Long Hollow

Hello There

Has anyone even missed me?

For the past few days, I've been holed up in my office, focused in a way that's unusual for me, fueled with determination to finish editing photos from a shoot last month.

(I know! Shame on me for taking so long! I do have the relatively good excuse of getting my new computer, having to load software and learn how to do what I need to do, bit by bit. Still, shame on me...)

But I'm happy to report I finished the photos last night and mailed them off to my friend today. I also mailed a shoebox full of thank-you notes to friends who helped me get this dream computer that I'm staring at right now. I never, ever, ever could have gotten it without them, so the writing of those notes had also been hanging over my head, occasionally tapping me on the shoulder, and even sometimes tripping me when I walked by. 

I forgive them because I appreciate the reminders, but you can imagine how relieved I am to have them out of my house!

(Now I know my friends that they're addressed to aren't checking their mailboxes every day and tsk, tsk, tsking me on my lack of manners, or planning to de-Facebook-friend me because of it. But it's one of those things you feel inside, that you know you need to take care of and the longer you put it off the more it eats at you.)

So, whew! that's done.

During my outing to the post office, I also mailed a ring to a friend. This is a dear friend who lives a couple of hours away, who I just happened to visit this past weekend on the premise of her hosting a Silpada party for me.

This ring is the replacement to one she bought several years ago from a different Silpada representative. The stone had fallen out and I took care of the exchange for her. (Silpada has a lifetime guarantee.) 

I've been holding onto the replacement ring for a few weeks now. I mean, why mail it when I would be going to see her soon anyway, right?

It's weird...I remember the very moment this weekend when I realized I had forgotten to bring that ring. I was standing in her kitchen and it hit me hard, like a frying pan. Thank goodness Nancy was (sort of) forgiving and didn't hit me herself with a frying pan.

And hallelujah! that nagging feeling that I'd forgotten something went away...

Tom came along with me for the weekend and we had such a great time. Nancy and Paul are teachers who live out in the country, as in cows and chickens and kittens and sheep and tractors and gardens overflowing with cucumbers, squash, potatoes, peppers... overflowing enough that they loaded us up with fresh garden treasure... that now overflows bowls in my kitchen...

It had been a couple of years since our last visit to their house. Time always brings change, but this time the change was pretty obvious: an oil rig squatted in the pasture between Nancy's house and her in-laws'.

Oil is the new hot crop in those parts, especially after the drought of the past couple of years. Ranchers have had to sell cattle because they couldn't feed them. The oil boom is a huge blessing!

And that's why they forgive the rig its gawky incongruity with the surrounding countryside. In fact, Tom would really love to get one, too!

But I had looked forward to getting some more photos of Nancy's cows, and was disappointed that the rig had scared them off to some distant back forty. 

Thank goodness the Mama cat had had more kittens...

...and even though for some reason I felt too intimidated on this trip to snap any photos during Mass of their gorgeous, historic church, I did snap these afterward...

Nancy and I also went for a ride down the highway on a Kuboto RTV to meet members of their sheep herd (mostly to see the brand new babies) but I'm going to post those on my photography site, um, later. Hopefully tomorrow.

But there are still some of those items on my to-do list tapping me on my shoulder, so first and foremost, I'm going back into my shell to get them done before they start tripping me as I walk by. 

#1 on that list is "make progress on my book." 

Wish me luck!

Traipsing through Cemeteries and other Sweet!s

It might seem unusual to wander through a cemetery on your birthday, but that's what I did yesterday.

There's a small one dating from the 1850's down the highway toward Marble Falls. When I heard it was blanketed with bluebonnets, I couldn't wait to visit it. There's just something about wildflowers growing beside a headstone that I find quite beautiful.  A reminder of fragility of life, the cycle of life, of life after death.

How appropriate for a birthday, especially one that falls on Good Friday, right?

After exploring the cemetery, offering prayers for the souls of those resting there and their families, we drove on to Marble Falls, where we visited a few eclectic antique and art shops in the old part of town (Tom and Daniel are such good sports!), and enjoyed dinner at a restaurant overlooking the lake.

Best of all, later that evening I got to share the traditional birthday cheesecake with all three of my kids. 

Just icing on a week full of sweet! moments...

Sunday: fields of bluebonnets and prairie verbena; pizza from a brick oven; sitting on the back deck on a beautiful spring night with your son and talking for hours

Monday: daily chats with your mom; finding a pair of shoes in your closet you'd forgotten about; butterflies; talking about your day over dinner with your sweetie

Tuesday: four-year-olds... especially their smiles and hugs and imaginations; working with a friend; reading a new book

Wednesday: a surprise birthday lunch with friends; creme brulee; a vineyard, caliche road and tin roof glowing in moonlight

Thursday: birthday cards in the mail; a birthday call from a dear friend and your uncle; practicing the drums; a full moon welcoming your birthday

Friday: greeting another birthday morning; breakfast, courtesy of your husband and son; birthday surprises in the mailbox; birthday wishes via phone, email and Facebook; bluebonnets blanketing a cemetery; sharing cheesecake and a movie with all three kids

Saturday: a lazy Saturday at home 

I hope you had a week full of sweet! moments, too!

 

Enchanted Awesome-ness

Awe is the finest portion of humankind… In awe one feels profoundly the immense.

~ Goethe

We sat under a dark sky sprinkled with stars, catching up on each other's lives. The warm breath of the bonfire chased away the chill and the song of the creek drifted to us from the darkness.

After a few short hours, Tom rose and faded into the night, returning with a bucket of water which he poured onto the fire. It sizzled and popped and sent golden sparkles up into the sky to compete with the stars.

"Time to go to bed! We've got to get up early!" he barked.

"Yessir, Bossman!" we grumbled, grabbing chairs and bottles and trudging up the trail to the house. 

But when my alarm shocked me awake the next morning, I was grateful Bossman had ordered us to bed. Otherwise we would have stayed up half the night, mesmerized by the fire and the stars and the joy of seeing each other again.

Which means we would have gotten a late start this past Saturday and never experienced the view from the top of Enchanted Rock, a granite dome that is the center of many Native American legends, because, shortly after we made it through the gate into the state park, it closed due to the capacity limit.

 

On a beautiful spring day in the Texas Hill Country, everyone wants to go to Enchanted Rock...

 

...even though there's not much to do but climb, sit, and stare...

 

...wonder at the life growing even on top of a huge granite rock...

 

...and maybe sneak a kiss.

 

But somehow, that's enough.

 

On the way back down the Rock, however, the formations bring out the kid in you. You find yourself wanting to climb again.

The trick is getting back down...

At any rate, thank you, Bossman!

(Before reaching Enchanted Rock State Park, we introduced our friends Robert and Shari to the waves of bluebonnets on the Willow City Loop, and afterwards, enjoyed lunch in Fredericksburg at the Altdorf Biergarten Restaurant. Best Reuben sandwich I've had in a long time! I'll share those photos, as well as a few more from Enchanted Rock, on Confessions tomorrow.)

Texas and other Sweet!s

I spent this glorious spring day with Tom and dear friends Shari and Robert driving through the hill country... ooh-ing and ah-ing at fields of bluebonnets, hiking up Enchanted Rock, and eating in Fredericksburg. I'm sunburned and dog-tired, but happily so. (Pictures to follow... you can probably imagine how many I took!)

I have to give Tom credit for spotting this single Bluebonnet growing right in front of our house. For some reason, bluebonnets are rare down in the Hollow. One year we tried to plant some, but as I told a friend, the birds must have eaten the seeds and pooped them out elsewhere.

Thank you to whatever bird planted this bluebonnet standing so tall and proud, like a true Texan...

