Two Overs

I was running in the forest near my house when I came upon a woman who looked as if she knew where she was going.  We ran by each other twice, and she didn't seem like the predator-type.  She didn't look like a murderous, pistol packing jogger so I stopped her to ask if I was on the right trail.

She was middle aged, in sporty jogging clothes and had a streak of purple in her dark hair.  She was jogging with business cards, and her skin hung from her body as if she had lost a lot of weight.  Once I stopped her, I knew my mistake.  I wished I could jog a few extra lost miles to escape the conversation that I saw coming.  My predator light started blinking.

This woman uses her jogs to sell diet pills and shakes.  She gave me her sales pitch:  look at me, I used to be so fat, now I'm sporty and running and have 7 kids, I drink these shakes and take these pills and look how good I look, I'm so pretty now, and how sporty I am now.......

I politely told her that I live a clean life.  I eat my veggies, stay active, drink water and would rather do it my way.  Then she did something amazing: she looked at me and saw me.  Up and down and said, "Well, you're not over-over weight".

My human brain stopped working and the primal-me, the one who doesn't use her frontal lobes, reeled.  OVER-OVER WEIGHT?  Really, did she say that? One 'over' would be a compliment and even the truth, but two was a lie to sell me diet pills and shakes.

This is me from top to bottom, not being over-over weight.

In my defense I was much heavier when I was younger and having babies.  Now, I'm leaner.  I work hard to be leaner and yet at the same time, I'm not comparing myself to anyone, I'm not trying too hard, and I'm not perfect (just like you).  This woman made me want to compare myself to her, to steal the joy from what could have been a friendly conversation in a beautiful forest.  She had already stollen it.

She handed me her card with her number and name, which a mile later I tucked under an old stump (don't tell the park rangers).  Before I was able to escape she told me, "Oh, I also own a salon and we specialize in curly hair."  My hair is actually awesome.  I think I'll just keep running.

Century Run

Several years ago I started running for exercises.   I started because it is a cheap way to get my heart-rate up, and if you live somewhere beautiful, like I do, it's a great way to get outdoors.  Those reasons do not make me a great runner, or even good.  I am not built like a runner:  I'm slow, I'm big, I walk up steep hills, if it's too cold I stay in, if it's too hot I stay in, if I'm injured I stay in, and what's more, I get headaches if I push myself under any of the aforementioned scenarios. (look at the stats in the photo to get an idea of my running mediocrity)  People have to really like me to go running with me.  I'm worth being with, but not as much on a run.

All those problems aside, I ran 100 miles!  I have run several times 100 miles over the last 3 years, but my phone didn't tell me.  I feel like I won an award, just looking at the number 100!  There are a few things/people I would like to thank for my milestone:

• My phone
• My shoes
• My headphones
• Teagan and Sara, Daft Punk, David Crowder Band, Bach
• My legs
• The trails, trees, birds, and sky that call me outside
• Clean and delicious water and food

I have more to say about running, and I will, but just not today.  Also, don't ask me how long it took me to run 100 miles.  The main reason is I don't know, but I do know it was a long time!!

I Would do Anything for Love

Today I found a bird while working in the yard.  It's no secret that I suffer from an irrational fear of birds.  I've blogged about it.  It was small, wounded or sick, and hopping around.  In a crazy-mom-move, I put the pets in the garage, got the bird book and the kids and we went out to figure out what kind of bird was sick in the yard.  

They were so excited to save a small life.  I was excited for them, but not to confident that the bird would recover.  I might have even been ambivalent scared.  Imagine my good fortune to live directly next door to the head of the Sierra Audubon society.  He is a bird lover, and I have told him I'm no good with birds.  I sent the kids over there for his help.  

He gave us the number for the wild-life rescue association in town, and we took the bird there only seconds after I figured out the kids were not going to let the bird's life be up to fate/nature.  This got the bird out of range of flying near me, and made them small heros.  

They made the calls, they filled out the paperwork, they captured the Black Gross Beak.  It turns out that the small juvenile bird was not sick, or injured, just tired.  He was too young to fly all the way with the adults, so he took a rest in my flower bed.  

Hopefully he will be flying the skies soon, after a nap and a sandwich.  I proved to myself that I would do anything for love, even if there are small flying creatures involved.

Also, if you are a Meatloaf fan, you might remember his hit, "I would do anything for love, but I won't do that".  It reminded me of today, except for the last bit of the title.  Warning: it has the words 'sex', 'drugs', and 'rock-and-roll'.  Be warned!

Potato Tower Update

The potatoes in the tower are budding. I would be excited, but they would do that in the cupboard. My experiment is still in the trial phase.
The greens in top (which appear yellow, not green, as they are covered with pollen) are nearly ready. They will be our 'first fruits'.

