YOU ARE HERE (well, soon)

Okay, I know I said that the beach is my favorite place to be, but I have to say that coming in a close second (I'm talking photo finish) is Yosemite National Park. Pictures can't do it justice. You just can't imagine the size and grandeur of it . Why do I bring this up? Because my family is headed there this summer. The kids are counting down the days and frankly so am I. We all take our bikes and once we are there, we pretty much walk or ride bikes all over the valley. I'm surprised that I haven't run anyone over since I tend to be looking up and around, instead of where I'm going. There is a serenity there (once you get away from the tourists) that I can almost taste, and my entire being gets refreshed. There is no place to be in a hurry. There are no appointments. No pressures (aside from altitude). I feel like I can do anything when I'm there. Unfortunately, my body reminds me afterwards that well...maybe I did push it a bit - ouch. But sore muscles do heal, and would I have passed up the chance to climb to the top of a waterfall in exchange for comfort? Not on your life.

So on days when things get crazy and I'm tired and just want to escape. I look at a picture like this and think....soon.

PB and J

Nothing's better than

Peanut-butter jelly fish

Sandwiches on toast.

Caren E. Salas

My attempt at haiku. Just playin' :) You knew it had to be about the ocean, and well, it's almost lunch!

Now I lay me down to sleep...

...to sleep, perchance to dream, ah, there's the rub. Truth is, I don't dream very often any more, or at least I don't remember my dreams. I used to dream of flying, and I would wake up feeling elated, as though I actually could soar through the clouds, and sail far above the earth. My spirit would be lightened, and I felt as though anything was possible. So what I want to know now is...where did I put those dang wings?? When was it that I wandered beyond the boundries of Neverland? How do I get back? Perhaps the characters in my stories can.... Yes. Michelle, and Kessa and even Hagatha will be my happy thoughts, and my fairy dust. So...here I goooooo! The second star to the right, and staight on til morning!!!

(Thank you to Wm. Shakespeare and James Barrie for my inspirations)

Sunsets and Smiles

In this time of teetering economies and tightening of belts, I try and remember how much fun we can have without having to spend any money at all. My husband, Bill and I love to go down to the beach and just walk around, people watch, nature gaze and just act like kids. We love to take pictures of each other, the more embarassing the better. The benefit of digital cameras is that you don't even have to pay to get them developed. You just download them and enjoy them whenever you want (barring a power failure or computer crash.) Early in the morning we may search for seashells. At night we study the constellations. This picture was taken sometime around midnight in Huntington Beach. The lights of the city were beautiful and there were still people wandering around socializing and enjoying the warm Southern California night. How great is that? Gotta' love it.

Spring

There's something special about Spring. It seems to wake us up from the long sleepy months of winter. The days get longer and warmer. April showers clean up the atmosphere, leaving behind starched white clouds and an endless blue sky that makes us envy the birds. Everything and everyone around us seems to be in love. And why not? Love is one of those things, like Spring, that gives us youth no matter how old we may be. So, my friends, happy Spring! Live, love, try something new, or just look into the sky and dream of flying.

the Humming-thug

I have a humming-bird feeder outside the window of my bedroom and I love it. Everyday it is visited by humming-birds of all colors and types. There is one bird, in particular, who seems to think he owns the joint. He comes up and drinks a while, then sits on a nearby branch and chases off any other birds that try to take a sip. I call him Paulie (as in Walnuts, not "wants a cracker") I have to admit, he is gorgeous. At first glance, his tiny green body and black head don't look like anything special, but then he'll turn his head to look at me, and the sun hits the feathers on his head in just the right way to show that they are really a brilliant magenta. With a bright flash of color that seems to glow against the browns and greens of the garden, he darts back and forth to the feeder and back to his branch. Of course on the day I took my camera out there, he wouldn't stay still long enough to get a shot. Instead, he flew right up in my face, as if to say (Al Pacino style) "What chu lookin' at? You lookin' at me??" I flinched,as the image of being skewered by that needle-like beak, went through my head. I was, however able to get a few shots of those he "allowed" to stop in for a quick nectar martini at the Bada Bing!

