On walking

I love to walk.
I don't necessarily love the kind of walking I do in the morning with my friends, up steep hills and down and up again.
But I do it anyway, in an apparently futile effort to get fit and skinny.

Most of the time it hurts.

Yesterday, I had a purposefully car-free day.
I biked over to the walking rendezvous in the morning.
I rode my bike in the afternoon to teach piano.

It was the kind of sunny, mild day that brings Oregonians out of their cocoons.
Riding home, I passed all kinds of people.
Young boys on their bikes and scooters.
Skinny women and teenagers out jogging.
Schoolchildren walking to the store.
Moms pushing strollers with little kiddies in them.

I felt connected to my neighbourhood in a way that I never feel when I'm driving in my car.

Later in the evening, Mum and I walked down to see a friend, taking an offering of tulips and good chocolate.
On the way, we admired the lupines-to-be outside the fire station.
I told her stories about little grandsons and walks we have taken down this road.
About people I have met as I walked.

We visited our friend.
And came home with baby yarn that she didn't want any more.
A serendipitous swap.
I foresee a baby afghan in my future.

For some unique thoughts on the topic of walking, go here.

Middle-aged women (Revised)

Once in a while, I feel like my best days are behind me. You know how it is. My body is misbehaving. I groan when I rise from a chair. Exercising feels like cruel and unusual punishment, no matter how hard I try. I forget more than I remember. Lately, my bread rolls turn out strange every time. My piano students don't know who Simon and Garfunkel are...is... whatever. When I'm asked my birth year, I have to scroll WAY down the list to reach 1956. I can't remember the last time Jeff and I danced the night away. Today, I watched a video that made me want to cheer for all of the middle-aged women of the world who still have important dreams. Unfortunately, embedding has been disabled on YouTube, so you will have to go here to watch it.It is TOTALLY worth the 7 minutes to watch it. You will see Simon Cowell in awe. I cried.

Revision: Okay, I just watched it again with Mum. I cried twice.

This I Love Part II

One of the things that makes me deliriously HAPPY is being surrounded by family...kids, grandkids, spouses, and now my Mum.
ESPECIALLY when they are all getting along.

Lately we have been hosting A LOT of family get-togethers at our house.
This time of year we have Jeff's, Annie's, and Charlie's birthdays all within three weeks of each other. Throw in Easter and then the EDWIN weekend and every weekend has been a party.

Easter Sunday was no exception.

For cute photos (of which I have NONE) click on "Life's Lessons" to the right.

Everyone was home except for Charlie, who was sorely missed.
He is out in the middle of the Mojave Desert on field ops and has been out of cell phone range for a couple of weeks. But he even managed to borrow a friend's phone (who has SOMEONE OTHER THAN VERIZON for a carrier) and called home while we were all together.

Dinner was noisy with conversation.
Jon and Jeff debated global warming.

We made them go sit on the couch so that we didn't have to listen any more.

Bethany mocked my opinions on bottled water.
She thought my posting on the subject was tongue-in-cheek.
I was hurt!
I thought my family knew how seriously I take my position on bottled water.
Obviously I have not ranted loudly enough on the subject.
I will have to rant more often and louder.

Then maybe I'll be exiled to the couch.

Jonnie brought his X-Box with a new guy game.
The men were gleeful in their X-Box saturation.
Nobody went home until 11:30pm.
Things got a little crazy.
Natalie walked around with a harmonica in her mouth for an hour, breathing noisily in and out, with glazed eyes.
Great Nana went to bed.
Women and children started to collapse on our lovely big, cushy couches.
Everyone got slightly loopy.

Eventually, they all went home.

And I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky I am.

It's a Tea Party

Are you attending a tea party tomorrow, tax day?
Go here to find out if there is one organized for your town.
Jeff, my intrepid Mum, and I will be there.

Spring flowers

A separate post, so as not to bore you.

The garden is rampant with colour.
I couldn't resist sharing.

Checkered lilies, quirky little flowers.



Grape hyacinth, a modest, reliable bloomer.


A rather exotic daffodil.


Primulas, perennials which have multiplied profusely.


A close-up of the sweet hyacinth.


These little beauties flowered for the first time this year and smell heavenly. I think they're some kind of narcissus.


Not from my garden, but from my hubby.
Because I've been sick, I think.
Or maybe because he got his new car.

A Sweet Day (in more ways than one)

After work this morning, I met Annie, Bethany, Mum, and four kids to shop for wedding accoutrements.
Crazy, you say?
Indeed.
But nevertheless....mission accomplished:
Bridal shoes, fabric and pattern for bolero, chosen and purchased.

When we arrived home, the sun was shining fiercely on the deck.

We played.



And lay in the sun.


And played some more.



After a couple of hours, everybody got grumpy and then they went home.

Witness the remains of a very scrumptious box of chocolates, bought by mistake by me, at Grocery Outlet, on the way home.

Happy Easter

A lady opened her refrigerator and saw a rabbit sitting on one of the shelves.
"What are you doing in there?" She asked.


The rabbit replied:
"This is a Westinghouse, isn't it?",
To which the lady replied "Yes."
"Well," said the rabbit,

"I'm westing."

Ha!

Thanks to Uncle Ozzie for that one.