I just love it!

..."Proud Texan" leads me to this next photo that some guy named Steve Redman posted on Facebook. It's spreading like wildfire... at least among my Texan friends. I have no idea where he got it, but I love it, too.

Yes, we do think like this. But we also laugh at ourselves for thinking like this. Does that help make us a little less obnoxious?

"I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that.  It is a mystique closely approximating a religion.  And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox.  But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing.  For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America.  Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans." -John Steinbeck, 1962

"If a man’s from Texas, he’ll tell you. If he’s not, why embarrass him by asking?" - Travel writer John Gunther, The Best of Texas.

 

And now for more sweet! moments of the past week...

 

Saturday: your Mama's tuna fish salad; watching basketball with your Daddy; bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes on a hillside at sunset; the smiles on your puppies' faces when you arrive home after a road trip

Sunday: driving empty highways at 4am to retrieve your daughter from a 22-hour bus trip; a great sermon; a red-tailed hawk, soaring through the hollow; watching movies with your daughter before she heads back to college

Monday: a bluebonnet growing in the Hollow; ducks gliding across a pond; four-year-olds discovering patterns and pretending to be airplanes and kitty cats; walking familiar halls after years of absence

Tuesday: knowing your puppies are indoors, safe and sound, on a stormy morning; a glimpse of more ducks through the trees, even though they fly before you can snap their picture; a call from your father-in-law, letting you know he's out of the hospital 

Wednesday: a walk before dawn, the Big Dipper ahead of you and a glimmer of sunrise behind; no line at the post office

Thursday: lunch with friends; coming up with a good excuse to drive downtown for a daughter hug; watching ducks fly away from you, even though you didn't have time to snap their photo (again!)

Friday: reading Othello aloud with high school seniors; a (mostly) clean house, just in time for the arrival of sweet friends; sitting around a bonfire with friends under a sky full of stars, talking and listening to a rushing creek

Saturday: fields of Texas wildflowers; sharing the view from the top of Enchanted Rock with friends; real German Reuben sandwiches

What were some sweet! moments of your week?

Catching My Breath (and other Sweet!s)

I haven't blogged in a whole week. I think that's a record. 

Snippets and ideas for posts have popped in my head - random words are scribbled on scraps of paper all over the house and in the car - but I haven't been able to stop long enough to work them into full posts.

This morning Life is moving slower and I'm hoping today I can focus my attention on those poor, neglected Good Intentions and Need-To-Do's I see moping in a dusty corner.

It's been a fun week, though. No exotic vacations or anything, but just Life and all of the challenges and adventures and love it provides. There have been beautiful spring days that turned into powerful thunderstorms with blustery winds and cold temperatures... which meant stinky country dogs cowering in the laundry room... but we're back to Spring and warmth and outside dogs now.

While I'm grateful for the rain, I'm not so grateful for the mosquitoes it awakened. They buzzed and bit me every step of my walk this morning. You can be sure I'll thoroughly douse myself with repellent every morning from now on.

Yesterday, TG fixed me breakfast... a delicious sauteed veggies/scrambled eggs concoction she prepared every morning over Christmas break that set my stomach growling with its divine smell. But it was always several hours after I'd already eaten.

I'm too lazy to go to that much trouble myself first thing in the morning, but yesterday I slept late after a sleep-deprived weekend and she woke up early to prepare for a Spring Break trip to the coast... which means we woke up at the same exact time! So when I saw the eggs and veggies coming out of the fridge, I worked out a deal with her involving laundry.

One of the best deals I've ever made! It turned out to be just as delicious as it smelled, and sustaining enough for a day on the run that included seeing her disappear into one of five chartered buses for an overnight drive (and praying the whole way home for their safety!)

Sunday morning I met a blog friend for the first time in person. Non-bloggers (or non-FlickRers, etc.) probably don't understand how exciting that is.  They might have trouble understanding how you can become friends with total strangers you connect to online but have never seen face-to-face, but I can assure you those friendships are just as real as any other. 

Wolf, of Just Add Father, was in town for a dad blogger conference. He delayed his flight home to meet me, Tom, and 2/3 of my kids for brunch downtown at the Driskill Hotel's 1886 Cafe and Bakery. It was just like meeting a long-time friend I hadn't seen in a while. 

Wolf is a pseudonym (he explains why he uses one on his blog) so we had some fun taking this photo below. I wanted one I could post here. (I'm sure the people sitting at nearby tables were wondering what the heck we were doing!) 

We chatted awhile on the sidewalk after eating, but knew it was time to part ways when my kids (ages 20 and 23!) got restless and started roughhousing on the sidewalk. 

Some things never change!

Actually, we needed to leave anyway because Wolf wanted to walk around and see the Austin sights before heading for the airport, and we wanted to get back to the house to visit with my oldest and his fiance before they had to leave.

They were in town for a wedding. After the reception on Saturday night, they brought friends back to the house with them and all of us were up really, really late visiting and laughing. I always enjoy seeing those grown-up kids, even though it makes me feel old, wondering how these kids who I swear were in middle school yesterday are now out of college, working, married...

Totally worth getting only 4 hours of sleep.

No, really it was.

<yawn>

Anyway, Sunday afternoon I grilled chicken and enjoyed a quick dinner with them, before dashing off (late!) to my writer's group meeting.

Even after all this time, my book is still a misshapen piece of clay. Writing is so dang hard. But with these women's input and guidance, it's beginning to take shape, although it still needs lots and lots of pinching, molding, scoring...

It's tough - even painful - but I'm grateful to them and willing to do whatever work is necessary to have a finished piece by the end of the year.  

Saturday I took a short road trip along Highway 281 to San Antonio. A friend of mine hosted a Silpada jewelry party for me.

Highway 281 runs through the Texas hill country and several small towns... a beautiful drive, even on a rainy day like Saturday. I spotted my first bluebonnets, splashes of blue drizzled along the roadside. I promised myself I'd drive out this week on a sunny day and take some photos.

Jewelry parties are always fun, what with the food and drinks, the sparkly silver bling, and meeting lots of interesting women, but this one was especially fun because Jackie and I went to high school together, but didn't really know each other until just recently. We reconnected thanks to Facebook and discovered we didn't live that far from each other.

Here we are with another high school friend, Marilyn, who came to the party. She lives even closer to Jackie but they didn't even realize it until recently.

And here I am with one of my dearest friends, Nancy, the first person I met when we moved to Lago. She now lives near San Antonio, so she and her daughter took advantage of the situation and came to the party, too. 

You just can't beat reconnecting with friends, playing with pretty jewelry, and making money at the same time, can you?

The rest of the week was a blur of writing, reading, subbing at the high school, trying to catch up on emails, and watching the Hollow explode in greens, blue, yellows, pinks, and purples. I'm hoping not to get lost in the busy-ness of this week.

I do want to mention Tuesday, though. I spent the day swim suit shopping with TG in preparation for this trip to the coast. There's always more under the surface than shopping, though... there's talking, laughing, sharing, and just soaking up the sight of her.

In one store, going through a clearance rack, I came across the perfect shirt to describe the way I feel...

We took turns trying it on and snapping pics with my iPhone, but in the end, I just went ahead and bought it. How could I not? It was cheap and fit perfectly, in so many ways!

