Nap

Missed Mine But The Deer Didn't

Did I

Mention the Dragon?

Dolled Up For Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Cones But Again

Oh Lonesome Me I Swear It's Just Over This Ridge

Making Faces Dan WHAT Are You Doing!?!

Even The Deer? Home!

Boo

Now THIS is a Halloween House!

Revenge of the Cones

I'm Colorful Tough Workout

Madonna Pet Rocks

Albinos Sharpening our skills

Buzzcut Patriot

Grief

Grief is a funny thing. Sitting here looking out the den window seeing leaves fall from one of the front yard trees I'm overwhelmed by it. It's been nearly 4 years since my best friend died. In that time I've lost my mother, father, another Karen and a high school friend who surprised us all taking his own life. You plod on because you must. When you were younger life was about immortality. Tragedy was contained in the family's "Dear Rodney" letters filled with sad news of ailments and passings. Those deaths were distant. Then you hit middle age and a few more intimate "Oh how sad" moments crept into your life. Still those passings were of people you really didn't know. They were blood but not your inner circle. Again you go forth. Suddenly death's brutal reality hits you full force. Death takes your best buddy. From then on your world of perception and being is altered. Nothing can return those you love to living, breathing entities. Some days you do see and hear them in your head. It's reassuring and yet not. A song, photograph, can be a cue. Boom, tears start. I thought of my Dad's quiet passing in the living room of the house he and Mom had been together in during their last years. I recall the resignation in his voice when 24 hours before he died he said aloud " I guess I didn't accomplish much." It broke my heart then and does so now. Have no clue who he was talking with, he'd been having "conversations" for a few days. Most comments he uttered made no sense but I knew he was visiting "others." At least

I understood that the anguish in his voice when he cried out "Mary, Mary," would soon be calmed. They would be a couple again. "The hour of departure has arrived and we go our separate ways. I to die and you to live. Which is better God only knows." Aristotle.

Gatos

These are Cooper and Emma. Fur balls of love

and peculiarity. Going to be a whole new

ball game when Ramona gets introduced to

them. Kind of know Emma will head for the closet.

Cooper will also disappear for a moment and then

his curiosity will get the best of him and he will reappear to

try to figure out "what the hell is that?"

Ramona will be on leash just in case.

Stay tuned.

Hallow Easter?????

So when did Easter pastels become

part of the Halloween tradition?

Oh wait, that's right. There is no Easter next year.

They found the body.

Yes, I am going to hell!

Making Hay

These geese are in no hurry to head further South.

For over a month they've been hanging out at the

Greenhorn Reservoir. Ramona and I see them every

morning. This hay was put out yesterday at a nearby

construction sight. Popular breakfast buffet this morning.

What's That?

Miss Us?

It's Chinatown Jake

Get Off Of Me!

Backstage

Hey, DUCKING Fodgers

SIT DOWN

Congrats Phillies!

Fine Dining and the Cats

I'm reading a front page article in the SF Chronicle about the restaurants in the Bay Area which are rated in the newly released 2010 Michelin Guide. Lo and behold there's one in my home berg of Los Gatos which got two stars. Manresa. Made me realize how the small town I grew up in has evolved. Now, I know that 2 stars in an excellent rating from Michelin (3 stars awarded ONLY 71 times in their 110 year history) and it's pleasing to think of such a fine restaurant is based in LG. However, I'm sitting here laughing because I know the folks I grew up with, my fellow Wildcats, would easily have given the ole Burger Pit 5 stars! Charbroiled beef with a salad bar. What more could you want? In the day THAT was a Friday night on the town. We did have Los Felice, La Hacienda (waiters in tuxes) and the Red Coach Inn but those where you were dragged to when Aunt Mary or Grandma visited. No, the Burger Pit was where it was at. Then change began. The Grog and Sirloin appeared. Old Town opened. The Wine Cellar. Mimi's Rooftop Cafe. The later is where I gamely ordered my first shot of expresso, NOT knowing at all what I was getting....ordered because at 18 I was trying to impress....oh my. When it came in that teeny tiny cup and I took my first sip I nearly choked to death. Such a sophisticate. Promptly poured it out in the flower box and swear on my next visit all those flowers were dead. To this day NOT an expresso lover. Strong black coffee yes but expresso isn't my cup of tea. (har har) All of those restaurants are long gone. Even the legendary Cats finally bit the dust. By the way does anyone else know the names of THE Cats? Way back when I was told, Leo and Leona. The one with the eyes open is Leona. Leo, of course, is sleeping on the job. Could all be folklore. Don't know. Just one of those stories told to you at a young age and for whatever reason you remember...forever.

OMG

When in the hell does your body start to loose flexibility? Right after kindergarten? Maybe it's the colder weather I'm experiencing up here or just a complete lack of overall fitness? How can that be? I walk a mile with the dog daily and lift a few weights. Apparently those attempts at exercise are menial and don't frigging count. Got a very early start this AM, furiously sanding spackle and then placing the magical blue painter's tape in preparation for today's painting. Been balancing on the ladder, lying on the floor, squating, etc., in order to get the tape properly placed. Just took a 10 minute coffee break and sat down in the front room recliner to check the news. In those 10 minutes I apparently set like the spackle. Honestly, I feel like the Tin Woodsman when he got rained upon and rusted. I can barely move. Sigh.

