The first sign of fall for me is often the fall produce. Yes, I know that the squash show up in summer. But it's what we do with them that makes this a fall photo.
Wonderful soups and stews are calling to me as the mornings take on a chill. Not to mention "roast beast" made with lots of veggies to flavor the gravy. Yum.
The evenings require a blanket once more. The fan is hard to give up because I love the "white" sound of it whirring in the night.
Now that the school year has begun again, I am back to my early morning walking... you saw my summer sun rises. This is what a fall sun rise looks like as I head home from my walk.
Fall is my favorite time of year. Probably because I am a fall baby myself. Birthday time is always magical.Mine doesn't arrive until mid-November. (I couldn't be more of a Scorpio if I tried.)
I do not care for the changes in my schedule this year. Let's just say they suck and let it go at that. But it's okay. I need a job and am glad to have one in these times. While I am not in love with my job this year, that gives me some release from being so passionate about it that I am over-focused. Now I can walk out the door and leave it behind me. Even sucking has a silver lining. ;-)
Other sure signs of fall here in Dumb Potter's Hell include the smells on the wind of wood smoke and rain on forest soil.Hoodies, hoodies everywhere. As Mr. Shife pointed out on his blog, the long pants have been pulled out of the closet and put to use again. Soccer teams on the fields. Girls Volleyball games.Back to School Night or Open House. School buses holding up traffic and drivers cursing them.All signs of Fall.
It can't be long before this guy starts roaming the streets either.
Yikes! I am not looking forward to that. Driving to Larry's for the weekend may take on an ominus feel... will it snow while I am there and will I get stuck? His home is at a higher elevation than mine and they get good snow falls. Will I be snowed in at my home and unable to get out? Or maybe Larry will have to drive his truck over and rescue me. Or will that be worth the bother?
But that's a winter thing. We may get a bit of snow here around Thanksgiving, but only a few inches. More like the powdered sugar on your french toast than snowfall. I'm not going to stress over possible trouble yet.
Instead I think I'll focus on the things that I love most about Fall. Long hot baths. Warm cozy fires. Hot mulled cider. The smell of gingerbread baking in the oven. Keeping a good book close at hand. Not to mention long mornings on weekends where you just don't feel the need to leave the flannel sheets until well into the day.
So do tell... what things say "FALL" in your neck of the woods? While you think about it, watch and listen to this almost haunting video.
I was over at Suldog's yesterday and happened on his post by the same name. Here was the challenge he set out there... "Should you be as incensed as I am concerning Christmas schlock, please post a "Thanksgiving Comes First" entry on your blog. Write from the heart. Everybody who visits your blog will know how you feel. Perhaps they'll also write about it, and so will their friends, and so on. I hope that, if enough of us do this, we might make some small impact." This is my version.
As I mentioned a few posts back... I went to Sears and had a terrible time one evening with a friend who was trying to buy some paint. While it took the young man an eternity to mix the paint, I wandered aimlessly. This is what I found to photograph on the shelves:
Charlie Brown's sad little Christmas tree... on the shelf... bold as brass... before the Great Pumpkin has even visited!
I grew up with a Peanuts schedule. First was the Charlie Brown's Christmas Special. This was followed a year or so later byIt's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! Every year after... the Great Pumpkin would show up at Halloween and then... A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving...come Christmas, Charlie Brown's faith in the power of hope brought that sad little tree to magical magnificent life despite the glare of greedy commercialized Christmas.!
Scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas with the Christmas tree.
You could count on them happening each year the same way... each within their season... exactly like you knew that Lucy was going to jerk that football away just as Charlie Brown tried to kick it. Or that the kite eating tree was going to get Charlie Brown's kite. Or that the Great World War One Flying Ace would order a sarsaparilla.
The seasons came and went as constants in our lives. As a child this was comforting, something to look forward to and tradition that I could understand. (Unlike some of the traditions we had like eating black eyed peas on New Years for good luck. Why does that work? )
A short clip of Jeff Dunham and Achmed the Dead Terrorist from Jeff's brand new Comedy Central Special and DVD, "Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special"!
