Center Stage

It’s the last day of my 3 day weekend and as usual, I got very little done of what I wanted to do. I got some things started though, like pulling some things, like my shoes out of the ‘junk room’ and into my bedroom closet. I don’t know precisely how they got there, but I found several color slides – archaic artifacts of the past. The slides were of an afternoon spent in Monterey with Mommy Nancy, I, and our babies. Did I mention my baby had a tail?

Nancy had a real baby – Diego, who was 16 months old and quite a busy little guy. My so-called baby was Chiquilla, my whippet pup of four or five months old.

I remember that day well, and I know Nancy does too. We drove down to and stayed at a motel which involved smuggling Chiquilla and her little kennel into a motel that, like most motels, did not allow dogs. Ah! Those were the days. Later, Nancy, baby Diego, Chiquilla and I took a long stroll through a lush regional park. I nabbed a gopher snake and took photos of it – which were among the slides I just found.One lingering memory of that lovely spring day was how the baby that got all the attention was Chiquilla, the puppy. Nancy said she very nearly felt hurt that people who saw us made a bigger fuss over my floppy pup than happy little Diego, which brings me back to the present.

Diego is no longer the happy baby – in early November he became 18 - cast his first vote in the National election. Friday night I went with Mommy Nancy, Rick & Diego's 14 year old brother Adan, to Diego's high school to see his performance in a comedy, Moon over Buffalo. I was totally impressed by Diego’s performance as a man confronting his fiancé’s highly bombastic theatrical family. It was amazing to see Diego mold himself into a character, on stage, in front of an audience. He may not have gotten the attention way back in the day with a puppy for competition, but he sure had center stage on Friday. Even Chiquilla would have spotted Diego as a young master worthy of our admiration.

Everything Old is New Again

Wow.

I just heard a bit of the remix of Beatles songs by their original producer George Martin and thought I'd pretty much died and gone to heaven. I shamelessly worship the Beatles to this day and hearing an imaginative remix of their music pretty much reduced me to a puddle of happy goo. Seconds after hearing a selection online of the cleverly remixed songs from a new album, LOVE I ordered the album from Barnes & Nobles. I can't recall the last time I purchased something so on-the-fly but budget aside, I feel the same as I did when I was a teenie bopper and HAD to have some album. Everything old is new again. But, tell you what; I'm not going back to plastic disks played by virtue of a quarter, scotch taped to the back of a phonograph needle. There's only so far old school will get me with my new Beatle bits - I'm stuffing the puppy on my iPod.

Company over the Weekend

It was not the most productive weekend I’ve had of late, but it was a fun one. Friday night Don & his daughter Rose (my 22 year old adopted niecelette) came for an overnight stay on their way up to visit friend in the north county and myself.

Don had high hopes that the pair of us would get down to serious discussion and mapping out of our upcoming 'All Birds, All the Time' trip to Wisconsin this spring. No such luck! Instead, while Don sat neglected amid a pile of Minnesota and Wisconsin Birding Guides in the corner, Rose and I got into a lively game of Trivial Pursuit - the Harry Potter version. Soon it wasWHOOPUS ARSEUS! That means I won. *Tee hee*

Saturday morning we had one of the house specialties, heart shaped waffles with blueberries & maple syrup and then we were off to the Farmer's Market. Don & Rose bought some beautiful iris to take to their friend. I bought my usual lilies and on impulse bought a fresh Christmas wreath for the front door - the only sign in my home that the holiday season is upon us. After the Farmer's Market we all went our separate way but that was not the last of seeing my buds.

Sunday morning on their way back to the Bay Area Don & Rose popped by again. Don, in a spontaneous act of incredible kindness (which actually happens annually) took it on himself to clean my roof and gutters of leaves. Honestly, do I know how to pick my friends or what?

I asked Don & Rose to pose for me in the back yard by my beloved Hawthorn tree. A berry fight immediately erupted, after which they headed back to the Bay Area.

Spare the berries, spoil the child.