And now for the official Sweet! report:

Monday: time to be still and breathe, sitting on a rock beside a pond, listening to running water and chattering birds, watching silly dogs and flirting dragonflies

Tuesday: hours spent with your daughter... shopping, talking, laughing; finding a really good fortune in your Panda Express cookie

Wednesday: porch swings; flowers and tree buds popping out everywhere

Thursday: finishing a great book; high school one-act plays

Friday: rainy days when a drought is fresh in your memory; some of your kids home for the weekend

Saturday: clouds sitting on hilltops; roadsides sprinkled with bluebonnets; a job that lets you catch up with 'old' friends and meet new ones; sangria; staying up late visiting with your kids and their friends, who used to be kids but somehow turned into adults; the birth of a great-nephew and photos on Facebook

Sunday: meeting a blog friend in person for the first time; brunch and people-watching at the Driskill Cafe; an afternoon with your son and future daughter-in-law; a writing group that keeps your ego in check

Monday: sleeping in after a sleep-deprived, busy, busy weekend; spending time with your baby girl 

Wishing each of you a week full of sweet moments!

Fiction, Fires, Family... and other sweet things

Bonfire sparks drifted up to the sky where clouds parted like curtains and stars crowded the stage, accompanied by the singing creek beside us. No moon softened the darkness - the pitch wall of night rose just beyond the reach of the firelight. 

There was a time not too long ago when I would have feared the darkness, imagining all sorts of danger lurking where my eyes couldn't see. But last night I hugged my jacket around me, craned my neck up to stare at the stars and felt nothing but awe at the beauty of the night and amazement that I ever felt fear standing in its darkness.

I had spent the past day and a half immersed in the world of children's books, listening to authors, agents and editors sharing their stories and experience, offering advice and encouragement to those of us still only dreaming of publication.

Standing there watching the stars break through the clouds, hearing the sizzle and pop of the fire, the trickle of the creek, the frogs singing in the distance... it all just added to the impression that this is a magical world where dreams can come true...

...Especially the small ones like sleeping in for the first time in weeks and meeting my cousin Pat for lunch after two years of trying to match our schedules (which is just ridiculous because she only lives an hour away!)

Pat's a genealogy addict like me, except she's still actively researching. I've had to put myself on a 12-step-program, otherwise I'd get nothing else accomplished!

A few years ago we spent a Saturday tracking down family cemeteries and visiting the Bell County Museum, where we discovered a photo of 'the oldest house in Bell County' hanging on the wall. 

According to writing on the photo, it was built by one of our ancestors. She sent off for a copy of it and today presented me with a framed canvas copy, along with copies of other family mementoes and letters she knew I'd treasure. 

 

 

Well, she's the true treasure! But I was enjoying our time together so much, I completely forgot about getting a photo of us together as I'd planned.

Next time... and by golly, we won't wait another two years for it.

"Our most treasured family heirlooms are our sweet family memories."

~ Unknown

******************************************************

 

And now, here are a few Sweet! moments from the past week I remembered to record...

Monday: puppies, stretched out warm and cozy in the laundry room on a rainy, cold morning; making Valentine cyclops cookies with your Valentine

Tuesday: sharing Valentine cookies with your middle son and heart-shaped chocolates with your daughter; a "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom" call from your oldest; searching for fossilized hearts with your sweetie beside a lake, followed by dinner by candlelight and a funny, romantic movie 

Wednesday: a chicken quesadilla for lunch, shared with your honey who decided to take the day off; a little bird outside the window posing for your camera; a job that lets you eat pizza, play with jewelry, sip wine, and catch up with friends while you 'work'

 

 

Thursday: a rare day spent totally at home; a puppy's face in the window reminding you to take a break from the computer

Friday: the sound of raindrops on your umbrella; familiar faces in a roomful of strangers

Saturday: the rain stopping just as you leave the house; a day spent listening and learning from authors, agents and editors; watching the clouds give way to stars; bonfires on a crisp night 

Sunday: late Mass so you can sleep in a bit; a glimpse of a huge red-tailed hawk flying past; a long-overdue lunch with a dear cousin/friend

Hoping you had a week full of sweet!s and are blessed with even more in the week to come! (Share some of yours here!)

Snowflakes and other Sweet things

Winter remembered us here in Austin this weekend.

Right after lunch today, I headed up the pathway to my car, loaded down with jewelry, catalogs and order forms for a Silpada party at my friend Darla's house. Raindrops speckled the stones, but only one or two drops hit my head before the rain turned to sleet, sounding like glass shattering when it hit the dry oak leaves surrounding me.

Sleet and rain took turns keeping my windshield wipers busy as I made my way down the highway, and then, halfway to Darla's, there they were... huge snowflakes swaying around me in a slow dance through the air. Winter's kiss of apology for forgetting us until now... for teasing us into believing Spring had arrived.

Just those teensy bits of magic made the cold and wet worthwhile for me, even if they were only momentary blips of white though my windshield.

And now, here are a few other sweet moments I noticed this past week...

 

Sunday: Mass with your son and sweetie; your husband filling up your car on a cold day when you're sick so you don't have to on your way to work

Monday: being able to take a day off when you're sick; Campbell's chicken noodle soup; a phone call from a friend; Mucinex

Tuesday: robins filling the trees all around, singing up a storm; surprising yourself by being able to run thirty minutes on the treadmill despite being sick; homemade chicken soup sizzling with cayenne

Wednesday: a flexible schedule that allows you to run into town and see your daughter during the middle of the week; progress on your book, even if it's not much

Thursday: a mostly full morning moon shrouded in mist; a cardinal perched at the top of a juniper tree, facing the rising sun and singing joyful praises; a mailbox stuffed with new books

Friday: driving through the Texas hill country under a cloudless blue sky with your sweetie; an evening spent with dear friends, enjoying great food, wine, laughter and conversation

Saturday: time for a walk with your puppies and sweetie before work; helping to make half a dozen Valentine's Day celebrations special; giving in to your tired body and watching a movie at home rather than heading out for another late night

Sunday: snowflakes on your windshield!; getting together with friends and making money at the same time; hard-hitting critiques from your writing group that will make your book better; your son and future daughter-in-law's wedding website

I hope you had at least a teensy bit of sweet magic yourselves this week!

Under Attack

It seemed like a good idea at the time, getting off the main road and taking the path along the creek for a bit on my morning walk.

The problem is that path is little more than a deer trail in many places, making it necessary to duck and zigzag around mountain cedar branches. 

Well, normally that by itself isn't a problem, but at this time of year, and right now in epic proportions, the branches of the male ashe juniper (aka cedar tree) is bursting with these little cones full of cedar pollen. It's not unusual to see a huge puff of smoke billow from a tree at the slightest touch of a breeze... not actually fire smoke, but a cloud of pollen. 

It didn't even occur to me that when you walk through them and knock them out of your way, the pollen clings to you as if you were an oversized bumble bee.

Consequently, a few hours later when my allergy meds had worn off, the pollen hitching a ride on me went into full attack mode on my nose, throat and eyes.

But in the height of my sneezing and clawing of itchy eyes, I was grateful for one thing. Well, one thing besides my stockpile of antihistamines and nose sprays and eye drops...

 

...that during my walk, when the thought occurred to me that if knocked one of the branches hard with a stick, I might finally be able to capture one of those billowing pollen clouds in my camera, right up close, I immediately tossed that thought away, realizing the suicidal potential of such a stunt.

I'm relieved to know that, even for me, a photograph isn't worth "Death by Stupidity and Pollen".

(For more about the mountain cedars, click HERE and HERE.)

Kids, Jewelry, Birthdays, Weddings and other (belated) Sweet!s

A rumble of thunder and whisper of rain woke me in the night. It continues today, another steady, soaking rain falling from a colorless sky. We've had enough rain in the past few weeks that I almost take it for granted, despite the months of drought.

Almost, but not quite. Waking to the sound of rain is still a sweet sound, especially when I can roll over, snuggle deeper into my covers, and go back to sleep.