Okay... funny, but not exactly what the holiday is about or traditional.
I do not mind Snoopy Santas. I like Charlie Brown's sad little tree... but they have a season. They need to stay in that season. Otherwise the lines get blurred. By the time Christmas does show up 4 freaking months later, I am so done with the decorations and hoopla that I am not even enjoying it anymore.
Nor do I want to step foot in a store or turn on the television set with a child in tow! Everywhere you look is a toy or fad that they just have to have.
Why do they have to have it? Because every waking second of their day a blatant message is being hurled down their throats... buy me! You will never have more fun! EVERYONE you know has one of these. DON'T BE THE ONLY KID WHO DOESN'T HAVE ONE!
Herd beasts that children are... they want to stampede the store to get one. Tomorrow it will be another thing they are told that they can't live without and the whine starts over anew. I detest whining.
There was a time when things went at a nice sane pace. When you had time to enjoy Turkey diner before you worried about Christmas shopping. I do not want to plan Christmas diner at Halloween or... "Good Grief"... before! I don't want to hear about it or see it until the Turkey is in zip lock baggies for sandwiches and soups. Likewise I do not want to worry about Thanksgiving diner until the candy has been passed out at the door to little zombies and vampires. I want to enjoy those moments before running on to the next one. Time goes fast enough.
Charlie Brown was right. Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving have all become way too commercial. I guess there were those out there who didn't watch that special.
As for me and my household. We keep Christmas and the other seasons where they belong... in their proper time frame. I don't know how you feel. Say your peace here or take up Suldog's idea and run with it on your own blog.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Buddy and Barney walked with us this weekend, so did C... Larry's grandson.
C has an apple and they want bites. :-)
We walked down to the gravel quarry again. This time I remembered my camera.
This looks like rock, but is actually a gravel pile that has become semi solid over time. Reminds me of Close Encounters.
Looking down into the quarry. Sometimes the bottom is flooded with water.
Larry and I saw these guys coming home from breakfast out.
A Push-Me Pull-You?
Enlarge these for better detail. Not the greatest photos. Shooting toward the sun at things in the shade.
5 BIG PRETTY ELK!
I got so excited... Larry indulged me and pulled over. It was a no parking area... but I had to get a photo and some nice people let us park in their driveway.
I had a great weekend.
I always do at Larry's.
Next weekend we are going to a place with big scale trains that you can ride around on. Ought to be some fun photos there too.
An easy and contented weekend for the most part. I did manage to get my car washed and vacuumed out... the dash and doors,etc. clean. That was nice. Larry gave me a deal for a free car wash with the works. Sweet.
There was one bummer moment. Larry and I went in his truck with a trailer to pick up a fridge I got off of "Freecycle".
( You ought to look and see if they have one in your area... you get things for free from folk who do not want money, just want things to go to good use. Very cool beans. BBC told me about them.)
Unfortunately we went into the building and left the hand truck we brought along in the trailer... and some creep took it. Larry came back out to get it 5 minutes after we went in and it was gone. That was upsetting. I hate it when people are jerks. Otherwise it would have been absolutely perfect.
I hope you had a lovely weekend and enjoyed doing something great. What was it?
This is the original with Merry Clayton... the best version. All the ladies who sang this part were great, but Merry is THE voice.
This is a long story, if you want something short... this is not the time or the place you are looking for.
Once upon a time, long, long ago… when Tye Dye was Miss Bliss’ sense of safety and security… a trip began with a trek to a Quick Stop Shop, which was the result of drinking a plastic shake from B K.At that time B K was proud to produce non-dairy milkshakes that had a chewable vitamin taste which was disturbing and were served at a somewhat creepy room temperature.
Bliss thought she was going to gag.Cotton mouth was the motivation behind the trip to BK for rescue and relief.Instead, they had a new mission to seek out relief at the Quick Stop Shop.Bliss was tilting her had back and letting the Dr. Pepper roll down her throat when the clerk squeaked out “Hey… you wanna buy some blotter?”Tye Dye and Bliss looked at each other and smiled, then in a sublime Ester Williams impersonation, they turned… Bliss to the left and Tye Dye to the right… circled around to meet in the middle and walk like a bride and groom to the counter to peer at what the clerk was offering.
