Curve balls in life

I guess this can be considered about traveling and wandering. I think I just need to vent a bit. Since returning from Sunny California I have been trying to readjust to the fact that I miss my friends, the wonderful food and the warmth of California. I miss the wide open spaces and even the brown of it right now since it is late summer. I miss the fact that I had to wear sunglasses every day I was out. I miss that my friends were welcoming and happy and people were friendly.
I am sitting in my house and not liking anything but the view. Last night there was a great meteor shower. I got up at 4:30 to see it. I missed most of it becuase of the overcast. Nothing new. I am wearing a sweater and Uggs as it is cold enough to have them on. COME ON! ITS AUGUST!
Ok, I admit is partially that because of my job that I feel this way. And my bitchy neighbor too. But I have never found so many people be so on guard, or so unwilling to be open and friendly in my life! Am I so stand offish that no one at least wants to talk and get to know me? I don't think that I am dull or stupid or so opinionated that I can't be approached!
Ok, so enough of that. So because of this set back I decided to call a couple of old friends and lick my wounds a bit. Then after I did that I ate some very nice, very dark chocolate (very small piece I might add) and then I tried to do some meditation and visualization. Well, I have to say the chocolate worked best. BUT, I also got out my trusted "Guide for the Advanced Soul, A book of insight."  you hold a problem in your mind, then close your eyes and open the book to any page for an answer. Very new age. But it gives me perspective every time.
What did it say you ask me?
"Success is a journey, not a destination-half the fun is getting there.  Gita Bellin
So, ok, I guess it is where I am supposed to be at the moment and as much "fun" as I am having in this stew of life I would really like to be past it. But there is no rushing these life lessons I guess. Now I know why there are all those platitudes of making lemonade and keeping your eye on the ball.
 So, for now that I have complained and groused and stomped my feet like a 5 year old. I will go upstairs and play with my puppies and fix dinner and stop being childish. Life can't always be wonderful. But if I am lucky I will see a spectacular sunset alone tonight and I will be grateful for the opportunity to see it with my eyes. To lift a glass of wine with my hands, and to eat the food that I have made, and keep warm and safe in my home. And if I should think of just one more thing to be grateful for, it would be that I have friends out there that will read this and laugh at my musings and think, yep that sounds just like her. Because after all I do have some pretty spectacular friends out there even if they are farther away than I would like. Oh yeah, that's something to be grateful for, my friends from all over.
Ya know, I feel better already. It is the journey that brought all of you into my life. However short or long it was. And I have all of those memories to make me realize how really crappy the lives of these people must be to have to be so mean and manipulative. So, thanks to all of you for making me hit the curve ball. I may not make it out of the park, but it is definitely a base hit. Play on my friends! I am ready to take on another round with the cursed crew!

Going to the Fair (Mid State Fair that is........)

Every year that i lived in Paso Robles, I looked forward to July for two reasons. My birthday and the Mid State Fair. Because of the location of Paso there are no good venues for concerts within an hour and a half of you. And growing up in the Bay Area I was within 30 minutes of so many good places to see great artists in so many amazing places that it was one of my favorite things to do all year round.

In Paso we get big names for two weeks a year right in our back yard in an out door venue that is not the greatest as it gets windy and cold at night but it gets great crowds most times and you have a super time.

This year my three concerts that I got to go and see with my amazing friends Brianna, Katie and Tayven was Sugarland, Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum on my birthday.

We had second row for Jason Aldean. The girls are in love! They made signs for him and I have to tell you it worked!. He loved it. Sugarland we were futher back but it was still great to see them play so well. But a concert is only as good as the performance and the people you share it with. I love the concerts that the performer interacts with the audience more, and I have people with me who can get up and have a good time by singing and dancing and shouting and showing that they are alive and enjoying the concert. I figure if it's called a live show we should be alive! Be excited about it! It is an event in your life and it is an event in that performers life though they have them all the time, it is up to them to make it different in each place they play. That is one of the things I liked about the older entertainers is they knew how to play to an audience. Most of the new acts don't. Some do, and they seem to bring them closer to them even if they sit in the very back of the arena. Why go if it sounds like the CD? I didn't have to pay 60 bucks to hear a replica of what I have. I want to have something new to take home.

We dont' have the pictures of the Lady A concert up yet as they don't seem to be on my download from the girls so they will be on at a later date. But to me it was the best of all as we saw them go from an opening act and a on the free stage act to the big show and enjoying every minute of it. They are polished and shining up the act and coming on strong.

But it is more about seeing the strange outfits at the fair in the 95 degree heat and what people actually wear out! It is more fun to sit and people watch, and i am not just talking about the young girls in the very short jean shorts with the boots and cowboy hats, i am talking about the really huge men and women in their 40's and 50s that should know better! I had forgotten how really silly it was at the fair.

But it is also about running into old friends that you haven't seen in a year and that you can stand around at Jimmy's watering hole with a drink or a beer and catch up on everyone that you haven't seen. it is so much fun to see all the sea of humanity that shows up for the two weeks of the fair. And to know that it is in your back yard.

