I’m just sayin’…

 images

  1. fugitive: fleeing, as one would flee from a dangerous situation, place, or from justice. But you can also be a fugitive from negative thinking; running away from bad thoughts. Right?

 

habits of thought

2. When you turn something over and over in your mind, like you (and I) do as we’re trying to fall asleep, it’s called ruminating. It also suggests images of cows. Like cows chewing their cud, we choose to chew our thoughts—over and over, and we can’t get to sleep. In that case maybe we should count cows instead of sheep.

 

cartoon ruminate

 

cow ruminating

 

 

3. purloin: to steal; I would use this word to explain that I purloined my friend’s play on words: “undivine intervention.” This phrase speaks to me and makes me laugh. Laughing is good for one’s health. And you may purloin the phrase, (UN)DIVINE INTERVENTION, from me now. (YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION, SO IT’S NOT PLAGIARISM.)

 

thief

 

 

4. rue: regret. I have many regrets, don’t you? I’ve heard you aren’t supposed to have regrets. What?!? How can one NOT have regrets? I suppose we could decide to take the lesson learned and run with it. Then we can appreciate what we said or did or thought and feel no remorse (another word for rue).

regret

    5. pedant: According to the dictionary, pedant is a person who lays unnecessary stress on minor or trivial points of learning, displaying a scholarship lacking in judgment or sense of proportion. In my opinion, teachers have to be careful not to be pedantic. I’m not mentioning any names here though.

 

pedant 2

 

 

6. love: It’s Valentine’s Day, so naturally I’m thinking about this. I love lots of people and things and places. Today it is my wish to remember to appreciate those people and things and places all the time. Even when they disappoint. Happy Valentine’s Day, Everybody! love copy

013

I love this person, place and thing!

El Pescadero–Where I Hang my Sombrero

 

 

 

Photo on 2-11-15 at 4.09 PM #2

Me in my sombrero.

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Beautiful sights around here. Morning, afternoon and night.

So many things to do and places to relax. (RELAXING IS MY JOB).

The day begins!

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The moon is still showing its face.

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We’re in the grey house on the right. So close to the Pacific Ocean! Yay!

Blaze, from Canada, lives in the orange house.

(He’s a great neighbor.)

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Afternoon ride in Little Red! Whoopee!

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Farmland, Desert, Ocean and San Pedrito Point

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…on the way to Los Cerritos!

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The waves at the point at Los Cerritos!

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Little Red can make us high!

P1150948We know how.

Jiggy Rock-Bottom Boogie

002

 

****

Mr. Wind is dancing on my deck.

Tables and Chairs team up

and jiggy on over with

lanky legs to tap a racy rhythm.

Surprise! Chair does a pirouette

before it topples to the ground.

****

It cannot right itself. Poor Chair.

I’ll save you, Chair!

My hair joins the dance. It

lifts and twirls and slaps my

face. I shiver in my socks.

Wind whips, and Clouds swoop

****

They’re a traveling exhibition meant to

shock and squeeze a fancy fiesta for us.

Come on, Chair. Stand up!

There now. That’s better.

Señor Wind craves more movers

Leaves whip in–it’s a salsa recital!

****

Hair and Leaves and Chairs

and Tables and Wind choose

partners. Wait! Rain explodes

with its own jiggy rock-bottom

snazzy jazz. Thunder now,

and Lightning too. Get boogie!

****

Would somebody turn that music down?

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Baja Morning Moon

DSCN4591

 

Salty, sandy shore 

Ocean brings a liquid gift

Tumble, toss, and spray 

*

Moon at daybreak shines 

Sparkling on the water’s edge

Light through window glass

*

Catch one tiny beam

For dancing in its shadow

Won’t you come and play? 

Beauty in my Baja Life

 

 

 

And the earth’s holiness created a savory marinade for the lovers’ solitary winter dream.

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If a painter chose these colors to paint a sunset, would you believe in its realness? Go ahead…believe.

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Far from the usual and suspected is the place fused with sensual force.

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Allowing an impulse, a sweet whim to overtake us in moments of fancy is to live

fully formed, radiant and crystalline.

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Sing the song of today that has been carved from your pains and passions.

Embrace the welcoming reflections of the morning sun.

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Do not waste your days on the insignificant.

Take instead some Baja painted, silken sky and wrap yourself in today.

in full measure

FYI: Not to worry. The author (me) is not the speaker of this poem.