A green sheet of construction paper was lifted from under the counter.It was divided into a grid.Within each of the small squares was the face of the Mad Hatter.They were two dollars away from paradise.Behind them a car pulled into the lot.Four dollars hit the counter.The clerk pressed a tiny envelope into Bliss’ hand.
“Be careful, you can absorb it through your skin.” He whispered.
Time began it’s rapid march soon after.To Bliss it seemed that Zu and Ef’s house was empty one moment and jumping with people the next.It was a funny little house, old with odd crannies and doors that were not well placed. Every room was full of happy people, beers in hand, talking.Bliss did not care for beer, so Zu insisted that she make Bliss a cup of tea.Zu leaned close and shouted “Be careful…” as she helped Bliss to curl her fingers around the handle.When Bliss looked up, Tye Dye was gone, replaced by E who seemed to be interested in the conversation they were having, though for the life of her Bliss could not grasp what had been said.
Her fingers were distracting.They felt warm.Over warm.Down right hot.Perhaps on fire.She shifted the cup to dangle from the tips of the fingers of her opposite hand.Looking at the burning fingers, she saw no sign of damage.
“Is this hot?I mean too hot?”she asked E.He reached out and felt the mug.“No.” he said.Trusting him, she slid her fingers back into the mug handle and ignored the burning sensation that must have been imaginary.E wandered away when Tye Dye returned.The burning sensation was worse.There were some things that the imagination can do that are not comfortable.The Mad Hatter was making it so.Bliss set the mug on a table and moved away from it, putting Tye Dye between herself and the excessive heat.
Time spun.When Bliss was next aware, she and Tye Dye were deep in animated conversation.Two guys standing near by watched them openly.Bliss and Tye Dye flashed smiles at them and continued to chatter.
One guy said “They act like they’re on acid.”
The pair swiveled their heads and said “We are!” laughed and turned back to their conversation, with electric smiles pasted fast to their faces.The conversation then turned to how funny it was that the guys had known. (Duh... they were higher than kites! Giant pupals... plastic fantastic grins... manic.)
Bliss was standing on the porch watching Ef and Tye Dye cross the street holding hands.She stood on the top step… there were only three… and watched them.They looked happy.Neither person seemed to feel the creeping sense of doom that had begun to crawl up Bliss’ spine.The night sky was colored by the weird pink incandescent light of the security lamps that loomed high above the run-off reservoir located in the lot at the opposite curb.The air was hot.Cobweb clouds stretched over a brown sky back lit by a three quarter moon.
Bliss told herself to get her brain in right… do not let the eerie feeling wreck the high.She pushed off the steps and ran across the street to clutch at the chain link enclosure that surrounded the run-off depression.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Ef said and gave Bliss a little squeeze.Bliss stared into the dip, wanting to find beauty.Instead patches of darkness and twisted brush sat silent.In the middle was a deep patch of black that felt hollow.Bliss searched it and found fear.It burbled up from the soles of her feet and boiled into her brain.When she turned to tell Ev that she was afraid, he and Tye Dye were gone.The distance between herself and the door with it’s bright patch of light creating a beacon was impossible.Bliss froze.
The door burst open and someone nameless pitched down the steps to hurl into the bushes.Bliss seized her opportunity to launch for
the house, run up the steps and back into the safety of the light inside.One lone man looked up at her, his face a question mark.She knew him.It was awkward.He was Tye Dye’s ex.Bliss knew that Ef and Tye Dye were interested in each other and that was where Tye Dye had vanished.Hummmm….
“Party’s over.”SB said as he leaned down to pick up an empty beer cup.Bliss just stood there.There was no way in hell that she was going to go back outside into the night and face what had frightened her… the sound from the hole across the street.
The screaming from the hole across the street.The Well of Souls.She knew that was exactly what it was but was not sure what that meant.Only that it needed to be avoided like a siren’s song.