We ate all the food that you eat at a fair that you wouldn't think of eating any other time of the year. The corndogs, the fried waffle things, the most delicious cinnamon rolls ever from the Western place! YUM! And of course you can't go to the fair and not have kettle corn. It just seems to call to you. There are so many other good things that are there, the fish tacos and the Santa Maria BBQ....I could go on and on, but you get the idea. And then there are the vendors and shopping. Three huge buildings of stuff that you never see except at the fair. It's more fun than ever! Just to look at it all. I love it! Even in the heat, but by 5-6pm it begins to cool down and the temperature will drop from 95 to 50 in an hour so you have to have a jacket. It is one of the things we used to love about it there. It always cooled down.

So, I loved the fair this year as it was special just getting there and seeing everyone. I didn't get to see all that I wanted but I was so busy, and to tell the truth I had to nap most days to keep up with the three of them. Funny how age does that to you.

Well, my friends I hope that this summer, you have a grand time, and find a great summer memory to include in your book of memories. When you get really old you will be able to pull it out and revisit the feeling and enjoy it again and again.

Going Home again......

As all vacations or any fun trips go, they fly by. The days melt and seamlessly flow together until you wake up one morning and think "OH NO! I have to go home today!" You have to rearrange your luggage so you have room for "stuff" you are coming home with that you hadn't planned to buy or get or find, but you did. You then have to leave behind the leasurely mornings and lazy afternoons and go back to the reality of work and/or school or the reality of your life. Now if that is something you like to do, then you will not mind finding your way back to it.
Me, well, I hate my job so if I don't get a transfer when I get back, I am going to leave it behind. That's why vacation is so very good for us. It gives you time and perspective on what is going on in your life. Let's you see what you need to do what you need to work on, and what you need to let go of. How to simplify.
I saw many friends while I was visiting Paso Robles. It used to be home. Now it is where I have a lot of really good friends and a whole lot of extraordinary memories of them all. You will see some of them over the coming weeks as I have pictures and stories to tell of this week and other things I learned about turning 60 with three thirtysomething women who I adore!  Bri, Katie and Taven made it a very special day for me and I will never forget it! You will see what I mean later on. I also learned that I am truly happy to be this age and have lived in the era I did.
To those I got a chance to see it was great, and those I didn't I will see you next time.
A very special thanks to my little host Christopher who shared his cold with me. Thanks Chris! lol! You are growing up too fast!
So my parting thought is that there is always a a reckoning to everything we do, why not make the best of it so when it comes we know that it will be for something good? We proved that this week! See y'all soon!
Coy

The not so fun part of Travel

OK, so I love to travel, we have established that. but I have to say that I cannot find words to express how much I HATE lines and rude people that you find at airports and other public places that don't care about anyone but themselves. REALLY PEOPLE?????
While travleing yesterday I stayed a ok hotel right by the airport the night before so I could get up have a somewhat easy day of travel and not be totally exhausted. After all I am getting to be a bit older. I was up early, was on time for thr shut tle to the airport which is when I noticed that noone sees the elderly anymore. And I am NOT talking about me. I had two rolling bags, so they were ok but not easy, and yet there was a lady with a cane and a rolling bag that was having trouble getting off the shuttle. The attendent got her bag off and then helped her down and was gone. Ok, that's his job. She and I started into the building together. I can't tell you how many people bumped into her as she was walking just to the ticket counter.

On my flight there was a mother with a young child. When it came time to disembark, no one offered to let her get the child or herself off the plane. I stopped and let her and I heard grumbling from the three guys left behind me. Who then had to stand on the tarmac and wait for their "carry on" that is not really carry on any more.
So, I know that we are all in a rush to get to where we are going. But take a moment and make sure that the older person gets through the door, or the mother with a stroller goes first. Your karma will be better for it. Your day will be better for it and your Soul will be better for it.

I will be the crazy old woman that will be watching someday making notes of those that don't and sending it straight to Santa!!!

Can you really ever go home again? And if so where is it?

I am planning a week long trip back to Paso Robles to see old friends and visit the sun again next week. I am really looking forward to eating at my favorite places seeing the people I have missed this past year and wandering around Paso and see how I feel.
I have found in the past that you can't go home again. Oh it is great to see everyone, and to visit your old job and the resaurants and places that you loved, but you no longer belong. You no longer have a sense of history that is more current. Everyone's life has moved on including your own.
What I do know is that you have strong ties and that your real friends are there and they welcome you with open arms and they are what make it feel like home again. It is like with your family. You pick up where you left off. With no gaps. That is when it feels so warm and fuzzy that you can't stand it. We all know how that feels.
I know the 9 days I will be there will fly by, but the memories are what will live on with me. After all that is what life is all about right? Having all kinds of memories when you are too old to go anywhere or do anything so you can sit on a porch and relive the good times and trips and people that made life good. My Grandmother taught me that. She gave me my wanderlust when I was very young, and I love her for that. She also said you always pay for good shoes, a good haircut and good perfume. Hmmmmmmmm.
Well, I am already packing to leave on this next adventure. I will take lots of pictures of it all so you will be seeing them here in the coming weeks.
Talk to you all when I get back! Keep kicking up your heels until I return!
Coy

Yosemite, my heart

I was talking to my tent mate Jane (via email) who lives in New York about our summer in Yosemite. I was there from May to August. Jane and I had a great time while we were there. I packed my side of the tent with "stuff" because I brought my crafts and my bike and then I bought other stuff while I was there. I think she was amazed I could still walk to my cot.

