Tahoe Mom

Ode to an Older Mom

2012-01-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

== My friend Elizabeth wrote in her blog about being the 50 year old mother of 8 year old twins. She wrote from the older mom’s perspective, not being sure about it all and what it means in the long run. That made me think about it from her daughters’ perspective because, like them, I was the daughter of an older mom. And I had No Idea!

My mother was slim, pretty, classy in the best sense of that word back in the 40s and 50s. She had a delightful imagination that met mine on equal footing allowing me opportunity to explore the world from my own back yard. She was elected Homeroom Mother over and over so the other kids liked her too. She was fun to play with. She read to me. We had a great time together. She was my mom and I had no sense of an age difference between her and the other mothers of my friends.

One of my first memories is of running, sobbing, so scared into the house because there was a wolf after me. Now mom had been looking out the kitchen window into the back yard and knew there was not so much as a dog or cat in the yard, much less a wolf. So when I had told her what was wrong she said, “Why don’t you invite him into lunch.” The tears stopped immediately. I turned to the door, opened it, bowed low and said, “Mr. Wolf, won’t you come into lunch?” I turned back to my mother and we both laughed like we had just put something over on the whole world.

When we were in the 5th grade, my friend’s mother was going to have another baby. I asked mom if she would ever have another baby. She laughed, hugged me and said no. I didn’t know why. It certainly never occurred to me that she was Older than my friend’s mother, enough older that pregnancy was no longer an option for her.

Mom also had cancer most of my life, having her first mastectomy when I was five. But I didn’t think of her as “sick” ~ because even with surgeries and chemo off and on, I would come home from school and instead of being in bed or in a chair, she would be in the back yard digging in her garden. I knew that meant all was well again. But as a child I had no idea how sick she was.

Children don’t know. Oh their own ages matter: you are either 5 1/2 or “almost 6” because you want to be older. But parents are parents ~ they are who they are and whether older or not as healthy as the parents of your friends doesn’t matter. You have no idea. All you know is you are loved, played with, disciplined and are happy. I had a Great mom whom I still love even as old as I am. :D

Seasonal Political Rant

2012-01-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

I think it may be time for my once-a-presidential-campaign political rant. So here goes - just once.

I am sick and tired of politicians who say they want smaller government which I would like too but want it to be big enough to invade my body and my bedroom.

As the mother of two grown daughters and step-mom to two more and the grandmother of five granddaughters and having grown up in the sexually scary ‘50s, I want abortion to stay legal. If people do not want their daughters to have abortions, then teach them abstinence, safe sex, whatever. But if for Whatever Reason a woman decides she wants or needs an abortion, it should be a legal and safe procedure for her have. Period.

If two people love each other enough to marry, they should be able to do so regardless of the gender of either party. Marriage is hard. Believe me, I know. I have been married to two Wonderful men. And it is still hard. If two people love each other enough to enter into that spiritual, frustrating, delightful and binding contract, they should be able to do so legally amid all the celebration and joy that brings. Period.

OK ~ that’s it. Political rant for this season. There is much more to say and rather than rant on, I will leave it at this. You get the points. If we are going to have smaller government, then let it be Smaller government and one way to do that is to stay out of my body and my bedroom. Thank you.

My 69th Birthday Day

2012-01-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

I was incredibly self-indulgent today and took pictures of things I did on my 69th birthday. So here goes ~

I woke to a monochromatic day.

I dressed for the gym even though I was not sure if I could get there. Even on birthdays, the dishwasher needed to be emptied.

And then as always, that was followed by a cup of tea in front of Dean’s beautiful fire. I started immediately reading birthday greetings on FB.

Breakfast was a slice of my homemade banana bread.

It took some work on Dean’s part to get the street in front of the house clear enough for me to make it out to gym.

I made it though. And had a really good session considering I am still recovering from that cold.

The birthday greetings kept coming all day and I enjoyed everyone of them.

My new dvds were in the mail . I treated myself to a long Miss Marple mystery throughout the day

Dinner found us at a lovely restaurant we like.

Dean mentioned it was my birthday so my bread pudding came with a candle.

Happy Birthday, Susan!

Lovely, lovely day

2012-01-22T11:37:00.001-08:00

The first snowshoe of the season this morning! Do you realize how strange it is for me to write that sentence on the 22nd of January? And the fact is, we have just had our first snow of any depth and staying power.

Thanks to accuweather, we chose the perfect hour to go. The sun was peeking through the clouds, the temperature was closing in on its high for the day, and we had a lovely time. Wore three layers plus a shell more for wind protection than for temperature. Boots were stiff. We leave our snowshoes hanging outside the back door with the boots in them. So Simple that way! Just walk out, put them on and go. Except for the first time. Boots were stiff, feet and toes felt funny and squeezed in. Dean did fine. And as soon as I started to walk all was ok. There for a moment though I wondered.

The snow was from 4 inches on the deck to probably 9 up the hill. Dean didn’t have to blaze the trail although he did go ahead of me because I am just slower than he is and my legs are shorter. We wandered. That is one of the nice things about snowshoeing - you can go places you couldn’t go on a regular walk because the snow covers roots and logs and rocks. Even just 9 inches makes the going easier. And so we wandered through the woods, up to a high point with a spectacular lake vista. Sorry - no pictures. We both forgot cameras and our cameras could not have done justice to it anyway. So just imagine:

The lake stretches across your entire range of vision. There are pine trees to look through and around. The sky is grey ergo so is the lake. No white caps and you can tell it is roiling with the coming storm. Here and there the sun against a clear blue sky shows through the clouds, in dramatic and striking contrast. The mountains across the lake stand out against the grey sky and a couple of them are covered with the cloud of advancing snow. We breathe in clear, clean air. And as we descend the hill toward home, the aroma of the air changes a bit ~ it smells like snow ~ and as we close the door behind us and move into the warmth of the house, the snow starts to fall again. Perfect.

Interesting and Different Perspective

2012-01-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Lots of friends on FB complain when their weather is cold and damp, rainy, snowy and grey. That is Exactly what we have in Tahoe this morning and guess what? Dean is doing the snow dance and wandering around the house singing, “it’s snowing, it’s snowing” and chuckling to himself. There is great joy on the mountain this morning as a 24-hour hard rain turned to snow and shows signs of staying around for a while.

I have written before that we need the snow - our economy depends on it. “The Economy” becomes very personal when we think of our young friends who run the cross-country ski area. Unlike the big resorts, they don’t make snow. We were visiting with the owner of our favorite Mexican food restaurant the other day. He had done 50% less business on the Saturday of the MLK long weekend. The time between Christmas and New Years was down like that too. He will make it because he has lots of local support - we locals eat even when there is no snow. And ~ “the economy” is personal.

So today there is joy all around the lake. Let it stay grey and snowy for a while. That is good weather for us and we are grateful.

This, That and the Other Thing

2012-01-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

~ A childhood friend called last night to tell me his mom had to be moved into a full care facility in the Plaza where she has lived for a while. She is now wheel-chair bound. She does like the nursing staff though and seems happy. She was on my mind So Much recently. Now I know why. She is one of very few people who remember my birth.

~ The pastries for breakfast were so much puffier and larger than usual. Allison told Dean it was because of the moisture in the air. No wonder Southern cooks are so good. I had no idea.

~ I told someone the other day about seeing something in a newspaper I read on line. Then I read that within the decade newspapers were going away. So what will we call them? What do we call them even now? They contain news certainly. And they are Not made of paper anymore. Hmmm? Good question.

~ Went on line to find a sweater I like - and had just bought in December - in another color. The store had many, many sweaters by this brand, and not this one. *sigh* All I wanted was this really nice sweater. Where did it go in the last month? I mean they didn’t even have it in Red anymore!!!

~ Close to the top of really satisfying is a good haircut. This time I had been sick and had not trimmed the edges and was definitely scraggy. Glad to be neat again.

Morning Meditation

2012-01-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

Diana put the Charlie Brown and Snoopy picture on FB this morning: What if today, we were just grateful for everything. That’s what I need to do to lift my spirits. Be grateful for everything.

~ the new snow

~ a walk with Dean

~ tasty, crunchy toasted scones

~ a good night’s sleep

~ Kleenex

~ family

~ my home

~ a choice of clothes

~ a hip replacement so I can decide between gym and walking

~ candles

~ fresh air

~ sunshine

~ shoes that fit

~ friends

~ an early birthday card from Doris Ann

~ the delightful fact that I know Two Camerons with birthdays today

~ writing

~ intelligence

~ books I love

~ and on and on. Instead of griping about how sticky the rack in the toaster oven has become, be grateful for the oven and the surprise gift it was. Hmm ~ now that I have started it is hard to stop because all of life rises up in my mind and I think of all sorts of things ~ from the way I was raised, childhood, not just “my home” but all the little things in it that I enjoy looking at and that bring me delight ~ like my birds, the dancing women, the library, the rooms.

And so a current of power does run through me. The Power of Gratitude. The Blessing of Gratitude. For I am indeed blessed when I open myself to the realization of all for which I am grateful. And all that I love and hold dear. (And as I read again, I realize I have left out the thing that usually starts every list like this I have ever made: clean sheets, indoor plumbing and anesthetics. :D)

Thank you, Marlo!

2012-01-11T09:14:00.001-08:00

Professionalism wherever found is a wonderful thing. Yesterday I had occasion to call Apple Customer Service. I had created a book and placed the orders and had heard back from only 2 of the addresses. So I called to make sure the 3rd had gone through. The nice young man, Marlo by name, took care of my request quickly and easily and then (bless him) asked if there was anything else he might do for me. Well, there was. I needed to change my email with Apple which is also my Apple ID. Marlo took me through the whole process. Now you would think that after all these years with Apple I would understand my computer and the whole system better. But I don’t. I learn what I need for the moment’s project and then promptly forget it unless it is something that continues to be used over and over. So Marlo gently, clearly and with no sighing took me through the change of email. I even spoke to his supervisor afterwards because he had been so nice, not in the least condescending and very clear about what I was to do. I know people like me cannot be fun for the Apple consultants. I am sure they much prefer folks who know all the ends and outs and can follow them with leaps and bounds. I am not one of those and I appreciate the Marlos of this world who will walk as patiently with me as they run with the more technically inclined.

New Year's Reflections

2012-01-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

~ even when there is no snow, we can take advantage of beautiful weather to take long lovely walks through the woods.

~ “amazing”, one of a number of banned words for 2012. Evidently the folks who write about these things find that the word has been used too much in too many ordinary ways and so have said no to it. I admit to being guilty. When I read that I realized how often I was using the word to describe things that aren’t really amazing at all. Just very interesting or a bit fascinating. However ~ there is one time when I will continue to say “amazing” because I believe it is a perfect description. When I stand at a point and look out over the lake, reflective of the clear blue sky above, pines standing watch around the rim while mountains tower over the distant shore, I shall continue to breathe deeply and whisper “amazing”. Because it is.

It is also awesome and spectacular.

~ if you are reasonable in your eating and keep up some kind of exercise, it is possible to lose a couple of pounds during the holidays. Yep - really is. And that even includes enjoying the homemade fudge that came our way.

~ Family is So Important and I have had a wonderful time, dare I even say amazing time, with mine this season. This year brought more visits with the SoCal side of the clan (Dean’s family) and with mine. I have relished in the delight of grandchildren from 5 months . . .

. . . to 21 years.

I have visited, played games, enjoyed observing and participating. One particular time was the afternoon 2nd Daughter and I just wandered the shops. I had a few things to buy and mostly we just wandered. And as we did, we talked . . . about all sorts of things. As she lives a bit of a gypsy life and I don’t see her often, it was good. We even sat in Starbucks, drank lattes and shared deeply. I am very grateful for the entire Mix/McKay clan and all they mean to me and to us.

~ Southern tradition: eat black-eyed peas for good luck on New Year’s Day ~ except this year I didn’t. oops. So I will continue to believe that energy follows intention and as it is my intention to have a really good year then I will.

All and all, 2012 is off to a good start with intention and energy following a joyous path into the unknown with the power of a good 2011 behind me.

Christmas Surprises

2011-12-27T15:11:00.000-08:00

== My surprise Christmas present was Delightful - a new, high resolution, point and click camera. Same brand as I have just a really upgraded version. Dean said that as I had started making these books for the family and grandkids, I needed a really good camera to take really good pictures. It even takes movies. :D

Now there is an issue here: the person taking the pictures needs to take good pictures, frame them well, and have reasonably cooperative subjects. I discovered when I looked my pictures from Christmas day - I don’t take candids well. And when we tried to get a picture of the entire Mix clan, there is not one picture that is good of all of us. Oh the pictures are fine - the dinner guest who took them held the camera steady, framed the shot, got us all in. At least one of us in every picture was making a face, looking down, saying something so our mouths are weird. You know the kind of thing. I haven’t seen the ones off Dean’s camera yet. Maybe one of them worked. If not, I will use the one where I am the one talking so as not to embarrass anyone else ~ or maybe not. Heheheheheheh.

The house even received a surprise present: Dean bought us a convection toaster oven. It fits right under the microwave and I have a feeling that between it and the pressure cooker, we are set for our culinary lives. Of course I have to figure out all the supposedly simply settings, and I will. Already I can prepare wonderful toast!

In fairness and complete disclosure, Dean loved his Reed and Barton crystal old fashioned glasses. Christmas surprises were good this year and not a disappointment in the bunch. Maybe we have a new tradition. . .

A Little Bit of LIght

2011-12-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

It is very subtle of course. Barely noticeable unless you are paying close attention. We left home at 5 last night and the sky was light for just a few minutes longer than the night before. This morning the sky was lighter just a little bit earlier than the morning before - just a tad earlier. Almost indiscernible. And it was there. Something new. Something different.

Sort of like the birth of a baby. Just a tiny new life in the great huge world of people ~ and yet, there is something different about the world. No one is sure quite what it is. Barely noticeable unless you are paying close attention like the shepherds and magi. Something new. Something different. Something just may have changed and whatever it is, it is Good.

Picture hangings

2011-12-22T06:43:00.000-08:00

We received a generous gift from grandson, Kyle, our oldest, who is an artist. I had been complimenting his paintings that he had been posting on FB. One day we were talking and he said, you may have one if you would like. Wow. I went right to his FB postings and marked by comment the one I wanted. We brought it home in October.

Being us, however, it is only this week finally hanging on a wall big enough to hold it and allow it to be the impressive piece it is. Both moon and sun look down on us in blessing no matter what the sky outside is doing. We love it.

The Fourth Sunday in Advent.

2011-12-18T06:41:00.000-08:00

We are up very early because we slept really well. The fire and the Advent candles provide light in the room. The morning moon fades slowly against the on-coming dawn. The Advent candles reflect off Santa as well as the baby Jesus. A perfect blending of the special Joys of the season.

The pines are visible against a lightening sky. A day of blessings begins.

Reflecting on the colors of Advent. Some churches use purple candles, others blue. Sometimes pink is the color of one Sunday ~ I think for Mary’s love for the baby and I am really not sure. My own personal Advent wreath has always had red candles because I like the seasonal colors of red and green. The last two years because I have done minimalist decorating, the candle holders have been 2 red and 2 clear glass with some purple. Whatever the color, the center has been the nativity and a white candle lit on Christmas morning.

Energy follows intention and if the intention is to reflect, remember, anticipate and prepare for the birth of Light into the world, the colors reflect that energy as well. May your intention this season be Hope, Peace, Joy and Love so that your energy may be a blessing to the world.

Breathe, oh, Breathe

2011-12-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

Dean was on lunch break from meeting and came upstairs. He wanders around and finally comes over to stand by my chair and look down at me with this silly grin on his face.

Me: What?

Dean: I bought you a Christmas present and it is a Surprise!

Me: - almost fainting and definitely hyperventilating - WOW!!