I Carry Your Heart

Fetal Attraction

This an article by Robert Krulwich about how fetal cells transfer into his or her mother.  Little bits of my babies are in my body.  It's science!  

I had a feeling this was true before I heard about the science.  Moms know this truth even before science can discover it.  When I look at my kids, I feel a part of them in me, still.

I love science.  

This article reminds me of a poem that I used to think was the perfect way to describe the love I have for my husband.  As I have loved him more and more, and loved people more and more, I have changed my mind about this poem.  For me now, it is about my children. 

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Maiden Voyage

We took our trailer to Tahoe.  I can suggest going to Tahoe at the beginning of May, or in October.  People forget that they want to flock to the lake, and it was mostly left to us.  We spent some time hiking towards the Desolation Wilderness, until the snow covered the trail.  We ate home cooked food and washed off in a hot shower.  We came home refreshed and happy!  The cold nights weren't a bother, and we learned all the workings of the Airstream.

I wasn't expecting to have other campers want a tour of the trailer, but it is cute and fun, so they wanted a look.  Good thing we are so friendly.   

Chocolate Liberty

   

Photo by P.R.Frank

This week my friend sent me this photo as he led students on a trip to NYC.  It reminded me of a story:

When I was in elementary school the Statue of Liberty was refurbished and celebrated its 100th birthday.  On the shirt-tails of the media hype, and to earn money, our school sold mini chocolate Statue of Liberties.  They were akin to Easter chocolate bunnies, but more patriotic.

I sold a few to friends and neighbors and was given them in a brown grocery bag to transport home on the school bus.  They came with a stern warning not to take them out of the bag, or box, or touch them, or look at them sideways until they were safely in their paying owner's possession.

Not five minutes into a forty minute bus ride, I had all of them out, on the green bus seat, admiring them: the shiny plastic window, the blue box, and mostly, the amount of chocolate in my private possession.  

Not 6 minutes into the forty minute bus ride, the engine of my big yellow school bus caught on fire.  The driver pulled over in a cloud of smoke, and the big kids in the back pulled open the emergency door.  The driver told all of us to leave the bus as quickly and orderly as possible and to leave all our things on the bus. 

I felt my eight year old heart pounding in my ears.   It was pounding with fear, yes, but mostly with guilt.  There was the empty brown bag, all the chocolate in a heap on the seat, and most of the bus length between me and the emergency exit.  Did I leave the chocolate on the seat and expose my rebellion?  Did burn up in an exploding school bus?  These were the questions my adrenaline was pushing through my mind.

I scrambled to stuff the chocolate back into the bag and exit through the back, just as the driver doused the fire with an extinguisher.  Mrs. Fitzpatrick would never know.  I sacrificed my safety for chocolate.

I stood in a line with the other students, our backs to the trashy miner's cabins that would soon be torn down, and waited for the rescue bus.

Still to this day, when I see that green statue, my stomach does a flip from the memory of the fire and the guilt.

Adventure Choir

I'm nearly certain that this child is one-in-a-million.  She might be the only child on record to break her toe while at choir.  Last night we had to get her early because she hurt herself.  This morning it is bruised, swollen and clearly broken.  She broke it while on a break, on the slide.

I have been told to roll her in bubble wrap, and I just might need to, if it is my job to keep her alive until she is an adult.

Bye-Bye Birdie

I visit folks in the hospital as a volunteer.  I'm not just visiting to visit, I have a purpose.  Being sick, injured, dying, or recovering isn't just for the body and mind.  We are three parts, and my goal is to care for patient's spirit.

Several weeks ago, when the weather couldn't decide if it was winter or spring, I met a patient who had cut off several fingers with a snow blower. OUCH!!

I try to visit people who have lost a body part.  Losing a physical part of our body affects our spirit.  I figured there would be something to talk about.

My first thought was to ask him if he was a musician (my bad, as it is my perspective as a musician).  He was silly/lying and said yes, and feigned a tear.  The question was legitimate because I wanted to sum up how much the loss 2 fingers was for this man.

He was in his late 60's, and looked like a fun, clean cut, outdoorsy, grandpa-type.  He raised up his bandaged, stubby hand, and told me that cutting off his middle finger was payback for giving so many people 'the finger' during his life.  He said it with the same light heartedness as before, but in the end it was the spiritual part of the conversation.

Everyday is Earth Day

John Muir was born on this day in 1838. I like Earth Day as much as any day. On this, the 22nd of April, 2012, I have sprouting greens in my garden. So, today I'm celebrating especially because I had to be so patient to get here. See my other blog, real estate vs. real life.

