On the Streets Where I Live

On the streets where I live.... photo topic from Teri!  

The first picture is by the dog park and was taken when the weather was prettier.  The next pictures I attempted to take on my way to work last week. I wasn't going to post them until I saw another blog....  Yea, I agree Oprah didn't say anything about taking pictures while you're driving!!  Maybe I can get some better ones to share; it would be nice if I could be the one riding!

Right next to the dog park where Abby likes to go play!

Driving to work

The exit for work

And that's all I have for now!  

Books!

Can a person have too many books? 

I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed with the number of books I have but yet...I still pick up more at the thrift shops,  Goodwill, or the bookstore!  Let's not even talk about my once or twice a week trip to the library!   I'm trying to decide what to read next, but I think I have too many choices! 

So I'm wondering, is it possible to have too many books?  

Poem....The Book of Camp Branch

How much delight I've known

in navigating down the flow
by stepping stones, by sounding 
stones, by words that are
stepping and sounding stones.

 

Going down stone by stone,
the song of the water changes,
changing the way I walk
which changes my thought
as I go. Stone to stone
the stream flows. Stone to stone
the walker goes. The words
stand stone still until
the flow moves them, changing
the sound - a new word -
a new place to step or stand.

 

~ Wendell Berry ~

 (Leaving)

Trip to the Beach!

The worst winter storm Arizona has seen in 17 years has caused Governor Brewer to issue a state of emergency.  There is already 3 feet of snow in the Flagstaff area with 2 to 4 more expected by week's end, terrible flooding in the Valley including a levy breach close to the small town of Wenden, as much as 5 inches of rain in the north valley and between 1 and 2 inches in the Phoenix area, evacuations in Sedona, a rock slide closing I-17 meaning there is no way to drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix, plus a tornado warning in Maricopa County last night with a touchdown recorded in Desert Ridge in northeast Phoenix.  It is still raining at my house in Chandler this morning.

Amidst all of these terrible weather conditions, I thought a trip to the beach might bring us a smile....

 

One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach; one can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few. -Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Don't grow up too quickly, lest you forget how much you love the beach. -Michelle Held

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has courage to lose sight of the shore. -Andre Gide

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship. - Louisa May Alcott

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm is terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. - Vincent van Gogh

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea. - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I could never stay long enough on the shore, the tang of the untainted, fresh and free sea air was like a cool, quieting thought. - Helen Keller
   

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.
And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them... - Matthew 13:1-2

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

and a favorite little poem of mine by ee cummings:


maggie and millie and molly and may


went down to the beach (to play one day)



and maggie discovered a shell that sang


so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and



millie befriended a stranded star


who's rays five languid fingers were;



and molly was chased by a horrible thing


which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:

and

may came home with a smooth round stone


as small as a world and as large as alone.



For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)


it's always ourselves we find in the sea.” 

Fun Book!

This book was great fun!!  I listened to it on audio during my commute and found myself laughing at 41 year old Ginger who is living in the family's finished room over the garage with her cat named "Boyfriend".  Some quotes I found about this book:

"Life's a Beach is filled with hilarity, sister love and sister hate, juicy arguments and hard-won reconciliations, but most of all, heart." 

 -Adriana Trigiani, author of Big Stone Gap

"I devoured this slice of family life served up in Claire Cook's inimitably warm and witty style.  Tender, touching, and terribly, terribly, funny!" 

-Mary Kay Andrews, author of Savannah Blues

I discovered another book by Claire Cooke that was released in May of 09 called "The Wildwater Walking Club" which is "the story of three women who walk and talk, talk and walk, tally their steps, share their secrets, and let life take them in some new and surprising directions."  

Snow in Flagstaff

Snowing in Flagstaff today 

with an accumulation of 9 to 15 inches! 

Glad that I'm in the valley!!

Poem.....Trough

There is a trough in waves,
a low spot
where horizon disappears
and only sky
and water
are our company.

 

And there we lose our way
unless
we rest, knowing the wave will bring us
to its crest again.

 

There we may drown
if we let fear
hold us within its grip and shake us
side to side,
and leave us flailing, torn, disoriented.