He told me a long time ago (it seems now) that he would buy me anything I wanted but he didn't buy Christmas presents because I would be disappointed. I assured him that in nearly 40 years of presents from my spouse, I had been disappointed a total of ONE time! Period.

Still - I never had a present under the tree for the past 10 years ~ and this year I don't have a tree and I have a Surprise for Christmas. :D :D :D I can hardly wait - don't know if he will wrap it and have it sitting around or just present it in its box Christmas morning. I think I brought it in from the PO this morning - and it is a medium sized box that is Very Heavy. And if that is my surprise, I am Very Curious. Heheheheheh - oh my, I didn't realize how much I had missed being surprised on Christmas morning. :D

I think I will spend my afternoon grinning!!! I feel like I am about 5.

My Journey with the Eclipse

2011-12-10T06:11:00.000-08:00

Speaking of moments under the moon. I got my times for the total lunar eclipse mixed up and I thought it was full at the time it was just beginning here. So I have been up and about and watching and going back to bed and up and about for what seems like Hours. Finally about 4:30 I checked my computer to discover it started here at 4:45. So I have seen the tiny beginning - come back in and made myself a cup of tea (resisting unloading the dishwasher at this most early hour) and will check on it off and on for the next hour or so. It is supposed to be full at about 6:10 ~ at which point I could be legitimately up.

Too cold to stay out for long even bundled up. So I go out about every 10 minutes or so and note the progress and am grateful I can still see it through the trees. It is beginning to set now so even as the shadow grows larger, so does the moon. I read where there is some optical illusion when the moon gets close to the horizon. It looks much larger. No matter what cameras or physics tell us, our eyes say, it is larger. And so I watch the moon and its shadow grow.

Oh boy - it’s 9 out there. Maybe I shouldn’t have looked. No wonder I can’t stay out long.

5:23: now the moon wears a red night cap or Santa hat tilted rakishly over it’s bright face. So far I am lucky. Even though I am having to view it through tree branches, I can still see it without going too far off the deck and the red color is definitely there even half way through the process. The trees do keep picture taking from being an option ~ although my camera is in my pocket.

6:00 OK!! And all I had to do was walk out on my deck. I wish I had really prepared for a hike up the hill. As it was I only had my old flashlight instead of my new really good camping headlight. Nor was I dressed for a hike. I looked rather comical actually: long johns, night shirt, 2 robes, Dean’s vest, ear muffs, gloves and hiking boots. Heheheheh. Even that prepared, the view from my deck was fine even through the tree branches. If Dean had been with me, I would have tried to get higher up the hill. We do live in a forest, however, and there are nocturnal animals heading home this time of morning and I did not want to encounter them alone. No one is hibernating yet.

Nonetheless, I saw it! Red with a sliver of white at the bottom that slowly disappeared as I leaned on my deck rail in chilly awe and amazement. Three years from now, if we are lucky enough to be in the viewing area again, I will remember to lay out hiking clothes and be prepared to venture into the forest and further up the hill. For now, I am very happy to have watched the autumn red moon.

Under the Midnight Moon

2011-12-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

I couldn’t resist. The night was just too gorgeous. Closing the bedroom door so not to disturb Dean, I donned robe and fuzzy slippers and walked into the the magic of the midnight moon.

It rode high in the sky - not quite overhead, just a tilt to the west. The deck and land was flooded with light, “a luster of mid-day” seems seasonally appropriate. I stood with my head thrown back looking at the amazing star-studded, moon-washed sky. The stars were fewer of course and they were there. The air was quite chilly but not yet cold. I was able to breathe deeply and relish the moment of glory. Still it was a little chilly to spread my wings and dance. I will save that for a summer moon.

I know I will read and re-read these words remembering my magic moments under the mid-winter midnight moon.

Advent Blessing

2011-12-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

As I light my Advent candles this morning, I want to share with you a quote from my blog friend Mike (http://csquaredthoughts.wordpress.com/) that he quoted from Rachel Barenblat, the Velveteen Rabbi, who had some profound and useful words for Rosh Hashanah. I told Mike I thought they would also fit for Advent and I believe they do.

"I’d like to invite each of us to cherish the memories which bring us joy, and to release the memories which bring us pain. To let go of the vision of what we imagined these holidays would be, and embrace instead whatever they actually are.

I want to bless you that you might find the connections, the insights, and the spiritual richness you need, in whatever your experience of [these days] may be."

Blessings, my friends, as you prepare ~ for Christmas, for Hanukah, for the Solstice, for Kwanza, or for whatever your holiday (holy day) of blessing and grace. May you be present in the experience of waiting and preparation.

Reflections on a Decade

2011-12-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

Wow - the first of December. Not sure where time goes any more. It seems to be rushing by just like it did when I was 17.

Tomorrow will be Dean’s and my 10th anniversary. Amazing. Didn’t I just arrive in Tahoe? Isn’t this still a “new” relationship? I guess part of that has to do with an insight Dean shared last month.

He mentioned that this was our 50th year of marriage. I laughed and said, it may feel like that and we had really been married almost 10. No, he reminded me. We both married for the first time in 1961. Yes, there was a little break for both of us after more than 35 years of marriage after both spouses died. And then we married - ergo: we have been at this marriage business for 50 years. Amazing.

And have we gotten it “right” yet? :) I don’t know. With 50 years comes some wisdom and the one thing I do know is that trying to live with another person, even someone you love, is just plain hard. Some of us have it easier than others and really do enjoy our time with our spouse. I think we were both devastated when our first spouses died. I know I was. Then we found each other and as Dean puts it, “now we get to do it all over again.” I guess that means we had good marriages the first time around because the good ones are hard enough. To go through it again if it had been awful is just not the way to go.

Before I ever reconnected with Dean, I asked an older woman who had been a widow for a long time if she had ever considered marrying again. This lovely little old lady looked at me with fire in her eyes and said, “HA! Been there, done that.” And that closed that subject! I realized then that the first experience had a Lot to do with whether you wanted the second or not.

And so it has been ten years. You don’t just exchange one spouse for another so we have had our ups and downs learning lessons we thought we had learned before only to realize we learned them with someone else. I am not Nancy. Dean is not Rex. So we have learned to be Susan and Dean together. We’re doing fairly well at that. After ten years we deal with who we are now and have become rather than who we were in our first marriages.

Time continues to slip by. Days come and go. We grow, we change. Basically we are happy and content in a rather exciting way. Comfortable does not have to be dull, witness camping in Death Valley and celebrating life with eleven grand-children. So it is with joy that I celebrate with some amazement the passing of ten years and look forward to the future sharing life with my first-grade buddy.

A Christmas Dilemma

2011-11-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

So here’s the Christmas deal. Decorating was always a delightful time in the Mix family. We listened to carols, popped corn, had hot cider or cocoa and made a family night of it. Sometimes the daughters’ friends would come over when they knew that was happening. We had a good time and once the tree was done, we all braved the cold and went outside to see what people passing the house would see through the window. It was really nice.

When I married Dean, he told me he didn’t decorate. Oh, he will help with opening the window seat storage and with the lights but that’s it. No decorating for him. Well, that left me. And once I had adjusted to that change, it was ok. Then came last year. My hip surgery was too close to Christmas to allow me to do the tree decorating. I took out a few things: the dishes, a Santa placemat, red candles. My Advent wreath was a nativity I keep out all the time surrounded by four candles that I keep out all the time. It all worked.

And guess what? Christmas came anyway. :)

This year, the hip is back to normal, all is well, and . . . there was a great freedom in the lack of decorating last year. Hmmm - Interesting dilemma. I’m not sure if I want to expend all that energy this year. I love the season. I love all of it ~ the carols, the presents, the candles, the busy-ness and the silence. I love the gentle Advent preparation and the Christmas morning excitement. I love leaving decorations in place until Epiphany (although when the daughters were in school, I would take the tree down before they went back).

And . . . there was freedom in the very simple decorations last year.

I have my new red candles. I will do some basic decorating today ~ and I will give more thought to the tree and all that entails. And we will see. What I know to be true is that the Light of both the Solstice and the Savior will come into the world regardless of what I do. And there is great freedom in that knowledge.

Death Valley Camping

2011-11-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

My one request: the sun sets at 5 so please, let’s get there before 5 and set up camp while there is still sun light and not in the dark. And the gods laughed. The blizzard winds (although not much snow) kept us from loading the truck Friday night. By the time we were away and made all our stops on Saturday, we drove into the park at exactly 5 o’clock, having watched a beautiful sunset as we drove in. We set up camp in the dark.

What is there about Dean bringing me to camp in wonderful fall-warm camping grounds and they having an unusual cool snap? Today it was just 57 and a strong wind at Scotty’s Castle and Ubehebe Crater. Scotty’s castle was inside of course. Amazing place about which much has been written. I think all stories are eclipsed by the building itself - which Scotty had nothing to do with building. The artisans who created the Spanish architecture were amazing. I’m not even sure such people exist any more.

We were going to tour and then have our lunch in a lovely little grove of trees with picnic tables just beside the parking lot. Instead, Dean (with his bare knees) sat in the truck and I hurriedly made the sandwiches with freezing hands and then hopped back in the truck where we ate lunch in relative warmth.

On the way back we drove into Ubehebe Crater. I could hardly open the door to the truck to get out - in my hat, earmuffs and gloves. No worries today about falling into the crater. The wind was coming across the crater. I could hardly make it there - and I am not a slender woman any more. And the gods laughed. Tens of thousands of people come to Death Valley every year and never see a drop of rain. This night just as we were about to prepare dinner, the rain came. Not much and enough to send me inside. And I had the chairs and stuff inside or put away before it came hard - and Dean had the steaks and asparagus grilled. We ate inside and would occasionally check on the rapidly dying fire. Dean took the breaks in the rain to finish rigging the tent and much of what he did was Very Helpful. Not as much blowing in the wind and firm so that we could hear the gentle rain.

The gods stop laughing and are smiling on us. A wonderful hike to and through Natural Bridge.

Two delightful swims in a beautiful, warm spring fed pool. Insight: if I had a private jet, I wouldn’t fly to Europe or the Caribbean. I would fly into Death Valley three times a week and go to the Furnace Creek pool.

~ and on the way out of the Valley, lunch inside a great big empty

The silence was truly profound ~

~ when we got on the 15 driving through the desert was suddenly boring. We never said “boring” about driving through Death Valley.

Being a Butterfly

2011-11-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

Years ago as I went through a hard time in my emotional and spiritual life, the butterfly became a wonderful, healing symbol for me. It took other people pointing out to me that I was a butterfly. Tight in a cocoon of hurt and pain and confusion, I came forth as a stronger, happier, Present person. Butterflies represent new life, resurrection, and beauty. They have to beat their wings against the walls of their cocoon to give them strength to break out and fly. Butterflies also share from one flower to another. A person can move between persons, friends, sharing wisdom and love and insights. Butterflies bring blessings as they flutter by, gracing our eyes with color and life and then disappearing on the wings of air.

Today I read this: Every time Claire saw a butterfly she couldn’t help thinking of Carl Jung’s story of the butterfly beating its wings against the window, asking to be let in, bringing with it the divine hand of Fate, of -- what did Jung call it? --”synchronicity.” Because of this, she always thought of butterflies as messengers from the world beyond our knowledge; . . .” (Carole Bugge’)

I will add this image to my understanding of the butterfly experience. I am intuitive enough that I like the idea of on occasion being a messenger from the world beyond our knowledge.

Kindle Follow-up

2011-11-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

So I have had a good time with my Kindle and my library. The Kindle app came with three books, one of which was Pride and Prejudice. Now of course I have P&P in my library. It is one of those I read at least once a year. So I started reading it on my Kindle. And then it came time to go to gym where I always read while riding the bike. This time I didn’t have to find another book to read. I picked up my hard copy of P&P, found the chapter and headed for the gym. When I was home and ready to read from my Kindle again, I found the chapter left off at the gym and continued to read. I know this switching between hard copy and Kindle won’t happen again because I won’t order for Kindle a book I already have on the shelves - probably. And it worked very nicely this week.

In Honor of National Booksellers Day

2011-11-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

== Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I Love books. And I am finding I love them regardless of the format in which I read them.

I have just put a Kindle app on my computer and I am amazed. I immediately downloaded my daughter’s 3rd novel. Then I decided to look for the next mystery in a series I am reading and there it was and here it was on my Kindle in seconds. At the same time, I have 6 used books coming with free shipping from my favorite on line book seller. My library shelves are loaded and I read and reread. I don’t listen to books on cds and yet I know plenty of people who do that as they commute.

I also believe in supporting my local bookstore so within the week I will go there and peruse possibilities for Christmas gifts for the grands. However they come and in whatever format, I love books. I believe in reading ~ books take us to imaginative places, to historical and future times in which we did not and cannot live. Books make us think. Introduce us to new ideas. Help us learn where old ideas came from and how they effect our lives today. Books ~ the writing down of ideas, stories, history ~ are a Wonderful concept. I believe we should be reading, reading, reading ~ and if that means downloads on my Kindle app and a stack of paper backs by my chair and shelves full of amazing titles, so be it. Here’s to reading!

Welcome Home

2011-11-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

Dean’s father was a milliner. He not only made hats, he Created hats. Many of his hats were created to order: “Henry, I am going to thus and so event and wearing this particular color and I need a hat.” HIs was a specialty shop and all the hats were made by Henry. He lived and worked in Dallas and Dallas fashion wore Hats by Henry. Even though my mom was not a part of the fashion scene in Dallas, she did have one Henry hat of which she was very proud ~ and pleased to learn that his son was in her daughter’s first grade class. Henry rode the fashion in hats through to its end when in the early 60’s most of us stopped wearing hats.

Dean has often said that he couldn’t believe he didn’t have even One of his father’s hats. When we were making plans for our 50th high school reunion one of the women (who didn’t come unfortunately) said she and her sister both still had a Henry hat. Several people mentioned to Dean remembering his father and wearing his hats. One man said he even thought they might have one of his mother’s hats by Henry.

Sure enough they did and were generous enough to share the gift with Dean. (Thank you, Bob!!) The picture doesn’t do it justice as the black velvet is as rich and as lovely as the day he made it. As you can see, it still has the hat pin in it. The beads are also gleaming. If it were in style today, someone could put it on her head, wear it just as it is and look very stylish.

Dean will build a shadow box for it so it can be on display and the story told again and again. Maybe he will tell about working in the back room wrapping Christmas presents for Neiman’s across the street. Or even learning as an Eagle Scout to make his own Native American Fancy Dance costumes among all the beads and ribbons. Good memories came out of a box this morning. A Hat by Henry has come home.

Out of the Mouths . . .

2011-11-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

The grands had been begging their mom to take them to Halloween City and so one day last week they went. They were met at the door by smoke blowing across the door out of the mouths of ghouls. Nope. Didn’t want to go in there. Being a good mom, she decided to help them face their fears, cross the smoke and discover a wonderful store on the other side. Except the store was more ghoulish and horrible than ever and pretty soon the 6-year old girl was sobbing. It took mom 20 minutes to talk her down - and lots of conversation about spooky scary and really frightening. Six-year old daughter looked right at her mom and said, “I told you I didn’t want to go in there. You should have listened to me.” Yes, even moms make mistakes sometimes.

Then came Halloween. At that point the Warrior Princess (disguised as a pink and fluffy Spider Woman) took over. She ran ahead of the rest of the family, would stand outside a house, hands on hips and look it over, make her decision and announce whether or not she could go to the door.

Then came the house with the smoke. Oh, dear - more smoke. Which of course blew as they stood there thinking about it. Finally deciding they could go to the door, they did. When the woman opened the door, “Harry Potter” - age 9 - big brother of the Warrior Princess - looks right at her and says, “Was the smoke really necessary?”

Reflections on Time with Grands

2011-10-31T20:12:00.000-07:00

Some reflections of the trip to Temecula that aren’t reflected in the pictures:

Megan being very shy of me until I was holding Emily and she wanted to hold her. Suddenly she was up close to me and letting me help her hold Emily.