“I’m afraid of the dark.”
She said at last.SB turned to assess her honesty.After a moment he nodded then continued his work.Bliss joined in to pick up.When they finished, he led her to the kitchen and sat her at the table.When he offered her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich she agreed but was not at all hungry.Eating slowly would give her time to figure out where she would stay.SB pulled a notebook from his back pocket.He asked her questions about how she felt or for opinions, then jotted notes on her replies.When he finished, he closed the pad and stuffed it back in his pocket.
Oddly enough, his behavior and the questions did not bother Bliss at all.SB was like that.He studied things.This was normal for him.Normal felt safe.But there were anxious thoughts.The people who lived in this house were funny about food and did not share.Who’s food was she eating?Would they be pissed off?The peanut butter stuck in her mouth and throat.She asked for a drink of water, certain she was going to choke. He complicated things by giving her milk but she accepted it because she’d heard that milk can help bring you down if you are not having a good trip and gulped it to avoid the owner of the milk should he or she walk in and catchher drinking it.Behind it all she could hear that sound… the wailing from across the street and the hole in the ground… thewell of souls…. The siren’s call.Bliss covered her ears with her hands.SB stared at her.She attempted explanation.
“Come on..”SB led her by the hand to the living room and sat her on the sofa.It was a dreadful thing… pink, prickly with hair.SB left the room but quickly returned.“Lay down.”He ordered as he flipped open a beach towel.A cat leered at fish in a bowl.He carefully covered her up and apologized that there were no blankets or pillows.SB walked to the stereo and stacked some records on the stylus… a Rolling Stones record dropped down first… Let it Bleed, then quietly retired to his room, telling Bliss that he would leave the door open in case she got scared... he was right there.
That was the only bad experience that Miss Bliss had with acid.She managed to hang on to the edge of being okay.But I cannot properly describe the feeling of anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her for most of the evening.At the time Bliss was unsure of SB’s motives but she was equally unsure if the cat on the beach towel was real or part of the print.In retrospect, he was pretty amazing for a guy who had never so much as taken a puff of pot.The notes he took were on answers to his questions.What was her favorite food?What bands did Bliss like?Was she cold?
You can see that he did whatever he could to make Bliss comfortable and to help her feel safe.Bliss thought he was studying her like an experiment.He was in fact, just trying to help.Miss Bliss cannot say that she had a true “bad trip” but this one was close enough that it ended her fascination with acid.She is also aware that it was the kindness of SB that probably kept her from stepping over the edge.The thing she remembers most about him?He liked trains.
Which brings us to this: The next album that dropped from the stylus was Grand Funk Railroad’s Survival.It starts with a narration by children about God... you can skip to 1:24 if you want to avoid that.
A final story foot note is that the cup that was so hot was truly scalding.E was playing mind f*ck with Bliss… something that people did to trippers on occasion.It left her with badly blistered fingers. Not cool.
There he is... BBC in the flesh... sitting next to his 5th wheel. He arrived last Wednesday earlier in the day while I was at work. We met at the "beer church" closest to the school.
(Yes we have a bar next to our school here.)
Beers done, we went to my house and unloaded the very nice solid wood four poster bed frame and lifter that BBC brought to me.I'll post a photo of the bed and lifter once I get a mattress and get it all set up.
Up there BBC is showing me about the brake pads and how they can be more easily replaced with the type of wheels my car has, than just taking it all apart. One of the things that BBC did, was replace my brake pads in front.
Another stunning thing that he did was replace my front tires as well. That really blew me away. He said that because of a shimmy that my car had, my front tires were worn almost through on one side. I had no clue at all. I could have blown out going 75 on the freeway in a front wheel drive car. An easy to crush car. Yikes. Thank you BBC!
BBC was very patient with me. I asked him to explain things that I could do myself to maintain my car better. A lot of guys would have poo-pooed that. But he took me seriously, which I do appreciate and spent time telling me what I can do to make my car last as long as possible. He explained all of the repairs he made and told me what caused the problems.
