Spring Break

Our neighbors and their friends, Josiah, Eric, Peter and Alex along with dog, Gus are headed south.
They've procured a 35 foot old school bus and they're headed to San Juanico, Mexico for Spring Break.
They are so excited as they load up they're practically dancing in our pre-dawn street.
Gus doesn't know it yet but he's only going as far as Watsonville.
They're off! San Juanico is 1000 miles below our border. The last 70 miles is dirt, rock, tidal flats and sheer cliffs, not recommended for autos. The guide book doesn't mention old school buses from Oregon or 20 year old university students with nothing but adventure on their minds.

All in the eye of the beholder

When I was a kid I visited back and forth between parents. My wardrobe was limited but I owned a white summer dress with a green border of zoo animals around the hem. I loved this dress and wore it on special occasions.
One day my father took me to the La Brea Tar Pits, a gooey LA landmark where trapped ice age animals became fossils. I was thrilled to be spending the day with him. Before we left I accidentally got a big smear of tar along the backbone of the giraffe.
When I got home, my mother was furious. "You've ruined your dress!" she said.
Secretly I was elated. In my mind the dress was finally made perfect.

Grab your dance partners

There's just something about the coming of Spring that makes me want to dance!

User guide

I have a new cell phone. Irene gives me the user guide.

"You should read this," she says.

A few days later,

Me: "What does it say?"

Jump start

The many faces of llpof before and just after her morning caffeine.

The smell of earth

In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt - Margaret Atwood

Wild party

This hastily put-together wild party is for our friend, Katie at http://ktzpage.blogspot.com/ She needed one.

Malaise

I started a book yesterday. Today I'm on page 2. I forget the name.

Never go to the flea without a pen

Fourteen acres of DVD's and used shorts and not a pen to be had. My words are caught in the wind and gone. And they were the best words yet. I"m sure of it.

Don't knock it

If you live in a fantasy world you really can have it all.

The power of the funnel

Funnels will protect by rendering you invisible. But you have to focus and you have to believe.

Solid alliance

I am so hungering for something gourmet.

Back to the drawing board

Ever feel like an experiment that never made its way out of clinical trials?

Taxes and Tums

Irene has been sequestered in her study feverishly working on our taxes.
She emerged this morning to finally take a break. She's out walking Annie right now.
I happened to peer in at her desk. On top of all the numbers and receipts she'd left 2 Tums.
I don't think I've fully appreciated how hard she works.

Icons, corn flakes and pig haulers

The day Humphrey Bogart died we were eating corn flakes in the dining room of a one-armed pig hauler in Guadalajara where we rented a room.
My mother pushed away from the table, went to our room and didn't come out for 3 days.
The pig hauler and his family wondered uneasily when this strange American family was going to finally leave.

What's wrong with this picture II

This morning, our cockapoo, Annie Bones woke me up at 4:45. She wanted to play. She wouldn't let up. I relented. She ran around for a moment then climbed into her bed and promptly fell asleep.
Meanwhile I'm here, awake in the dark, up for the long haul.

The forest for the trees

This morning I woke up to find a light drizzle floating around outside and everything gleaming and green and eager for spring.
Just a couple of weeks ago I was complaining about the rain.
Yesterday, I noticed a dead patio plant. It's spindly brittle arm was trying to reach the rain just beyond the patio cover. (apparently the drip system had come undone.)
The plant was surrounded by water and died of dehydration. All I had been able to see was the endless rain.
I've fallen victim to the old forest-for-the-trees-syndrome. I'm looking for a support group.

Reassuring news

The news is my life link to the rest of the world. I believe everything I'm told, so when I heard last night that record snowfall in Canada is turning neighbors into enemies I quickly contacted my Maple Leaf son, Aaron at http://almas-soulfood.blogspot.com/ to ask if this could be.
He writes back that, "No, everything is just as pleasant as usual in the neighborhoods of Toronto".
What a relief. It's nice to know we're attached to a peaceful nation. I can rest a little easier knowing that the peoples just to our north are looking benignly down on us.
How would you like us as neighbors?

Slow on the up-take

When I first started this blog I gave everyone I knew my business card with the blog address. Then every time I saw anyone I'd say, "Did you read my blog today?"
I gradually realized people were taking alternate routes past our house. People were changing the subject, humming.
Now I get it.

Night terrors

Guaranteed cure.

Who's in charge?

Let me get this straight:
California is laying off thousands of teachers.
California appellate court bans home schooling.
Don't the people "up there" talk to each other?

Starting out in the evening

I've been struggling with my "magnus opus" for a long long time. Seeing this movie today reminds me of the value of perseverance and doing what one in my situation must do. Continue on simply for the "madness of art".

Deceiving

Deep inside, I'm a far more complicated woman than llpof might indicate.

Cracking the code

And all this time I thought she had a general anxiety disorder. I had no idea her angst was so specific.

Head honcho

I've always wanted to be the big owner of a small farm.

Setting the standard

Before I went to sleep at night my father would come into my room and say,

"Sleep tight and wake up bright in the morning light and do what's right with all your might."