Less than 24 hours later, realizing she was calling and what she was saying was, “Susan. Susan. Susan.” She knows my name. Maybe the “Mama” part is a little difficult to grasp yet and that is ok. She knows my name.

When I went to dinner Thursday night, she ran to me for a welcome hug.

By Saturday, mine was the side she hid behind when she was feeling shy.

Feeling my arm hurting, wondering what I had done in gym, and then realizing it hurt because I had held Emily on that arm a Lot the day before.

Realizing diapering a baby is like riding a bike: once you get it, you get it and no matter how long it has been, you can still do it.

Spending time with Kyle, the oldest of our 11 grands. Having him drive me around. Visiting and talking about all sorts of things from his health to the dog we both loved. Sharing a lunch and deciding what we would both like to eat. Having him look across a table at me and share the family secret with our eyes while his sibs went on playing a game.

Playing Bananagrams and Apples to Apples. I really like Bananagrams - you compete only with yourself which when dealing with words, that is good. A whole family evening of Apples to Apples. I think Grandpa and Emily were the only two who didn’t play. Even Megan sat by her mom and asked about some words. We had fun.

Visiting with Rob as he grilled a lot of meat for dinner at their house.

Seeing Chen Lu for the first time and saying, “Hi, daughter-in-law” and her ducking her head and blushing. We do think she is more comfortable now that she is “official” - and of course in her case, it also means she is now in this country completely legally and permanently.

Helping Carly with her writing, spelling and reading. I think we made some progress which made me feel good. Having her ask if I would like to accompany her to her MRI. I had already planned to go with Megan to the party in the park and I was flattered Carly asked.

Helping Amanda make pecan pies at her request. Ending up making the pecan pies because of the need for daughters’ baths. That’s ok - she saw some of it and was glad to figure out some things. The pies were Delicious! I really set it on the top shelf. She loved the crust -- I am going to send her the hamburger pie recipe so not all her pies have to be sweet.

Making a picture book for Megan and Emily tonight. Thank you, Apple! I really enjoy them. Megan and I read and read the first one I made which was one for her. We named everyone in the pictures over and over. Mandy says it is a perfect size and easy for her to hold.

Lots of fun times and memories made.

Mmmmmm Good

2011-10-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

There are many ways to eat my homemade apple sauce. Mostly I just eat it, straight up. That way I have matched it with dinner, with egg and toast for breakfast, beside a scone, and on a plate with cheese, crackers, and a bit of meat for a supper snack. I have put it on top of an ice cream sundae, as part of a smoothie and under Michelle’s good granola (www.mamabearskitchen.com). And that was all in the last five days.

Mixed with Michelle’s granola made me remember that my father used to put apple sauce on top of whatever cereal he was having for breakfast - from bran flakes to oatmeal. We are still talking homemade apple sauce of course.

I understand apple sauce goes well as the oil in cakes or bread recipes. I have put it in my muffin recipe and I think it would be lovely in banana or zucchini bread. I have mixed the granola with pancake batter so I am thinking we could have apple/granola pancakes with the addition of a little apple sauce.

Looks like I just may have to make some more as I only have two big bags in the freezer. Time for another visit to an apple market. I’ll see what I can find on the way back up the mountain next week. Meanwhile, I keep enjoying this batch!

Good Read

2011-10-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

Recently I read 1776 by David McCullough, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, whose ability to spin a fascinating tale out of the facts of history has no parallel. He tells a Wonderful story, full of ordinary characters caught in an extraordinary time and living a history whose outcome they did not know.

McCullough begins his tale in London on October 26, 1775, the day King George III when before Parliament, declared the American colonies in rebellion and made clear his resolve to crush it. Extensive research into both American and British archives brings the following year into high focus through the writings of generals, military men, letters home from freezing, starving soldiers, and letters to those soldiers from wives and sweethearts battling the same war on the lanes and byways of the growing country.

HIstory has taught us mainly about George Washington, Father of our Country, General, astride his noble steed. The real records show him to be indecisive and leaning strongly on the opinions of Nathaniel Greene, a Quaker who was made a general at thirty-three, and Henry Knox, a twenty-five-year-old bookseller whose preposterous ideas actually worked even in the dead of winter.

Washington had never led an army into battle and it seemed to this reader that his greatest ability for a long time was his ability to retreat without the enemy, and sometimes even his troops, recognizing what was happening. He called it “repositioning” the troops.

The Declaration of Independence is dealt with only as a political statement that turned the war from rebellion to treason and set the bar of victory even higher. It did give new impetus to the war and spirit to the fighters.

McCullough delves deeply into the British story as well. British Commander, William Howe, led his highly disciplined red-coats into battle after battle with a valor that we rarely read about in American history books.

There is no final conclusion in 1776 as the war drones on for another six years. Washington has an idea, however, that changes the course of the war and of history. It is still a wonder things turned out the way they did.

I was reading a very good mystery at the same time I was reading 1776 and I found myself laughing because as I reached for a book, I discovered I needed to get Washington off that mountain, over that river, through that battle, more than I needed to discover “who done it”. This is a terrific, electrifying telling of an amazing, powerful story of all sorts of ordinary people who fought for an idea and thereby created a country.

Fall Fresh

2011-10-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

No, my family will find no pods in the basement. This really is The Mama being creative in the kitchen. I always cooked and was basically a good if not very creative cook. Then after about 30 years of marriage and cooking, I declared a halt to the cooking. I still did it of course but basically I had had it. When Dean and I began to think we might be a couple, I told him, “I don’t cook.” I’m still good when I do and once in a while I have creative splurges in the kitchen. This week is one of those.

The last of the Farmers’ Market tomatoes, chopped with fresh basil from the market and frozen as the basis for soups and sauces during the winter.

Apples from the market, ready to be cored, sliced and turned into Aunt Lalah’s apple sauce. Very simple. Cook, blend, add a dab of sugar, freeze. Yum!! I may even be adventurous and use this amazing pressure cooker that I have touted before.

Concord grapes are being eaten right off the stem. Although I may freeze them too for sweet snacks at other times in the year. The Concord grape season is Very short and no grape matches them according to my taste buds.

The growing season seemed short this year and in a couple of weeks we will drive south so maybe we can find some fresh veggies and fruit to bring home. There is no grocery store tomato that tastes like a one fresh off the vine.

Totally Missed Communication

2011-10-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

Once in a while two people totally miss each other in conversation. Some times it is very serious. And some times it is just silly ~ as in:

Me: You and D could have chili for lunch here today and I have a massage and won’t be around to make rice so you had better go out.

Dean: I don’t want to eat lunch out after eating out for breakfast. If the pressure cooker is clean, we can have rice in three minutes.

Me: That’s true. OK - I’ll have everything ready for you.

Later that morning - shortly after 11:

Me: I have everything set for you. All you have to do is turn on the heat under the chili and make the rice.

Dean looks at me strangely and sort of nods.

I head for my massage saying : or you can wait for me if you want to.

Get massage. I have heard Dean come upstairs. Sounds like only one set of foot steps and no talking but I don’t think anything about it. Come upstairs myself. Look around.

Me: Has D gone?

Dean: Yes.

Me: Did he eat lunch?

Dean: No - he was here for breakfast. He left about 11.

Whoa! No wonder Dean looked at me strangely shortly after 11. He thought it nice though that I had set such a nice table and had everything ready for us to have lunch. He even saved a little rice for me and when I got my own chili mac out of the fridge, he finished up the rice. I thought D would be here all day - at least through lunch so I had set everything so they could eat at home and Dean could prepare it with ease.

All you can do is shake your head, laugh and be Very Grateful that the total miscommunication was only over who was going to be seated at the lunch table and not over something more serious.

Privilege

2011-10-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

When I posted my last blog about the multi-cultural clinic experience, I told my daughter a little more of the story. She said, mom, you should say that in the blog. We need to be aware of that.

So here is the rest of my thought process. Everything went along smoothly and easily until my x-rays were posted on the wall. Then everything stopped. We were waiting for the doctor to read them. And waiting . . . and waiting . . . and waiting. Finally I went to the desk and asked how long it would be. Not much longer. And we waited. I went to the desk again: Is the doctor even in the building? Yes, he is having a little lunch - said with embarrassment and uncertainty that she should have said that. I assured her that it was fine - that helped me. Good heavens, the doctor could surely take time for a little lunch at 3:30 in the afternoon. Then I saw the doctor. He was wandering around - no longer eating lunch - and just back there. I was the only one in the waiting room. There was one baby crying in the back, but he wasn’t with the baby.

Finally I get up again and say, is there any way he could just call me with the results?

Just a minute. And the receptionist when around the back, spoke with the nurse practitioner, I was called back, seen, given the results, told what to do and sent on my way.

And through it all I was aware that I had the ego strength and power that comes from being white, middle class and certain that I deserve good service. I was raised with it and expect it.

What does this have to do with the clinic? I still wonder if people of a different culture, different race, different class, have any sense of that yet? Would a young Hispanic mother feel confident in saying “What is happening? Why isn’t the doctor looking at my x-rays? Or seeing my baby? Or addressing whatever the issue?” Maybe she would. Maybe I am behind the times. And maybe, having listened to some friends and read blogs and seen the news, I am right on. The sense of privilege is still with us and those of us who carry it at least should be aware that we do.

A Multi-Cultural Experience

2011-10-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Friday night at midnight I took a fall, stubbing my little toe on the end of a staircase I had avoided for 4 days and nights. Slipped, fell forward and the rounded edges of two steps jammed into my thigh and my side just below my ribs. Sore. Painful. Scary. Tears. All those things ~ and it could have been so much worse that I am very grateful.

Still ~ the daughters both suggested (wise women that they are) that I have the ribs xrayed because on Sunday morning I had to fly home. So on Saturday afternoon I had my friend take me to an urgent care clinic. The one closest to her was neat, clean, and if you will pardon the expression, white. And they didn’t take medicare or xrays. Oops. So they recommended a Minor Emergency clinic which did both. There we went - into an entirely different neighborhood. The building was old, not too neat inside and we were the only Anglos present either in the waiting room or among the staff.

I was cared for, listened to, treated well and with deference shown a hurting person of any race by health care folks of any race. Once he had ascertained that my ribs were ok, the doctor did poke my side and thigh and toe a bit - ouch. That’s ok though - he learned what he needed to learn. My time with them went quickly, efficiently and smoothly. When the doctor had seen my xrays, the nurse practitioner saw to it that he looked at me, checked the other two sore spots and then she made sure I understood my instructions - ice, rest and no exercise for two weeks. I said ok. Today I am checking with my own Physical Therapist re: how long before gym routine again. And I know what she will say: if it hurts, don’t do it. :) I may be two weeks without exercise after all.

I am very grateful for those folks who were in that clinic, ready to be present and helpful to anyone who walked in in pain. The front desk folks were unable to verify my medicare so the accountant appeared and asked if I had been to a doctor this year. I said, well, I had hip surgery in November so in January I . . . and she said, “$25”. I think the deductible is gone and she knew it. And if I can be reimbursed the $25 fine - if not, it was a small price to pay for peace of mind and a safe flight home. Thank you, everyone, at the Minor Emergency Clinic!

Reunion Reflections

2011-09-26T08:25:00.001-07:00

All these folks graduated from high school with me in January of 1961 ~ 50 years ago. Yesterday we gathered at our friend's house and celebrated us. We had a third of the class there - 52 graduates, 20 attendees, and several who had planned to come and for some reason didn't. We searched and searched to find all 52 and sometimes even these days of the internet, it just isn't possible. We are very grateful for all those who we found and who said yes to being with us.

We shared a lot about the past - remembering places we had hung out, telling stories from school, laughing a lot. And we also looked forward, talking about interesting things happening now ~ we are not all retired; sharing hopes and dreams for the future. Yes, we also talked about our health, hip and knee replacements and how we are managing. That was ok - we talked about such things and then moved on.

All in all, a delightful, perfect time. Had you been there, you might have been amazed at the vitality, energy and spunk in this group of 68, 69 year olds. "Old" age takes on a whole new meaning when we gather like this. It was a fun time.

Today

2011-09-19T19:14:00.001-07:00

Spent a lot of today shopping with Joshua. And mostly we had dorm life in a shopping cart. All those little things that mom has usually bought for you and put in your bathroom cabinet or under the kitchen sink to clean with. But in the midst of all that practicality was a little fun: a fedora and a sweater vest, jeans and tan slacks, and a fun coffee mug that caught his imagination and I said, oh why not. :D

Meanwhile, Dean was at home getting our new (bought off Craigslist) round dining room table up the back drive and into the house. I am very pleased. I was a little concerned that it was too dark for the space. I have several round center pieces and will choose which one I like best when I have time to do that. Meanwhile, I am excited about the new table. We will leave the glass one on the deck. It looks wonderful on the deck and the glass top comes off so it can be tucked next to the wall away from the snow during the winter.

Always Listen

2011-09-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

Listening to my body. It has been my mantra since I was 13 and I see no reason to abandon it now. Last night I was in tears, sobbing ~ my feet and ankles felt weird and funny and my nerves were all on edge and as I lay there I realized there was more than a physical reason for my tears. I did not, do not want to go to this meeting in Reno today. Do Not want to be on anyone’s advisory board. Do Not want to become involved again. And the other thing I realized - duh! - is that no one was going to hog tie me and make me go. So in a few minutes I will call Norman, thank him for his kind offer and tell him I’m not coming. As I said to Dean, if as the old saying goes, I had had the sense I was born with, when he asked if I was interested in being on an advisory board, I should have said no. Then I wouldn’t have had all this gentle angst this week and tear last night at all.

There was a moment of “whoa” this morning when I told Dean. He said, “Oh, honey, you can’t do that.” “Of course I can.” And that was that. After a bit more information from me, he said, “well, of course if you don’t want to, you shouldn’t.” You got it, my friend. :) And I am sorry to be telling Norman this so late. I am sure I would have enjoyed meeting people today and had a good time although I was not looking forward to the drive to Reno by myself. That would have been immaterial had I really wanted to do the job. Just not my thing. After all, I quit the PSR board after a three-year term. Just not my thing no matter what others think might be good for me. Phew. Slept really well last night after that decision. Always listen. Bodies rarely steer us wrong.

Options

2011-09-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

As if I had any real option. I was ready to go to gym this morning. Had my tote over my shoulder. Said good-bye to Dean and I would probably be back before he left. He said, “OK. I think I will take a little walk.” - Stop - Freeze - Rapid think

Choice: gym with casual friends, inside, usual routine. Walk through rain-soaked pine forest with Sweetheart. That decision didn’t take long.

The forest was Glorious. The trail beaten down by the rain. The greenery - green - greener than any September either of us remember. The creek is running - yes, in September there is Running water in the creek. And the aroma? Oh, my - sweet and heady and as always reminding me of my childhood summers in the pine forests of North Carolina.

We walked the loop which takes us down a small, one track trail through a very still and magical open forest. I am not sure what to call the mid space between forest and meadow. Anyway - that’s where this trail goes. Wonderful. All the while breathing deeply and feeling our bodies fill with clear, cool, clean mountain air. Delightful. Good choice. :D

Reflections on 9/11

2011-09-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

We all agree today ten years ago was horrific, horrible, indescribable and life-changing for the entire country, perhaps the world. Beyond that, where do we go? We go from the very general to the very personal. People died. Innocent people going about their jobs. Working people doing their jobs trying to save others. Good people. Ordinary people ~ some of whom became heroes. And all those people and their families deserve our remembrances.

Just like any of us deserve the memories of our loved ones who have died. My mom died when I was 16. At 68 I am still pleased when someone remembers her or something she did or my daughters ask me about her.

My concern today is of the overwhelming media coverage showing the pictures over and over again as if trying to bring it back so close that we relive the experience. None of us need to do that. Remember, yes! Absolutely! Idolize, no. There are indeed days that change lives and this is one of them. But to take us back emotionally to that day when we have moved forward for ten years is too much. We have moved forward. There are things happening today.

