Easter Eve

I've gone off chocolate and jelly beans as last year I ate so many jelly beans I broke out in hives! Now Chocolate is giving me headaches and not tasting so good to me anymore. I usually boil and color Easter eggs but I haven't done that this year either..too busy working in the yard and spring cleaning the house. But that is a good thing and I will think about what Easter is all about on Easter Day, appreciating all the nature around me, while I am with someone close to me named Easterday! Now, that being said, I have shamed myself into putting the pot to boil..

Driving to work...random thoughts. All three of those cars turned right without stopping at the red light..they didn't have an arrow..does one doing it make it right? The Beavers make a dam and the humans have to tear it down...over and over...but what can we do..we can't reason with them to stop the madness. The woman that just passed me in that car had her hair so taut and had such a firm expression on her face it made her look like a middle aged man. The geese are pairing up...will have little goslings around soon and more green poopy. Talked to my friend on the phone right through the scheduled tornado drill at 7:30pm. Was I supposed to practice running to the basement? uh oh The whole moon is reflected in a lake and also in a drop of water. The Universe can be very big or very small...depends on where you are in it. And how big or small you are. We may be seeing all of it and don't know it.

Just took a little evening nap after reading some Zen sayings in a little square book that I have had for years that sits next to my chair in the sunroom. It's amazing how that relaxed me. I miss my naps..I used to always take one a day and I haven't for about a year now..no wonder

my energy feels like it is all whacked out. I also get a much better night's sleep if I take a short nap right before I go down for the night...Well, I have been called an enigma by some who think they ought to know!♥

Irish Squirrel

It's incredibly warm here, has been and will be for the next several days.  All the trees are budding and the magnolia two doors down probably has about 3 good days left, for she has bloomed in extreme force..everything is much earlier now...sprouting wise.  We had a very mild winter and although some portions of our state have had terrible tornados we have had very pleasant weather..I am relishing in it.  KennyRogersLookAlikeBeforeThePlasticSurgeryWentWrong came home early from work and we sat out in the long lingering sunshine eating blue chips and salsa and beer and a couple pieces of pumpkin bread.  And then like clock work here came our darling squirrel to spend the next 3 hours with us.  She actually is a new one...we named her Wynken Pretty Tail...we have had a couple Wynkens in the past..and funnily enough, she acts just like them.  She comes to the door of the sunroom and stands there and looks in, knowing I will come out immediately and give her a peanut.  So there she came at 4pm and we sat and fed her almost a bag of peanuts in the shell.  She is still a little too shy to take it out of our hands yet, but she stands very close and then scurries off to bury them.  She ate a few, but mostly she was putting out her breakfast for the morning.  It was cute..it was very warm and humid today, so she laid on her tummy sprawled out flat to eat her peanuts She stayed with us till dark...very unusual...squirrels usually go in when the sun is starting to set.  

We said to each other that we could have gone to the tavern to drink green beer for St. Patty's Day, but we both agreed we had a much better Irish time feeding our Irish Squirrel. Simple pleasures are the best.

Abundancy

A friend of mine told me yesterday that she lives Abundantly and that by living Abundantly, abundance comes to you.
...............but isn't it so much more fun to scrimp and save and wish for...invites creativity in my mind...
Just a thought....

Team Spirit

Some of you might know, the Super Bowl Football game was here in my home town of Indianapolis. I must admit, when it was announced about 3-4 years ago, I questioned whether our town, which used to be called Nap Town, would be able to boldly host a colossal event as this is.
I, myself, have never gotten into football so I just assumed it was a regular game... you know they run with a ball and fall down, and people have parties on a Sunday night and eat massive amounts of munchies and drink massive amounts of beer. They said they were planning a big event and you could tell that buildings were being sandblasted clean and everything was shined up. I just wondered what would all the people from out of state do for entertainment.
My town. Indianapolis was a sleepy city where the sidewalks rolled up at 5:30pm every night in the 1950's and '60s. Everyone that worked there lived in the suburbs and never thought much about urban renewal. It was just a place to work and pretty blah. You came home from work and never thought about the city again until the next trip into the office. Christmas time you all gathered in the family car or took the bus and went to see the animated characters in the department store windows of the two major stores downtown. The month of May was the celebration of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing..the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Those two times of year the city came alive..each for a month at a time. Then nap time again.
We had a mayor in the 1970's who had a vision to improve the city with investment but Indianapolis needed a 'draw'...something to lure venture capital in and make the sleepy people excited. He and his committee decided sports would be the ticket. A basketball team was born~we built an arena and our people were excited and rallied it on. Investors were interested and we cleaned up the city and united some of the suburbs. We have a huge global pharmaceutical company based here and they invested in a convention/exposition center. A sports dome was then attached and as they say, "if you build it, they will come". We didn't have anyone to play in it, but because we had a fabulous facility and patiently waited, we were recognized as a contender for a national football league. We were in competition with Phoenix, Arizona but our already built and waiting 'ballroom' won out over a "we can build it for you" competitor. The Baltimore Colts needed a new stable and ours just happened to have the colors of their team. A fortunate twist of color fate.
People here are no longer napping but are exhilarated and lively and it is like that every day of the year.
Lady Victory, our grande dame on the top of the War Memorial of Monument Circle in the center of our city, was beaming brightly over the crowds and she, I'm sure, shed a tear of pride as she looked down on all the citizens of her beloved city that she has reigned over for over 100 years. I could see the torch in her hand blazing like golden fire. We visit her often, especially on moon lit nights and I have never seen her more radiant.
I am so proud to have been able to partake in the biggest party Indianapolis has ever seen in it's existence. The end of January and first of February are notoriously icy cold days, but not this year. The weather was just slightly chilly...perfect football weather...which lasted for over a week. The amazing expert planning and commraderie that every one showed each other must have brought the warmth. It had to be. Team Spirit, I'd call it.

