Mea Culpa. (Translation: Doh!)

See, this is what I'm talking about. Have you ever had one of those months where not only your sleep, but your short term memory starts to go? When you go on overload and start tilting like a spinning-- well, you know.

First it's little things. Like: "Now, where did I put that open bottle of wine we started last night? Oh, on the washing machine next to the Shout, tucked beside the Bounce dryer sheets.Yeah. That makes sense."

Or: Your keys show up on top of the cat box. Why?

Or you call someone at work you've already called three times to check on the same freakin' detail. Just because you really cannot recall if you've done it.

Or, even more embarrassing, someone you absolutely adore leaves you an award on her blog and (okay, maybe you have been a little out of touch) but THEN she leaves a sweet follow up comment on your blog and mentions it. And YOU SEE IT, and for a moment your brain computes it, but in the next instant, you think: "Award...award...Now where was that bottle of wine again? And why won't that damn phone stop ringing??"

And then suddenly, in the middle of the night, or in the middle of a letter to an important client about a deposition date, you suddenly think, "Award. From Debra. On March what??"

Debra at She Who Seeks, one of the funniest bloggers out there, who is also one of the sweetest and, for the record, is quite well informed on everything Goddess, Arthurian and England-ian (is that a word? Uh, No.) is the lovely person in the above referenced brain fade, for it was She Who Seeks, who kindly left me an award for Beautiful Blogger on March-freaking-9th. (What's the date today? I rest my case.)

And I'm here to humbly say "Thank you, Debra!" and please forgive me.

I will address all that this award entails (Seven things about myself, etc...) as soon as possible. In the meantime, please go visit Debra and say "Hi!" for me.

In The Moment

In case anyone wondered if I had fallen into some old well that was hidden in my path and was patiently awaiting rescue, without my computer, or means of communicating with you to explain why I haven't posted in weeks....

Well,  there was no well involved. At all.

I was, in fact, sick for the better part of  a month, with whatever horrid thing is going around, with only enough energy to drag myself to work, then fall into a puddle of fatigue at night. And frankly, facing my keyboard after a long day at work to post a blog here just wasn't happening. 

So, anyway, after a long gap, (I'm sorry!) I'm here to say "I survived!"

[I'm being dramatic. But that's just how I roll.]

But, no. Seriously. Yuk.

Have you had this mysterious kick-in-the-*ss this year? Was it H1N1? Was it the flu? Was it just some virus with ulterior motives?

Anyway, moving on.
I thought I should show you something that made me smile this month.


There was this.

This little boy always makes me smile.  He's looking out the window at the doggies, who fascinate him.  Oh, the concentration!

Then, there was this belly laugh...

Oh, dear...
And will someone please explain to me why those little creases in their arms are so delicious?

Some things just defy explanation.

Like this picture.

Hmmm.

Give up? Okay, it's my cat, Maisy,  rolling in the hammock of our shade-cloth covered patio. She likes to run up there and show off when we're in the back yard with her. She's very excited to have company and likes for us to poke her and play with her through the cloth. She's a cutie.

Here's Maisy with a paw outstretched in invitation.

Wouldn't it be nice if all you had to worry about was a good play date on the patio cover?  What I love about pets is that they're just that simple. Like babies. In the moment.

That seems to be a concept that eludes me. But, as I roll through this thunderstorm of change in my life, I am working hard to keep it in mind.

Just put out a paw. And play a little.

Be kind to yourself,
xoxoxo  Barbara

Rain

It's raining again.

Here in Southern California, we need the rain badly so there's no complaining about it, unless you live in La Canada, where the hillsides are sliding down because of the terrible fires we had here this year.  The rain washes the ash down from the hillsides and clogs up the streets below.

But here in the flatlands, clear rainwater feeds my thirsty trees and puddles in my uneven driveway, 

reflecting my giant Jacarunda tree on its glassy surface.

And then?  Just when you think it's never going to stop?  This:

I know...  Seriously.
Have a great weekend!

Dear Renee

If you can, please ignore the storesfronts and the streetlamps and the pedantic clumbsiness of this photograph.

