Touching base, but only briefly, with a poem

Restless Heart

Restless heart
Restless mind
Returning to the past
To form the future

Disneyland parking lot
Distractions along the way
A way to ease the 
walk

Shops
Christmas tinsel
So much not needed
But added, nevertheless

He goes one way
I go another
Both of us headed
In the same direction

Spartan City, old home
Relics of the past
Draw me in, but,
No direction is found here

Returning to the shops
Returning to another old home
I become lost
from him

Flatland
A river
Life stripped and 
simple

Yearning connection
Friends smile, beckon
Love
Awaits

We join in brief fulfillment
But left alone
He dies,
I'm lost.

Unexpected landing place
I look out and
return
to my heart.

It's the little things

It's the Little Things

Many thanks to my bestie of 40 years. You know who you are. The French press is still pressing out  great coffee after all these years since you gave it to me.  Today's choice is a favorite, Starbucks Columbian.  Texting this morning with far away bestie reminded me that an easy way to reach across the miles is to make a pot of brew and image her here, enjoying it with me.

Fruits of Friendship

Morning visit to a friend's reaped an unexpected bounty.

Canned chili beans, garbonzo beans, and black beans will set up future meals paying hommage to TexMex, Middle Eastern, and Southern.  Good meals lay ahead.

A bounty of oranges juiced to produce 2 qts of liquid sunshine.

All together in a paper woven basket and I have a sweet vignette to usher in the Spring.

Haiku My Heart - Friendship

The need for friendship is universal.  We all need to know that we are in communion with another, that we are not isolated.  Some find that communion in an intense relationship with God and in His service.  Others find it in the value of friendships that are more human than sublime.  And others, still, find it in the love of God and how that love opens us to human friendship. 

This week, after a few weeks of feeling isolated, disconnected with God, and deeply sad and overwhelmed by the world around me, I re-surfaced.  First I grabbed onto (finally) God's hand, which is always there waiting for me.  Then God gave me a little shake and I reconnected with three women who are always present in my life, if not present in my day to day life.  

I grew up with the desire for day to day friendship.  Very likely, that was because day to day friendship that continues down through the years, was absent from my life.  Moving around a lot was the big contributing factor.  My life finally settled in my teen years and it is a truism that settling at 13/14 years of age into a circle of friends keeps you an outsider at best.  

Unless you have something that makes you uniquely outstanding, something that makes everyone want you in THEIR circle of friends, even though you are new to the crowd, you will always be on the outside.  The distance depends on the individual and my outsideness (how's that for a word?) was far enough out that the circle of friends didn't last once high school was over and we were thrown into the world.

Fifty years have passed since that final moment of childhood structure and I've learned a few things along the way.  One of the best things is that friends made later in life are likely to be deeper and more meaningful.  They ornament and enhance what you have made of your life.  I have several ornaments - Toni, Kate, Elaine, Bev, Brenda, Marie, Michele, Athens, Yolanda, Barbara, and Biene instantly come to mind.  Then there are the so many others that I've met through blogging and Facebook and parish work.  As I think about all these people, I realise that I am truly rich in friendship and if I tried to list all of them, I would surely miss someone so, I'll stop where I'm at.

Three of my ornaments are above - Athens, Brenda (bottom left) and Sr. Agnes.  They each sparkle and add zest to my life.  They each have something that is uniquely compelling and attractive and I'm grateful that they are in my life.

Athens

Spartan woman. Strong.

Warrior and survivor

Tiger lily bloom

Brenda

Patient endurance

Adventuring traveler 

Graceful Queen Anne's Lace

Sr. Agnes

Christian safe haven 

Love exhausted and refilled

Flower of Baghdad

Design Of His Day

Back still straight, she breathes easy as she thinks of the two hours left in her day. Amongst the women serving this night, she is the youngest. The tables are filled with old timers. She knows what they need before they ask.

"Coffee with cream, right?" she asks, smiling.

"Right," the grizzled man answers. Privately he thinks how nice it is that such a pretty young thing remembers that simple recipe, just for him. And then he thinks of the wife he misses; she's been gone for awhile. He knows she waits for him on the other side.

That cup of coffee with cream keeps him soothed and warm as he loses himself in the memories of his young past.

Now it is his old friend who waits for him patiently in the truck.

Time to go. The sun is setting. He's one day closer to reunion.

When Two Friends Became Three - Part II

The Mystery Castle took up the rest of my afternoon with Anna and Gemma. The extraordinary and unique home was the gift of a father to a beloved daughter. It wasn't complete when she inherited it and it became her life's work to complete what he had started. Mary Lou Gulley married but had no children. I like to believe that if she HAD had children, they too would have viewed it as incomplete as well. As it is, this freehand marvel of engineering and construction is now preserved for all to see.

It's hard to describe how unusual this home is so I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Suffice it to say, a unique vision has been captured, now to be shared with all.

Life-size dolls are found seated throughout the house.

Madonna images appear everywhere.
Ted DeGrazia, painted one interior and one exterior door. The blue door on the left is outside and downstairs at the back of the house. It is not part of the general tour though it IS mentioned. As far as I could tell, few people returned later to see this door. I, having actually met the man once, wasn't about to miss this golden moment. I hope it is eventually preserved or with time, it will become a ghost painting on the doors and fade away.