I would also almost start complaining about the soggy weather... the mud that gets tracked in, the slippery roads... despite those months of drought, but in between our frequent rainy days, we've had warm days with crisp blue skies (Saturday) and cool days with skies of rainless clouds (yesterday.)

I love it when things balance out that way! Very sweet!

Yes, I realize I'm running late with this post. I've been keeping up with my sweet!s this week... but my photos, not so much.

Well, I've been taking plenty, but all of them from the past week were still stashed on my camera until last night. I didn't have a chance until now to tidy my sweet! list and glance through my photos - it was one of those on-the-run weekends that I love, but that leave me breathless!

First, Daniel came home for a visit this weekend. His face is always a sweet sight, but I hadn't seen him since last year, when he moved out to his own place just after Christmas!

So you can imagine how happy I was to see him!

We spent Friday evening talking and watching a movie, just hanging out and relaxing. I was hosting my own Silpada jewelry party (one of my other "hats") the next afternoon, but thought I would have plenty of time Saturday morning to get everything done.

But after letting myself sleep in and then mentally comparing what I had left to do with how much time I had in which to do it, I realized I was wrong!

My kids were lifesavers, though, bless them... they pitched in and helped me pack up the last of our Christmas decorations away, tidy up the house in preparation and followed whatever other orders I barked at them. Such sweet kids!

Consequently, it was a relaxed open house. And what a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon... sitting around a table, sipping wine, munching on yummy snacks, talking to friends and looking at beautiful jewelry!

Tom and I headed out right after the party to help my dear friend Darla celebrate her birthday at Z'Tejas. (It was my first time there, and oh my gosh, it was soooo good! Great twists on traditional Tex Mex... I got the Wild Mushroom Enchiladas.)

(Again, my kids were lifesavers... they helped clean up from the party for me! I just hope Daniel will come home again some day... I don't think he was counting on all the extra chores!) 

Just getting together with these longtime friends from high school is a sweet way to spend a Saturday night, but we were joined by a face none of us had seen since graduation day. We reconnected with Wayne via Facebook and discovered he'd been living in the Austin area for the past fifteen years or so, too. We've probably passed him on the highway a zillion times...

After church Sunday morning, I met my future daughter-in-law in town for another day of wedding venue sightseeing. There are so many possibilities, it's mind-boggling! I'm glad I'm just a tag along and not the one having to make the decision!

I can have fun snapping photos...

And now for my belated list of Sweet! moments from the past week...

Monday: walking at sunrise; checking out wedding venues with your son, his future bride and her family (photos HERE and HERE); one of your blog posts listed on Pioneer Woman's sidebar links

Tuesday: frost sparkling in the caliche road like tiny diamonds; working on your book for hours, even if it doesn't feel like you made much progress

Wednesday: almost getting caught up on your email; a friend pinning a link to your blog on Pinterest; not burning the chicken legs on the grill even though you were distracted with writing; catching a movie with friends; extra-sweet... the movie starred George Clooney and was set in Hawaii ("The Descendants")

Thursday: the excitement and joy of puppies on a morning walk; words flowing onto the page without effort, for a change; a phone call from your sister; your kids helping you take down the Christmas decorations

Friday: fresh morning sunlight; bumping into a friend at the grocery store; the Epiphany; photos of your husband's aunt ziplining in Costa Rica in honor of her 74th birthday!; the sight of your middle son for the first time in two weeks

Saturday: your kids pitching in to get your house ready for your jewelry party; finding out one of your photos was chosen for FlickR's Explore; friends gathered around your table, chatting; a friend putting in an order for jewelry even though she sells it herself, just in hopes you have a good party; celebrating a dear friend's birthday and reconnecting with a friend from long ago

Sunday: kneeling and praying next to your sweetie in church; checking out more wedding venues with your future daughter-in-law; hearing from your oldest, letting you know he made it safely to Arizona for a business trip

(Monday: I didn't plan to add Monday on here, but first thing this morning, I received a message from a friend I've been praying for that he's met 'someone'. It made me smile, inside and out, so I had to add it here.)

I hope you had tons of sweet moments this past week, too. I confess, there are days when I have to think really hard to find one, but I always manage to... and often it triggers recollection of a few more. If you haven't tried it yet, I encourage you to!

 

A Birthday, a Graduation and Texas Heaven...

We let Max sleep inside the past two nights. Belle, too, of course, although it was more for Max's sake than hers. They have a large dog house, nestled up against the house and the hill, protected from the elements, but even though temperatures were just in the low forties Sunday night, it was bone-chilling damp and he's an old dog with sore joints.

So I found an old comforter and Daniel spread it in on the floor of the laundry room. Comfy cozy and warm.

Then yesterday morning I discovered Max isn't the only one with old achy, slow-moving bones and joints. The winter chill seems to be affecting my computer, too! (You thought I was going to say it was me, didn't you?)

Tom asked me to scan and email him some documents for our health insurance... would you believe it took me over 40 minutes to scan three photos!

Forty minutes to scan 3 photos!!

My old computer was moving so slow I knew I had to do something, so instead of finishing up the editing of my last photo shoot, as I'd planned, plus catching up on my blog reading, blog writing, book writing, personal history transcribing, etc. etc, I went down the list of installed programs, files and folders with a virtual pair of scissors, Googling the ones I wasn't sure about and getting rid of everything I didn't absolutely need.

Six hours and a couple of defrags later, I gained 3% of my free space back. It was still as slow as ever, but I still felt like I had accomplished something, like that feeling you get when you finally clean out your kitchen junk drawer.

You know, if you keep a computer long enough, and your entire family uses it, it essentially does resemble a junk drawer or storage closet... a repository of all kinds of odds and ends no one needs or uses anymore.

Anyway, I also finished up the editing of my last photo shoot and emailed them to my friend/client so she could get her Christmas cards ordered, although I had to stay up really late to finish it. It was worth it just to help her out... and also for that awesome feeling of finishing something!

It's a rare thing for me; I hope to get more acquainted with it!

The only thing I accomplished this past weekend was spending lots of time with friends and family... even though it means I'm behind on everything else, it was another awesome feeling! 

First came the celebration of my first baby Tommy's 26th birthday. It was just like his birthday parties in the old days: lots of pizza... ice cream cake... singing Happy Birthday off-key... kids sleeping over, staying up all night playing video games and watching movies...

...except this time the "kids" were drinking wine and beer, not just soda. My how time flies!

Me and my sweet boy.

After working at the Bistro Saturday, I rushed home, changed clothes and met Daniel and Tom downtown for Daniel's friend Austin's graduation from UT...

Here, let me zoom in a little more.

See how happy he is?

Afterwards, we joined Austin's parents and some of the boys' friends at Asti (above) for a scrumptious Italian dinner. We arrived a little early, so I filled the time strolling down the street, snapping photos.

Look, someone knitted scarfs for the street posts! (To see more of these scarves, plus other night street scenes, go HERE.)

 

 

Sunday night Tom and I went to our church Christmas party. I look forward to it every year... we get yummy Rudy's Bar-B-Q and a wide open dance floor.

My idea of Texas heaven!

With the busy weekend, I neglected to check and charge my camera battery before we left. Of course it died before I could get any photos of the great dancers, but I did manage to get this one.

I want one of these shirts!

I smudged their name tags to protect the innocent. (You're welcome, Joan and Sherry!)

It was a wonderful weekend, and I think I appreciated it even more because through it all I was praying for a friend who underwent surgery for cancer on Friday, a friend who lost his mother on Saturday, a high school classmate who died on Friday, and fellow parishioners who rushed from the Christmas party Sunday evening when they got word their house was on fire. It burned to the ground; they didn't just lose all of their belongings, but also their dog. Just breaks my heart. Please say a prayer for each of them.