There is a memorial service and celebration of her life today for my friend from the book store who died last month. Dean is having a meeting in the office today and tomorrow and at 9 this morning I prepared a table of morning goodies and made the coffee and they are at work. Sunday is a work day for one son-in-law who is a helicopter pilot and right now he is fighting a fire. He is only one of many in that particular occupation today as land and homes across this country are on fire right now. Babies are being born. Grandfathers are dying. People are living their lives in hope and struggle, frustration and joy, fear and freedom just like we do every day of every year of our lives.

Do we need to stop a moment and remember those who died on this day? Yes. And then we need to take a breath, acknowledge that we are the ones who won even in the midst of destruction and move on. Live continues. Love continues. The human spirit soars beyond the moment into a life of possibilities.

Hurray!!

2011-09-09T20:14:00.001-07:00

== Good news! And a Huge sigh of relief. The results from my life-line screening came today and my arteries and blood flow are all OK - Phew. Oh yes, my BP is a little high; so is my cholesterol; and none of this is unexpected. This we knew. It was the odd feelings in my legs, ankles and feet that had me worried ~ and all is clear. Still don’t know why I feel this way and at least I know I am free flowing. Grateful beyond words for these results.

Old Bones

2011-09-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

I am reading a book by Arron Elkins titled, Old Bones. Elkins writes about forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver who is able to decipher all sorts of mysteries from the old bones he encounters. And the excellency of this series is the subject of another blog. Today I am thinking about old bones.

I heard an interview on Science Friday (NPR) by some scientists who had taken DNA from the teeth of skeletons buried in the 1400s in order to trace the origins of the plague.

And then there are our grandparents, parents and even ourselves who say the ache in our elbow or hip tells us that the weather is changing. We “know” things deep in our bones. Intuition tells us when something is right or wrong and yet, is it some magical flash, or a deep knowing that has come from years of experience that has settled in our bones?

And so I am contemplating old bones and the wisdom that accumulates in our bodies as we live.

We have a two month old granddaughter ~ new bones. She is learning fast and furiously, putting all sorts of new information into her bones. She is on one the fastest most rigorous learning curves of her whole life in these first two years. She will learn what hurts and what feels good; what makes her laugh and what makes her cry; what brings Mama and what Mama ignores; what makes Mama happy and what makes Mama frown. Her bones will literally learn how to carry her upright and how to move across the floor. Lots of learning for new bones.

I watched four young mountain jays flying around the yard this morning. They fly fine - just in shorter spurts than the older jays. They are less sure of their surroundings and they are very aware of us. The older jays - especially one big loud guy - almost ignore us and land on the deck, on chair backs, and chatter and tell us to feed them (we don’t) and to pay attention.

No conclusions. Just my own chatter regarding the wisdom we gather and accumulate through the years. If we could extract wisdom DNA, what would it show us about ancient shamans, priests and priestesses, grandparents and all those on whom we build our own bone knowledge? Next time someone tells me they just know it in their bones, I think I will listen very carefully. ~ blessings

Food Insight

2011-09-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

The PSOB back again. And this time without salt. That’s right. No salt. OK - of course I still eat salt. We all need sodium so as not to faint if nothing else. What we don’t need is huge amounts of salt ~ especially when we live at altitude, in a very low humidity climate where we have to make an effort to sweat.

We had friends visit for a week and he is on very low sodium and we plunged right in with him ~ no tapering off ~ just ate what she said he could have. We don’t add salt anyway, and for a week we were reading labels and checking out sodium content and avoiding having anything that had too much.

After a week of that, when they left I returned to the gym, and found myself with Loads of Energy. I even feel “lighter” ~ having nothing to do with weight. The scales show about the same and I had had ice cream and even creme brulee. What I hadn’t had is Salt. One way I am lowering my sodium is to measure my wonderful no cholesterol Greek salad dressing instead of just pouring it on. Amazing how far a tablespoon of dressing can go when the salad is tossed and tossed. Wow. The change in feeling is incredible.

My doctor will be very pleased. He has wanted me to decrease my blood pressure a little. If this works like folks say it will, my BP will go down nicely before I see him again in several months. I am much more likely to stay on low sodium because of this energetic light feeling than because of any test the doc does every 4 to 6 months. I’m stoked!!

Several Moments in Time

2011-08-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

When Rex was faculty sponsor of the on campus radio station and taught one journalism class, he assigned his students interviews with members of the Pioneer Club who had returned for Homecoming. The Pioneer Club was made up of anyone who had been graduated 40 years or more. One delightful student decided she would interview the oldest woman there. The interview was going along very nicely when she asked: What did you do for fun back then? The octogenarian smiled, her eyes twinkled, and she replied: The same things you do today. We just didn’t talk about it so openly then.

I was in my late 30s, early 40s when I was on an ecumenical planning committee. They sent me a copy of the program and there I was, the only one without a list of initials after my name. There were degrees of course and even a few titles and the Catholic sisters seem to have the most letters which denoted their orders I suppose. My daughters said, “Mom, you need some letters after your name.” A friend who was visiting at the time suggested PSOB. What? “Pretty Sexy Old Broad”.

I was younger then of course. Forty was an interesting time as I began to get some delightful attention from younger men. I commented on this fact to a dear friend. Now this lady was amazing: tall, regal in bearing, ordained minister, married to a minister, wise, a mother in the faith to me and after my mom died, a surrogate mom for a while. I had no idea what she might say to this (I thought radical) statement of mine. She smiled, patted my arm and said, “Oh, my dear, just wait until you are 50.”

I spent year 67 in great pain. Pain took away my sense of being attractive in any way at all. I certainly didn’t feel sexy. I felt old, dowdy and pinched. I may have looked good. Dean even told me that he liked a particular outfit or that I looked very nice or even sexy. Didn’t matter what he or anyone else said. I didn’t Feel attractive or sexy. Then I had hip replacement surgery. No more pain. Slowly, gradually energy returned. I go to the gym. I am gaining muscle tone I had lost. I am active again. And I Feel Sexy. They say that 90% of sexiness is in our heads. I can attest to that. However I felt last year, this year I feel good, know when I look good, feel sexy and am more ready than ever to sign myself in as a PSOB!

Doing it Again

2011-08-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

If Rex had lived August 24th would have been our 50th wedding anniversary and there would have been some sort of a party and celebration and all sorts of whoopla just because we had made it this long together. Rex didn’t make it. And neither did Nancy. Dean and Nancy were also married in 1961, December 26 to be exact. And so as Dean points out, this is our 50th anniversary year of being married. Oh yes, we both had a break after more than 35 years - spent some time alone, but not really enough to get out of the marriage mode.

Of course you don’t just switch one spouse for another ~ after we married each other, we adjusted, we changed, we worked through issues both of us thought had already been worked through years before only to remember that was with the other spouse.

I have recently been given some pictures from family archives of my grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. They had to have been about my age because I know my grandmother had her first daughter at 18. They are a very handsome couple. They had lived a strong and probably hard life. Papa Dear was a farmer. Mama Dear had run a boarding house. And yet there they are at their fiftieth anniversary looking soft and demure. Neither look like they have been to a gym a day in their lives nor like they had much energy about them. I think Dean and I must be a lot younger at 68 than they were at the same age.

I guess that is to say that although all fifty years of marriage have not been to the same person, we are glad to be living in an age when that may still be a milestone, and we don’t have to stop and stay here. We are able to continue the joys of marriage (“we get to do it again”, Dean says) as well as a healthy, strong, energetic aging process.

Intense Silence

2011-08-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

== Intense Silence. I am not sure I have ever thought of silence as being intense before. This morning Dean was moving some furniture around to prepare the deck for more power-washing. I came inside for another cup of tea and sat down in my chair and realized there was No sound.

The silence began to press in on me in a very good way. It called me to attention. I put down my tea and settled in my chair, feet on the floor, hands in my lap, eyes closed. I reached out with my ears and there was No sound. No cars on the road. No moving around the deck noise. No bird or little critter noises. No house noise - not even the ice maker. I pulled my attention back into my body and let myself be supported by the silence. I simply sat and let it settle in and around me. I was grounded - centered - releasing.

There is a sense that the intensity will stay with me even though the power-washer will begin soon. Dean came in and spoke to me and it took a moment to return to our shared space in order to hear him. Now there is a little movement, some sound, and he is on the deck again. And still the silence seems to be protecting me from whatever sounds will come. I have had this experience before of course - learned a long time ago how to surround my body with silence so that the words I was hearing didn’t invade my space but simply entered my hearing without beating on me. This morning was different though. I was not the initiator of the silence. The silence itself was alive and intense and calling me to its center. Very nice. Very nice indeed.

12th Night on the Lake

2011-08-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

We saw 12th Night at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor last night. First of all, Dean and Scot, the man of the couple who went with us, decided we would go early as usual but this time we would eat on the beach. I was a little hesitant, traditionalist that I am, because I have always enjoyed eating in the venue. However, here begineth the list of "bests" ~

Eating on the beach was Delightful. We had the best parking space we have ever had - several steps to the entrance to the beach and about twice that in the other direction to the entrance to the theatre area. Linda provided food and we sat on the beach for a little over an hour and ate and talked (and I outlined the plot of the play) and enjoyed the time. Then at about 6:30 we put everything back in the car, got out our hoodies and blankets and headed just a little further up the hill to the theatre.

It was the best performance of 12th Night I have ever seen. Of course I kept seeing Meredith as Maria. She could have done this one as well or better. And - Viola, who really carries the play I discovered, was Excellent. Both physically and in articulation and enunciation. I understood Every word without her ever sounding like she was pushing. The sound system may have something to do with this as well - and truthfully, I understood it all and she was just outstanding.

Malvolio was the best I have ever seen. Finally someone directed and acted him like the humorous, pompous ass he is and gave us reason to understand what the pranksters do to him. The cast reaction to his final "I will be revenged on the whole lot of you" was also good enough to help carry what is often a let down.

Viola and Sabastian, although different in height as is usually the case, looked enough alike that it was plausible that they might be identical twins - although I have never quite understood how a male and female can be "identical" no matter how close they look alike. :) Of course the twins in Shakespeare's company were both boys and identical.

I was interested in the fact that Maria did not just disappear. She and Sir Toby had a very obvious thing going and she was brought back on stage at the end (never having really left in the disappeared sense) and was part of the revelations and given the line about Toby's marrying her - with great excitement on her part rather than like a punishment which is what it is easily read as.

Usually, although the stage backs up to the lake, there is a back drop between the stage and the lake. For this one, set on the shores of Illyria, the back was open to the lake. Gorgeous. They switched the first two scenes so that there was a sand colored cloth covering the center part of the stage and Viola was brought on to it by the sea captain and her scene was run. Then the cloth was pulled off stage and Orsino's house appeared and they played the "If music be the food of love, play on" scene.

I was very impressed with the setting. Smooth changes - use of the entire theatre - so much so that the director made a speech ahead of time in which he told people if they got up during the play to watch for the actors because the actors were running to make a cue and would not stop for them. And then bless him, among the other announcements he made including of course turning off cell phones and no photography, he had to remind folks NOT to leave seconds before the show ended, saying "imagine if you are an actor and have just spent two hours performing and just as you start to take your bow, you see people leaving the theatre." We all laughed politely - and Still there were several folks who left. Please, realize that this is a very casual setting - we are outside, on beach chairs on the sand, with our coolers or our food from the catering facility, dressed in layers with blankets over our knees - so there is a sense of being able to move about and do whatever you want. Still - I felt sorry that the man had to add that to his pre-show speech.

Even with really good articulation from the actors and an excellent sound system, Dean only understood about every 4th word. And even at that, he said this morning, "I think we should try to go to at least one every year."

The other negative was that my chair split down on side so that I had no seat. Fortunately it happened just as I sat down after Intermission and the people next to Scot didn't return (????) so I moved down. When I circled my seat number on my ticket and handed it to a staff person after the show to say it needed replacing, he told me it had been happening all season and mine was the 5th he had dealt with just last night. Made me feel better - knew I hadn't gained That much weight!! All I had was one extra piece of Linda's banana bread - :D :D :D

I was the Shakespearean guru last night and although I made it clear I really knew very little, it was obvious I knew a lot more than the other three in the party and they were very appreciative of my tutoring - and it was fun of course. I even wore my "Will Power" shirt from Stratford-on-Avon ~ ancient shirt and I still love it and of course like it when the Bard is being performed. It was really good to see really good professional theatre again. It has been a while - well, a year since the last time I was at the Shakespeare festival at Sand Harbor. I guess if I see only one professional show a year, having it be Shakespeare is a really good idea. :D

A Day to Celebrate

2011-08-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

With gratitude to wonderful researchers, I take this blog directly from The Writer's Almanac for August 18, 2011.

On this date in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote.There had been strong opposition to woman suffrage since before the Constitution was drafted in the first place; people (mostly men) believed that women should not vote or hold office because they needed to be protected from the sordid world of politics. Abigail Adams asked her husband, John, to "remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors," but to no avail. A more organized woman suffrage movement arose in the 19th century, hand in hand with the abolitionist movement, and in July 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized a women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Stanton drafted a Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, demanding the right of women to have an equal say in their government if they were to be bound by its laws; attendees — women and men — signed the Declaration of Sentiments to show their support, although some later asked that their names be removed when they experienced the media backlash.

In the latter half of the 19th century, states began gradually loosening restrictions on voting rights for women. Wyoming was the first state to grant women the full right to vote, which it did when it gained statehood in 1890. The first national constitutional amendment was proposed in Congress in 1878, and in every Congress session after that. Finally, in 1919, it narrowly passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states to be ratified. Most Southern states opposed the amendment, and on August 18, 1920, it all came down to Tennessee. The pro-amendment faction wore yellow roses in their lapels, and the "anti" faction wore red American Beauty roses. It was a close battle and the state legislature was tied 48 to 48. The decision came down to one vote: that of 24-year-old Harry Burn, the youngest state legislator. Proudly sporting a red rose, he cast his vote ... in favor of ratification. He had been expected to vote against it, but he had in his pocket a note from his mother, which read: "Dear Son: Hurrah, and vote for suffrage! Don't keep them in doubt. I noticed some of the speeches against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet. Don't forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the 'rat' in ratification. Your Mother."

Reflections on Aging

2011-08-14T08:43:00.001-07:00

Reflections on aging. But not on geriatric aging. Just on getting older and learning along the way. Trinity is six. There is something about the six year old brain that begins to make connections. She was told if she was to go on the kayak with Grandpa or out in the float seat with Akira or by herself, she Had to wear a life jacket. No question. And she did. She and Akira were coming into shore when Akira leaned too far over and slipped out. They were very close to shore so he really just sat on his bottom in the sand. We were laughing together when Trinity looked right at me and said, “That’s why you want me to wear a life jacket!” Yes, ma’am. You got it. Connection made.

Akira is nine and at nine you begin to learn some things that you have been denied learning because up to then you have been “too young”. Marc, Akira’s dad, taught him to use a lighting stick to light a candle or a fire. He asked if he could light the candle on his dad’s birthday cake that night. And he did ~ like a pro. He now has the dexterity and the understanding to be careful with fire.

Nine also seems to be the age for him when some “older” responsibility has taken over. He and Trinity had been in the float seat together. She really, really wanted to do it alone. Standing by the float he looks at her, looks at me and says, “Mama Susan, I’m going with her.” And he proceeds to walk behind the float with one hand reaching gently toward it while she works at learning to paddle. He has had an excellent role model in his terrific big brother/mentor, Joshua. And as Joshua prepares to leave for college, the baton is passed very subtly to the next generation.