It's Pink

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Not Me!

Nope. I'm not raking up these leaves.

Loma Prieta Quake

20 years ago and about this time.....5:07pm if my memory serves me well. Was at Candlestick with dear friends Christa and Jeff and their oldest daughter Molly. Jeff scored the tix from a scalper. We were in section 44 (right field) 2ND to last row from the top. When the rumble started Christa said "sounds like people stamping their feet"....somehow I knew it was a quake and yelled "sit down." As we were rocked back and forth in our seats by the 6.9 magnitude, you could hear the joints (if that the correct construction terminology) creak....my eyes were closed but I did sneak a peak and looked toward the press box across the field. The light towers were swaying and some poor soul was on one hanging on for dear life....I recall thinking what is it going to feel like when this section gives way and we fall backward onto the pavement....it was a thought driven by curiosity not fear....I vividly remember the sense of calm that engulfed as I thought I was going to die.....oddly, I was okay with it. After 15 seconds of eternity it was over and a huge cheer erupted from the crowd. The woman in front of me, (with an A's cap on...the enemy) turned around, looked at me and asked, "What was that?" I grinned and uttered, "That was an earthquake. Welcome to San Francisco!" There are many memories of that evening and the days which followed including my up close and personal visit to the epicenter off of Summit Road....BUT, the image that is forever ingrained in the mind's eye is what I observed from the back seat of the Lawrence's car as we made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge. After spending nearly 2 hours to get through the city, it was dark as we drove onto the bridge....mid span I turned to look back at the City by the Bay.....all I could see was the fire in the Marina....that world renown skyline didn't exist....just a vast orange glow in the pitch black darkness.

As The Sun Goes Down

The golden and pink hues gleam. Really lovely.

After The Storm

Snow on the Mountain

It's Final

I'M KEEPING HER!

New Day, New Dawn

These shots show the sunrise I experienced this morning as Ramona and I walked around the reservoir at Greenhorn Park. Truly a new day and a new dawn. The huge storm that hit the Bay Area yesterday (and most of CA I guess) hit here but contained only rain. No huge winds or deluge thankfully. Today will be cloudy but right now the sun is out. In between painting, caulking, shredding, scraping, spackeling I've been thinking.........What is up with the demise of Gourmet magazine? Not that I read it mind you but how can it be going under? The interest in food preparation and fine dining has blossomed like mad since the Food Channel hooked us all? So why is the magazine folding???? Really don't understand........ I'd also like to state that I am happy as a clam (See? Food related) that Rush Limbaugh won't get his evil hands on the St. Louis Rams. Each time I hear or see the man all I can think of is Broderick Crawford's Oscar winning portrayal of Hughie Long in "All The Kings Men." Can't decipher who is the worst demigod....Rush or Dick Cheney?

Fall Colors

It's definitely Fall and I love it. Absolutely my favorite time of year. Presently 600 miles North I get to experience a chill in the air which rarely exists in LA when fall arrives. I also get to wear sweaters, gloves, scarfs, drink hot chocolate, fix and devour hearty soups as well as smell smoke from fireplaces that heat neighbor's homes. Things I grew up with. Things I've genuinely missed during my 20 years in the Land of La. Trust me having soup when it's 85 degrees outside is a contrast that doesn't please the senses. Must be getting sentimental or realizing that at heart, I'm a small town girl.

Siskiyou?

Homage

The CL stands for Chris Lopez, a Yreka teen, who died unexpectedly while competing in a cross country track meet last month. I've witnessed the out pouring of love and compassion this town expressed for him and his grieving family. This small tribute is atop the reservoir at Greenhorn park where I walk with Ramona each morning. Seeing it is a daily reminder of how fragile life is and that people do AND can care. Something with all the vitriolic occurances in the news one tends to forget.

House Repair

Wish I was referring to Hugh Laurie and not my parents home. As I type, hammering, pounding, and the compressor are all alive with sound and motion. New roof going up to replace the 30 year old one before it. Yesterday when the plywood was being "laid" you'd have thought the house was under siege from bomber aircraft. House literally shook as the workers dropped each sheet into place. As the new kid on the block nice way to say "howdy neighbors." Expect to find my tires slashed soon. Last week when I scrapped off the wallpaper in the kitchen and one bath I felt empowered. Over the weekend a good friend and I painted the kitchen and had fun doing so. Now, not so much. Both bathrooms are stripped of wallpaper but repainting on hold as some leakage and mold was found beneath the foundation.....so no painting until that is dealt with. DRAT! Have I mentioned my head hurts? Ironically, not being employed is "paying off" as I have the time to oversee all of this and it does need to be done. I understand getting the roof on in the great weather we are having. It's the messy bathrooms, smell of Clorox I used to wash down the walls and floors to kill the mold bacteria, etc. that's grating on my nerves. That, and the reality that I've known I was never going to make big bucks on the house. In hindsight I should have invested more time into getting repairs taken care of when I was working. So my complaining is just that, complaining and bemoaning. Heading into one of the trashed bathrooms to get a fistful of aspirin. Now where did I put my headphones?

Ah Nature

Up Up and Away