He did not have the tools to do everything it needed. But he told me what to ask for and what I was looking at. He made adjustment to my clutch, which is wearing out and did what he could to tune it up. I'd say he did about 100% more than I imagined that he would do. I cannot say how grateful I am. He's a very generous man.
An interesting old curmudgeon too! I had a nice time visiting with BBC. We went to the local Eagles for a drink... I had a bloody mary in an ice tea glass. I did not know they made them so big. Ha.
The last day we visited I introduced him to a friend of mine. I had promised her that I would go into P'land to Sears with her. She sat and visited with us for a bit before we left and I said my good-bye to BBC and gave him a hug. I hated to run, but after Sears, Larry was waiting. The lure of Larry is strong... off I ran.
Actually it was not that easy. The trip to Sears was a frigging nightmare. She went for paint... I did not know this. It took some baby-faced joy-boy just out of knickers HOURS to mix the paint. I about had a nervous break down on the spot.
Larry was expecting me to leave Dumb Potter's Hell by 7:00 at the latest. I did not arrive until 11:15 and had Larry's daughter Carrie worried sick about me. Larry was asleep... she thought... but I had been texting him on my progress. I would not worry Larry. But I never thought that Carrie would be worried. Poor dear.
I arrived in one piece after several freeway delays and some foaming at the mouth, spitting at guys in orange vests and someone swearing viciously. Okay, I was practicing my pirate skills.
In the end you could say it served me right. I had a guest who had done much to help me out... but I rushed off for what? Oh yeah... lust... er... love! Both!
So BBC, thank you again from the bottom of my heart. You did me a wonderful kindness and it is appreciated. I am not sure how yet, but I will find a way to repay it.
I hope you are all functioning better than the twitterpated Miss Bliss. What a space case!
Sorry folks, I am not feeling terribly well today. I'm afraid that my calliope crashed to the ground ( blood sugar crash ) and will need a day or two to be right again. See you then and tell you all about my visit with BBC.
BBC-- Thanks again for everything! Very much appreciated.
billy pilgrim suggested this one to me yesterday... and it is so perfect as a woman's view of the worth of your automobile. I'm going to be singing it all the way to Molalla today. The second song at the bottom was also suggested by billy pilgrim... a sweet finish, if you will. Enjoy !
Yes, as you can see... my clown car lives! Thanks are due to BBC, who has just been an amazing help. I am going to blog about our visit. I'll have photos for you... on Monday. He's really quite an interesting individual, not to mention part time do-gooder extraordinaire.
Today, thanks to the kindness of BBC, my car is road safe again. I'll be so thrilled to pick it up today after work and spend a bit of time visiting with him before I take off... like a rocket in my little "fire cracker" (It's too tame to be called a rocket like the 455 from Kathy Mattea's song.)
From there, I'm going to Sears with a friend who is newly separated, then to diner. We'll drive back to Dumb Potter's Hell and then... the fire cracker and I are off to Larry's for the weekend again. The only other thing I have to say is... what an amazing fecking week!
I hope your week and weekend are amazing too!
What the heck are all of you getting up to this weekend or what happened in your week that you'd like to share?
In light of my car troubles... this song seemed to be just perfect.
I was so excited after the concert last night that I could not calm down. SLEEP? Who needs sleep?
BBC is here. He has seen the town... that took about half an hour. He gave me the bed frame... very cool beans. It has some scratches but nothing that I cannot buff out with some good oil. A little elbow grease will do the trick. Then I have to find a mattress somewhere. I'll take a photo and share it when I get that together.
He got a nice camp site on the river in our marine park. Tomorrow he's going to work on my car. We took a brief trip across the river to the Napa car parts place and picked up some spark plugs. We'll meet for coffee in the morning and trade vehicles. He'll work on mine while I go to work.
Cross your fingers that its something he can fix. Otherwise... I am ship out of luck.
Here is one more video. This one of Ry Cooder's has lots of connections for me. Larry is from Santa Cruz. That's where we had our beach house when I was a kid. Its also where I got mono, trench mouth and hepatitis all at the same time!
And well... let's face it, I am currently a woman lusting after a nice running car! So here's a car song by Ry Cooder too.