So I hope you had a wonderful weekend, too... but mostly I hope you didn't take a single second of it for granted. 

The Chase (and this week's Sweet!s)

There I was, walking along with my puppies on our dirt road yesterday morning, the sun just barely peeking into the Hollow, when suddenly Max and Belle caught a whiff of something exciting and took off in a full run.

I thought they would stop after a few yards as they usually do, but to my surprise, they continued running all the way around the next curve, disappearing out of sight, leaving me all alone. 

I just kept plodding along, expecting to see them come trotting back to me any minute, so when I heard movement in the woods to my right a few minutes later, I assumed it was my puppies. 

But then I heard movement again, just a few seconds later in the same area. Through the trees I caught a glimpse of a deer, closely followed by Belle and Max, heading back toward the house.

Max, old man that he is... well, I expected he would just head on home after such lengthy runs. He'd be worn out!

It was a beautiful morning, though, so I decided to keep walking as far as the curve, as usual, and then head home. No reason why I should call my walk short!

Next thing I know, there's a crashing sound from the woods ahead of me and, one after another, deer popped out, dashing across the road.

And then... I couldn't believe it... out popped Max and Belle, still on their heels. Max was still running!

They all disappeared into the woods on my left. I kept walking but wondered where they might appear next!

Belle returned first. It was a few minutes before Max emerged from the woods... mouth foaming, a rust-colored leaf hanging from a bit of drool from his mouth, but obviously very pleased with himself. 

It was a good morning.

 

And now for the rest of the Sweet! moments of my week....

Friday: watching your friends' son play the drums in public; dancing; staying up late, eating peanuts, catching up with friends

Saturday: pancakes and bacon; talking 'cat' with Nala; garage sales and antique stores with your husband and friends; Shari's taco soup; watching home movies; the sound of the wind through tall pines, like rushing water

Sunday: sitting on a back porch, listening to crows and other birds, sipping coffee and chatting with your friend; breakfast tacos; walking along the river, being silly; exploring old barns

Monday: your son's first day at a new job in a new town, the answer to his prayers; working on your book; rain after a drought; a 30-day free trial of Lightroom; meeting friends at a Junior Forum Christmas show; Victorian houses

Tuesday: playing the drums; learning Lightroom; voting; two days in a row of rain; getting to bed before 11pm

Wednesday: sunshine and a brisk wind on your morning walk; Belle running and running and running; Daughtry singing on the Today Show while you're on the elliptical; finding free presets for Lightroom; a call from your oldest, reporting that he loves his new job

Thursday: the full moon resting on silhouetted treetops; a morning photo shoot with a red-tailed hawk; lunch with friends; discussing family history with your son; remembering to snap the full moon

Friday: having your camera in hand when a herd of startled deer cross the road right in front of you; watching your old dog run and run and run

Saturday: an orange dawn; a road trip with your son; helping your mom celebrate her 80th birthday

Yes, I'm headed out to see my mom today. Tomorrow is her 80th birthday and most of us will be gathering this evening to help her celebrate. That will be the sweetest moment of my week, I'm sure!

My oldest can't be there - he's running his first marathon this weekend. I'm so proud of him!

Hope you've had a week full of Sweet! moments and the next one is even sweeter!

Dancing, friendship, butterflies and the Jake Carr Band...

Tom and I ventured into enemy territory Friday night: we went dancing in College Station.

Considering we have one University of Texas graduate and one still in attendance, that's tantamount to treason around here. (College Station is the home of Texas A&M... UT's arch-rival.)

But we had a good reason to go there! We went to hear our friends' son play... he's the drummer in the Jake Carr Band, an up-and-coming country-ish musical group full of talented kids. They opened for another band (JB and the Moonshine Band) at a Bryan/College Station landmark: the Texas Hall of Fame. 

I call it a landmark because it's been there since 1978. It only took a few minutes for Tom to realize he had been there before.

"Did you come here with Debbie?"

"Yep."

Hmmm.

I know all about Debbie. Tom even called me "Debbie" once when we first started dating.

Needless to say, I made sure we got out on that dancefloor. He owed me! Plus, the Hall has one of the best dancefloors I've ever seen - I think the best since Gilley's in the days of our youth. Huge! No danger of bumping into anyone else, no matter how wild they get with their elbows and their twirling.

But back to why we were there...

The Jake Carr Band is really good. Sam Duncan, on the drums, is really, really good. Remember that name!

Plus he's so dang cute! Here he is with his beautiful Momma, Shari...

And here are some shots of the band... I bet we'll be hearing them on the radio before too long.

College Station was just the first stop on our weekend away. The true destination was our friends' place, nestled in the tall pines northwest of Houston.

Did you know that when the wind plays in those giant trees, its laughter sounds like rushing water? I had never noticed it before - perhaps it's because I miss the sound of our little waterfall so much.

That's the kind of weekend we had - slow and relaxing, where you have time to listen to the wind playing in the trees. Just the kind of weekend we needed.

We went for walks in nearby Tomball, full of great antique shops, where I was very, very tempted to buy this...

...because I've always wanted one and it was a great price.

But even a great price is too much these days, especially when I have no idea where I'd put it or what I'd do with it. That used to never stop me, but in these days when I'm dying to de-clutter, function trumps everything else.

We also took a long walk beside a nearby river, where my drought-weary eyes found colorful relief in the form of purple morning glories, clumps of red, white and yellow wildflowers, and even the butterflies I've missed so much this year, like this beauty... 

An old stable, buried under vines by the side of the road, caught our eye. We stopped to explore, not realizing until we were telling it goodbye that some of the vines were poison ivy... (Yikes! Where's the Benadryl?)

But we still used it as a "couples" photo backdrop before leaving (stepping up a few feet, of course!) 

Our sweet hosts, Robert and Shari...Thank you both for such a wonderful weekend!!

 

 

 

A Top Notch Day

It started like this...

Belle's face peered in from the pre-dawn darkness, much earlier than usual. I had just stumbled from the bedroom, still groggy with sleep.

She seemed nervous about something. Stepping outside, I knew right away what had her up so early, wanting our company...

...The frogs had a croaking chorus coming from the pond, so loud I knew the full moon could hear it through the misty clouds. Belle had probably forgotten what that sound was, it had been so long since there was enough water in the pond to make the the frogs sing.

I reassured her and stepped back inside. Thirty minutes later, when she was still peering in at me, I gave in and stepped back outside to rub her ears, and this is what I saw...

 

I knew it would be a good day.

**********************************************

Daniel had an interview downtown. I tagged along to visit the State Library.

It had been ten years since I'd done any research there... it was completely changed! Bigger, more modern... and even a snack room for patrons now. (In the 'old' days, my co-genealogy-nut friends Susan and Donna and I would stand on the steps and eat our lunches.) I caught on to the new microfilm readers, thanks to a lesson from the sweet girl working the Library, and even found a few tidbits on 1880's taxrolls. (Are you yawning yet?)

Something that hasn't changed is our beautiful Capitol building, just across the street from the State Library and Archives building. 

 

 

A scent captured my nose, sending me whirling back into my childhood and memories of catching honeybees in glass jars (released soon afterward, don't worry.)

 

 

Japanese Ligustrum... complete with bees. Too bad I didn't have a glass jar with me! (I took more photos around the capitol - you can see them HERE.)

After Daniel's interview, he introduced me to this Austin icon, used in the movie, Dazed and Confused...

 

 

We both ordered fried chicken and it was, indeed, Top Notch!

But the best part came after we got home and took the puppies for a walk. After just one day of rain, the pond has water again! It might not look like much to you, but it's beautiful to me!