Awesome Blossom

I'm not in favor of the word 'awesome' because it is as descriptive as the word 'stuff'. And yet, this tree did render me awestruck. There really aren't words.

We sat under this cherry and basked in the pink light. I took some photos, but it leaves out the other senses. The images aren't worth 1000 words, and neither was actually being there.

We ate lunch on the patio under this tree, and though the food was good, it wasn't as satisfying as the view.

Love Armadillo

Last week after a lunch out with my husband, he bought me a hat.  I loved this hat before it was mine, in a "stuff-kind-of-love" way.  We walked on the sunny side of the street to keep warm after our meal.  We went into the hat shop, just to try on hats.  I like hats because they suit me.  

My husband loves me because I suit him.  He saw me hovering over this hat, and before we left, told me he was going to buy it.  It was "stupid" expensive.  It was in a tourist shop, so I knew I could get it somewhere else for a reasonable price, so I said no.  He said yes.  I said no.  He said yes.  I said, 'Okay'.

My husband made me feel worth full price and beautiful.  It made me feel like we were newly in love, like back in the early 90's (remember those?).  

I put the hat on, and wore it the rest of the day/week/month.  In the car on the way home from school, full of love in my heart, feeling as beautiful and cared for as a girl can feel just from getting a hat, my kids commented on my new fashion.

My son said I look good in hats.  My daughter said I looked like I had an armadillo on my head.  

http://stevecreek.com/

I didn't know how to feel about her statement.  It seemed true, but I didn't roll up into a little ball with my hard shell to the world.  

Later, wearing the hat, my friend, without provocation or talking to my daughter, told me I looked like I had the cutest armadillo on my head he had ever seen.  

It must be true, it looks like an armadillo.  When I look at it, I see I am worth loving for years, even decades.  

Potato Tower of Terror

Okay, there was nothing terrorizing about my tower of potatoes. It might be terrible if it doesn't work, but supposedly, pounds of potatoes are supposed to grow out of my straw tower.
I've got my soil all ready for planting in the beds.
My uncle told me he was working on his garden today too, so it must be in my genes.
It feels like it!

The Long, Long, Trailer

My new plan is to take photos that are horizontal!
 

I have wanted a trailer since I was small and sat on the floor in front of the television and watched Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, haul a long long trailer on a vacation.

This is our Airstream.  I really wanted something old and nice, instead of new and cheap.  We looked around, and as if by design, I saw this on the way to work.  It then snowed for a few weeks, and the trailer was still for sale.  So we bought it.

It is our plan to haul this to Yellowstone at the end of the summer and a few shorter trips before then.  Now I am scouting out dishes, pots, pans, sheets and towels so we can be ready for our maiden voyage.      I'm read for an adventure!!

Hopefully our only misadventure will be singing in the front seat a bit too loudly (the best laid plans of mice and men....)

Batman Jesus: A Review

I have been watching a television show called Person Of Interest.  As the title of this post implies, I like it because Jesus is portraying Batman.  Really clever!  Okay, it is Jim Caviezel in the lead, and some actors from Lost, since it is made by JJ Abrams. Oh!  Now that I look, the maker of those sweet Batman movies, and one of my favorites, Memento.  As I write this I am understanding why I like it so much.  Check out the IMDB.

Basically the Jesus character saved folks using compassion and technology.  I like that.  I also like how, unlike Lost, or Memento, you can follow the plot easily.  I like to think hard sometimes, but lately, not so much.  I know I like it, because the time seems to slip by more quickly than usual.

What I don't like about it?

The title is the most boring title I can think of.  It is hard to remember because it is so boring.  I could think of equally bad titles for the show: People Who Are,  Interesting Show, or Show About People.  I realize highly popular shows have had terribly bland names, such as Friends or E.R.  It doesn't ruin it for me.

The final thing I don't like about it, is that if you don't have a television, and only a computer, you have to do something that Jesus wouldn't do, but Batman would/could.  We have to watch it via a circuitous route, which isn't so ethical, it might even be cheating (see my previous post).  Because it isn't streaming via CBS or Hulu, I think that it will only last this season.  

Making a House, a Home

There have been times that I felt like I was missing something.  Like an ache I can't pinpoint.   A void.  Moving so much in the past few years made it clear what that illusive hole was.  Now that we have a house we can mess with again, I/we put in raised beds.  The ache is gone. Just in one weekend.

I need to grow stuff.  I know it's a hobby that is not glamorous, like fast cars, skiing, sunbathing, shopping, traveling, or biking.  It is slow, and dirty.  It is the incarnation of the word 'humble' (okay maybe 'incarnation' is a bit transcendental and hyperbolic, but the word displays the unseen call my spirit has to gardening).  It fills the hole in me with soil, and leaves, and vines, and hope.