But what I loved about that time was the women who came together. I woke up each morning smelling the fresh air and the forest around us. I went for walks and saw the creatures that learned to adapt with so many people milling about in their habitat. I met Native Americans who outwardly accepted what has happened to their land. I saw their generosity to share the stories, and their culture and tried to give back to them some of the respect and care to the valley that they love. And they shared this wonderous place through their eyes.

I have always been drawn to the place since my paternal Grandmother took us there in the early 60's. We saw the famous firefall, the bears at the garbage dump, and the rangers telling tales around a huge fire in the campground each night about the Native Americans. I do remember most how cold the water was when we went swimming, and how magnificent Half Dome was at sunset. How El Capitan was bathed in gold as the sun began to rise in the morning as the low tully fog would dissipate. I loved to get up earlier than everyone else and go out to see it all before the crowds of summer.

Since then Nancy and I have gone there many times during different seasons. I have taken several friends for their first look at the valley and I never lose the emotion of seeing it for the first time again. Cal and I have been there a few times and have hiked in the snow in February.

We have seen many different sides to the valley, from snow to the warmth of summer, but the granite cliffs remain. Not the same, but still tall and grand. They reach to heaven and make a small miracle in between them. The meadows that John Muir loved and that Ansel Adams photographed are always there for us. They have changed over the last 50 years I have been going to the Valley. There have been floods, landslides, and fires. But the Valley heals itself. It keeps coming back. The trees grow back and become better because of a fire has cleaned out the underbrush and made room for new seedlings. A flood cleaned out the rivers and the streams so that they flow better and left silt so that more flowers will grow in the meadows that were underwater. The landslides are how we got half dome in the first place. If you look across form half dome when you are there you will see a full dome that is what it used to look like.

In high school I had a great biology teacher that taught me that all things change. Nothing bad or good just that all things change. Well, I learned it well. In the Valley that I love, it changes all the time. But it still takes my breath away every time I see it. I love the changes and accept that there are things that will be different every time I go.

Next time you go to Yosemite, try to take a side trip to Hetch Hetchy reseviour and take a walk to the falls there. This used to be as beautiful as Yosemite but they put up a dam in  and the water is for San Francisco. John Muir fought it until he died. It is a wonderful hike around it and you can imagine how beautiful this valley might have been.

So enjoy my amature pictures of a valley that I know makes my heart fill with joy everytime I see it. I hope each of you has a place like this.  

Do we really see around us, or are we passing it by?

My girlfriend Nancy of 20 plus years sent me an email that had someone else's blog posting in it. It was a short poem about how we are all so attached to our cell phones, I Pads, computers and jobs that we don't take the time to look up and see what's around us. Oh we say we are in touch because we are on Facebook and we twitter and tweet or whatever the hell else you do. Oh yea and lets not forget texting. Where we teach ourselves not to spell correctly.  And as those of you who really know me understand I have resisted all of this. I like to send emails but there is nothing better than a face to face.

When I lived in Paso Robles, I liked to go to breakfast on Saturday's to Touch of Paso and catch up with the women who worked there. They were friends that I could chat with and it was a face to face meeting that we all enjoyed. I like to pick up the phone and talk to hear the intonation of the voice so I know if there is really a problem or if it is just a minor thing. I can't tell that from a text. Even an email which I do use, doesn't satisfy me.

I like to stop if I see a scene that is rare and beautiful on my way to work and find a moment of time to smell the roses that used to grow at the end of the rows of the vineyards that I passed on the way into town. You can't do that if you are doing 14 things at once. You don't notice the play of clouds across a clear blue sky as a storm moves in. Or as it moves out to leave a sparkling last spray of raindrops on a tree. Or find a rainbow when it comes if you are texting. I find myself every morning on my way to work leaving early to catch the early light at the lake or the wispy clouds over the hills just so I can spend a few minutes drinking in the beauty of it.

So when you are looking out and up and finding yourself with friends and family, enjoying the interaction between people and have the experiences you can enjoy in the years to come. Those are the memories that you will always have in your hearts. Holding your grandchilds hand and showing him the beauty of nature and the life lessons that will make them a better person in their life. That is the time you can listen to their questions no matter how small.  Who knows what might come up? In this day and age of technology (some of which we are using right now to reach out to you) I am missing out on a beautiful almost perfect sunny day on the coast. Granted it is still cold but there are some beautiful clouds in perfect puff ball style and the birds are chirping. My dogs are awaiting me to take them for a walk down to the beach and if I am lucky, maybe we will see the Orca that has been sighted off the coast. Who knows? But I do know that I miss my Saturday morning chats with my "girls" and I miss that I don't get to share little things that go on in the day to day routines, but I do get to send pictures now. And I do get to stay in touch with old friends that are far away in places. So I guess there are some redeeming factors.

Enjoy the Day!!!! Coy