 

pineapple

 

Candied pineapple sits upon my tongue

sensory, sweet, bursting with joy

makes full my heart, and offers

your closeness, clarity, illumination

…my needs and desires revealed

 

marriage feast

 

 

You feed me candied treats

to coerce me into loving you,

conjured next a marriage feast

to force more sweets upon my tongue

…in full measured spoons

 

lunar eclipse

 

Lunar eclipse too soon, a proof

when in each other’s shadow

we cease to exist unto our selves,

lacking magic atop our stage

… on the surface of our moon

 

 

together

 

 

Relentless in our hope for unity

we listen and make love,

swing in a hammock of trust

swallow moments of preoccupation

…together, always together

 

chair

 

 

Wanting to touch and be touched

sensations turn in swirls of dust on

chairs that could not hold you,

and yet I see you sitting there

…darkly handsome with perfect posture

 broken

The rules bent and broken,

mostly warped from your deceit,

a sour candy melting on my tongue

nothing else will draw us closer

…no slight of hand, no trick or two

 

 

magic

 

 

 Naught is heard or felt or known

to stop the river of your betrayal,

I make instead a lone return

where summer dresses hang

…alongside winter coats

 

 

closet

You know how to–

love copy

A new mantra:

You know how to give and receive loads of love! You’re a kind-spirited individual with a heart of gold who stands up for what you believe in! You always find the good in every situation, even when things seem difficult. You let your heart guide you through life and are open to new, fun experiences! 


Wouldn’t it be the all-time best if this were true about you and me?

Looking for the good in every situation is not an easy task. That’s an understatement. Often it requires big dose of forgiveness. I’m slow to forgive. I admit it. I am getting better, no doubt, but I am still a diamond in the rough where forgiveness is concerned. I find it hard to forgive myself, let alone others. So this is another place for my energy to go. Focus on forgiveness and find the good in everything.

I’m going to tack this little paragraph up on my mirror to remind myself of these things. I like how its worded as if it were a done deal.

Maybe someday I can look at myself in the mirror and repeat the mantra and it will be 100% true.

I’m already pretty good at the “heart guiding” part. I’m going to work harder on the rest of it. How about you?

We know how to give and receive loads of

love copy

Yeah, that’s us!

Words, Words, Words or How English is Weird

huh

 

who knew?

i just knew it,

it’s news to me

i don’t know how i knew it,

it’s not new

are you new?

i knew it


i know

no, no, no you don’t know

the more you know

i know no time that you didn’t know

to know you is to love you, no?


the farther i go

the further away from you i am

tell me, how much farther is it?

we will go no further with this discussion

furthermore…

we will go no farther on this trip


you’re starting to bother me

your lousy attitude is making me crazy

it’s your turn to go

you’re the one who has to go

when you’re with me i wish your lips were on mine

you’re here with your hat in your hand


wait for it

put your weight into it

it’s my way or the highway

it’s way cool how the scale will weigh

when you weigh yourself

the way i see it

you weigh so little

wait, don’t tell your weight

no way

yes, weigh


come again

their town is that town over there

there is their town that they’re going to visit

there are more places

they’re going more places

their plan is to go more places

they’re going to that town over there to visit their friends

so there


who’s going to win the Seahawks game?

who’s in line?

whose line is it?

we found out who’s here and whose friends are here

who’s here and whose house is it?

whose owl is crying whooooo?

who’s on first?


the beat goes on

who likes the beet soup?

it beats me who likes beet soup

don’t beat up the cook who uses beets


i’m here now

can you hear me now?

i can hear you over here

but are you here?

here is where you’ll hear the best

English is weird

Wedding Dance

 wedding dance

 

We’re in our marriage ballroom,

A corsage upon my wrist,

White rose in your lapel.

#

We’ll boogie down the dance floor,

Hear the drum,

Feel the beat,

Shake it,

Rattle it,

And roll.

Trip the light fantastic, babe!

Hear the drum,

Feel the beat,

Jitterbug,

Swing,

And sway.

#

We’re in our marriage ballroom,

A corsage upon my wrist,

White rose in your lapel.

Phone Call from Long Ago

This piece is a vignette. It’s fiction and takes place when phones were connected to the wall and had rotary dials.  If you remember those old days, you remember my old days! You only “hear” one voice. Here’s hoping you enjoy a moment back in time.

 

phoneyellow phone

 

Phone Call from Long Ago

 

 

young girl on phone

Hi Carol.

What? Well, don’t ask me. I don’t know much of anything, unless you count the 20 words that I spelled correctly once in the fourth grade in Mrs. Myers’s class. Did you have her?

No? Well, she was a piece of work, I’ll tell ya. I think she was a vegetarian before there even were any vegetarians.  Poor Mrs. Myers probably never had a steak smothered in steak sauce.