A January Friday Diary

This morning I worked at the dental office as I usually do on Friday mornings, for about 4 hours and it is usually very calm and quiet as I am there without patients. Thought about getting a lot done this morning..while listening to Mellow Jazz.com and being able to actually hear it with out the dental drill (even though after 25yrs+I don't really 'hear'it any more) but alas 2 people called in first thing with emergencies and I had to call the 'our beloved darling' dentist out of a conference meeting into the office on this cold morning. I also made a new patient appointment for a lovely sounding lady from China with a name that sounds like bells ringing when you pronounce it. I told her that and she said 'You are very musical'. Awww that made me feel happy.
I came home after being tailgated the entire way by a young girl who would not have been able to stop her car without running into me so I just went very slowly until about 6 miles she left my lane..I couldn't even see her in the side rear mirror she was that close..geez.
I went to the grocery for a few things and couldn't even get down the fresh produce aisle because 2 men were stocking items and had all their wares blocking me and this little old lady who had boxes on her cart...didn't ask her what those were for even though I had to keep picking them up for her as they fell off. Then another lady who had on a beautiful full length coat that looked like mink but was not, kept getting in my way whenever I wanted to look and choose ...she wanted to look and choose the same items...I liked her coat though so it didn't bother me much...we have a very small neighborhood grocery store.
I finally got to the parking lot to load my groceries and it had started sleeting so the passenger side car door was frozen shut...ok, so I used the driver's side even though it was gonna be harder to get the groceries out when I got home.
I arrived at home to see many lime green vested Hispanic men in every tree in my back yard and on my street..with tree trimmers and power saws. Aughhhh! I ran out and shouted to a man high in the top of my tree over the pond. He shook his head vigorously and called to someone named Rigo to (I am assuming) talk to the Senora. Around the corner and through the fence gate came Rigo who spoke English very well. I asked what are the men in the trees doing? They were just here 3 years ago and hacked a big chunk of my crabapple tree down. Are they taking my trees down? He assured me that they were only trimming small limbs away from the power lines and they are sent to do this every 2 years by the Power and Light Company. Oh, ok then, but I wished that KennyRogersLookAlikeBeforeThePlasticSurgeryWentWrong was home from his day off errands. Rigo noticed all my bird feeders and squirrel feeders and all the black oil seed shells that have formed a thick cushion of mulch under them. He said "Ah, the birds and squirrels must love you for feeding them" and as he said that they came in a flock and waited in the bushes for me to fill their feeders. He was in awe that I am like Snow White.
When they were finished trimming and walking away with their saws and clipped brush I had the thought that I needed a few branches clipped away in my pear trees that are now growing into the powerline that comes to the house. So I asked one of the men that I knew could not speak English if he would trim them for me. I pointed and then did a chop chop hand motion and he understood and did a really fast clean job. KennyRogersblahblahblah came home as I was out there sign languaging (he thought I was talking to squirrels until he saw all the lime green jackets in the neighors trees). He was very proud of me for breaking the language barrier and relieving him of the task that might have electrocuted him. That would definitely not be good.
We then went to the flea market as we still had our coats on and it just wasn't the same as it used to be when we were buyers and sellers in that realm. I didn't even find anthing that I don't already have. That was disappointing but a revelation of how much stuff we really have. Skeedaddled off to grab some dinner and I saw a man dining alone. I felt sorry for him..he seemed lonely with a cast on his leg...I always make up stories about people in my mind when I observe people at random. I heard a cell phone ring and he answered it and I then realized that he was no longer lonely..as long as people have cell phones that ring loneliness may not loom so big after all. So tonite as the sleet and snow and wind is falling and howling, I am thinking of the bell ringing name and the birds and squirrels that come when I call and the notsolonely man at the restaurant. Huh....a January Friday....