camouflage

little red riding hood cloaked all in blue
wanders in woods concealed not to who
seeks of her color masking true hues
guarded by forest over time grew
tall by sweet innocence sent from above
reeking of passion, dreaming of love

diabetic seizure

I feel like a girl
who ate dessert
and forgot dinner
skipping to sugar
missing nutritious substance
along the way

a lady in waiting

A knight riding a cyber horse has passed my window. I'm not sure if he's a prince, but he feels like one. I guess that makes it true for we each own our reality and who's to argue with my perception? :)

Time shall tell as we know so well. Not much more I want to say about that.

tragedy at Ledges gate

So last month at the entrance point to this beautiful park, a 20 year old girl slammed her car into this stone label with such impact that the car burst into flames and she was killed. It took them days to identify her or the car for that matter (which was a new car even) and I found it all hard to believe such a tragic happening could take place in such a serene environment. (notice flowers wrapped around the wildlife sign on the far right). Dear Lord, please bless her soul.
http://www.midiowanews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15984209&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554188&rfi=8

and on the lighter side of life, check out this article
95 years of loved ones, poems, and yes, a mule bite
http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab3.cfm?newsid=16117639&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554371&rfi=6

Ledges State Park

Valentine's Day hike.

I'm heading down from the high ridge trail.


















Peas creek flows through the park with several places cars get to drive through the water.

Temperatures broke records with highs in the upper 60's - what a treat! The wind was really blowing and kept me feeling just perfect, not too warm, not too cold.

I probably should have spent more time stretching according to my calves 2 days later.

let's go hiking

Today I'm celebrating with a nice hike. All by myself so I'm not limited by other people's laziness.

http://www.stateparks.com/ledges.html

http://areas.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=iasplg&CU_ID=1

http://www.iowadnr.com/parks/state_park_list/ledges.html

may everyone have a blessed day!!!!!

a valentine poem

For you Valentine

holiday cheer
special for who
touches love hearts
passes up blue
moments of doubt
for kisses of hope
only a start
this message’s scope
larger than limits
grasp’d by a mind
heavenly showers
hints of the kind
wishes I send
on this fine day
may eruptions of joy
dance, live & play
today,
tomorrow, & into God’s beyond

keeping up

Let's see, my friend, Don, who had the heart attack is coming home tomorrow. He can walk & get around, but sure is looking at an uphill climb.

Job hunt 2006 is going well. Lots of people are out there, but today I found a great ad that I sure hope describes my job. I have decided I would make a great administrative assistant. Tis what I seek.

Love life, hummm looking up. My long lost love/nightmare has reappeared & is claiming to want sobriety. We'll see how that goes. I so badly want to believe in fairy tales.

On my side of the coin, my sobriety exists. Weekend evenings seem to be more of a struggle, I'm going to plan ahead to avoid such frustrations. I continue to have great ideas for improving our community & this fight against the meth war. I won't say "drug" war. I still don't believe our marijuana laws are just. Not if alcohol is legal. That is just messed up.

I'm actually going to turn down yet my second chance this month to travel. As much as I love it (and would love to get out of dodge), I'm damn tired of all the details and crap that gets screwed up when I'm gone. Not to even mention this month is my mom's time out and I've doggie duty.

Snow is falling from the sky. It's so pretty, drifting lightly from crisp dark skies. Isn't supposed to accumulate to much, but it sure is pretty.

That's the news for now. May God keep ya all safe & sound!

california coast

looking north from reyes

wintertime in Iowa

she wore
the most beautiful blue eyes
so blue
that when a tear dripped new
I thought it grew
also blue

transparent
translucent
electric
sky
blue

life & suffering through it

Last week my 51 year old friend had a stroke & a heart attack at the same time. Calling his girlfriend to inquire about his condition bought me several trips taking her to the hospital, located 60 miles away.

It's always an awakening experience walking through any hospital let alone the dreaded intensive care unit. Doctors & nurses scurry back & forth, guarding their posts, always ready for emergencies which seem to be their norm.

A couple stood over a bed where a young man lay, probably their son, and their grief spilled over into the hall where passers by didn't even notice, except me, who choked on a tear and could feel God's presence there with them.

That was 1 week ago. Tonight my friend, Don, was moved into the rehabilitation unit. It's nice, like a condo complete with a plasma television hung on the wall. He's a great candidate they say. I already know God does perform miracles every single day.

colors

eyes of blue
eyes of green
never know
eyes of mean

little girls
chase little boys
nevermind
forgotten toys

shiny sparks
dull dry grass
passion lights
days gone past

a letter to my daughter

What if everything you did was in front of a crowd of people? Would you change your behaviors?