To Be Remembered Like This

2011-08-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

This might be the way she would like to be remembered: sitting at the little table at the top of the yard, tea at hand, book in hand, dressed in her light weight sweat suit to ward off the rapidly dissipating summer morning chill. If she raises her eyes from her book, which at times like these she does often, the lake glimmers in the south. Snow capped mountains still surround it even though August is well under way. It was a long, deep winter. The sun casts speckled shadows on the ground around her and she is content.

The book in her hands on this particular morning is David McCullough’s 1776 although on other days it might be a mystery by Margery Allingham or Victoria Thompson. Romance enters the picture when Pauline Trent’s latest book arrives. To make her setting even more iconic her glasses should probably be the little half ones used only for reading. Years ago though she rejected the idea of putting on and taking off over and over again and so she wears her little granny glasses all the time - starting way before she was a granny.

These days if she makes it to the table up the hill after about 8, she also has her phone. Texts from family are too important to miss. And if she sits the whole time with no message coming through, it is ok. Tea is brought up the hill in a mug that will keep it hot for a long time in the chilly air. There is comfort in tea on a throat often roughed by pine pollen until the morning gets started.

Most mornings she walks up the hill, her husband is with her. He created the little space after all and loves it too. Conversation, if any, is quiet and usually has to do with the small critters that scurry through the manzanita or the view of the lake. Once in a while they share plans for the day or an idea one of them has had or a story about the grandchildren. Mostly though they are quiet. Their silence is intimate and as alive as if it were noisy. It is a shared space and time. There is no need to speak.

So her day begins and it is here, in these moments of quiet, contemplation, gentle conversation and peace that she would like to be remembered. A woman present in her moment needing neither the past nor the future to be affirmed.

2011-08-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

"On October 18, a raw, gloomy Wednesday, a congressional committee of three, including Benjamin Franklin, gathered by a roaring fire in Washington's study and, after lengthy deliberations with the commander and his generals, concluded that if an attack on Boston meant the destruction of the town, they could not approve."

In honor of National Book Week, I turned to page 56 of the closest book, found the 5th sentence and discovered it was much too long to post on FB. It is actually the first paragraph of this section of the book. I know we don't have to name the book, and does it surprise you to know that I am reading David McCullough's 1776? I am also reading a mystery and this one was on the top when I came across a friend's post on FB. After I have completed the book, I will write a book blog about it. I am really enjoying it. For now - yay for National Book Week!

DMV

2011-08-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

Is there anyone who Likes the DMV? I think it must be very hard to work in a place where the people who walk through the door are automatically hostile to you. No matter what the state nor the reason for going, I think we all think the DMV will take Ages, ask more paper work than we have, more money than we expected and is totally against us. Very difficult to maintain a cheerful attitude in the face of that ~ even though most of us try to be cheerful back. And yet, the three (only three) women working in our DMV today were all cheerful, polite and helpful.

We left home at 11:45. Drove 30 minutes, went to the smog check station, were told it would be at least an hour before he could take care of the truck, went to lunch, got a number at the DMV, went to the smog check where he took the truck right away - and then had to let the machine warm up for 20 minutes - back to the DMV where our number was 56 and they were serving 39 having moved there from 15 when Dean had originally gotten 56. We left the DMV at 4 having to still get the truck weighed because CA doesn’t trust the weight NV put on the title. *sigh* At least when we go back next time with weight papers in hand, we have an appointment and will get right in - well, within 15 minutes. And meantime, we do have a temporary permit and have paid the taxes.

Lunch was delightful though ~ sat outside in a quiet corner at a little deli place we love and had a sandwich and chocolate shake (Dean) and a Cobb salad and chai shake (me). Yummy.

And the women at the DMV were very nice.

2011-08-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

I had no idea Emily Dickinson had written a poem about me and my meadow.

The bee is not afraid of me

The bee is not afraid of me,

I know the butterfly;

The pretty people in the woods

Receive me cordially.

The brooks laugh louder when I come,

The breezes madder play.

Wherefore, mine eyes, they silver mists?

Wherefore, O summer's day?

The poem so exactly fits me when I enter the loop on our walks. Of course the bee and butterfly part is true all the time. I like it. It offers me a sense of my own magic.

Speaking of magic. The Harolds worked their magic last night. Twice if my ears do not deceive me. Now whether there was a bear or not, I have no idea. By the time I was up to investigate, and bang if necessary, the deck was empty. Maybe a squirrel ran by or a bird flew although neither of them have been around since I started using the Pine Sol. Anyway - I like the Harolds. Harold of the Hose ~ he is perched on the hose box; and Harold the Hoot ~ on the counter by the window. Motion-sensitive handsome owls to be turned on and off as we wish. Last night they did their work well.

"For better or worse . . . or Bear"

2011-07-31T09:25:00.000-07:00

Dean was the first to wake last night - to the sound of running water. Why was the deck faucet outside the kitchen pouring out water? As he went to explore and turn it off, he looked in through the now open kitchen window to see a bear in the kitchen. He came inside, picked up the pan and spoon, opened our bedroom door and banged. The bear took off back through the window.

Except Dean didn’t exactly see him exit the window. So I began to worry. Did he by Any chance go downstairs? We were lucky really - a bag of walnuts from the cabinet and bacon bits and one other something from the open fridge and lots of dirt around the sink was all the damage done. I poured more Pine Sol on the counter and we locked up and went back to bed. Except I kept wondering: did he go down stairs?

After lying wide-eyed and stiff for about 10 minutes I finally got Dean up again and when he asked if I wanted him to go look, I said, yes please. I hated to send him to do something I easily could have done myself, and I was not ready to go searching the house for a bear. So he went. No bear. No sign of bear. Elvis had left the building! Then I slept. And woke this morning to clean the kitchen and be grateful for such a small amount of damage. Plans for today include some more bear-prevention measures. Phew.

A Moving Saga

2011-07-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

Home at last. I left them to it about 11:30 and came home to a big homemade burger. Dean had even gone to the store. It has been four days that felt like a month of intense and continual physical labor. And when I wasn’t packing boxes or playing with the kids I felt like I was slacking off. Finally this morning Michelle and I just stood in an already empty living room and laughed and hugged and said, “No More Guilt”. She was feeling guilty that I had had to do as much as I did. I was feeling guilty I had done as little as I did. Now we are fine.

I was very pleased with the crew of friends that showed up at 9 this morning. They had three dads and teenage sons, one man on his own, one mom and teenage daughter, Michelle, me and Akira and Trinity. And everyone of us was working, working. The two youngest ones were amazing. They would do anything asked of them and there was plenty they could do. I finished packing the kitchen, made several runs to the new place with sheets to put in the laundry and things from the fridge and freezer. Akira went with me as did Peggy and we got a lot done. I left Peggy in charge of continuing the laundry.

By the time I called Michelle to say I had made it home, the truck was being loaded a second time and everyone was going to stop and eat pizza. They have until the 5th to be out so they will come back evenings next week and clean and get the very last of the things. Phew. Dean and I are both enjoying the quiet of our deck and forest. Grateful for family and for space.

Wandering Morning Thoughts

2011-07-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

So much pain in the world. A lone gunman bent on revolution shoots an island full of young people at a youth camp in Norway while also blowing up city buildings. A young recording artist dies at the short end of a drug-filled life. A father in Texas gets into a “domestic dispute” and kills five people at a roller rink birthday party. And those are just three of the headlines from this morning. So much pain ~ hurt so deep that people become destructive of themselves and others. So much pain ~ because of the death of friends, family members, even strangers.

I look up from the computer and out my window to see two little squirrels playing chase in the yard ~ up the tree, down the tree, around and around and up the tree and down again. I smile. Their antics bring sense of peace and joy. When there is So Much pain, it sometimes takes very little to bring a smile, a feeling of release. Even one moment’s breath of fun helps balance the soul and put things back in order. Yes, the pain goes on. Private and personal, communal and shared. And . . . And . . . there are squirrels playing chase in the yard and Pine Sol works to keep the bears away. ~ enjoy your day in hope and with blessings.

A Belated Thank You

2011-07-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have just read P. D. James’ Talking About Detective Fiction. I went on line to send her the following comment ~ and the one website/email connection I could find didn’t work. So - here it is for you to read and pass on if just happen to know P. D. James.

Dear Ms. James ~

Your wonderful novels are among my favorites and so it was with pleasure that I have just found and read Talking About Detective Fiction. At the end you say,

"We do not expect popular literature to be great literature, but fiction which provides excitement, mystery and humour also ministers to essential human needs. . . . The detective story at its best can stand in such company, and its popularity suggests that in the twenty-first century, as in the past, many of us will continue to turn for relief, entertainment and mild intellectual challenge to these unpretentious celebrations of reason and order in our increasingly complex and disorderly world."

Yes! When I was only 55 my first husband died very suddenly and unexpectedly. My world became chaotic and challenging. And I could not read. My soul would withdraw from the page in front of me as if away from some horror. It did not matter what the book or the subject matter. Finally after several months, I pulled out an old Agatha Christie book of short stories, mostly Miss Marple I believe, and began to read again. Slowly I was able to enter that well-ordered, calm world allowing her and later Poirot to solve the problems. Having them solve their problems gave me the ability to face mine a little more easily. Gradually I moved to her novels, then to other writers of mystery with whom I was familiar. Eventually I bought a brand new mystery I had not read before and felt a part of my healing was done.

Thank you again for your novels and insights into other writers of detective fiction ~

Swim Lesson

2011-07-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a wonderful day! I left here early and was in Carson before 9. Took Akira to his swim lesson. Such fun to watch him. They watched a safety video then got in the water ~ in life jackets because they had not worn them before and because they were learning about water safety and wearing them while doing water sports.

After jumping in from the side and swimming back, they jumped from the end of the low diving board. The other children walked to the end and froze, taking some time to jump. Akira had trouble walking out to the end ~ admits he was nervous.
Once there the jump was No Problem and he looked like he was flying.

He is becoming very comfortable in the water and able to deal with himself there very well. I am Very Proud. :)

Too Early

2011-07-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere:
I see Heaven's glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from fear. (Emily Bronte)

Interesting to find this particular verse in the Writers’ Almanac this morning. I am not sure I felt this spiritual about it at 5:20 this morning when I woke to the unmistakable sounds of an ursine intruder. Whatever I felt, I was out of bed, found my pan and spoon even in a still dark bathroom and went banging away. He had done exactly what I had thought last time. He had gotten his shoulder under the window, the window was Wide open and he was half way in. He looked bigger than ever ~ and bless him, he still doesn’t like the banging. So he backed out and headed off. Once he was definitely going, I ran out on the deck and continued banging away. May have waked the neighbors. Know I woke Dean. Too bad. I refuse to have a bear in my kitchen regardless of the hour. And true to the poem, it wasn’t fear I felt. Adrenaline was flowing of course. Mainly I was just pissed at being awakened and intruded upon.

A Sunny Day in San Francisco

2011-07-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

What an amazing day!! After a late breakfast with Mike and Dean, I headed out. I stopped at Starbucks for a chai latte and cheese danish and a little more reading, actually finishing my book. Then I headed on down the street to the Apple Store. Made it in plenty of time for my one o’clock session.

I told Patrick my problem with the picture being corrupted and he had me show him the notice. Then we went to work searching for the original which he said was stored somewhere on my computer. We found it after some doing around. He said my problem was really rare and he almost apologized for having to teach me how to deal with it when he wasn’t sure I would ever have to deal with it again. The neat thing was, he knew what to do and we did it and I finished my book for Trinity and Akira. I was waiting for him to answer a couple more questions when Nick stopped by and said “You came back” ~ I told him why and that I had a couple of more questions and then would start another project. He answered those questions for me and then Dean showed up ~ he was done early and so I told Nick and Patrick good-bye, thanked them profusely and came out to have a sunny afternoon date in San Francisco with my husband. :D

We came back to the hotel just as the maid reached our room so we took our book and computer to the Library on the 11th floor and sat in Huge leather chairs in front of a fire. I read and Dean did stuff on the computer for about an hour. We came back to the room, rested a bit and then went upstairs to the hotel’s complimentary happy hour. Delightful. Beautiful view. Nice piano music. And when I hesitated about what to drink, our server said they had virgin drinks and in the process of listing she suggested a virgin Mai Tai. It was Delicious: oj, pineapple juice and Grenadine. She put in a splash of soda - not even noticeable to me in the first one, more so in the second. Now I know to order it made with the juices, not the mix. Made at home with mint it would be yummy too. :)

Dean says this was very much old time military officers’ club atmosphere. I was very aware of the difference in the women and me. They were officers’ wives - they were all very, very neat ~ no sneakers for them. Many of the men were in suits and ties. Of course there was one in a sweat shirt - but his wife was carrying on the tradition.

Afterwards we took a Cable Car!!! - first time ever for me - to Fisherman’s Wharf and had dinner at Scoma’s. Delicious sea food. Dean had a prawn cocktail and I have never tasted such tender, sweet prawns. He had grilled king salmon and I had grilled Alaskan halibut. Oh my -- my culinary vocabulary is being taxed to the limit this trip. We have eaten well: Italian, Irish, Asian, Wharf-side seafood and for lunch one day I had Greek and Dean had Indian. We walked around the wharf, going down to Pier 39 which Dean said he remembered as a pier. Now it is almost a mall although the stores are separate and you are still outside over the water.

Dessert was ice cream from a shop on the pier and then back to the cable car. We saw them turn it around -- and they do that By Hand - well more by sheer physical force except that the machinery is well-oiled and works beautifully so pushing it around is relatively easy considering what they are doing. I wouldn’t want to do it though.

Back up and down the hills we came to the hotel. What a delightful, delightful afternoon and evening with my honey. Dean actually planned it this way knowing he would be done early in the day and we leave tomorrow so that we had some time to do just a little of San Francisco together. Very nice indeed.

Tuesday's Random Thoughts

2011-07-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Dean called last night and I walked down (literally) about 2 blocks and met them at a Wonderful Italian restaurant. I had the most amazing salad and the best minestrone soup Ever. If Dean had had steak I would have had a bite. As it was, I wasn’t comfortable asking Tom for a bite of his. That’s ok. They had wonderful bread and forgot to bring it to our table. I would love to have had some bread with my salad and soup and I am sure I slept better last night without it.

I was stiff this morning and didn’t really want to get up ~ but did since all I had to do was slip into my gym clothes and go to breakfast with Dean.

Went to the gym, feeling more comfortable today. Had to borrow a man’s height to get one machine back where I use it. Otherwise I didn’t bother anyone and I felt much more at ease.

Everyone has their opinion about what I should be doing with my time in SF. Tom wants me to really sightsee and go places and walk across the Golden Gate bridge. That’s is something really neat to do and frankly I would like to do that with Dean. Dean wants me to go to the Apple store and take as many courses as I can. Have to be sure I do what I want to do - too old to have to please others around something as ephemeral as a visit to a city.

== nothing is ever easy even with a Mac. I finally had to call then had to go on line, change my profile so that my store was listed as SF instead of Reno and when I go home will have to do that again. *sigh* - Really Big *sigh*.

lovely lunch. There is a little cafe called Persimmon just down the street - less than 1/2 block. Tom mentioned it as we were coming up last night altho I don’t remember if he was being sarcastic or not. I checked it out for lunch, liked what I saw on the outside menu and had lunch: spanakopita (sp?) with yogurt and minestrone - not as good as last night and light and easy to eat and then for dessert baklava - oh Yum!!! Blessings on San Francisco. :D

Wonderful session at the Apple store. I ended up taking on a personal project and learning how to create a book. Chose Megan as my subject, created a book of some pictures from birth including mostly times in Tahoe. I actually bought it and they will send it to me and I will take it to Megan when we go to meet Emily. Fun stuff. Like Dean says, I am dangerous. It cost less than $20 to have the book printed and bound and shipped. Nice. Now I need to create another one while I still remember how to do it.

Home early which is nice. Time to rest a bit, show Dean my book, and take it easy. These guys are having long, hard and amazingly productive days. Dean's tired as am I. Early bed time I think. It's a good trip so far.