 

The air hummed with dragonflies. Where have they been hiding? They flew too fast to capture their photos, but across the pond, I came across this splash of color, such a welcome sight after months of gray and brown...

 

 

As if all that wasn't enough, this is how the day is ending...

 

 

Hope your day was Top Notch, too!

Retreat to the Sea

 For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),

 It's always our self we find in the sea.

~e.e. cummings

 

For the past few weeks, I've felt like a jumping bean, hopping from one project to the next, never quite finishing one before moving on to another, mentally filling to overflowing a shelf labeled "Later".

I had lost my balance, knocking it aside somewhere in my zeal to conquer my dreams, get organized, and make money, all at the same time. No matter how hard I tried to breathe, to focus on each moment, I couldn't stop that little hyper bean inside of me that couldn't just enjoy the present but had to continually jump ahead, or sideways, or backwards.

Then Thursday afternoon I stepped onto Mustang Island.

One look at the waves rolling in, rolling out... one deep breath of the salty air...one note of the symphony of crashing waves and cries of seagulls...

That's all it took for the stillness to return, as if the waves and the air loosened the knots and cleansed my spirit. The symphony soothed me... a lullaby chasing away the helter-skelter bits of thought in my brain.

I find myself at the extremity of a long beach.  How gladly does the spirit leap forth, and suddenly enlarge its sense of being to the full extent of the broad, blue, sunny deep!  A greeting and a homage to the Sea!  I descend over its margin, and dip my hand into the wave that meets me, and bathe my brow.  That far-resounding roar is the Ocean's voice of welcome.  His salt breath brings a blessing along with it.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Foot-prints on the Sea-shore"

That's why my friends and I run away every year to the sea. This was our 12th annual retreat, a time to reconnect with these friends, but also with myself.

To think of nothing, but to see and experience everything.

Year before last, we encountered Laura Bush on the beach and discovered Stoney LaRue. Last year my high school Divas joined us, and although the numbers made it tougher for me to spend time with everyone as much as I hoped, priceless memories were made.

This year I had no expectations, especially considering the highs of the past two. I only craved simplicity and silence. I hoped for sun, but would have smiled at raindrops.

But it didn't rain. Thursday afternoon's storm clouds cleared out and blue skies ruled the rest of the weekend. Thanks to this year's drought, there were no mosquitos. And on our one night of dancing, we had plenty of dance partners for a change, including some who knew how to spin me around country-style.

This year, I didn't worry about running every morning or about waking at the crack of dawn to photograph the sunrise each day, although I did manage each of them once.

This year I read. I wandered with my camera. I prayed. I met an artist, Marilyn Lindholm, who asked for one of my photographs of a rainbow umbrella and invited me along on a photo-staging of wine glasses and driftwood.

I spent hours listening to the waves, watching porpoises, seagulls and cute little seabirds, drinking Bloody Mary's and talking about life with fifteen other wonderful women, including my sweet sister Brenda, healed enough from her hip surgery six months ago to drive herself to the coast. She even made it down to the beach and the swimming pool. (Thank you for all your prayers for her.)

Hanging on to the stillness will be a challenge, I know. I felt that restlessness waking up with me Monday morning with just one glance at my to-do list. But if I close my eyes I can hear the waves, reaching in, pulling out, reminding me to hang on to the rhythm of life, and leave the rest behind.

It helps to have some photos. I haven't finished going through the ones I took, but here are a few...

A magical moment... My friend Cheryl spotted this little Yellow Warbler cowering in a corner of the boardwalk. He hopped on her finger and stayed put for an extended photo shoot. She thought he was injured and was trying to decide how to take care of him when suddenly, whoosh! he was gone, flying out over the dunes. 

Such a sweet little thing. And what a model!

Schools of fish teamed just offshore, so the pelicans and seagulls (and even a few porpoises) were going nuts. 

There's always at least one woman who feels a need to give everyone something - this year it was Mary Kay and her niece, Tiffany. I've given up protesting.

How could you protest something like this, anyway?

We always treat ourselves to dinner out one night - can't beat fresh seafood straight from the gulf! 

A table for 16, please...

Me and my sweet sister... (note the 'character scar' on my nose, my souvenir from our little wreck a couple of weeks ago.)

Where I lived for two full days...

In my normal life I can barely sit still through a movie, yet I had no problem lying for hours on a hard plastic lounge chair. Go figure.

Mary Kay, the University of Texas Longhorns #1 Fan! (We stomped Iowa State!)

These precious little girls kept us all sighing over their cuteness on Saturday. I took dozens of photos and I don't even know them!

You can imagine how many photos of sea birds I took - I'll post most of them on Confessions later (uh-oh... "later" is already popping up.)

There were almost as many dogs as birds at the beach this time! Total exaggeration, of course, but there were a lot. I loved this trio of ladies... Lucy, and, um, ah, I can't remember the other two but they started with 'L's. 

Our traditional photo of the whole group just before final hugs and heading back to the real world, mostly in different directions. 

Spotted this sign in the restroom of the restaurant and ran back with my camera, ignoring the stares. I think it pretty much sums up our weekend.

From the Port Aransas "Secret Files" (and a week's worth of Sweet!s)

For twelve years now I've trekked to the coast with friends for a much-needed respite from "routine".

Two years ago, a beautiful weekend was made unforgettable: Laura Bush spent the night at the same condos we were staying in.

I wrote about it (HERE), but didn't post the photos my friend Donna took with my camera of Laura walking on the beach with her friend, surrounded by Secret Service guys dressed as 'normal' people. Like us, she was just trying to have a relaxing evening at the beach.

Donna took the photos because I ran out to the beach with some of the other women, hoping to "casually" bump into Laura as she returned from her walk (can you say "paparazzi"?)

When we passed her on the beach, Laura was gracious and friendly. The Secret Service guys we met were good sports, too, joking around and letting us take their photos.

It was a magical weekend, the perfect way to commemorate 10 years of a special friendship.

For some reason, we decided we shouldn't post the photos of Laura. I'm not sure why... she gets her photo taken all the time!

I decided enough time had passed to post a couple of them.

Beautiful, isn't she? 

Laura's not here this weekend, but we're still having a beautiful, magical time, full of sunshine, the surf, plenty of food, friendship, dancing...

Sweet!

Here are a few of my other sweet! moments of the week...

Saturday: the only evidence of a rear-end collision being a few scratches, even if one is on your nose just before a reunion; recognizing and remembering faces you haven't seen in twenty years or more; spending overdue hours with dear friends and vowing not to let so much time pass again without another visit; friends who take care of your grandpuppy as well as your own menagerie while you're away

Sunday: breakfast with your parents; face-to-face time with your sister, her husband, your parents, your brother's kids and capturing more photos of his precious granddaughter; picking up your son from the airport after his European adventure and hearing some of his stories; 2/3 of your kids at home for dinner; remembering a first dance 30 years ago that changed your life; getting word that your oldest made it home to Dallas, safe and sound

Monday: spotting a few patches of yellow and purple wildflowers popping up along the roadside; looking through photos and videos of your son's trip to Munich and Prague; spending a few hours with your daughter; sharing dinner, conversation, memories and cheesecake with longtime friends; lightning flashing in the distance on a night drive home

Tuesday: an invitation to become a contributor to an online blog for over-50 women; dark clouds in intricate patterns, thunder and lightning seen from the protection of a wide porch overlooking the Hollow; rain spray carried into the porch by the wind to splash on my face

Wednesday: jacket-cool mornings with pink clouds; a drive through the Texas Hill Country at sunset; reuniting your grandpuppy with her mom; souvenirs from Germany and Prague

Thursday: road trips; Reuben sandwiches; the first sight of the coast in a year; pink and blue beachhouses; reuniting with friends on a balcony overlooking the beach

Friday: running on the beach; flocks of pelicans; a long phone conversation with a friend; a glimpse of porpoises leaping from the water; strangers offering to help your hip-surgery-recovering sister down the boardwalk; twirling on a dance floor with friends for hours

Saturday: having an artist you met during a walk on the beach ask for one of your photos; a thirsty beach puppy drinking from your hand (and reminding its parents that beach puppies need water!); Bloody Mary's on the beach; a call from a friend checking on you after reading about your car accident; reading on the beach until sunset; singing "Happy Birthday" to a special friend

I hope all of you are having a beautiful weekend, too... a grand finale to a week full of sweets!

