Closed for repairs

LLPOF is closed temporarily for minor repairs. She'll be back as soon as she finds the hinge that holds all of this together.

Hitting the road

In search of self. Back soon.

Squatters

This little family seems to live quite happily above the entrance to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with endless throngs of people just below. (click on image.)

Little Boy and the Sea

Monterey Bay Aquarium with our visiting Toronto family.

Bermuda Triangle

Amado, Annie Bones and Tickle Me Elmo get acquainted.

At one

I came across this rock in the crook of a tree today.

Long plane hops

First the peanuts, now the movies. What's next, the pilot?

Cleaning for company

Today I'm tackling the shower.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow

I had a thought but those thought bubbles got away empty.

Witches in the night

The Wizard of Oz was the very first movie I ever saw. I was 5 years old and so terrified I kept my eyes closed through most of it. Even so, this witch haunted my nights for years. She personified every single thing that caused me pain and fear. I still have trouble looking her in the eye.

Happy Birthday, Annie Bones

Irene and Annie jog toward the boardwalk.
Psycho dog and seaweed. Annie eating bacon and eggs from Aldo's. A birthday breakfast fit for a cockapoo. Okay, Annie, now you're three. Time to put away childish things...

Down and out

The first time I went to Las Vegas my friend said, "Don't bring any more than you can afford to lose." I brought $20.00 (it was a few years ago).
I was excited as we rolled onto the strip. We parked in an alley next to a man sitting on the curb with his head in his hands.
"Boy, what's wrong with him?" I asked, giddy with the adventure of it all.
"He probably lost it all," my friend said. I looked at the man with pity.
Twenty minutes later I knew exactly how he felt.

Rte 66

No, this is not a hostage situation. It's me and my brother and sister developing our love of the open road.

Scurvy Jack

This morning a cat wandered into our house. He immediately made himself at home much to the consternation of Annie Bones. His name was Scurvy Jack according to his tag. I called his phone number, left a message and waited to hear back. An hour later a very irritated man called back.
"You live where?" he demanded.
"That's clear across town," he sputtered when I gave him my address.
"And don't feed him!" he added. "Ill try to come get him."
He did come to pick up Scurvy Jack a couple of hours later and he did say thanks, but jeese....

Happy Independence Day

Make it festive.

Full speed ahead!

We were sitting in Mac's kitchen, (our 85 year old neighbor) talking about how screwed up our country is right now. We were talking about how long it's going to take to get things straightened out. Mac mentioned we might not have enough life left to see a turn-around.
Me: "What are we going to do?"

Irene: "What can we do?"

Mac: "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!"

You go, Mac.

RIP Bozo

Now what are we going to do?

Culinary Q & A

It's my turn to take snacks to my writing group. Irene is helping me. We decide on deviled eggs. We're not very culinary around here. The egg peeling becomes a disaster and we have to scrap the plan for sliced cheese.

We can't let it go though. This morning we're researching egg peeling tips. The advice is: "Use eggs 5 to 10 days old. Older eggs suffer a PH change in the shell making them harder to peel."

Irene thinks this means use older eggs. I interpret it as eggs no more than 10 days old. It's a stalemate. We should be a cartoon strip in the funny papers.

Where the children go

I tend to avoid movie theatres where children go. Yesterday though we went to a kid's movie (WALL E) at 11:00 in the morning and yep, there were kids. (summer vacation and all). I hunkered in with my popcorn lunch prepared for the worst.

It was kind of refreshing. Kids laughed out loud, they gasped and at the end they clapped! Very unlike the silent hoards of adults at indie theatres where we are just much too cool to show anything like pleasure or dismay or (gasp) appreciation.

Safety net

I'm considering venturing out but I'd like some guarantees.

Which way?

The thing about keeping an open mind, sometimes it's hard to choose one.

It's true

They say only the boring get bored. Well, now you know everything about me.

Too much of a good thing?