This was the best concert that I have been to in forever. They sound as good in person as they do on recordings. I chose this video so that you could see them perform as they are. I'll have another for you at the end. Both of these songs were performed.
Max and Blu and I went. We did my usual deal... got a map quest that sent us the wrong way and got lost. (You know the drill by now.) But we did at least make it in time.
But we found our way at last and got parked close enough for comfort. None of us have been to this theater. The set up was great. The bar and over 21 section was upstairs in the balcony. The general area was the lower floor... no seats at that level.Max forgot his ID, so he was banned from the bar and restricted to the lower level.
Blu and I were naturally sympathetic and looked down on him from the balcony as I drank my dark beer and she drank her mai tai. Don't worry... I was the driver, so I was limited to one beer. Once our drinks were done, we headed back down to Max... and could not find him.
I've no idea what the name of the first act was. I missed that part. They were okay. Interesting. They were followed by a great raggae group called Hepcat. See them here:
They were a lot of fun!
Then it was time for Flogging Molly. I was about half way to the stage.As soon as they began to play... the crowd surged forward and I got swept into the mosh area. I am not a mosh person. I was totally separated from Blu and moving toward the stage. About that time I start to see people being flung aside. Max scooped me up and hauled me back to the safe place by Blu. He mussed up my hair and then vanished back into the mosh area. I should have known that's where he would be.
The music was great. People moved like the ocean... swaying and bobbing, cresting and crashing. Very exciting and fun for me. They encourage, even demand that you sing along and dance. So I did.
As usual, when it was time to go home I found my way easily. No more getting lost for the night. I had a wonderful time.
Pictures of Flogging Molly with the song Tobacco Island.
It was a great evening. I had a blast. It's late and I need to get some sleep so that I can make sane choices at work tomorrow. Sweet dreams to all.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
This is another one that's been popping into my head of late.... hope you enjoy it.
Great day at work. No complaints at all. Then it was time for the Monday meeting crap... and the car went down. Drove home fine. Went to leave and the clutch started slipping.
Limped over to StbX's. He fiddled with the linkage and got it to do better, but it is still not right. I can feel it, I was afraid to take it up the hill to the Bear's house, so Boo picked us up and took us there to get Squeaky.
There we found this scary individual!He looks like a dupe... but don't let that one shoe on and one shoe off fool you... he's a pro! You can tell by that mask... one dangerous dude.
Look at that big time raspberry action! God is clearly on his side... er... forehead maybe.
Well... this is some tag team. I can verify that. (They wear me out.)
My car is not well... and tonight is Flogging Molly!!! If I keep saying it, will my car get better in time? Heck no. So I've begged to drive one of the Bear's cars. I will be the sober driver as long as I get to hear and see Flogging Molly. I have been looking forward to this for a long time and I promised Max.
Well, BBC was coming down to help me with my car anyway... among other things. He's coming here to visit and bringing me some stuff he was ready to get rid of... that I can use. Hopefully he can figure out what the deal is and offer suggestions if he can't do it himself. I'm glad to have someone who knows what they are doing (for a change!) looking at it. I'll cross my fingers... please cross yours too.
I hope he gets in some good fishing while he is here too. I'll be working most of the time. Though he can drag Lorn around if he wants. Lorn does not work right now. He likes to fish... I think... his brothers live to fish, but maybe he is not his brother! I best be careful about assumptions.
Well, folk... have a good day. "Don't let it bring you down. It's only castles burning..."
Another nice weekend at Larry's. Sweet. He sleeps during the day, so I treated myself to a quiet lunch alone. I love hot tea.
We had a nice time. The doctor told him that walking would be good for his back, so we took a hike down the road to an old rock quarry... then up a hill so steep that I was panting by the top, down to the little lake and then back the normal way to his house. Nice hike. Got good and sweaty in the sun shine.
We went to a U-pick farm for the stuff to make a wonderful salad and stuffed zucchini for diner (with pilaf and almonds and garlic bread). His daughter Carrie cooked with me. That was fun. She is a sweetheart. Then we watched videos after diner. Before I knew it, it was time to go home again.