Share yours with me!

 

Answered Prayers

It's a toss-up which I love the best, autumn's electric blue sky stretching cloudless from horizon to horizon or summer's sky of robin blue, dotted with cloud-dogs and cloud-dragons and cloud-ships. 

But even I, lover of blue skies and sunshine, can appreciate the beauty of a stormy sky, of the grays and pinks...

 

...of the drama and excitement, the battle between darkness and light...

 

 

...how the darkness makes the light brighter and how the light opens up new colors and levels in the clouds and the sky and the sunlight...

 

 

...how gray and dark can hold such promise of life, how they can ease anxiety and be the answer to the prayers of millions.

 

It took two days but these clouds finally opened up and let rain fall on the Hollow and much of Central Texas this weekend.

Hallelujah!

But even before the rain, and even if it didn't rain, I was grateful for the storm clouds.

Even I get tired of blue sometimes.

(Taken with my iPhone while my camera enjoyed a little R&R at the camera spa...what a great invention, the camera/phone! I still missed my camera, but having this kept my separation anxiety from being too, too bad!)

 

A Week's Worth of Sweets

It rained today. 

For the first time in months, I heard thunder. I felt raindrops.

I was at work, busy with customers and orders and separate checks, but even though I couldn't really dance in the rain, in my mind I imagined I was. And it felt great!

Sweet!

 

Last Sunday I met friends at a Mexican food restaurant to celebrate my friend Gwen's birthday. I brought Gwen a present. Just a simple gift.

Gwen brought me 3 containers of metal and porcelain decorations, cupcake holders, and pretty plates for me to use at my parents' upcoming birthday celebrations. Gwen gave me (gave me, mind you) the sign above. She's weeding out things and thought of me when she saw it.

Sweet!

(I don't deserve my friends!)

Last night around 9pm my sons, my son's girlfriend and her cousin boarded a plane for Germany. I prayed. I calculated when they should land. This morning before work I opened Facebook and saw check-ins from Germany. 

Sweet!

Here are a few more sweet!s from the past week...

Sunday: Celebrating a friend's birthday with Mexican food and Mexican martinis; spending time with the Harvest moon; moonlight on a metal roof; looking at the full moon through binoculars with your son

Monday: kneeling and praying in an "empty" church, just you and God; conversations with blog friends, dreaming about wish-list cameras and lenses; your son cooking dinner; an email from a sweet friend you haven't heard from in awhile

Tuesday: the full moon hanging around after sunrise, peeking out of pink clouds; dove tracks reappearing on the road; responses to your shout-out about raffle tickets benefiting a wonderful cause

Wednesday: another request for raffle tickets waiting in my inbox; chatter of mountain jays; catching orange moon just above the horizon over the vineyard; cheesecake with blueberries and raspberry sauce; the smell of chocolate torte baking

Thursday: spending the day with your son before he flies off to Germany; finally getting your camera and lenses cleaned; seeing a black widow spider and a rattlesnake up close without anyone getting hurt (!); meeting Mr. Ed (more on that later); your husband making it home safely while pulling a 20+ foot trailer loaded with 94 sheets of roofing metal 

Friday: your husband finding a wheat penny nestled in your coin purse (because you wouldn't have noticed it!); your puppy dogs being good hosts to their guest; remembering your doctor appointment before you were too, too late; gray clouds in the sky most of the day, even if they don't hold any rain for you; finding out that even though a friend recently had malaria, he's all better now

Saturday: knowing the traveling kids landed safely in Germany; time for a walk with your husband and puppies before work; thunderstorms and rain after months of drought; hearing "good job" from a co-worker

What are some of your sweet! moments from the past week? I hope you had plenty!

(Not so sweet - getting behind on emails and my Facebook people and favorite blogs again! Don't give up on me or forget me!)

Linking up with focus52's theme "bokeh"

 

Summer Sweet and Summer Sour

Monday morning I knew autumn had arrived, riding the tail of a brisk breeze from the north that dropped temperatures nearly twenty degrees. Robe wrapped tight and relishing the chill, I sipped coffee in my pajamas rocking on the deck of a log cabin nestled in the woods above a dry creek bed.

We were at a rental lake house, guests of my oldest son's girlfriend's dad, along with his mom, his girls, their friends, my boys and Tommy's friend Ryan. It was just the change of scenery I needed after being on my feet eleven hours on Saturday and six on Sunday: fajitas, wine, a hot tub, my first game of beer pong... (Tom and I lost, of course. How could we compete against college kids?)

One of the college girls is a San Antonio Spurs Cheerleader; it took awhile but we finally convinced her to teach us part of the audition dance. ("Us" included my boys. I was one proud mom! That took guts - and resulted in lots of laughs!)

We kept one eye on the television, though. Unfortunately, the dry, brisk breeze that brought such beautiful weather also helped stir up and spread wildfires all over Central Texas Sunday afternoon.

I worried about my puppies, but my neighbors promised to let us know if the Hollow was threatened with fire danger, so before heading home we all drove to a beautiful picnic area on the banks of the Colorado River.

A rope swing beckoned. It took awhile to get up my nerve (and Tom had to mention "Bucket List") but I finally took my turn, swinging out over the river and splashing down into its cool depths.

Ah, such summer sweetness! 

It was truly a glorious day with blue skies and perfect temperatures, but driving home, seeing the towers of smoke from wildfires to our south and east, we prayed for rain instead. 

 A few hours later, I noticed the blue sky over the Hollow had turned a hazy gray. I stepped outside and the smell of smoke hit my nose. I envisioned a wall of fire just over the next hill, racing toward us. 

With a blue sky above you, it's easy to feel detached from the danger even while you pray for those affected and  worry about it coming close to you. When smoke fills the sky and your nose, detached uneasiness can flare into full-fledged panic. At least that's the way it affected me.

I searched the sky in all directions, but thank goodness no distinct columns of smoke, black or white, rose above our surrounding hills. That helped douse the panic, but I had to make sure nothing was sneaking up on us, so I grabbed my keys and drove to a nearby hill where I had a 360 view. That hazy gray smoke wafted toward us from across the lake, obscuring the horizon and washing out the blue sky, but no fires burned near us. 

Yesterday, the winds were calm. The sky above us stayed blue. I kept an eye on the horizon but no smoke drifted our way, although I knew the fires are still burning around us, both old and new. But the potential remained. I knew it could be us just as easily as it has been Bastrop, Spicewood, Steiner Ranch, Pflugerville, Leander... and what would I do if fire turned our way? 

Lists ground me, making me feel I have some control, even if it's an illusion, so I made an "Evacuation List", a reminder to me of things I need to grab if fire chases us out of our home.   

The puppies, my purse, plus some items I can fit in a backpack:  my external hard drive, my phone and charger, my camera and charger, a list of accounts and passwords, our medicine, a bottle of water...

No extra clothes or toiletries... they're replaceable. No books, family mementoes, heirloom quilts, wedding photos... I'd hate to leave them behind, potentially lose them, but they aren't crucial. 

