Waiting to Arrive

Independent

My shirt reads: IndieAuthor, It's not just for musicians and filmmakers anymore. (The Waterhauler, coming soon.)

Solstice

I'm going to have such a fun summer!

I'm baaaack....

I would like to say I've spent the last two years at

the top of a mountain in a hut, deep within my spiritual core. High in the mist finding that wiseness that belongs to ancient grandmothers throughout time.

But alas I only find myself grayer, my jeans roomier, my mind a bit slower. It's true I've finally finished writing a book that will soon be published and am hard at work on another and I've built a casita in the desert and collected rusted metal from abandoned mines in the Cerbat Mountains and made art with my nearest neighbor out there.

But the serenity and wisdom I associate with the ancient women of the world still eludes me. And I still cannot make a souffle or ride my bike with no hands. I have not achieved the picture of the woman in my childhood books, the one who holds the key to happiness, longevity and the bank accounts.

I'll keep striving. Surely it's all just around the corner.

I'll keep striving. Surely it's all just around the corner.

Father's Day

This is where my sleuthness comes from.

Hiatus

I've thought long and hard about where I'm putting my energies these days. I've just finished a book that needs to be published. I've started writing another one. I've bought property out of state and Irene and I are fulfilling our dream of making a second home in the desert. My blog is now officially on hold. I appreciate all of my friends and family and random readers who have turned to this page for the last two plus years. I will send an email out just as soon as I am able to begin again. In the mean time, do what fulfills you in this short short life we've been given.

Fixer

I'm in need of a make-over.

The restless time

I often have several books going at one time. Different times of the day require different books. There's morning reading, night reading and the kind of reading where you pass by the book on your way to another room and read a paragraph or two. Yesterday, perusing my bookshelves, I culled two books, The Road to Mexico and Steinbeck's Travels With Charley. It's that time of year for me, the time when my energy is highest and only a book with motion will do.

Summer Blues

I feel them coming on.

It's gotta be the nuts

About a year ago I lost considerable weight. I've spent months trying to gain some of it back. This morning, on the scales, I noticed with alarm that I'm fatter than I've ever been. Must be my new walnut diet. Guess I'll have to switch to carrot-nibbles.

Poop-See Scoop

Our friend, Sharon Grennan (Annie Bones' sitter), invented this scoop. It is available on-line and at select pet stores. We got ours through the 'Solutions' catalog. It is quite amazing. I urge all of my cat-loving readers to order one today.

The idle poor

When you retire you can idle away your time like this too.

Two old women, two old rackets..

Inspired by the dazzle, charm and talent of Roger Federer, we've bought two flea market rackets and we're hitting the courts at 30th and Brommer.

CC with her ax

CC's grandfather played alto saxophone some 50 years ago.

Station fire

Sun setting in smoke, Mojave Desert.

Happy Birthday, Sally

Sally and I always celebrated our birthdays together, usually beginning with drumming in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Today I can clearly hear her voice and see her beneath those tall trees, smiling, always.

Rosie the riveter

A birthday present from Irene: A welder's helmet. What more does a woman need?

Event cleaner

I was talking to someone the other day and we got on the subject of house cleaning. I lamented that I wasn't very good at it, that I didn't like it and generally only really cleaned when someone was coming to visit.
"Oh!" she said. "You're an event cleaner!"
I smiled. 'Yes! That's it. An event cleaner!" I went away feeling whole and healthy. I love labels.
They're like stickers from places you've been, plastered all over your suitcase. Now I can add this one, like an accounting, just in case I'm stopped in the street.

To see a tree

I think I was one of the first people to see my grandson see a tree. He was born in the desert and there were no trees except the Joshuas rising stiff and unyielding as buildings to the brand new eye.
He came to visit me when he was a few months old. I took him outside and the two of us lay under our front yard tree. I watched him watch as the breeze moved the leaves. He followed the patterns of shadow and shade with such wonder, I knew he was giving me the gift of first sight.

Band of Brothers

My son's best friend died yesterday in a motorcycle accident. Tony Elfering, top left was part of the pack that made up this true band of brothers. They all roamed the desert, half feral, mostly sweet kids who lived lives of action and danger and swagger. Today we are stunned and saddened, wondering heavily how much sorrow any of us can absorb.