 

But if we rest there
in the trough,
are silent,
being with
the low part of the wave,
keeping
our energy and
noticing the shape of things,
the flow,
then time alone
will bring us to another
place
where we can see
horizon, see the land again,
regain our sense
of where
we are,
and where we need to swim.

 

~ Judy Brown ~

(The Sea Accepts All Rivers)

 

Rain...Welcome Rain!!

Still raining in the desert today! It is so welcome. I never thought I would be one to say I missed the rain, but there you go! I do. I took my camera with me today in the hopes that I could get outside and take a 'rain' picture, but it didn't start raining until evening and I was swamped at work! So I'm sharing a 'found' picture. Hope you enjoy it!

It's raining in the valley today!!

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Elizabeth Gilbert's comment about this book:

"It is rare that I literally laugh out loud while I'm reading, but Rhoda Janzen's voice-singular, deadpan, sharp-witted, and honest-slayed me." 

After reading this quote, I just had to get my own copy!

I enjoyed the author's depiction of growing up in a close-knit Mennonite family and the background and history she provided.  I enjoyed her depiction of her parent's; her father's good looks and her mother's 'niceness' and upbeat attitude toward everything!  When the author asked her mother if she mourned the passing of her youth following her hysterectomy, her mother's reply was "No I was too busy celebrating the fact that I wouldn't have to have my period anymore."  During her surgery, the Dr. punctured two organs resulting in Rhoda wearing a pee-bag which was also shared in varying moments of hilarity.  Her husband was left to take care of her; changing dressing, cathing her, emptying her pee bag, etc.  Her friend Lola talked her into going shopping-with the pee bag in an aqua tote-shopping with enthusiasm!

She was able to make a full recovery, but afterwords, her husband left her for a guy he met on gay.com!  

Then the very same week the author was involved in a head on collision leaving her with broken bones and a long recovery period necessitating her return home to the Mennonites.

The author's humor following so much adversity in such a short period was so funny at times, but the repetitiveness of her husband leaving her for the gay guy...well got a little tiresome.  Especially since she remained with this bi-polar man who treated her terribly at times, and should have left him herself much sooner!  

I do consider this book a good read though, just not earth shattering.  If you get the chance, read it.  It will make your own life look better!  

Other quotes I jotted down from the book:

"It is much harder to show compassion and understanding when we are the ones being hurt directly, when the wrecking ball of someone else's misery takes us down too."

"I especially don't want to end up like one of those bitter divorcees...who is still holding on to her feelings of betrayal after 22 years!"

"I have come to believe that virtue isn't a condition of character.  It's an elected action.  It's a choice we keep making, over and over, hoping that someday we'll create a habit so strong it will carry us through our bouts of pettiness and meanness."

Eat Pray Love

Finally finished Eat Pray Love and really enjoyed it by breaking the book down into Beads, taking notes on the parts that touched me in some way, and reading it with a great group of Chics! 

Arizona View

The Views in Arizona!

Went to the library on my lunch hour and picked up a few secrets to change my life with juicy living while staying slim forever the French way kinda books! 

I picked up:  

"Juicy Living. Juicy Aging" by Loretta LaRoche, 

"A Weekend to Change your Life" by Joan Anderson...who is the same author who wrote "A Year by the Sea" which I really enjoyed!  

"The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" by John Izzo PhD, 

"Life is a Verb" by Patti Digh which I'm so excited to read (thanks Teri!), 

"Slim Forever the French Way" by Michel Montignac, 

and a couple cook books to go along with it!

"The Deen Bros Take it Easy" & "Thirty Minute Pasta", and

Karen White's latest "The Girl on Legare Street" which follows her other book "The House on Tradd Street".  

So I've really got some reading to do this weekend!  

I also want to finish "Eat. Pray. Love." that I've been reading with the Chics....

After work, I stopped at Ross's;  I just love that store!  I got some new sweet smelling soap, some great tea bags...seem to be on a real hot tea kick lately, a new desk calendar called Simplicity, then my greatest find; some new notecards so I can catch up writing to my pen pals!  Expect notes from me soon!