Today's Random Thoughts

2011-07-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

I am So Grateful I decided to stay with my PT gym!! Too many machines, too many hard bodies ~ and I had to decide if I could my shuttle pushes from a sitting position.

All Borders in SF are closed. I found (with some help) Alexander’s. Good choice - and could probably have bought all the books on line and read them on my computer. Passed a lovely little bakery with lunch sandwiches and salads so returned there to eat and read.

San Franciscans wear scarves the year round like Bostonians.

There is a big city walk that kicks in from cellular memory no matter how long it has been since you were in one.

I have discovered a “faces” page on my updated iPhoto and so have been naming family photos. Ever so often a picture will come up and it will ask “Is this so and so?” The family resemblances are very interesting. Carly and Carter were often mistaken for the other. Dean was asked about or not identified over and over and twice it asked if Dave Pierce were Dean. Trinity is the enigma because her hair cut has changed so often -- and none of Joshua’s theatre head shots were identified as him - as it should be I guess as he was in character in most of them. Amanda was mixed up with Kaitlyn a couple of times. Very interesting.

Pooh and the Honey Pot

2011-07-06T16:12:00.000-07:00

Remember cute, cuddly Pooh Bear and his honey pot and his little “smackeral” about 11 in the morning? Fantasy. I am sitting on my window seat when I hear something rattling the kitchen screen. Thinking it is the aggressive squirrel, I clap my hands, say something ordinary like, “oh, go away” and glance up to see a Huge furry arm (leg?) and shoulder blocking my now totally open window and reaching for the honey pot. OMG!!!!

I jump up, race past him to where I have left my metal pan and spoon (so I don’t have to go into the kitchen at night to make them leave), grab the bear-scaring tools and head back to the kitchen. He is not the Least Bit interested in me - he wants the honey. It is after all 4 pm, time for a little snack.

When I first started the banging, he looks up at me like “what?” I kept banging and started yelling and as soon as he headed across the deck, I ran out onto the deck and kept banging and yelling. My neighbor was casually walking up his back yard. I hollered to him to look even though the bear was heading up our yard. I both wanted him to see the bear but also to be safe from the bear - who was not interested in us in the least.

About 15 minutes earlier I had come inside from sitting on the deck. Was I ever glad for that! Bears move Very quietly and if I had remained sitting where I was, I would have looked up to see this bear passing me and attacking my window. Just as glad that didn’t happen. He was probably 300 lbs ~ and cuddly as could be. I can understand why people want to get near them. I had to keep focused instead of going over and handing him the honey and petting him ~ not that he would have let me do that. I would also have loved a picture - and the camera was right there - and . . . the important thing was to get the bear Out of the house. He was coming in.

Ah, life in the mountains. For now I am enjoying the lovely afternoon rain storm.

~ blessings in your quiet and peaceful or at least bear-free life

July 4th

2011-07-04T07:58:00.000-07:00

July 4th. The day on which in 1776 King George III wrote in his diary something like, “Nothing much happened today.” And yet today there will be fireworks, parades, picnics, and parties. Why? Because today - also in 1776 - a group of good, caring, deeply committed men finally committed to paper an incredible act of both treason and independence and declared themselves and their fledgling country separate and free from the mother country. This bold step came after long philosophical struggles among them followed by very harsh consequences in their personal lives as some died in the war while others lost homes and property and even families to the war.

And yet that day, the Declaration they signed became a beacon to all the world of hope and freedom from oppression. Several years later, other men voted into being a Constitution, declaring how free persons should govern themselves and the rights and privileges of such a government.

My family is planning a delightful party on the deck tonight. Some 20 people will come and party and celebrate. We will hike to a point above the house and watch the fireworks over the lake. And in the midst of all this frivolity and fun, I will ask us to raise a glass to Thomas, Ben and John (Jefferson, Franklin and Adams) and their cohorts who braved the storms of tradition and declared the United States to be a free and independent nation. Please, join us in a salute to the country we were meant to be. Have a fun and safe fourth. ~ blessings

Family Weekend

2011-07-02T20:00:00.001-07:00

We have had two wonderful days of fun and relaxation with the family. Yesterday we went to friend Paul’s private lake and spent the day water skiing, tubing, knee boarding, eating and visiting. This day allowed for this classic picture of water-skiing on a hot day under the snow-capped mountains.

Today we went to a Tahoe Beach where the water was colder and the kids had a good time floating on the lake and paddling around. Dean and I sat and took pictures and enjoyed the shore of our delightful lake.

Home once the wind rose, to showers, pizza, ice cream and several quick rounds of some card game the kids have been trying to get their dad to play all day. :)

Salad Spinner

2011-06-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

~ we bought a salad spinner at Costco the other day. I had recently used Michelle’s and said again how much I would like to have one. There it was at Costco - huge pile of them by Kitchen Aid. I picked it up and bought it. I Love it! I am So Glad I went with my desire on this one. My salads are crisper. They hold dressing better. Yum. I use the green bags to keep my veggies fresh longer and one stipulation is that the food you put in them be dry. So I don’t wash and crisp my lettuce ahead of time now. I break off what I need for the salad, wash it, and - ta-dah! spin it in my salad spinner. So much easier and nicer than a lot of towels. Some times it takes very little to make the Mama Susan happy. :D

Yosemite Waterfalls

2011-06-22T11:22:00.001-07:00

Friends from Texas were going to be in Yosemite and the pass was opened on Saturday morning so Dean decided we could go down and see them and Yosemite. We left early Monday morning and drove to Yosemite, buying sandwiches at the deli just as you head into the pass.

We had come prepared to hike or even snowshoe but all we did was take pictures either from the car or stopping briefly and getting out next to a great view. Things were closed until we were on the west side of the park because of the heavy snows this last winter. We have pictures of amazing waterfalls and if I had money for every time I said “Oh Wow!” or “Spectacular!” in the 48 hours we were there, I would be a rich woman.

They have three types of waterfalls: major, minor and ephemeral. Major runs the year round. Minor drops way down once the snow has melted. Ephemeral disappears until the next snow melt. The one above is ephemeral.

We were soaked at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls, raising our faces to see the top and laughing as the water splattered our glasses and ran roughshod over our feet. A delightful and unexpected surprise. Glad I had pulled on my hiking shoes instead of leaving on my good sandals.

We say falls so high they vaporized and disappeared before reaching the rocks below. We watched rivers run so fast and so powerfully that no one could fish in them.

Spectacular!

Fathers' Day, 2011

2011-06-19T14:29:00.001-07:00

The handsome man with the gentle smile peeking out from behind my lovely mom is my dad. :D I was once asked what it was like to be raised by a giant. He wasn't a giant to me ~ he was Daddy. Although he did cut quite a swath through my life.

Memories: waiting on the steps of the house until he appeared off the bus at the corner. Then I would run down the street toward him. He would set down his brief case and swing me up on his shoulders for the ride back home.

Learning to ride a bike and his holding on until I started pedaling, letting go and catching me before any damage was done. I don't remember how long it took until I just kept going.

Going outside early one afternoon and being very frightened when the chows across the street were let out of their yard. They had just looked in my direction when a car pulled up between me and them and who stepped out but Daddy, home early from the office and with a ride at that.

hmmmm - maybe I was raised by a giant. :)

Oh the memories go on and on of course. His pride in me and later in my children. His words of wisdom. Speaking to him twice by phone one day and ending both conversations with "I love you" and then having my step-mom call about an hour later to say he had died. He taught the same Sunday School class for 51 years and died on a Saturday with Sunday's lesson waiting on the desk to be polished and given the following morning.

He died 20 years ago and I miss him as much today as ever. Good Fathers' Day memories. ~ with blessings to all fathers everywhere, in whatever form you take. You are a blessing to those you love and mentor.

Graduation, June 2011

2011-06-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend was grandson Joshua's high school graduation. It was wonderful as such occasions are. Most of that Friday was spent in family preparations. We had to be there an hour early for a rehearsal. We knew Joshua was his Class Representative and as such would be giving the student speech. We didn't know, and neither did he, that he also would be announcing the color guard and leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

I love this picture. He looks so distinguished and "official". I can understand why the formality of caps and gowns. Every student looks the same, with no indication of rich or poor, A's or C's, honors or barely passing. They are all handsome and beautiful. They have grown up and are starting into the wider world even if it is the still protected one of college.

Giving his speech. One of his classmates gave him the ultimate compliment for one student to give another: his speech makes me want to go out and do something important.

A very proud family. I was present at his birth, at home with a midwife. The sonogram had told us it was Joshua who was coming. We had talked to him and about him for the previous months and suddenly he was with us in person. The Amazing Joshua I would call him and raise his little arms above his head as he lay on my lap. Today he stands taller than I do and I find I depend on him and of course that he is still the Amazing Joshua. :D May all his classmates have the same love and pride surrounding them with which we surround Joshua.

Reflections on Age and Aging

2011-06-04T17:07:00.000-07:00

I’ve been thinking about aging. I know I am 68. I make no bones about it, do not try to hide it and declare it like a badge of honor. On the other hand, when about 4 years ago, the dental hygienist patted me and said “when we get to be your age . . .” Snippy child!

Listening to a report on some of the awful flooding that has taken place in the midwest this spring, I hear a woman say, “my mother is 70 and she lost everything and can’t start over at her age. What is she going to do?” I certainly don’t want to lose everything now and I don’t know what I would do if I had to start over “at my age” - at the same time I would like to hear one of my daughters say, “well, mom may be 70 and she will be just fine ~ she is tough and will make it.”

I have commented on the “old” age of people in the Agatha Christie mysteries I read. People who are old and dying or moving very, very slowly are all in their 60s - except for Miss Marple who is in her 70s but seems to be the exception to the rule.

The other side of that coin is my 86 year old cousin whose daughters took her to the beach for a week for her birthday - just the three of them - and they had a ball. Like being back in college my cousin said. I told my daughters they had 18 years to decide where they will take me. :) When I realized grand-daughter, Trinity, was in the class of 2023, I commented that I hoped my genetics held for the next 12 years and I would be around to see her graduate. Of course I will be! After all, in 12 years I will still have another 6 to wait before my daughters will take me somewhere to celebrate.

Age is so subjective. Of course there is some bodily stress. My knees don’t work as easily as they did in spite of the fact that my hip is not yet a year old. I don’t move with quite the ease I used to. Still, I thoroughly enjoy tai chi and can move energy with that form better than with any other I have tried.

The point of all this is that I don’t want people to judge me based on what they “think” 68 should be like, look like, act like. I want to be judged (if they have to judge at all) based on me, who I am, what I look like, act like. In the present moment with no reference to chronological age ~ because they will probably be wrong. ~ blessings

Kindergarten Graduation Reflections

2011-06-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness there were no caps and gowns. They had worn them for a photography session and their pictures were on the side of their diplomas. I was so glad. Caps and gowns are for older folks.

They were dressed up a little. Several of the boys had on vests and ties. One had on a white pin striped suit ~ I don’t think I have ever seen a white pin stripe before. He was So Cute. All the little girls had on glitters or shimmery or just plain cute dresses. Trinity looked lovely in her long dress and new patent shoes.

They marched in to Pomp and Circumstance. That did make me sigh.

They sang several songs with movements. Delightful performance.

They were and are the Class of 2023. Wow. Here’s hoping my genetics hold and I will be around 12 years from now to see her graduate for real.

They swarmed like locusts over the cake and cookies.

When I arrived 30 minutes ahead of time, if Michelle had not reserved us seats, we would have had to stand or at least sit way at the back.

The rest of the day:

Give a 6 year old the option of where to eat lunch without giving three choices and don’t be surprised when the answer is MacDonalds! Ha! Oh, well, probably the first time in 25 or more years. It was ok.

Just don’t make the mistake of turning your box over and reading the nutrition facts.

Michelle and Akira joined us for lunch so we had everybody but Marc and Dean ~ both of whom would have balked at MacDonalds. And this was Trinity’s day and I asked her to choose and she did.

The wind was strong and biting so we stayed in during the afternoon. Joshua and Trinity played the piano; Joshua showed me all his stuff from Southern Oregon; we took Joshua to a party and then Trinity and I did jigsaw puzzles on the computer.

June 1st and I drove home in what I would call foggy snow ~ and then a real live snow storm ~ and then sunshine during the last 10 minutes. At home a light dusting of snow was still stuck to the trees and roof.

A cup of Dean’s good chicken soup made up for the indulgent lunch and brought the day to a nice close.

Memorial Day, 2011

2011-05-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day. All amazing words of wisdom or erudite thoughts have been expressed before. We all know that along side our picnics and bar-b-cues, beach parties and beer to see in the summer, there are the wounded, the dead, the grieving and the continuing presence of harm’s way. The important thing for us is to Remember all that. To say Thank You when we can. To recognize and remind our children that our freedoms have come at a price all the way back to 1776. It is with blessings and gratitude as well as remembrance that I lit my prayer candle this morning.

2011-05-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

In my last blog I mentioned the word kleptocracy and said I had found it in a crossword puzzle and then read it in The Tudors by G. J. Meyer. This book has nothing to do with the Showtime mini-series of the same name. Neither does it have anything to do with the many, many historical novels that I have read about this period of history.

This is a historical narrative, telling the story of the Tudors from the first man with that name, Welshman Owen Tudor, through until the death of the final Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I. Meyer is a very good writer and he makes this dynasty come alive even as he relates the facts of their journey. Often he will make what we might call an aside, or at least a tongue-in-cheek comment about the modern fascination with this clan, particularly Henry VIII. I found myself laughing out loud or reading something of interest to Dean. The Tudor narrative chapters are interspersed with Background chapters. These set the historical and global context in which the Tudors lived and moved. The background chapter on the The Popes even gave us some more information on the Borgia Pope Alexander VI ~ we have just been watching the Showtime series on The Borgias.

Again, this is not a novel, not a story. On the other hand it is fascinating reading for anyone who loves history and would like a more realistic view of this Tudor dynasty that we have placed on the pedestal of history.

Kleptocracy

2011-05-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

There is a phenomenon that most of us will have at least heard about and probably experienced. We hear a word for the first time or hear a person’s name for the first time, and within 24 to 48 hours we hear the word or about the person again. Sometimes we even inquire after an old acquaintance only to have someone mention them or have them call soon after. Anyway ~ that phenomenon is out there and part of our lives occasionally.

Last week I was doing a Friday, New York Times Crossword. My book contains puzzles from 6 days of the week. Mondays I do; Tuesdays I do; Wednesdays I do ~ sometimes missing only one or two letters; Thursdays I sometimes need a little help; Fridays and Saturday I always needs help. Sometimes I feel like I just copy in the words of Saturdays ~ although here and there scattered throughout the books of a lifetime are Saturdays with a big check on top meaning I did it all by myself.

Anyway ~ doing a Friday, I came across a definition of a long word: Government marked by rampant greed and corruption. The word was “kleptocracy”. I got the “tocracy” part on my own. The rest needed some help. I figure it is from the same root as kleptomania. Fast forward a few days. I am reading a book called The Tudors by G. J. Meyer (having nothing to do with the mini-series by the same name). It is an historical narrative with lots of contextual background material. More about this later.

I come across this sentence: Dudley by now was himself an immensely wealthy landowner - that followed more or less automatically from political success in the Tudor kleptocracy - and so had much to lose. I knew instantly that I had heard the word recently and knew where to find the definition. The whole experience has grounded the word in my thinking although having never heard it for 68 years, I doubt I will have occasion to see or hear it again in the my next 68. It is a fascinating phenomenon though and one I enjoy when it happens.

A Return to Normality

2011-05-21T12:23:00.001-07:00

I believe it is worth mentioning that something “normal” has returned to our life together. This morning we took our regular morning walk. Of course it hasn’t been regular for a year or more because of the pain in my hip. This morning it was so regular and so normal. I kept up with Dean. We wore water-proof boots (shades of Christopher Robin) because there were still patches of snow and even some rushing, gushing creeks to wade through.

