The Magic of Mushrooms

Today’s trip to the lake was simply sublime, and a perfect post- work unwind. I love woods and water, especially the rocky shoreline type. So I was primed for some zen rock sitting, watching the water do its thing. I got so, so much more! First off, there is nothing like occupying a waterside picnic…

On turning 6-0

Ah, I can remember when sixty was a distant thing, and how wise and patient I’d grow to be by that age – if indeed I’d live that long. Now that it’s here, what is it really like? Am I wiser? A life of ashes and rebuilding teaches one a great deal. Things like: Nothing…

The Little House That Could

She’s damp, dark and cold, with dead leaves scattered in and around doorways and windows that don’t quite shut all the way. But she stands just as I left her – in disarray from hurried packing. Freshly decorated rooms with art both purchased and created hanging on the walls, candles arrayed on platters waiting to…

Geminids Redux

When I went on the road, I had no idea one amazing benefit would be dark skies by which to grow much more appreciative and aware of celestial happenings. Over the last fourteen months I’ve seen dozens of meteor showers, gobsmacking full moons, lunar eclipses and now the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Last night…

I Can See Clearly Now

It has been over eleven years since I went to the eye doctor. I know, because my late husband drove me there. Today’s visit was an eye opener (no pun intended, hah!) Things have really gotten high tech in the eye exam world. Little lasers to measure your retinal thickness. Video game type tracking of…

Free flying

Oh my, my, how I had forgotten the joy to be found in driving – particularly driving a responsive, well-functioning vehicle where gauges and issues did not have to be monitored. It’s glorious. You feel one with the car. The radio playing classic sounds – The Cranberries, Aerosmith, The Beatles, Panic at the Disco, Plain…

River Run

The title may be a tad misleading… There is a river, but no one’s running 🤣I do ride my bike beside the Colorado, though. As our camping group breaks apart bit by bit, the pace slows considerably. As folks move on, more arrive. Sometimes we have visitors for a few hours and then they mosey…

Sleeping Under the Stars

I finally fulfilled one of my dreams out here, to sleep in the open, under the stars. It’s something I’d only do in a safe place. Last night I visited my original camp for a potluck, but I was packed to the gills for a camp move. Seemed like the perfect place to try it…

Impressions of Life

I came out to the PAR TR for a weekend of fun, to shuck off a couple of difficult weeks and to just relax. What I’ve experienced turned out to be much more. In a world that grows more expansive each day via the Internet, people seem to be growing more isolated and lost feeling;…

Pack and Play

After almost two weeks of talking mainly to myself, plants, and inanimate objects, I need some socialization. Yes, an introvert just wrote that sentence. I too, am surprised. I’ve figured out that introversion is how I process the information I take in over time, but it doesn’t really define my personality type, now that my…

“I’m all alone, with no one beside me..”(Donkey in Shrek)

And so it goes! After traversing Arizona moving south and westward, I finally arrived at the RVing Nirvana known as Quartzsite, or “Q”, as one mountainside proclaims visually. I had seen a video or three on this place. Seemed cool enough. However, after having the freedom of truly boondocking, this is just a leetle different…

Wish upon a star

It’s funny sometimes, how things happen. I stood in the chilly darkness before work this morning straining to see a falling star. It was breezy, quiet and dark. Only the sound of the wind in the junipers, the rustle of grasses, and the trill of unseen insects kept me company. But no such luck. Tonight,…

What do *I* want to do?

A friend of mine recently said ” It doesn’t matter what anyone else wants, what do YOU want to do?”  I thought back to what my goals were before Plannus Interruptus (common ailment for plans, no doctor needed).  Remember nearly five years ago when I bought an RV and planned on paying off debt and…

“Pooh hasn’t much Brain but he never comes to any harm…”

The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living A decade. One hundred and twenty months. Three thousand six hundred and fifty days. And so on.  The pain of missing has diminished, except on the days when it has not. Those days have at least become less and less frequent. Philosopher and Poet David Whyte says of…