And so ended a day of a virtual friendship becoming solidified into a real and enduring friendship. Anna has already suggested a return visit and I'm all over the idea of pursuing an annual visit. So - Arizona, Anna, and Gemma - I am NOT finished with you; not by a longshot.

Snow!!

The beauty of retirement is that you can order your life any way you like. Travel. Stay home. Play with the grandkids and spoil them if you have g-babies in your life. Volunteer. Get political. Write letters to the editor. Read. Paint. Take classes. Become intimately acquainted with your camera (finally). And more and more and more. Last week was TRAVEL.

The thing about having children living far away is that when you go to see them, it's a vacation. You are running around and doing things. There seems very little down time for normal living. When long time friends, Barb and Jeff, invited us to drive with them to Oregon we couldn't say "no". Their son and our son live just 10-15 minutes apart in neighboring communities so it was a no-brainer -- drive together and take advantage of a long weekend. Well, a long weekend for them anyway, since they are teachers and still working. We, on the other hand, live nothing BUT a long weekend. Okay. Enough crowing, Annie. Anyway . . .

Driving to Diamond Springs to meet up with B&J held a bit of excitement. We were in the southern end of a weather front that held snow and rain from Washington down to the Central California Valley. Big front to say the least. So we are enjoying a bit of rain. No biggie and then, suddenly, we are in snow. Okay! You have to understand; the last time I drove in snow, well, I might have been 12 years old. Needless to say, I was stoked.

I got busy with my camera and my cell phone. Here's a couple of picture. Yeah, not terribly impressive to you all who really have winters BUT it was the real deal for me. And yes, for you discerning folks, that gate sign really does say "Beware of Pirates". Think lots of boys in the family and you can pretty much figure out the reason for the sign.

So - we get on the road and take our usual route to Portland up I5. We kept our fingers crossed for no chains and by golly, we got lucky. Shasta Summit was clear. The Siskiyous were clear. There was plenty of snow but the snow plows had been out in force and it was clear sailing. However, once we got north of Medford and Barbara was now driving, the snow HIT. Lucky Barbara. While the menfolk slept in the backseat, we negotiated the snow and to me, this snow did not qualify as a flurry. I know a flurry when I see one and this was SNOWING. Fun times. By the time we got to Eugene, Jeff was driving again and OF COURSE the snow had stopped.

Mt. Shasta

The Road to Eugene

The good news is that on the return trip, we met up with only a very brief, blink and you would miss it 30 second flurry. I think maybe it was really snow drifting off the trees and crossing the road. Yeah, that was it. So . . . lots more to share but dinner preparations are upon me. I'll continue this later on tonight (I hope) with more about this quickie trip to Oregon.

Giving - The Gift That Keeps on Giving

As I said in earlier posts, I just could not send the Somerset art magazines to Good Will. They were just too beautiful, too special. I was either going to keep them or find a good home for them. Since I had at least 40 of these beauties, it was no small task. But recently I posted a notice on a yahoo art group I've moderated for several years and it turned out to be a truly inspired idea. Please meet . . .

Lotus Vele of Whimsical Lotus

I've known Lotus casually for years as part of the art group and have always been a great admirer of her superb art dolls. That is saying a lot because art dolls usually creep me out, but not Lotus'. She is also a woman without a lot of disposable income so she doesn't indulge herself in magazine, especially Somersets. Neither do I, for that matter, but that never stopped me. I needed those little indulgences when I was working. They sure helped me through the last five years of work. So - you can imagine how happy I was when Lotus surfaced and expressed interest.

The beauty of opportunities like this is that the gift of giving is a two way street. Not only does the recipient receive a wish come true, but the giver is given the gift of sharing what they have with someone else. Considering how surprised she was at the number of magazines that arrived at her doorstep today (35-40), it was pretty clear that she wasn't expecting Christmas in Janaury. And it sure did feel like Christmas for both of us.

I thought this would also be the perfect opportunity to do a little bragging about Lotus' fabulous dolls so without any delay . . . The Vele Art Dolls.

Every girl needs a good foundation

Lotus finds all of her clothing materials at thrift shops and she has a terrific eye for luscious fabrics, recycling garments into wonderfully whimsical and fanciful clothes. Oh, and by the way, Lotus, I LOVE the crocheted cowl you are wearing. I just know you made it! Can you send me the pattern????

Blogging's greatest gift . . .

. . . is without a doubt, the friendships that I have formed. Jone and I met last summer for our first face to face and it was instant comfort and understanding. Coffee at Starbucks this week and a reminder from her that I wanted to read Elie Wiesel's book, "Night", cemented the friendship. B&N was right there waiting for me to find Night and in fact, I came away with the Night Trilogy. If you never read another book, you must read Night, but more about that later in an upcoming review.

More recently, I've met Marilyn and I find that my connections in the general area of my future home, have doubled. Marilyn exudes a welcoming warmth and radiates an inner peace that I find so soothing. Be sure to also explore her tea and jam products at Marmalady's. I'm here to tell you that they are delish.