There were plenty of places to walk side by side and talk about all sorts of things. In places I stepped in his footsteps to keep from sinking in the snow. Crossing the creek I asked for him to wait for me just in case I needed a hand ~ which I did once when a rock was less sturdy than it looked. All of these things are normal for a snow hike when snowshoes are no longer needed but not all the snow has melted.

The creeks are amazing. The pictures will give you a little idea of our “back yard” and our joy in watching. Wish you could hear them as well. It was a glorious spring morning and we said next time we needed to bring a picnic along. For me ~ a return to what Dean and I have done together for ten years except for last year and it felt So Good! ~ blessings

Rapture Reflections

2011-05-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it is time for me to comment on the Rapture - after all, if I wait until tomorrow it may be too late. You know me, although not a Biblical scholar, I have been to seminary, lived with a pastor for 36 1/2 years, taught Sunday School, been to conferences, studied, preached and in general have a good deal of solid scriptural background. And . . . I keep remembering Jesus saying that no one (including him) knows when he will return. Only God knows that. Hmmmm.

A few more reflections:

The pastor who started all this just renewed his radio/television license through 2012.

His non-profit staff are all planning to be at work on Monday morning, the work week as usual.

There is another Star Trek movie due out in 2012 with Chris Pine as Kirk - ergo, how can the world possibly end?

And if the Rapture should come? I will either be meeting God face to face or staying around and continuing to do whatever good I can for the world in which I find myself living. My “preparation” for this day was done a long time ago and I am just fine letting whatever happens, happen. I will have something to say to God, however, if I am not allowed to see my grandchildren graduate next month and go to my 6 year-old granddaughter’s “graduation” from kindergarten in two weeks. ~ blessings

Weather Report

2011-05-19T06:49:00.001-07:00

Last night the sky was gorgeous. A full moon lit the drift of clouds and a few stars made it through the bright moonlight to claim their places in the heavens. This morning those same few clouds were changed from orange to pink to pale yellow as they moved away from the rising sun. Nothing fell and the sun pushed its way into May ascendency. It just might be spring.

Corn Snow

2011-05-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

Middle of May and it is cold and damp with rain and snow. Particularly “corn snow”. This morning the regular, wet, heavy snow clung to the trees and made the world look like December. Then the sun came out and melted most of that. Then it “rained like hail” as we used to say in Texas.

Corn snow is a cross between snow and hail. Little round kernel sized balls of snow that pound down, sounding almost like hail. If they fall gently, they are quieter but still noisier than snow. It has come and gone all day, mixed with snow and rain and even a little bit of sun.

Tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be sunny with rain coming back over the weekend. Spring in the mountains is a mixed bag. Now if the sun would just join the rest of the mess and finally outshine it all.

Blogging Books 4

2011-05-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

Agatha Christie is undoubtedly the Queen of the elegant English mystery. She was prolific and endlessly fascinating although when you read the books straight through, like I do sometimes, you do discover similar plots or short stories that have become novels.

She has three main characters.

Hercule Poirot, Belgian detective, living in London and operating as a private, consulting detective. Poirot is fastidious and obsessively neat. His mustaches are never mussed; his clothes are never allowed to wrinkle or have a fleck of lint; and everything in his apartment is in perfect order. Even his breakfast eggs must be of the same size. This weird compunction for order comes from a well-ordered mind in which Poirot thinks up the answers to the most baffling mysteries and brings the murderer to justice. Poirot believes in the power of “the little grey cells” and will sit patiently in his chair and think while his rather bumbling friend, Hastings, and his Very efficient secretary, Miss Lemon, do the legwork and bring the clues to Poirot and Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard.

Miss Marple, dithering spinster of St. Mary Mead, is quite the opposite of Poirot. Everyone thinks Miss Marple is past her prime and is just a gossipy old lady. Everyone that is except Sir Henry Clithering of Scotland Yard who knows her to be one of the finest judicial minds in the country. She putters around her small village gathering news and gossip and then catches the criminal because he or she acts exactly like some young village upstart. Criminals learn to fear her because she is, as she says of herself, “a noticing sort of person.”

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are the other two main mystery-solving characters to grace Christie’s pages. They were in intelligence in WWII and remain helpful to some folks in the Home Office afterwards. Because of the times in which Christie was writing, Tommy is the one who gets called on and Tuppence has to figure out a clever way to be in on the action. She does of course.

Because I bought my books years ago, some of them while Christie was still writing, I am very aware of the sexism and racism that are occasionally reflected in them. It is not overt and I suppose easily skipped over while reading the excitement of murder most foul. On the other hand, it is there and can jump out at you unexpectedly ~ not often and not in every book ~ and I add this caveat in case you start your Christie reading at a used book store. Newer editions have changed some of the language to be more in keeping with today’s.

The other interesting difference in when Christie wrote and today: the definition of “old”. Except for Miss Marple who is in her 70s, everyone else who is considered old or dying or senile is in his or her 60s. That is just plain funny to me, who at 68 goes to the gym almost every day and is energetically living life. And it is an indication of how our life styles have changed. Nevertheless, Agatha Christie makes for great mystery reading and a chance to use “the little grey cells” to figure out the answer before her famous detectives.

Mother's Day, 2011

2011-05-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

Reflections:

~ snuggling in bed in the mornings tucked in close to my mom’s skin. I’m sure that’s why I still love to snuggle close.

~ being so scared of that “wolf” in the back yard, and mom, who could see there was no wolf, suggested I invite him into lunch. We laughed, sharing a joke against the whole world.

~ calling home from school in the middle of the day to see if anything had been heard about her surgery.

~ knowing she was feeling better when she was in the garden digging in the dirt.

~ coming home from school to find my picture of Dan missing from my bedside table and having her say, “he is up here. I just wanted to look at him for a while.”

~ feeling so lost after her death.

~ welcoming Mama Bear whose love surrounded me and knew how to let me be both my mother’s child and hers. She did that really, really well.

~ finally crying over my mother’s death the night of Michelle’s wedding when suddenly all the pain of lost times together came pouring in

~ and the day Michelle called to say she had been stung by a bee and had morning sickness on the same day and needed to talk to her mommy ~ and I couldn’t respond because I was crying over never getting to share like that with my mom.

~ enjoying her written statement on the back of the picture when I was 7 “Dean McKay comes over to play” and wondering what she thinks of my being married to him.

~ my joy that Meredith writes under mom’s name and has some how given me permission to bring her back

Happy Mother's Day, mom

Family Story

2011-05-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

My grandmother, Addie, had her first child when she was 18 sometime in the late 1800s. She was living out in the country and the baby, a little girl she named Mabel, was born at home as most babies were back then. The doctor did come out from town, however, and was there for the birth. The baby was tiny, premature and prognosis for life was not good, so the doctor signed a death certificate rather than a birth certificate so when the baby died, he would not have to make another trip to the country.

Addie knew that as long as the baby was alive she needed to take care of her. She nursed her and then heated bricks in the fireplace, lined a drawer or a box with them, covered them with blankets and placed her tiny little girl inside this natural incubator.

When my Aunt Mabel turned 21 and wanted to marry, she had a dickens of a time proving she was who she said she was because all the official records had was her death certificate! :D She raised two daughters, lavished her grandchildren and nieces and nephews with love, was an amazing cook (fried chicken, homemade pimento cheese, and biscuits come to mind), seamstress, and lived to be 98.

Thanks be for Addie (we called her Mama Dear) who did what women have done for generations before and after her and loved and nurtured her child and never gave up hope or practical caring. Amazing woman and I am proud to be of her lineage.

Mother's Day Thoughts

2011-05-05T16:42:00.001-07:00

So the big thing on FB right now is to post a picture of your mom. I don’t have a decent one scanned and the scanner is not in good order. So I am going to try to use a picture of the 5 Trent sisters and Mama Dear. Mama Dear was my grandmother ~ speaking of amazing women. She had 5 daughters. My mother, standing in the center back, was her youngest by 8 years. I remember my mom as being very pretty and smiling and yet in all the pictures I have in my computer she is very solemn. Anyway - here she is with her mom and sisters. I think I am alive at this point because this is how I remember all my aunts and my grandmother looking. Having been moved to post this, I think I may need to tell some family stories. If so I will keep them short and interesting. For now ~ Happy Mother’s Day. My mom’s birthday was May 10th so often her birthday and Mother’s Day coincided. Wonder what she thought about that? I thought it was neat.

History Being Made

2011-05-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

The big news is the death of Usama Bin Laden. The Pakistani government and intelligent forces working closely with ours located the man; President Obama authorized a surgical strike on the compound where he was and in a fire fight he was killed. No American lives were lost. I like friend Elizabeth's way of putting it: a subdued celebration.

There is something that reminds me of how the family felt when Daughter told us her abusive ex-husband was dead. Something was lifted. Something was released. We didn’t cheer. We simply were at a different level. That’s how I feel about my country this morning. We simply are at a different, lighter level. There were cheering, chanting crowds gathering spontaneously at the White House last night and in some ways it was nice for them to have something to cheer and chant about. On the other hand, I could not have joined them. Rather I would have held a candle in a subdued celebration for the persistence and power of our military and intelligent services who for ten years have searched and fought and lost their own lives to bring justice to 9/11.

I also thought President Obama was as presidential as I have ever seen him. He was calm. He spoke with great clarity. The speech was well-written and delivered, invoking the history of the event, making it very clear why we went after and killed this man. He referenced President Bush when he declared we were not at war with Islam. And he closed by quoting some of the pledge of allegiance. Today all the journalistic questions will be asked, mulled over and chewed to death. Last night our President stood tall and spoke to his people and people around the world in the strong and powerful voice of victory. History had been made.

Blogging Books 3

2011-04-30T07:16:00.001-07:00

Time to tout another book series. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. I was Thrilled this afternoon to find book #11 on the shelf at my local bookstore. I also like it that the books are very clearly numbered so there is no question.

Several things make this series special. First of all, Alexander McCall Smith is an amazing writer. So good in fact that I was about three books into the series before realizing it wasn’t Alexandra and “she” was really a “he”. He writes women very, very well and, as you might guess by the title of the series and first book, his main character is a woman.

The place is the African country of Botswana and he paints with words the landscape, history and people of this little known country with love and deep affection. Precious Ramotswe moves from the country to the city after her father dies and she uses her inheritance to establish a detective agency. The problems and mysteries she solves are very ordinary ones: why does a husband stray? Why might a young American disappear in the bush from a commune where he was loved and respected? Who is ransacking the shops along her street? The characters who people her world are written with depth and delight. Every one has their very special take on life and Smith allows them to philosophize about the nature of the world in very natural and compelling ways.

It is good to begin this series at the beginning even though each book stands alone. There is character and relationship development that is fun to follow in its natural order. One of the movie channels, HBO I think, produced a short series from the first few books. The casting is amazing and the actors are wonderful. Seldom have I seen a movie based book that was so right. See it if it comes around again ~ but try and read the books first. Again, this is a series that is nice to read with a cup of tea in your hand even if it isn’t red bush tea from the porches of Botswana.

Shopping On Line

2011-04-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Why don't I just Google any and everything I want to buy? I have been wanting 3 lb weights ever since they started me with them at gym. Di finally told me she had found some in Reno for $12. In the middle of the night last night, I thought - look on line, Susan. Found them for $3.60 each - making my order with shipping $12.16 ~ 16 cents more than Di paid and she had to pay gas to Reno. I assume I will have them by early next week, much sooner and with much more ease than a trip to Reno and searching for a place that has them.

She also bought shoes and a summer dress on eBay. That I can't do - I need to try on clothes and shoes and I know that. Anything else, I hope I know by now that it is time to start checking on line for Everything - :)

Tivo is great!!! I "watched" 5 hours of Royal Wedding in less than 45 minutes - while I had my first cup of tea and before Dean was even up. Saw all the important parts ~ and was most impressed by the crowds following the police line around the streets of London to the Palace. Especially nice speeded up - sort of like watching dominoes fall except they weren't falling, just moving right along.

Looking forward to gym today after a day of "rest" yesterday.

Weighing In

2011-04-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

Time for a 68 year old white woman, an "ordinary" American, mother, grandmother and lover of the Constitution to have her say. And then I am going to turn it over to a much more eloquent speaker than I am. But first: No one is vetted more than someone running for the office of President of the United States. Therefore, the sitting President should NOT have to show his birth certificate ever again. And . . . if he decides the mosquito in the room has become such a pest that he Has to show his birth certificate yet again, he needs to hand it to his second assistant secretary's second assistant to present to the public. Mosquito slappers don't need to hold the highest office in the land and possibly the world in order to issue an effective slap.

And now - please take time to watch and listen to the this Very eloquent young man speak for all of us who call ourselves American. ~ with blessings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX5ueEKsSWc&feature=player_embedded

Blogging Books 2

2011-04-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

Time to blog about books again. Because I am known to be a reader of mysteries, I will start with one of my favorite series, Mrs. Jeffries and the Inspector by Emily Brightwell. The premise of the series is simple. Mrs. Jeffries, widow of a Yorkshire policeman and now housekeeper for Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Witherspoon, is an expert at solving murders. Inspector Witherspoon is not quite as good at it so Mrs. Jeffries and her staff go to work behind the scenes to help gather clues and nudge the Inspector in the right direction.

Everyone of the staff has their own assignment as they go about their hunt. Smythe, the coachman, covers the pubs and darker alleys of Victorian London. Wiggins, the general house boy, has a way of making other young staff from the houses of murder victims and suspects talk. Betsy, the maid, can smile at a grocery clerk and learn all sorts of things about the houses in question. Mrs. Goodge, the elderly cook, never leaves her kitchen but bakes up goodies galore to feed her “sources” that come through and stop for a spot of tea and scones. And always at the end, Mrs. Jeffries puts all the clues together and helps solve the mystery and sends the Inspector to catch the murderer.

Within this pattern, Emily Brightwell sets up mystery after mystery, always just different enough to hold the reader’s attention. She also allows these delightful people their own lives and so reading through the series, we watch them grow, change, fall in love, discover some clues to their own identities and watch with pride as their Inspector gets better at ferreting out clues himself and becoming the most famous detective at Scotland Yard.

If you enjoy “gentle” murders and Victorian England, I highly recommend Mrs. Jeffries. Although nice to start at the beginning, each book stands alone enough that you can pick up one at your library or used book store and spend a lovely afternoon indulging in mystery ~ especially nice if you add tea and scones.

Maundy Thursday Prayer Vigil

2011-04-21T16:38:00.001-07:00

This is a strange way of putting it and this is one of my favorite nights of the year. Yes, it is a time when Christians remember Jesus’ suffering and death. And for a dancer, it was a time of ritual drama that spoke deeply to my faith. Services allowed for the singing of some hymns that were appropriate only on this night. We were able to dance to those, or act out the women at the cross; strip the chancel of all the extraneous decorations, draping the cross in black and leaving the room in darkness.

Years ago my church in Virginia began having a prayer vigil following the Maundy Thursday service. People would sign up to pray in the sanctuary for thirty minutes segments from nine on Thursday night until 3 on Good Friday afternoon. It was and still is a time of power and grace. Last year I mentioned to the pastor that I would be thinking of them and he suggested he might sign me up to pray along with someone who would be in the sanctuary. I loved the idea and he did - 9 my time, midnight theirs. I am doing it again this year. To set aside an intentional period of time to be in intentional prayer and meditation is a powerful experience. I will light candles, read scripture and hymns, mediate and be in intercessory prayer.

The time will be a blessing to me. May I be a blessing to others through my prayer.

Reflections on Yesterday

2011-04-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Delightful day yesterday. No agenda. Did do a little buying: a pair of fuzzy slippers as mine had lost all their fuzz years ago and are all worn and tattered; a wide-brim visor that fits with a soft scarf rather than the hard band of most visors ~ in deep purple, my favorite color; a few Easter goodies; and when we stopped at the grocery store, The King’s Speech, on sale for less than any of the pre-buys from on line bookstores. I came home happy, had a dish of ice cream and watched The King’s Speech.