Hope you all have a great weekend!  

January smiles!

Keep smiling and make January a month to remember!! 

People say that smiles are contagious. 

I have fun testing out that theory, 

especially on really crabby people. 

If they don't smile back at you, 

maybe they will think of your smile later...and smile. 

Hmmm. Do you think?

Poem.....Any Morning

Just lying on the couch and being happy.

Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head.
Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment, it has
so much to do in the world.

 

People who might judge are mostly asleep; 

they can't monitor you all the time, 

and sometimes they forget.
When dawn flows over the hedge 

you can get up and act busy.

 

Little corners like this, pieces of Heaven
left lying around, can be picked up and saved.
People wont even see that you have them,
they are so light and easy to hide.

 

Later in the day you can act like the others.
You can shake your head. You can frown.

 

~ William Stafford ~

 (The Way It Is) 

Poem.....At the End of the Year

Though I know we are now 2 weeks into the New Year; I really enjoyed this poem and wanted to share it with you! I've been under the weather since the New Year started and would kind of like to rewind and start 2010 over!! Have a great week!! 

The particular mind of the ocean

Filling the coastline's longing
With such brief harvest
Of elegant, vanishing waves
Is like the mind of time
Opening us shapes of days.
 
As this year draws to its end,
We give thanks for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time nor tide can touch them.
 
The days when the veil lifted
And the soul could see delight;
When a quiver caressed the heart
In the sheer exuberance of being here.
 
Surprises that came awake
In forgotten corners of old fields
Where expectation seemed to have quenched.
 
The slow, brooding times
When all was awkward
And the wave in the mind
Pierced every sore with salt.
 
The darkened days that stopped
The confidence of the dawn.
 
Days when beloved faces shone brighter
With light from beyond themselves;
And from the granite of some secret sorrow
A stream of buried tears loosened.
 
We bless this year for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.

 

~ John O'Donohue ~

 (To Bless the Space Between Us)

 

Hello 2010!!

I haven't been very good with my blog so far in 2010! It has been a rough beginning, our youngest son and family returned to Illinois on the 3rd. The cold/flu swept through the entire family (except Jeff of course!) and I had to wait until the Monday when it was time to go back to work to get sick myself.  What started out as a bad cold ended up as the stomach flu also and then I have this weird ache in my ear and the whole side of my face.  Broke down and went to the Dr who said I have a sinus infection and gave me some high dose antibiotics.  Here's hoping they do their trick-quickly!  I guess I've never had a sinus infection before and I've never had an earache before.  I can certainly sympathize with those of you who do!  Our youngest son spent his childhood with ear infection after ear infection, and now I understand what he went through...and my ear wasn't even infected, it just hurt.  While getting the prescription filled, I also bought some high powered vitamins!  Something's gotta give!  I think my biggest goal for 2010 is to get healthy; sometimes we just don't have any control over it though.

When I got home, our daughter was doing Yoga!  I got her a couple Yoga tapes for Christmas (knowing that I could use them too)-pretty sneaky huh?  haha  She also bought herself some Pilate stuff and is now a convert...she says that she felt so much better all day after doing Yoga!!  Jo and I have made an informal pact to try and practice Yoga this year.  It really helps keep the idea in the forefront of my mind just knowing someone else is thinking about the same thing!  I think she has a jump start on me though because she's also been walking on her treadmill.  Well I am telling the blog world...I promise my friend...as soon as I feel better I am going to sit my fat butt down on the Yoga mat and try out the tape!!  

I will end this post with a poem that I really love.  Once again, it is from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman...each of us is limitless.... What a great line!  We all have the strength to make any changes we feel necessary in our lives!  And I will add to my blogger friends, you are each so special to me!!   

Each of us inevitable,

Each of us limitless --

Each of us with his or her

right upon the earth,

Each of us allow'd

the eternal purports

of the earth,

Each of us here

as divinely as any is here.

~ Walt Whitman ~

(Leaves of Grass)

View from South Mountain

Samantha, Cody and Alliyah

South Mountain

Fun Times!