Traffic wasn't too bad. I did not get lost even once! Not even on the way there! I could not believe it. Me... not get lost? What was happening in my reality?
Sadly, this was taken on the way home.:(
Puck wasted no time at all in climbing on top of my car... and settling down for a nap. Only he changed his mind as soon as I looked like I might be going anywhere near his food dish.
Everything was the way I left it. I accidentally took this shot as I got out of the car. But I liked it... so here it is. This is the tree that drizzles weird sticky crap on my car all the time and drops leaves year round. It is horribly messy. I've no idea what kind of tree it is, only that I don't like it. But it is a cool picture.
I had a wonderful time. But I was hardly in my car on the way home when the phone calls started. Heavy sigh. It's so nice and quiet at Larry's house. Call one was from Max who wanted a ride from H R home... adding an hour more to my drive in my scary ill car. Call two was from the poker game he was supposed to be at... wanting to know if I'd seen Max. Several calls back and forth getting all that straight.
I'm "Hello...DRIVING!" Not that anyone cares. Then Nick was hungry and had shopping list information. By the time I got home I was exhausted and wishing I was back at Larry's where it is quiet, peaceful and more.
Back to the real world where I have obligations and work. Ugh. Work.
I hope you all had wonderful weekends. I know I have been absent a lot... and that will likely continue off and on. I'll have my sat. scavenger hunt post up in a day or two... late. Oops. But I am tagging Crazy4 Coens on this post... you're IT! for next week.
Ah... Monday morning it was all I hoped it would be...
Once upon a time there was a girl called Miss Bliss...
Somewhere in time she fell right out of existence. I was not aware when it happened. I was surprised by it when I looked up from a jigsaw puzzle one day and was forced to admit that she was gone.
I looked up at Max, who must have been nine or ten. His face lit with a childish delight that had long since left me behind. He was striped with dirt. His shirt was torn in at least two places. Neither of his shoes were tied. There was a hole in his cheek that was at least two inches long and deep enough to gape. It was peppered with debris from the woods. He grinned his best cheesy smile and said "I had the best day!"
It hit me then that I no longer had those days. The ones where junk happens and you let it roll off because nothing can touch the feeling of falling out of a cedar tree, crashing through its limbs and surviving to tell the tale.
I was stunned by this.
My son skipped to the bathroom mirror. I heard him say "Coooool..." about his face. I no longer understood how exciting a great scar can be even though I could still recall not wearing a bandage on my stitches in fifth grade so that everyone could admire them.
Miss Bliss would have understood it. But she was little more than a limp shirt that I folded up and put away. No fanfare. No teary good-byes. That was a part of life that had passed by. Bye-bye Bliss!
My life has altered so much of late. As I was gearing up for my long weekend last week I glanced into the mirror and was shocked to see that Miss Bliss was back.
Interesting people have entered my life. Not just Larry... though yep... that's been a major interest. My children have grown into interesting people and when I once feared that I was losing them, I now know that I've gained something wonderful from their adult lives that I never expected beside grand children.
Squeaky is pretty much on his own these days with Lorn to help out. He does not need me and amazingly enough... I am feeling very good about that. Not long ago I worried over what I'd do with myself after he went to college. Now I'm wondering what I'll do with myself after he goes with antisipation, not anxiety.
How odd that I find Miss Bliss smiling back at me from the mirror with that same sparkle and feeling of expectation that something wonderful waits around the corner. I walked outside tonight and a very warm Chinook wind caressed me, the song below popped into my head and I began to think about all these changes and marveled that what I thought I feared was really what I want.
TIME KEEPS ON MOVING AND HERE I AM ALMOST BACK TO WHERE I WAS A BAZILLION YEARS AGO. . .
The first sign of fall for me is often the fall produce. Yes, I know that the squash show up in summer. But it's what we do with them that makes this a fall photo.
Now that the school year has begun again, I am back to my early morning walking... you saw my summer sun rises. This is what a fall sun rise looks like as I head home from my walk.
