SkyMall

 

This morning I took my 16th flight of the year (and I think I might be forgetting one or two). I had become terrified of flying at one point right after I had my girls- I don't know if it was about having so much more to lose if something went wrong, or just post-partum depression. In any case, I've pretty much gotten over that due to frequency.

 

I've enjoyed some of the characters I've met on-board as well as the gorgeous sky-scapes I've taken in from on high. However, I'm always happy to have SkyMall magazine to entertain me with must-have oddities, such as the 14-shelf sarcophagus below:

 

Here It Comes

Few things can cure me of weekend evening loneliness like cruising on a Saturday night and listening to Little Steven's Underground Garage. 

 

The radio show always makes me feel like I've jumped into a time machine and travelled back to my dad's high school and college days when weekend evenings (or most evenings in general) were spent cruising the main streets in cars with wings and chrome, listening to music and playing it cool a la American Graffiti.

 

Tonight I had to drive to the city in order to stay near the airport where I catch a flight to TX at 6am. Little Steven kept me company on my drive with Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972

 

There's something about listening to a cool cat with a smooth voice telling stories and playing a great mix of classic songs that just turns me all Rebel Without A Cause. I definitely slowed down and looked into the window of one of my favorite watering holes, The Weary Traveler, just to see what was shakin'. But I kept driving, because, you know, that's just how I roll. 

 

Greener Pastures

Although the short-list of tasks I'm managing at work looks something like this ...

 

... I am comforted by the fact that I live in an environment that looks like this ...

 

As late summer crops are beginning to be harvested, the fields seem more beautiful than ever, bright shades of green that beg to be rolled in, periodically painted by strips of rich brown where tractors have cut and plowed. Bright wildflowers adorn the roadsides- chicory, tiger lily, Queen Anne's lace, black-eyed Susan and all shades of blue-green prairie grasses. So beautiful!

 

 

 

 

 

The Haircut

Over the years, my six-year-old has hinted that she might like her routine hair trim to turn into a major chop. Giggling and nerves ensue until the last second, when panic sets in and she calls it off. So, I was very surprised a few nights ago when she didn't chicken out, after of years of chickening.

I know that it has often taken the introduction of an idea that I can mull over (sometimes for years) until it turns into my own idea and I can accept it without fear, to get me to take action. Don't get me wrong- there are plenty of things I should have thought much more about. But, how lovely when the results of deciding to go for it end up making us happy, and in the end if they don't, most of the time the worst-case-scenario is that we just end up where we were eventually (short hair will always grow back).

Flower Girl

 

An occasional perk of working for an arts center that is rented out for conferences, performances and other functions is that our office sometimes receives unexpected leftovers to share, such as the beautiful wedding ceremony hydrangeas below. I'm hoping these flowers are somehow infused with the energy of excitement, new beginnings, hope and love involved in the fleeting exchange they were just a part of. I doubt that the blushing bride realizes that her wedding flowers are still alive and well throughout our building, participating in all sorts of interesting activies-- listening in on marketing calls about Smokey Joe's Café and Evil Dead the Musical to name just two.

 

Kissin' Time

I've been amused over the last few years by how many companies have resurrected the brands my generation loved when we were growing up, in order to tug at our heart and purse-strings and get us to purchase similar items for our own children.

My Little Pony, GI-Joe, Strawberry Shortcake, Marvel, Transformers, Smurfs, TMNT...all have made a big comeback in the last 5 years. My daughter has been enamored with Hello Kitty (another popular brand of old), so we looked online the other day to find a rainbow Hello Kitty backpack to go with a lunchbox she found at a store, and came across this double-whammy:

Haha!

Taking the Plunge

Growing up, my brother and I were two of the first kids in town to race to the city pool when it opened at the beginning of summer. When the temperatures dipped low, the fully clothed lifeguard would humor the two of us for 30 minutes or so as we splashed in icy chlorinated bliss, then blow the whistle and yell "all out!"

There is a beautiful lake surrounded by pine and maple forest at the nearby state park, and I also loved to swim its width from the beach to the boulders on the other side, where a rope swing hung from a birch tree. My mom didn't like me swimming across the entire lake, but I would sneak out as far as possible then pretend that I couldn't hear her calling. The water smelled fishy and woodsy, and sometimes had algae that looked like snot floating around the edges.

When I moved to Santa Barbara in my 20's (where I coincidentally had almost grown up), I adored swimming in the ocean- tasting the briny salt water and feeling the seaweed and sand on my toes, body-surfing in the massive waves and surrendering myself to their power. One day my friend Jeremy and I ventured way out beyond the waves into the calm water. He showed me how to float with my ears just under the surface, so we could listen to the dolphins call to each other down below. It was so peaceful and haunting. After ocean swimming my skin would feel clammy and my hair tangled like a mermaid. It was heavenly.

I think the appeal of swimming for me is the weightlessness and momentary escape from the human world- to dive down and use up an entire breath as I glide through cool water, and hear nothing but the blood pumping in my ears, or the buzz or hum of the dim sounds from above or below...sanctuary.