I think I'm drinking too much water.

Birthday celebration

Please come in. I've got a fresh plate of hash and I'm wearing a brand new pair of polyester pants.

The proof's in the peas

While I don't remember my little brother, Mikie actually wearing a tie at the supper table, I do remember us eating a lot of spagehetti and peas.

Mikie hated peas.

When my mother wasn't looking he'd flip the peas one by one onto the floor where they'd roll underneath the refrigerator. My mother never was the wiser.

Some years later when we were clearing my mother's house out, there they were, the peas, tiny little black dots under the refrigerator, the evidence of a long ago crime.

LLPOF turns one!

And we've been partying all night at LLPOF headquarters...

Dream come true?

When I was in the 5th grade I was tortured and bullied by a very sophisticated 10 year old smoker with perky red hair named Judy Hill. I dreamed every night that she met a terrible end. That she was old and ugly and sick. It probably all came true.

Too much to ask?

A few chickens and a yard. Do I want too much?

Karma

Will Sampson who played the physically imposing, mostly silent Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest came into the Thunderbird Bar where we all hung out in the Mojave. Someone said he owned a piece of property in the area.
He'd sit alone at a table by the wall and drink Joyce's watered down drafts. He had hands the size of baseball mitts and he was as silent and imposing as he was in the film. Everyone said he was crazy and we were all afraid of him.
One night I bought him a beer. Everyone watched to see how he would react. He flicked an eye in my direction as way of thanks, (at least that's what I thought he was saying.) He drank the beer down in one simple swallow, left the bar and we never saw him again.
I liked to think it was good for my karma.

Experienced ghost writer wanted...

...apply within.

Threadbare but there

Sometimes joy goes undercover.

The lighthouse

A walk at the harbor early today.

More heart

Someone, in the night, has created a beautiful mosaic on one of the "cement jacks" near the lighthouse. I wonder if the harbor master will have enough heart to let it be. (click on image.)

Summer in Santa Cruz

A time when locals head inland and wait for fall.

Poetry?

Mathematics it is said, is the Poetry of the Universe. I'm a woman of remedial letters myself. I've never been able to put two and two together.

Fleeing felon

I was driving down Soquel Ave. the other day when I experienced a touch of road rage.

The back of my truck is covered with peace sentiments.

People must have thought I was driving a stolen vehicle.

Acceptance

I've been in traction but I'm coming around. The monkey, it seems, will always be queen.

Finding focus

I'll be meditating for the next few days. I'll be back just as soon as I tame this monkey mind.

Saving a crow

Irene saved a crow last night. She discovered the bird near the street, bleeding from the beak. People stopped by.

"Too far gone," they said.

"You can't save it," they said.

"Someone should put it out of its misery," they said.

Meanwhile the bird lay by the mailbox, unable to move, ants encroaching. We called the Native Animal Rescue number. We'd have to bring the bird to them. Trouble is, we were a little afraid of the bird.

Irene broke the stalemate, loaded the unresisting animal into a box and we drove it to the rescue place which is a house nearby run by a woman with donations only. She did a cursory exam and took the animal in. Irene is a woman of action. She stepped up. She did the right thing. While a hoard of passers-by counted the crow out Irene took it in.

Land of the lawless

When I moved to the Mojave in 1972 we had a ten person party line and our phone number had 4 digits. We'd all get into great battles over phone use. Some people left their phones off the hook to tie up the lines. Others hurled insults. Some just listened in to every conversation. Some times the phone system was out of commission for days, all of us just waiting for the other nine families to blink. We were a lawless bunch.

Barefoot

I didn't wear shoes regularly until I was about 27. It was the only way I knew to stay in touch with the planet.

Help!

I've been abducted by aliens.

Lagging behind

I'm looking for my game face. Back soon.

Tidy tip

Never suffer another errant lemon squirt or sailing seed. Keep things under control with this handy product.

Planning ahead

My latest bumper sticker.