Instead, if you will, notice the beam of sunlight streaking between those two banks of clouds, like a pillar of energy. As if God had taken a magnifying glass and aimed it between the edges of two worlds. Guiding something powerful upward, toward Him.

This is for you, Sweet Renee. May God's guiding hand find you and give you peace. I will miss you.

xoxoxo Barbara

What else is out there?

What is it?
1) Microscopic salt crystals.
2) A  Hollywood sound stage in a futuristic saga?
3) A Fly's POV of a landing strip atop a grey-haired man.
4) None of the above.

If you answered 4, you're right.  I found this online today and  was awestruck. This cave in Mexico is deep and very hot (near magma) and was filled with boiling hot water before miners discovered there was lead and silver to be mined. So they pumped out the water and look what they found!

Naica Crystals!  Weighing hundreds of tons!  Apparently this stuff is gypsum, the same stuff they use in drywall. But this has been 'cooking' for millions of years into this amazing display of crystal.  A real crystal cave!

A filmmaker decided this was too good to miss, so he went down and filmed the exploration of this chamber. (coming soon to a PBS station near you.) They had to wear cooling suits just to be in that room, which averaged 120* F. So there was a limited exposure allowed.

Isn't that crazy beautiful?

Sadly, whenever they finish mining that silver, they'll stop pumping out the water. It'll fill up again and disappear.

But you have to wonder: If something this beautiful exists deep in the earth, what  other hidden wonders have we not yet discovered?  What have we blundered over or destroyed without even noticing?

How delicate it all is.

Were you watching?

1.Did you watch the Superbowl?
2. Were you rooting for New Orleans? (I love an underdog!)
Or, 3. Are you female and you only watched it because it was on every television in the house?

Okay, that doesn't really matter, because I know a lot of women who love football. I don't happen to be one of them, but I can be wrangled into watching playoffs in most sports, namely, the BIG KAHUNA OF FOOTBALL, unless it conflicts with "Big Love" or some book I'm enthralled with.

Last night, I had no such conflicts (luckily "Big Love" was on later where I live. (Do you watch that show? Do you love it? I can't stop watching it!)

Still, I thought, at least the commercials would be entertaining. I used to do commercials. Did I tell you that? Okay, it was a long time ago. But I tend to watch commercials with a slightly jaded discerning eye.

So which ones did you like?

I know a lot of people liked the Jay Leno, David Letterman one, but my favorite?
The GOOGLE ad about the guy moving to France for a semester abroad. Click, click, click.  Ends up looking up how to build a crib?
Genius.
Even though, as a traitor to my fellow actors, since no actors were involved...I loved it because it let me use my imagination. And that made it so much better than the ones that tried so hard to grab my attention by being idiotic.

Which ones were your favorites? C'mon. I know you were watching.

If not, what did you think about BIG LOVE???

Perfect

It's January (okay, almost February.) But still. This is what's sprouted in my garden in the last week.

I know in many parts of the world, it's snowing.  Miserable. Cold. Icy.

And I show you this, not to rub in our moderate weather in California (because we've had our share of ugly stuff this winter) but, rather, to share this little piece of sunshine with you.

These little babies sprouted with full confidence that they were doing what they were meant to do, when they were meant to do it.  And even if it wasn't perfect timing,  their effort was going to be their best.

Nighttime frigid plunges? 
Bah!
Flooding rain predicted?
Who cares? I'm here, World! Look at me!

Likewise, my camelia has joined in on this optimistic impulse.

Season after season, it waits until the dead of winter to share a little beauty with my fallow garden, dressing itself up with jewels like this one.

They're sturdier than they look. And they don't whine about the weather. Or the nighttime dips.

They welcome them as part of their journey, apparently. Expect them, even.

They simply bob their heads in the breeze and impart a little sunshine as we human's pass.

Yes, I suppose if they'd waited until April or May, they would surely have found a more welcoming climate, less adversity. 

 But the truth is, the timing of this bloom is perfect.

Absolutely perfect.