This is the modest beginning of what could be several years of tomatoes, cucumbers, berries, and satisfied tummies.  If not, I can grow something somewhere else, but this summer, we will have a bit of hope growing in the front yard, for the deer to munch on.

P.S.  These photos might lead you to believe that I had little to do with the project, but I was there, thankful that I had a crew that wanted to be a part of something that is mine!

Slime

My mother-in-law gave this to me as a gift.

I was confused why such a soft pink t-shirt would have the word "slime" across the front. I smiled with thanks and confusion. Maybe it was a humorous gift? I was thinking more people would be laughing. So as not to be awkward (or more awkward) I kept my mouth shut.

When things don't seem to make sense, I need to solve the puzzle. Looking at the shirt more it hit me: SMILE! Not slime. Which is exactly what I did, I slimed, I mean, smiled.

I took this photo in the mirror hoping you could sympathize with my perspective. Looking at it now I realize that the color of the shirt makes me all one, very pale hue! Even still, I'll obey it's command!

Smile!

Confession: I Cheated!

I love Scrabble.  I don't love it because I am good at it, I love it because I love words.  There is just the right combination of letters to fit on the board, I just have to unlock it.  When I find the perfect word, it is satisfying.
   
I can play Scrabble with people I know, strangers, or my phone, on my phone.  There is another game much like Scrabble but bonuses are in different spaces, so it is NOT Scrabble (for legal reasons, I'm sure).  I tried this popular game.  It is fun, just like Scrabble because it is Scrabble.
   
My friend told me that you can download an application for your phone that will enable to you CHEAT, at Words With Friends.  Huh?  I didn't believe it, and I just kept playing.  Curiosity got the best of me though, and I did look to see if there was a cheat application.  Guess what?  There is!  You run the word game and the cheat and it reads the board and tells you the best word to play, and where.
   
As soon as I saw this, I took the silly game off my phone.  I want to play, but not if I know anyone can "not play" by cheating.
   
Up until this point, this has been laying groundwork for my defense.  It turns out that for most of my schooling: jr. high, high school and especially at the university, I have been a huge cheater.   I say, "it turns out", because I didn't know I was doing it.  For the most part, I am against cheating.

This was my study plan:  Listent to the teacher, pretend to/actually write stuff down that they say, skim the text book for the jargon the professor said was going to be on the test and write that stuff down.  I would then make up an acronym/codes of all the concepts.  For example, capitol cities of South America: Brasilia, Buena Ares, Bogota, Quito, Lima, Santiago.  BR, BA, BO, QI, LI, SA.
   
You can kind of sing that, and it is easier to remember that the whole thing.  Here is where it get's sketchy, literally.  I would then write the code on my hand.  During the test I didn't usually need to look at it, but I could if I needed to.
   
My fourth and final year at Norther Arizona University, my husband asked what I was writing on my hand, and I told him just what I told you.  He looked puzzled, then laughed, and told me that I was cheating.   It had never occurred to me in 16 years of schooling, that I was cheating.  I had done all the work to remember?  Right?  Was this why the university was so easy for me?  Maybe.  I graduated with straight "A's".

This is me cheating.
The sign in the dressing room said,
"No Photography".
I took it anyway.  What a crazy retro dress!!

I didn't know I was cheating, yet it still counts as cheating.  I can't stand people taking shortcuts to win, but I am just a big cheater too.  Which is why I was so frustrated with Words With Friends.  Friends don't let friends cheat.  It took a friend (with benefits) to point that out to me.  Thanks Silas.

P.S. I do occasionally use a dictionary for Scrabble, if I'm stuck.

Random Coast Photos

On a clear day.
How did the stone get that way?

If there is a fire, the pug makes herself comfy!

I did finish all of these, but it took 2 hours!

Brain, Brawn & Beach

We spent last weekend on the coast and it was fantastic.  The weather was cool and sunny, and the company was exceptional.  Our friends are nearly as nerdy as we are, adventurous, and full of energy.  Because of this,  it was not alright that there wasn't a dry way across a small river to the big beach.  We used levers, muscles and a civil engineer to turn a fallen tree, into a bridge.

We were quite proud of our work.  We watched visitors come to the beach and casually walk across our bridge.  The kids excitedly told the first few folks of our creation, but I think they felt snubbed when they weren't met with as much as enthusiasm as we had.

The day finished off with a walk, a sea food meal, a game of hearts (which was good for the competitive types, not me, so much, but I'll play) and a lot of laughter.  One of the best days of the year!

simple machines

muscles and a calculator watch

next, a pyramid