So tell me, what's on your Evacuation List? 

Please join me in praying for the evacuees, for the firefighters and especially, for rain. Fires are also popping up near Houston. Over 3.6 million acres of Texas have burned since December - reportedly the size of Connecticut if you lump them all together.

If you would like to help the victims and firefighters, click HERE for the Central Texas Red Cross website and HERE for a list of other organizations and locations to drop donations.

Morning Rituals

The air felt stagnant and thick as I walked up to the road. The sky wasn't gray or pink or blue, just a weird mixture of the three. No hope of rain, no beautiful sunrise to make up for it, and not a whisper of a breeze.

The puppies bounced beside me, eager for our walk, but in my head I heard, What a blah morning.

I immediately stopped that thought in its tracks, though, firing back...

I'm breathing. I'm walking. It's a beautiful morning! 

It's been slow, hard work, but I'm finally learning to burst those melancholy balloons before they take flight.

Sure, there was that haze over everything. Then, when the neighbor boy drove past, the road dust hung in the air, frozen in place (not literally 'frozen' of course - it was probably pushing 90 degrees already, at 7:30am.)

The dirt fog didn't stop Belle and Max from playing, though. They saw the beauty of the new day. Max ran at full gallop... TWICE! Usually once is all he has in him, if even that much get-up-n-go.

I'm not sure what, if anything, he was chasing. He just ran for the joy and ability of running, I think. Lounging in the cool of the laundry room during the heat of the day must be agreeing with him.

Belle ran, too, a dog cyclone whooshing round and round and round us, until finally diving into Max who promptly bit her neck. 

Not hard, of course. It's their ritual. A dog thing.

Back home, I tipped a little water from their drinking bucket into the pie plate/bird bath we keep on a stump near the birdfeeder, watered my bougainvillea, whose blossoms have become like fuschia jerky, dried on the stem, and then dumped the rest of the water on our poor loquat tree, all golden and green and drooping.

It's a direct descendent of one that grew in front of our home in La Porte. I believe that one has died, as well as the one in my parents' yard, an offspring of the original and daddy to ours.

I hope the baby makes it, the last in its line.

I refilled the bucket then filled a watering can and lugged them both up the walkway to appease my poor crape myrtles, whose buds finally gave up trying to open. They sit on the boughs like pieces of stale pink popcorn.

Beside them, my miniature rose bush is dying. It had been hanging on valiantly, but I'm afraid the guys didn't notice it when I was gone last week and neglected to water it. My fault. How would they know? It doesn't look like a rosebush right now.

Especially right now.

Finally, I took the empty containers back down to the house, refilled the bucket (again!) for the dogs (and the birds and the squirrels) and, stepping back into my air-conditioned refuge, glanced at the clock and wondered where the heck my morning went...

Please, sir, could we have some rain?

 

Phone Calls, Heartbeats, Hugs

A call that wakes you in the morning rarely bears good news.

The call that woke me yesterday let me know a dear friend's husband had died. He had some health issues (who doesn't by the time you hit your 50's?) but nothing that warned her that a day we all dread and hope never comes would soon arrive on her doorstep.

I, in turn, began making calls and sending messages to other friends, and they then did the same... so many digital arms stretching out and surrounding our friend, embracing her in a virtual hug. It's comforting to be able to connect that way with men and women who are still just school-age boys and girls in your mind.

Most of us will come together in person on Friday for the service and we'll continue to encircle our friend afterward as long as she needs us. 

I've been wanting to head that way to see my parents, anyway, especially since Daddy's recent hospital visit, and my nephew, his wife and baby are visiting from Wyoming this week. 

I always enjoy fitting a visit with friends into my trips home, but not under these circumstances.

One friend shared a comment his father-in-law made years ago...  "when you're in your sixties, the funeral homes become your reunions with everyone." We're not yet in our sixties, but I think we've met at too many funerals already.

So if you don't mind, please say a little prayer for my friend this weekend. And while you're at it, could you pray for a bit of rain to head our way? We just passed the triple digit record - 70 (sweaty) days this summer as of today. 

Oh, and two more prayer requests. I've delivered TG and her things safely back to campus - would you say a prayer for her for a safe and successful semester... and one for her recently graduated brother to find a job?

I promise that's all (for now.)

Thank you in advance.

I'll be praying for all of the above, plus keeping the East Coast in my prayers as Hurricane Irene heads its way and I'll also give thanks the recent earthquake up there didn't do more damage.

Just too much going on, isn't there?

How do we get back to simple? Or is simple just an illusion created by our memories? Probably. If so, then I'm even more grateful for my memories. 

An Ode to Texas Summers

Max stood still, letting the pond water soak through his thick fur. I watched him from a patch of shade on the hill above and marveled at the miracle of this pond.

Rain is a distant memory, the lake has become a river, triple digit temperatures and blue skies seem neverending, and area wells are drying up ... yet here this small bit of water remains, nestled in the hills above the curve in our road. 

We made a beeline for it this morning. I hadn't walked with the dogs since Thursday. Daniel filled in for me these past few mornings when I just didn't have time, but the puppies seemed happy that I was joining them again.

Even in a drought, even when the flowers are fading into memory and few of the photos I take are worth sharing, my morning walks feel like an indulgence, a quick retreat from the world where I can sort through my thoughts, pray and breathe. 

I've missed them.

I've missed the quiet and the sunshine and the morning breeze and the dogs racing into the woods after imaginary prey or rough-housing on the road. I've missed stopping to snap photos of them running ahead of me or the clouds above me or sunshine splashing on everything...

..or flowers, what's left of them, like the ones below. 

The Mexican Hats have lost their hats...

Mornings are the only time to walk these days. The heat lingers well after sunset. 

Which reminds me of this little poem...

 

Ode to Texas The devil wanted a place on earth Sort of a summer home A place to spend his vacation Whenever he wanted to roam. So he picked out Texas. A place both wretched and rough Where the climate was to his liking And the cowboys hardened and tough. He dried up the streams in the canyons And ordered no rain to fall He dried up the lakes in the valleys Then baked and scorched it all. Then over his barren country He transplanted shrubs from hell. The cactus,thistle and prickly pear The climate suited them well. Now the home was much to his liking But animal life, he had none. So he created crawling creatures That all mankind would shun. First he made the rattlesnake With it's forked poisonous tongue. Taught it to strike and rattle And how to swallow it's young. Then he made scorpions and lizards And the ugly old horned toad. He placed spiders of every description Under rocks by the side of the road. Then he ordered the sun to shine hotter,  Hotter and hotter still. Until even the cactus wilted And the old horned lizard took ill. Then he gazed on his earthly kingdom As any creator would He chuckled a little up his sleeve And admitted that it was good. 'Twas summer now and Satan lay By a prickly pear to rest. The sweat rolled off his swarthy brow So he took off his coat and vest. "By Golly," he finally panted, "I did my job too well, I'm going back to where I came from, Texas is hotter than Hell."     Coy D. Martin

 

My brother-in-law sent that to me. (Thank you, Ralph!) 

As a Texan, I found it rather offensive in some parts (Texas is heaven, not hell!) but the last two paragraphs describe our summer weather so well that I found my sense of humor and felt I should post it. 

Plus, I just happened to have a recent photo of a prickly pear... 

 

 Have a great week and stay cool!

 P.S. I just had a call from my mom - Daddy has been released from the hospital! Yay! The doctors still aren't sure what was wrong, but whatever it was, it's all better now and he's been thoroughly checked out and given a stamp of approval. Thank you for all of your prayers and good thoughts!

Saying my own prayers of thanksgiving now!