You're in the Right Place

Yes, the colors have changed but you are in the right place. How valid is that statement in life itself? Do the colors you see or feel truly represent you being in the right place? Are you blue? Do you see red? Can you be green with envy? Is it a black day? Have you whitewashed your sensitivities? Is your brain having a brown-out?
Why do we assign colors to emotions, I wonder. And, what are the colors of positive feelings? Being "in the pink"? Feeling "peachy"? Seeing the "silver lining"? Living your the "golden years"? Huh. I'm not sure. This all just popped into my mind. Ergo-indigo, I write.

Regardless, it is another glorious day, bursting with bird songs at this time. Could there be anything more peaceful than being surrounded by different birds raising their voices in song and with cricket accompaniment to boost? The sun peeks in through thickly summer-leafed trees, creating dancing wall shadows to entertain and tease the pets. I am in the right place. I love it.

It is good to be grateful no matter what color and place we are in. Each day offers, and if we accept the offer, it provides just what we need. Don't OVER-look today!

Glady's Visit on June 23, 2008

First some grooming...

and then it is time to play!

Just Another Day WITHOUT EMAIL AGAIN

Email does is not my life. I do not obsess about it. But when it isn't available and is being paid for and I would find it a useful communications tool, well then, I would like it to be ON. Hughes, bless their hearts, is now on the second attempt in upgrading their email. Something must have gone wrong,as it did last time. Hopefully they will restore the old way ASAP. Like I said, bless their hearts.

Hightlights? See for yourself.
The new hot water heater is being installed as I write.
Ed has gone to Grafton to sand bag. Must be something he did when he was in sales and he misses it. I never could get the hang of it. Oh, different sand bags...
I have a typical day planned: clean, racquetball, visit, errands.
Rain is on the way. Those folks living near the Mighty Mississippi are getting a workout.

There is, once again, too much stuff in this house. How does that happen? I'm loading it up and it goes out the door - one time. I thought we had it bad with parental households to empty but a friend indicated she had to go through something like 7-9 households, sort, pitch, give away, place in another family member's house, keep. In some cases all I want is to know someone will use the stuff for something other than landfill.

Of course, there is one thing I'm looking for; I had it on my trip, brought it home and washed it. Now it cannot be found. My Tilly hat. Fortunately I know the rule: Stop looking for it and it will show up. uh-huh.

Life is like that though. Stop looking for it and it will show up, whatever it is, just as it should, according to The Plan.

Just Another Day

A new commitment - get rid of dated paper. The first stop was the desk and the dreaded task of sort, toss, file. How I hate that. The biggest pile is the 30+ years of poems I have written and the problem is that there are multiple copies of some and they are not in any order these days. Once they were. So I'm deciding - chuck 'em all and forget about them or load them onto the PC and save them to a CD then burn the paper. I'm REALLY leaning towards the first choice; who's going to want these when it is time to clean this house out? Not me! Let me lighten the load now!

Maybe I'll have a little celebration. Why not? It's momentous to clear the clutter, especially when what is being disposed of could be very telling. Lots of history resides between the lines if not right on them! I feel better about getting rid of them already. Be right back.

DONE. Voila'. No regrets. Clean slate.

What's next? Maybe the hot water heater manual. The hot water heater itself has bellied up and is being replaced Wednesday.

That's my Sis!

Bob's proud of his sister Bella. Bella received a Puppy Group 2 on May 23,2008 and she went Best In Sweeps at the Southern California Beagle Specialty May 30, 2008.

That's my Daddy!

Bob is proud of his daddy, Herbie (Talbot Hill's Thyme After Time) who took BOB on Sunday and placed 3rd in Groups. Herbie is currently ranked #1 in Breed Standings, #2 in All-Breed Standings.

(Road) Tripping, part two

Looking back on the climb to the summit.
Did I mention it was a 4700 foot climb UP? Thankfully I reached for my water bottle and had my hiking boots on before I headed onto the trail. There were people of all sorts - single, pairs, families, all ages, all huffing and puffing and encouraging each other! NOT MUCH FARTHER! Ha!


I only got three or four steps down, not even off the slanted rock, when this little guy caught my attention. He'd acquired a "cheese puff" from someone's lunch and was almost done establishing a personal preference for fat filled, useless, carbohydrated, human treats. He was perched amidst glorious rhododendrons and myrtle.


It certainly takes away a person's breath, figuratively and literally.



Back on the road again and the next real stop was New Bern where I walked around and found the used book store and the pet and pet owner shop (no live animals for sale - just stuff). But the photo I took and the scent I'll remember is this magnificent magnolia. What a find it was - there were very few still in bloom!

Then, it was on to Shackleford Island!




These two shots show, shall I say,accommodations? First is my "island
residence" and then the dining area. Every food item is bagged and stored
because there are raccoons on the island. We must have done a good
job of storing things as we never saw any.

The horses are amazingly adjusted to humans being on the island and actually traipsed through the camp soon after we arrived. As we learned our way around they would walk nearby and graze without too much concern. We knew what actions and expressions to look for and if we needed to step back we did.



The little guy on the right is a Ghost Crab, very active until he knows you've spotted him. Other crabs included the horseshoe crab, a little fiddle crab, and some tourists.




There were trees. Some. But we weren't able to get under them for shade as that is horse territory. Obviously not all of them knew that or they'd have been down to what was called Mullett Pond.



To say it was hot is like saying ice cream is just OK. There was a breeze, thankfully.



And, the view. And, the ocean. And, the horses.