I know I live an easy life. And . . . I had not had an agenda-less day off the mountain for a long, long time. Even when I have made day-trips, it has usually been to show the area to an out-of-town guest. That makes for an agenda. My neighbor didn’t have an agenda either and so we parked and wandered. Lovely little town, Nevada City, CA. Bookstores, art and tea shops, clothing stores. And a delightful hidden away Mexican restaurant for lunch. We ate early in our trip and walked it off with the afternoon’s wandering.

Delightful day for which I am very grateful ~ starting with thanks to Dianne for suggesting it and to my soul for just saying yes. ~ blessings

2011-04-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

I am missing having a dog. I continue to miss Tessie ~ and the other dogs we have had. And . . . I miss having a dog. I read the rescue stories of amazing animals. I am by myself in the house and would like ears to skritch or another soul to converse with. Dean is going to be gone for several days and I think how nice it would be to have a companion.

Then my neighbor calls and suggests a day trip off the mountain. Almost without thinking I say, sure - let’s go. The only thing waiting for me is the laundry and that will wait patiently until the next day. I am going with no qualms, no worries, no one else to care for or wonder about. I can simply go and enjoy myself for a day of whatever it is. She may have an agenda. At this point I don’t, although who knows what may turn up. We can stay as long or as short as we like. If one of us suggests a later arrival home time, I am free to agree or not based on me. And it would be very nice to have a wagging tail greeting me when I return. It is a dilemma. ~ with blessings

History's Impact 2

2011-04-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

Fascinating responses to yesterday’s blog. Commenting on FB, friends went into much more depth and detail than I had regarding the possibilities had Lincoln not been assassinated. Those of us old enough to remember childhood in the 50s remember a life still impacted by the blight of reconstruction.

One story reminded me of a time when I was about 10 or 11. We were at the beach in South Carolina and the woman who owned the cottage where we stayed knew our family who stayed every year and so had come over one night to visit. Somehow the conversation turned to integration - it was in the 50s. She told about her grandmother taking her every Saturday to the steps of the court house in their South Carolina town and telling her the awful stories of reconstruction. Even at age 11, I knew there was no way that woman would Ever be able to move beyond those stories to see people of a different race as in any way similar to herself. I realized that the war that I had thought was history - old and ancient history - was as present in her life as if it was happening in that moment. I am grateful that my young soul knew something wasn’t right.

Peter Gomes in “The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus” says: If God loves all that he has made -- and he has made everyone, not just ourselves, in his own image -- then the commandment to love God means that we must love all whom God has made, even those different from ourselves, and disagreeable to us. Powerful and difficult words to hear and live by ~ and there it is. So regardless of where we are, we must start here in this moment to be and do better and not be defined by the past and what may or may not have happened then. ~ with blessings

History's Impact

2011-04-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. What might our world, our country be like today if this event had not happened? 146 years may be long enough that the impact today would be less than imagined. On the other hand, every major event of this kind, especially the assassination of presidents, gives pause and wonder as we look back across the span of history.

Of course I have never wondered the impact of the deaths of Garfield or McKinley. I have wondered about the impact of the death of John Kennedy. The other two premature deaths by assassination that come to mind are Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, jr. Kennedy would have been president without a doubt - ok who knows, and the country was moving that way. And King was the leader of a powerful civil rights movement that made a continuing impact on this country but slowly petered out without a strong, charismatic leader on hand.

If these men had lived to play out their political destinies, would this country be more tolerant today? Would “the race card” still be in play or would it have disappeared in a country led to be more inclusive and forgiving? Would we be mired in economic debt or might one of them had the financial sense to know that even a country really shouldn’t spend more than it takes in? These questions can go on and on ~ and there is no answer to any of them because the reality is the death of Abraham Lincoln, 146 years ago today.

Spring Has Come!

2011-04-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

It is finally spring. How do I know? Squirrels? They have made an appearance but that’s not it. Birds? The Mountain Jays are back, but that’s not it. The rain-like sound of snow melting off the roof? A very welcome sound, but that’s not it. How do I know it is spring? Because of the way we are dressed.

This morning I had on my workout clothes, with a fleece shirt over the T-shirt, and a jacket and of course sneakers and socks. While I was working out, a young woman came into the office in a spaghetti-strapped very short dress and flip-flops. No sleeves, no jacket. While we were eating lunch, people coming into the restaurant were in long pants, jackets with scarves and brightly colored light-weight spring suits and dresses. Fashion is running the gamut. Spring is here!

As the temperature continues to rise, those of us who are still in fleece and long sleeves and shoes with toes (because of snowy slush and cold, puddled water) will evolve into lighter weight clothing and sandals. I can hardly wait for sandals. And while there are still 4 to 5 feet of snow on my deck and a chance of sloshing through melting snow, I will keep my feet warm and my body covered. I am satisfied with knowing that others are already in sandals and short sleeves because Spring is finally here!

Blogging Books

2011-04-08T16:59:00.001-07:00

So I’ve been thinking about all the books I read. There are blogs about all sorts of books: mysteries, romance, etc. I was reading a blog the other day that had books the writer had recently read listed on the side of her blog. I liked that. Then I thought about the books I read. Mostly mysteries. And I don’t want to write a blog about mysteries. I tend to stay in a very small part of that genre and I reread a lot. Plus, I don’t read Just mysteries. I enjoy all sorts of books. So I think I have decided to write a blog once in a while about some books that I have particularly enjoyed over the years. And why not start with books I read as a child? One of the nice things about doing it this way ~ I don’t have to be up to date. Yes, these are children’s books, just not necessarily new ones. I have read them, some times over and over, and loved them. So here we go.

Wait ‘Til the Moon is Full by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams. For all my life, I have known the sliver of a new moon is “thin as the curve of a raccoon’s whisker.” I still have this book from my childhood though I have bought it new for almost all my grands over the years.

Winnie the Pooh (story books and poetry books) by A. A. Milne. These were the books that I wanted read to me again and again if I was sick or unable to read them for myself for some reason. Even when I had mono as a teenager, I brought the Pooh books to my bedside and read them when I had the energy.

Every single one of the Dr. Seuss books - whether read by me as a child or read to my children.

Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth. This is a rather new book that I found one year for my grandchildren at Christmas. It teaches several very important lessons in a very gentle and loving way. And I really like Stillwater, the Panda, teacher and sharer of wisdom. The book cover is for a later book purchased last October for Halloween for grandchildren and to have here at the house.

I know that parents can download all sorts of interactive books onto their iPads and Kindles for their kids to read. And I am just old enough and old fashioned enough to believe that holding a child in your lap and reading them a book you love is wonderfully interactive. These are ones among many others that I choose to have in my home still and available for the grands when they are here. ~ enjoy your reading and the next book blog will be along soon.

Day Dreaming

2011-04-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

The snow fell lightly. The sky was steel grey. Deep green pines were icing laden with the heavy wet snow of a spring fall. Through the pine branches appeared the rising smoke of someone’s fire, a well-lit chimney offering home, welcome, a night’s rest, perhaps a meal and a stable for her weary horse.

Nevermind that she was propped up in her own comfy, 21st century bed, surrounded by pillows and warmth, gazing out of her front windows onto the pines that surrounded the condos across the street. Those facts had no impact on the imagination. She was making that wintery trek as surely as if she were a 13th century religiouse or a 17th century pioneer woman. The smoke spoke hope and home and fireside.

Rolling out of her modern comforts and facing a day of house cleaning after a week of company, she smiled in gratitude at the morning’s vision and a brain that could take her on such a journey with only a glimpse of smoke through the trees across the way.

Granddaughter's First Pie

2011-04-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

Grandson had requested a quiche. And to give the Mama Susan credit, I do make a Delicious quiche. Anyway - I was making him one and because I was using a deep dish pie pan, I had doubled the crust recipe thereby having dough left over. Granddaughter was helping me in the kitchen and when she saw the left-over dough asked if she could make her very first pie.

Honestly, my insides grabbed up some. I have lots of talents and I do not negate them. I am even a Very Good cook if I follow the recipe and have time to move through it. I pale a little at the thought of helping a grandchild make a pie. So - I took a deep breath, thought "why not?" and said, Sure. As soon as the quiche is in the oven we will make a pie.

She rolled out the dough. Smoothed out the cracks so the filling wouldn't leak underneath. Tucked in the edges as best she could. I searched the cabinets and found a can of peaches which we used as filling. Voila! Her very first pie. I have promised to help her learn to make crust on her own later. Of course my way to this day - even after 50 years of pie making - is to pull up my Betty Crocker pie crust recipe and follow it to the letter. Hey, it works. And as Dean pointed out ~ making your very first pie is one of the things you are supposed to do at Grandma's house. :D

Good Day!

2011-04-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Some days stand out as special in memory and I think yesterday will be one of those days. What a Good Day! I was up and cooking early so that the pecan pie was in the oven by 9:15. Shortly after that the grits were ready to follow. By the time family arrived back here, table was set, buffet was laid out and I was able to visit and hug and hug and visit.

The conversation immediately rose to a peak of excitement as cousins saw each other for the first time since summer. When Daughter and Son first met, they knew they were soul mates. They became instantly connected step-brother and sister. They need no time to re-connect. They immediately start the questions about business, family life, life in general.

The kids swarm over the house and the outside snow banks. Sometimes buried in their video games, sometimes reading, chatting or begging to play one of the all-family games we play, they are engrossed and entertained. Sometimes they even sit by quietly and listen to what the adults are saying. “Adult” now includes the soon-to-graduate 18 year olds whose participation in such conversations is a given.

Dinner was Wonderful (even if the cook does say so herself), and eaten early enough in the afternoon to allow sleep even on a still full-feeling stomach. Several rounds of Apples to Apples followed by several of Mafia, held the interest of all of us and moved the lazy afternoon along very nicely. The only “problem” with Apples to Apples is that I tend to teach. If there is a subject brought up that one of the younger ones doesn’t know about, I want to tell them. I tried to be good and keep my teaching to a few sentences. :)

Late evening was defined by the return home of one family and the settling in of the rest of us. For some younger growing members of the family, healthy, hefty snacks were the order of the evening. The almost-14-year old ate another meal. But then he is a teen-age boy which means by definition he has a hollow leg.

Seems we all slept well and are ready to face the week with high energy.

Good Eating

2011-04-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

When the family is here, we eat Well. Rob and Chenlu made baby back ribs and fried rice last night. Rob made homemade egg McMuffins for breakfast today. Tomorrow is my turn with big family dinner at traditional Sunday dinner time: ham, cheese grits, salad and pecan pie. Yum!!

Rob took the family to Reno to visit and spend the night with Jeff’s family so for lunch Dean and I went to Las Panchitas. Even our eating out is yummy when the family is here. When Michelle and family come for Sunday, she is bring a couple of batches of her best-ever Mama Bear's Kitchen granola. (Stay tuned for a link to her website coming in a little while.)

Carter has requested quiche - so I will make that for Monday or Tuesday night. Then they will go home and I will go back to eating a bit more normally. Still for a few days, it can be fun ~ and not too harmful if I watch my portions. Tasty.

The Evolution of my Women's Group

2011-03-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

Last night was perfect. I felt fine and all was well. Lorrie even “invited” Karen, our originator, into the circle and was thrilled when I called her. She even said, “I meant spiritually. I didn’t expect you to call her.” I just smiled and said, “This has been planned and she is at home waiting this call.” :D :D :D Nice surprise for the group.

Tender and gentle are the words that come to mind this morning. It wasn’t sad. It was tender. We knew we had completed the circle. For ten years we had met, held ritual, shared lives ~ and now it was time to move on. Several of used the word evolving. I don’t think any of us see it as an “end” ~ rather a transition, another step forward, continuing the journey for all of us.

Part of me thinks that if I had done as good a job facilitating over the years as I did last night and if people had been as intentional about coming as they were last night, we might still be meeting. And we weren’t ~ and we aren’t. And that is fine. Friendships still exist. Lunches, ski and snowshoe and tennis dates will happen. Prayer requests will be sent out ~ we continue to be a terrific circle of pray-ers. And when we do see each other whether by design or in the grocery store, we will laugh and hug and share life stories.

Blessed be. Blessed we. Namaste’.

Grammatical Grumblings

2011-03-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

"Those ones" or "These ones" ~ I don't understand the need for the extra word. "You may have those." Period. No need to throw in the extra word.

"At" ~ another extra word that is Way overused. "Where's he at?" Never mind the "don't end a sentence with a preposition" rule. What is the purpose? Why not simply, "Where is he?"

And the ever popular but still not correct, "irregardless". "Regardless" is a perfectly good word and may be used without the addition of the extra syllable. So many people use the incorrect form that I understand some dictionaries have added it, if only to say it is colloquial and should not be used. *sigh*

As you can tell, snow has not kept me totally inside. I have been out and about and heard enough to grumble about. ~ signed, the grammatical grumbling grannie ~ :D

It Keeps Coming . . .

2011-03-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

. . . and coming and coming. The plows are keeping the roads clear. Fortunately we don't Have to go out our back doors so we have just let the snow pile up on the deck ~ with the following results. Although some of the other pictures are impressive as well.

This is right outside our back door. You can see a bit of the rail and tell how high it is. Turning to my left the picture was of a wall of snow. I can't see over or beyond it. The picture below is of icicles that are hanging off the roof. They usually melt away instead of dropping so that is good.

This is a view off our front deck looking toward our neighbor's. The tiny grey triangle in the center of the picture is the way they get to the street. Getting out of their house is a little scary.

This is the view out my kitchen windows. You can see the window sill - and in the summer, if we open the window we can pass food to and from the deck at that level. Gives you an idea of how much snow is out there. Dean says, "When summer comes . . . " When he finished, I asked him to repeat the first phrase. I needed to hear that someone else still thinks summer's coming is a very real possibility. Sun is shining this morning. We take it when we can get it this year.

The Moon and No Stars

2011-03-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

Wonderful, wacky weather. Last night at 9 as I crawled into bed and quit paying attention to what it was happening outside, it was snowing. At 12:30, I woke to moonlight pouring in the room. I got up and wandered around, looking out the front windows at an amazing Huge moon hanging high in the sky. Even at that hour and in that sleepy state, I realized there were no stars. The moon is so close to earth that it has wiped away the light of all the stars. There was just the moon in a pale grey-blue sky. No clouds obscured anything and the world was awash in light. At 3:30 I woke again, this time to a different sort of light. It was as if our window panes had been painted amber. The street lights shining through really heavy snow cause this phenomenon. You really cannot see beyond the window pane. It was snowing again. And has been ever since as far as I can tell. A Lot has fallen in the last six hours and although now it is more like a snowy mist, it is still piling up. There are places where March is spring. Not here, not yet, not in Tahoe.

A Little Artistic Thought

2011-03-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

With the economy the way it is and so many arms of government trying to find ways to cut the budget, those things considered “extraneous” are being hit hard. Schools are cutting back art programs: music, drama, art. Politicians are ready to cut anything that has to do with creative expression. And I am remembering something from a long time ago that made an impression.

We were in China in 1979 ~ very early for tourists as Nixon had only gone there in ’72. We flew from Beijing to Harbin (I think), a short flight on a domestic airline. During the flight I went to the bathroom. Walking down the aisle I realized that the plane was grey. The bathroom was a little grey cubicle. I think I remember a little tiny mirror, hardly big enough to check lipstick if you had wanted to do that. When I returned to my seat, I related the greyness to my husband and said, “I realize we don’t decorate the insides of our planes with lots of color or art, and I could have used one flower or one wall of red or something.”

The arts of all kinds are important to a society. I know there are budget cuts that have to be made and I guess I am optimistic enough to hope we can cut enough across the board that we don’t have to cut any one program totally.