Prismatic

If you only knew me like I know me But that’s not true I am mother,daughter,woman,artist,worker,gypsy,friend The facet you see depends on where the light is brightest At that moment If I only knew me like I wish you to know me But what is true How can I be all of this and any…

Saving Wasps & Relishing Quiet

I saved another wasp today. No, no, not the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant type. The flying, stinging type. “Why?” will be most people’s response, understandably. But, I feel that wasps get a bad rap. They live all around my house – on the ceiling of the mud room, on the door frame of my front door,…

Dis·​ori·​ent·​ed

It has been a long time since I put the words of my head onto a white space. Mostly I think because they have not been perky prose, or uplifting, pithy bootstrap thoughts. They haven’t even been particularly interesting – I mean, I’d get them out of my head and pick up a new narrative…

Looking Back Over My Shoulder -Humanities at (roughly) 450 mph

(Oooh, a fragmented lost in draft post, just found, from earlier this year) Now that was a catchier title than “Getting to know  my fellow air travelers”, was it not? Feet firmly back on the ground from vacation, I’ve been in hibernation from over-socialization. It isn’t that anyone was rude or intentionally draining either. I…

Last Grasping of Solitude

For almost seven years of widowhood, I have lived in solitude, with the exception of a one year stint with a co-worker roommate. She opened her home to me for a pittance while I was struggling to get back on my feet upon returning to work and I will always be grateful. I am comfortable…

Fifteen minutes ago

Fifteen minutes ago It was that day. The day I flew. The day I decided not to counteroffer on a house I really liked. The day I last heard “I love you so much.” The day I last shared a newspaper with anyone. I wonder when this day’s awareness will fade from my brain. When…

Discovery

There is nothing quite so heady and energizing as the time of discovering a new person, learning what makes them the unique individual that they are.  Some people are torrents, filling in all of the rich details in an open, exciting rush – emotional Instagrams if you will.  Others let themselves develop their  emotional shading…

Being alone with greedy eyes and an open mind

As you know, I live in the city, in a studio smaller than most people’s garages, filled with boxes and containers from my farm.  It was small before I brought anything in, it is much smaller in navigable space now, lol!  So open space, I love it.  It ain’t happenin’ here on a day to…

Re-entry into normal orbit, or, shifting gears while holding on to happiness

Yes, yes I know, you’d rather see photos and hear about my adventures outside the norm.  Forgive me, I am withholding them like a greedy person, as I know they have to last me at least a year before I can visit again.  But all in due time, I promise, I will share more of my…

When reality beats imagination

Yes, I know I said I’d be posting from the woods, and I didn’t.  Something about being out there made me wish to eschew the computer, a rare event in my life, since nearly everything I do revolves around computers.  Part of the issue was with my generators – one was more suited for phone…

Much ado about nothing, or letting fear go

As I round out hell week here at work, I have been reflecting on lessons learned, and the impact of fear upon actions in my own life.  I was totally in a bad frame of mind about the impending social networking activity earlier in the week.  It was raining when I left the office, after…

When the clients arrive…

I’ve led a fairly unobtrusive business life since leaving the Fortune 100 arena ten years ago.  Long ago and far away, I used to fly a lot to client locations, speak before crowds, chat up potential customers at trade shows, and all of that jazz.  As an introvert, that is some kind of tiring for…

Reviewing the year and looking forward

As I have matured (don’t laugh, just…dont!), I try to reflect on a regular basis, examining events and thoughts, trying to gain more insight into things and to make wiser choices when new ones come along. Since 2009 when my husband died, I’ve had some rough times – but also some good times.  Friendships have…

This Is Your Brain…This Is Your Brain On Ideas

Good grief!  I think my tail could stick to the stool in front of my computer, perhaps grow there, due to the plethora of information on the Internet.  If you have a dream, or are like me, oodles of them, there is a website, a blog, a photo history, of just about anything that you…

A Way With Words

Did you notice  there are two ways to read the title of this post?  The difference is simply space. “She has, you know, quite a way with words.” I looked into his eyes and thought, “Away with words.” Words.  With them you can paint a picture, engage in a debate, enrage someone, cut to the…