What was it you wanted to know?

Are you for real? What came first?

That’s what you want to know, weirdo? Is it so important that you interrupt my perfectly wonderful Saturday afternoon, asking what came first, the chicken or the egg?

Yeah, I know you’re funny.

I don’t think true vegetarians eat eggs, so Mrs. Myers probably never had an egg in her life either.

It’s a shame. I agree. Deviled eggs, egg salad, poached eggs, scrambled with cheese—all so divine.

Quit asking me that. I’m fairly certain nobody knows the answer. You’re weird. Who cares? For your information, that’s actually what they call a rhetorical question. It’s only supposed to make you think. That’s what I think.

Mrs. Myers told us she wanted all of us to think. She didn’t tell us what to think either. I started thinking my dad is a creep (and it turns out I’m right). I’m actually pretty sure she wasn’t suggesting I should be thinking about my dad being a creep. But he is one. He picks the zits on his back at the breakfast table.

Yes, I’m serious. You’re right. He’s gross and disgusting. Like I said, he’s a creep.

Your dad is a creep too? I suppose we both have creeps for dads. We have a lot in common, ya know? Some dads are really cool though. Stephanie’s dad is really cool. She told me that in homeroom one day last week. He’s having a swimming pool built for her. That’s so cool.

My dad would never let us get a swimming pool. He says it’s too much trouble and then he told me I’m not worth the trouble.

That’s what he said. I’m dyin’ if I’m lyin’. And listen to this: just yesterday he said he forbids me to wear lipstick to school. He thinks I’m too young to wear make-up. What a creep.

No, I don’t have any idea why he thinks a 13 year old is too young.  That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to ask you: what is your favorite lipstick color?

Really? Dramatic Red? Oh yeah, now that I think of it, you do look super good in red lipstick. I could never wear red lipstick. I absolutely love Dreamy Pink. It makes me look so pretty. It makes me look innocent too. I am innocent (until proven guilty).

That was a joke, stupid. You’re supposed to laugh.

Oh shoot! Sorry, but I have to get off the phone now because my dad (the creep) needs to call one of his stupid clients. He says I have to hang up now so he can use the phone. God, I wish we could have two phones like Stephanie’s family does.

He’s yelling at me again. Can you hear him?

Yeah, see what I mean? Shoot. I gotta go, okay?

Okay. I’ll call you later.

 

images

 

My Senses are Smiling

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The pungent smell of dead fish on the beach mixed with salt air and the aroma of basil from the nearby farmer’s field is what greeted Isabela, my German shepherd, and me this morning on our day-break walk. We passed fisherman on the shoring casting and reeling (not catching yet) as we continued on the sandy shore to our destination.

 

 

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What’s fun about Isabela is that she is so excited to do this and her enthusiasm turns on the excitement in me. Somedays she is the one who decides when we’ve gone far enough and need to head back. On those days I am just letting the day happen to me–no plans, no hurry. Today is one of those.

The sight of waves is always a joy. The sound of them too. The salty spray that reaches me is a spiritual blessing–a kind of baptism, without the religious aspect.

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All my senses are smiling and my heart is full of gratitude for the goodness that surrounds me. I’m thinking of my dear friend who just left this life less than a month ago, after a long and graceful dance with cancer. I imagine holding her hand, laughing with her.

And I let the day begin.

 

In loving memory of Susan Swisher whose 64 years on this planet were a blessing to all who knew her.

 

 

 

 

 

If you want…

If you want true happiness   P1150841

pick up a dictionary because

happiness is in there

it comes ready for you to

pull it from the page

!

If you want fried potatoes      potatoes

you don’t go to the bedroom silly

pick some potatoes from the ground

in your garden or lo and behold

from the bin at the grocery

!

If you want to peel, slice, and fry them up

and put them next to happiness

from the dictionary, then go ahead

it might just make you even happier

to add some ketchup (or catsup) too

!ketchup

If you want to see the sun come up     sunrise

well, I guess you’ll have to get your

lazy self out of bed first

before the sun itself decides to rise

or you’ll miss it for sure

!

If you want to pierce your belly button     belly piercing

you just might have to ask

your lover first, because your

lover might not like a piercing there

might he not?

!

If you want to be a smart cookie      smart cookie

all you have to do is

think smart, and I suppose

it wouldn’t hurt to act a little

smart along the way as well

!

If you want to forget every     

single solitary little bit of good

advice I have given you

then go ahead, but don’t blame me

if your dreams never materialize

forget