When a person dies, are they ever really removed from your life?

Forever changed each of us remain because of each other – the way we touch each other’s hearts, the ways we love. Shared moments bind us together like webs woven intermingled indeterminately with each other.

Removal of physical presence then only changes the relationship, challenging us to reach deeper, further inside our beings to communicate. Shared love can then be felt, nurtured, grown into a productive component of daily life. Our relationships growing as our souls shoot through time. Changing negative found in loss to a positive, building, strengthening experience as all our friendships could be, beneficial to each other.

It’s hard bending with the flow, waves of life constantly crashing as they do. The quicker we learn flexibility, accountability, forgiveness, & resilience as a way of life, the faster we’ll heal from those wounds who so completely drain us.

Be patient
with others
& yourself.
Everyone trudges
& stumbles
at their own pace.

paradise

a beautiful sunset



this is my bike at my florida hideaway. I sure miss that forest.

crumbling cookies

And then I got sick. Again. My defenses are down. I must work on that.

and so I missed out on a couple weeks.

All those baking ingredients lay right where they landed on December 20. Ah, it's a new year with new chances to do better. Reminds me of Dudley Do-Right. (sorry buddy if I misspelled your name). And I'm tied to railroad tracks screaming for prince charming to rescue me. (where the heck does he live anyway???)

Peace be with ya'all!!!

baking

today my kitchen produced snickerdoodle cookies & banana bread. Everyone seems to think cookies are supposed to be huge handfuls of sugar, not little yummy bits of goodness. Anyway, I tried to make them bigger and I think I overcooked 'em. ah practice makes perfect.

seeking solitude by baking. my favorite way.

it won't stop snowing

Every time I watch the weather forecast-and believe them, I wonder why. It's been so cold, yesterday at 9am it was 9 below-before wind chill factors and today it's 10 above and feels warm! It's a heck of a start to our winter. I'm wondering if it's going to keep this up through January which could make for a very long, tiring season.

I did take time to pile another load on the snow fort although I felt guilt for constructing something fun when I've so much work to do.

My largest task right now: I need to find a job. I'm not thrilled with this on my plate and every other day I've no energy to make it happen. My spirit does not understand why so much emphasis is put into materialism and seeking the mighty green dollar. I just hate that side of our reality. And all these Christmas commercials just irritate me further. Getting new stuff has nothing to do with baby Jesus & redemption and most of those fools haven't a clue about the real reason of the season. I'm not putting up a tree nor am I buying presents. I am baking & sharing my cookie wealth. I'm not trying to play scrooge, but I'm not spending money I don't have for stuff people don't need or want. Give of yourself, that's what He wants.

So that silly weatherman predicted snow accumulation of less than an inch. I awoke to about 4" and it's still coming down-quite heavily too I might add. I've shoveled twice today (it's only noon) and am awful grateful my neighbor is polite enough to do my drive. I'm going to have to bake them something special.
Okay that's all the boring crap I have for now. :)

4 more inches

Yippee! Snow is so pretty!

My daughter & I made a huge pile (most of what's fallen in the backyard) & when temps change a little, will be able to dig out it's middle, thus creating this igloo like structure. If you've never laid inside a snow hut, it's warmer than you might think. Snow makes great insulation-add a candle for fire-oh how fun! It's a wonderfully relaxing place to hang. And I've a whole pile of books ready for just such a retreat.

Well I just had to share my afternoon.

ah, to see white again

It's a winter wonderland out in my yard & down the street, in fact I believe across the state would give one the same view. White, chilly, frozen & fresh. I'm sure it's prettier now than I will think in 2 months.

After I wrote last, I got terribly sick & then so did my computer. Turns out it was only ad-ware, but this stuff really clogged my system so I couldn't play online at all. What a racket. Pay this for protection, ooops, now you'll need that too and another check for the guy who's going to fix it when nothing else works. Oh, yeah, this is fun.

Shoveled nice & early this morning so the sidewalks would be dried by mr. sun. My neighbors rewarded me by cleaning the drive & thus saving me valuable time. Mid afternoon my daughter unit & I loaded up the sleds & hit the local sledding hill. It was great, we had the place all to ourselves. It's quite the hill & every time (out of 5) I couldn't help screaming about half way down. The rush of being scared just overwhelmes ya!!! Was great & reminded me of a rollercoaster. I didn't get hurt & all was good. Frozen spray in your face just wakes ya up like nothing else.

Life continues to roll along. I sure wish I had time to visit Arizona. I do miss ya all out there!!!