Here I am, still trying to live up to this rhymming high standard.
(of course he also used to say, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream", while snorting milk through his nose.)

Solving our own problems

I think we have inadvertently solved our prescription drug dilemma in this country.
According to the latest news our drinking water is filled with people's discarded drugs.
Apparently our water is a medicine cabinet of antibiotics, pain pills, tranquilizers, sex hormones, heart remedies and more.
Talk about universal health care.

The bottom line

Some people say it's the big questions that propel our world.

But really, it's not.

Daylight savings time

Whenever there is a change occurring in me or in the world, I lie awake in the night waiting for it. No matter what it is, no matter when it's coming.

Goat Woman

How DID we survive without the flea?

International Women's Day

I wonder what my mother would have thought about our current state of affairs.

Consumer heaven

After a 3 month hiatus, the Santa Cruz Flea Market is open again! And all is right with the world.

Correcting mistakes

Did you ever want to just erase it all and begin again?

Party girl

I had visitors in the night. They stayed until dawn.

The Family of Man

When I was growing up our house was filled with books. They were practically in the kitchen sink.
One of my favorites was "The Family of Man" with contributors like Carl Sandberg. I'd lie on my belly on the chocolate shag rug and thumb through the dog eared pages for hours.
This photo by Dorothea Lange was imprinted in my psyche.
This photo became my family history.

Deadline

" Will you keep it down back there? I've got a novel to write!"

Who says it's diamonds?

Sometimes being under foot is a good thing.

Now the ironing's done

Now that I've gotten those pesky t-shirts ironed I'm looking forward to a relaxing, tasty lunch for one.

Life Lesson #38872

You'll extend your chances if you just stay off of those faultlines.

Proper attire

I've always been caught up in the romance of riding the Greyhound bus. Kind of a Midnight Cowboy-syndrome-type-thing. Here I am at about 14 somewhere deep in Mexico. Why I was wearing a wool "sheath" skirt and carrying a basket though, escapes me.

School yard felons

When I was in the 3rd grade I was a "safety" responsible for monitoring the behavior of my fellow students in the schoolyard. I could give "citations" for kids breaking the "rules".
One day the lunch bell rang and 2 kids were mid-swing high up in the air. "The bell rang", I said and gave them each a "citation" when they landed.
Needless to say I wasn't very popular with my peers. (who thought this system up anyway?)

Lunch on the mall

Overheard in downtown Santa Cruz on a beautiful pre-Spring day:

Man on cell: "The day I die I'm gonna come looking for you and your a.... is dead".

National Reading Day

But...if you're too busy, let your bookcase do it for you!

Mudholes, Mrs. Baracas and baby chicks

One night a very long time ago my family and I drove to El Eijido Porvenir in Baja California. There were 4 of us kids in the backseat along with Mrs. Baracas who was wrapped in a reboso, cradling two potted cacti in her lap as she fingered her rosary. My mother and step-father had the luxury of the front seat. In the back window we had a cardboard box of 100 day old chicks we were taking to the village as a gift.
We turned off the main highway onto a 13 mile dirt road toward the village. It had rained a lot in the area and the road was littered with potholes filled with muddy water. Somewhere along the road our car fell into one of these mudholes and we were stuck. My brothers and stepfather tried everything to no avail. We settled in for the duration.
It was a long night and Mrs. Baracas snored so loudly we couldn't hear the chicks in their cardboard box. We feared they'd all died crammed together with no heat or water.
The next morning we were rescued by a village tractor and every one of the chicks survived. Mrs. Baracas though said she didn't sleep a wink and never hitched a ride with us again.

Horticulture tips

The only thing on my mind this morning is where shall I plant the maple tree. The one clinging to life in a plastic pot by our back door. All my research indicates the tree needs morning sun, afternoon shade. No wind, good drainage, nice neighbors, no loud parties.
I've fretted over the fate of our little tree, the foolishness of our original purchase, our ability to be good companions.
I've finally come up with the solution. Today I'm digging a hole in the middle of our living room floor, no wind, good drainage, nice company, morning shade. We're hoping for a long life.

Counting Flowers on the Wall...

That don't bother me at all
Playing solitaire till dawn
with a deck of fifty-one
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Now, don't tell me I've nothing to do. - Eric Heatherly

There was a time this song really resonated with me. I'm beginning to remember why.

How's my rampaging?

I was almost run off the road once by a carpet cleaning van. The van had a bumper sticker: How's My Driving? I called the number on my cell to report the lunatic driver. The person answering the phone said, "What? Who told you to call me?" They clearly had no clue about their PR sticker. In the end the person said, "Yeah, well, thanks," and hung up. I really felt safer. Uh huh.
Kind of like this latest outrage where 40,000 patients at a well known clinic in Las Vegas have been exposed to things like Hepatitis and HIV because the clinic re-used needles, etc.
The advice to the public this morning on the news is: Ask the clinic staff if they've washed their hands. Ask them if that is a clean needle. The advisor went on to say, "That way, you'll be re-assured". Uh huh...