A New Day

Hello! It's a new day. I haven't written for a few days, but I'm back from the dead and ready to go. I even have a plan. Granted, my record for sticking with plans I've made in the past, is sketchy at best, but I'm going to try one day at a time and see how far I can go. The "Ms. Consistency" award may never be engraved with my name, but I might just get the "Ms. She Tried Real Dang Hard" honorary ribbon...or something. Who knows?
You may have noticed...or not, that I'm a bit scatter-brained today. Not sure why. Just one of those days, I guess. I'm thinking maybe the soap bubbles from the cleaning products I've been using in my house have made their way into my head. They aren't popping because there would have to be something in there to bump up against. Feeling completely devoid of inspiration, but hey, this could work out. I'll just clean my house until I think of something great to write about. I'm sure that's how they came up with stories like Cinderella, or Winnie the Pooh. (I just rearranged the menagerie of stuffed animals on my daughters bed.)
A special hello to my favorite reader in Florida! Okay, my only reader in Florida....oh, all right already, my only reader period, but still my favorite! Hi Lorraine!

Dreaming of the sea...

My daughter on Mandalay Beach at sunset. Does it get any better?

Another Monday...

Well, another Monday is here, and here I sit... thinking about the things that I need to do: cleaning, paying the bills, doing the filing, deciding what I should have for dinner...The things I want to do are much different. I want to take a walk on the beach, listen to the waves, maybe sketch out a dream or make a sand castle. I want to write a new story. I want to listen to Rachmaninoff, and dance in my living room. Yet life consists of the good and bad, the things we want to do vs. the things we must. So off I go to clean out the refridgerator, and make sure there's enough money in the bank to cover the car payment. My mind will be deep in the sea, swimming with Mermaids and Octopi. There will be days to write it all down another time.

Eat, sleep, breathe, write.

Yesterday I was writing in my journal and realizing what a basket-case I would be if I didn't write. I started thinking about how true artists of any type need to do what they do. Whether it's the authors of novels or poets or composers or painters. Throughout history, people have created things to express emotions that they couldn't express as well in any other way but through their art. An idea gnaws at their beings, eating them up until it forces it's way out. Sometimes they can't get it out fast enough, and they, like the artist VanGogh, succumb to insanity.
Looking through my own words in my journal, I found frustration and fear and loneliness. When I write stories I write the opposite. It's as though my journal is real life, and my stories are the world I create to escape that life. Both are necessary to my mental health I'm certain. The funny thing is, my poems, for the the most part, are the opposite. The best ones are about pain. To write poems about happy things seems to take more effort for me. I wrote a poem for children about my dog once...but it was about when he was lost, and how helpless it made me feel. But hey, what child doesn't know how it feels to lose something they love? And what child doesn't know how it feels to be helpless in a situation?
The point of all this rambling is just to say that this is not just what I do. It's who I am. It's what I need to do to live. Just like eating, sleeping, breathing...I have to write. Whether or not I get published, or if anyone but me takes the time to read what I write doesn't matter. Heck, people were using VanGogh's paintings to cover up holes in the wall, and as dartboards. Still, he went on, painting his dreams and nightmares, and I go on..
... writing mine.

Back in time for a little fun...

No, I don't mean I got back in time, I mean I went back in time...so to speak. My 9 year old's class had "Gold Rush Day" in school. They sang songs from that time period, did some square dancing, learned about the miners' life and even panned for "gold". Granted, I could have gotten more gold out of the bottom of a Goldschlager bottle, but hey, she had fun. California History - gotta' love it.

In the off moments of my school/taxi service I spent a little time trying to figure out where to send the manuscript for my novel. I keep thinking it's ready to send, and then I think of something I want to change or add and sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get it out there. I'm also thinking more seriously about getting an agent. A friend of mine, who is an actor, says he loves having an agent because people tend to take him more seriously. And although you have to give the agent part of the take, I'm thinking it will be worth it in the long run considering all the research I have to do just to find a publisher/editor to even look at my work. It's a thought anyway.

But now, I have to take care of more important issues...4th grade homework, teen drama, how to get my son off of YouTube long enough to get some exercise...

Well...here goes.

The point of this blog is, for the moment, merely a way for me to keep a journal. I just want to document little snippets of my life from time to time. If anyone but me is reading this...you have way too much time on your hands. Really. Way. Seriously, if it wasn't my blog, I'd surely have no time to read it. That said, the benefit of having no real fans is that I can pretty much write whatever the heck I want. Any way that I want. So, don't go trying to correct the grammer or spelling, or leave comments that this blog sucks, because honestly, if you have the time to read it, you obviously have no life. (This does not apply to my fabulous friends or dear relatives of course...okay, maybe some of the relatives.)
So hear goes...my first official post. I feel so special. I'd give you all a big hug and kiss...but I have a really bad cold and trust me...you don't want my cooties.