it a work out and not a play out.

4) We had a chipmunk this morning. I've seen squirrels on the snow but chipmunks are summer animals. There he was though, racing down the snow, onto the rocks and around the corner of the deck. He made me smile and reminded me that spring really is on its way.

5) Ryka is my go to brand for sneakers so I was pleasantly surprised to find they also make winter boots. I found a pair on sale and they arrived just in time for snow hiking in the forest. I am very pleased. 

Easter, 2017

“Every morning is Easter morning. 

Every day is resurrection day, the past is over and gone.

Every morning is Easter morning from now on.” (Avery and Marsh)

Every religion or belief system has within it those times of darkness and light. Every human has those experiences of being overwhelmed by the negative and knowing the turn toward the positive when Light overcomes the darkness. This can happen again and again in our lives allowing us to proclaim with all sincerity that with every morning dawns the possibility of an Easter morning. ~ blessings on your journey, my friends. 

Good Friday

Growing up, I was aware of Palm Sunday and Easter but I don’t think my church did much around Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. As I grew in my awareness of what I will call the psychology of spirituality, I realized that we really can’t go from Palm Sunday to Easter without going through the valley of the shadow of Good Friday. 

The churches I attended began to honor these days as well and now their celebrations are as much a part of my spirituality as the other days. 

And so here we are ~ Good Friday and that strange, unnamed Saturday before the excitement and celebration of Easter. My thoughts turn to Mary and the disciples who spent these days huddled in fear of their own deaths. The world was dark and bleak and they felt lost and alone. They did not know as we do that just around the corner was the dawn of a day that would change the face of history. 

This year I am very aware of them. Sometimes life seems dark and bleak and decisions are made that effect ordinary lives all over the world. People are scared. The safe world seems to tremble under their feet and safety is no more. And yet, even as fear seems so abundant, there are those who are working for the Light, those who are resisting oppression and darkness. Resurrection is on its way. ~ blessings on your journey through these days.

(The cross is from First Christian Church, Lynchburg VA. On Easter morning all those holes will be filled with the flowers of resurrection brought down the aisle by the children.)

Your Prayer Requests

Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. As you have read here before, I will be joining the Maundy Thursday Prayer Vigil held by my church in Lynchburg, VA. There people come to the church in 30 minute shifts to pray from 9 Thursday night through 3 in the afternoon on Good Friday. When a pastor suggested I could join from out here, I asked to be signed up to join the person praying at midnight EDT which makes it nine PDT. 

This year I am doing something a little different. If you have a prayer request, someone or some situation, for which you would like me to pray, I will be glad to do so. Simply add a name in the blog comments or in the comments on FB, or if you want your request to be less public, message me on FB. 

You do not have to be a Christian to request a prayer. I believe the Divine hears all our prayers whatever our faith tradition. ~ blessings to all of you

Blessed Discovery

About three weeks ago, I started walking around the parking lot that winds through the condos in front of our house. I've not really done that before. Usually we are in the car because we walk out back on forest trails or snowshoeing. I was tired of all the snow and the logistics of snowshoeing so I started walking laps in the parking lot. There was still a lot of snow in front of the houses. 

This morning, however, enough snow had melted that I saw for the first time, this peaceful little Buddha sitting calmly in my neighbor's flower bed. You can see there is still snow behind him. I stopped and felt immediately blessed. Next time around, I took this picture to share with you. 

In spite of all the weather and hectic life and political turmoil, both in snow and out, this little Buddha has been sitting there offering a peaceful blessing to all who pass. I didn't know it, and now I do and even when I drive by, already pushing the button to open my garage door, I will know he is there and feel the blessing that comes my way and maybe breathe a little easier. May you feel blessed in his presence too.