Short Pants and Guns II

I'm so easily distracted...........

Elder Chaos

It was Respect Your Elders day at the Capitol. They brought their rocking chairs right up on the North Lawn. They blasted old music on old boom boxes.

They came in gaggles.

They wore silly outfits.

They were peaceful and cute. We should respect them for their humor if for no other reason.

White Picket Fantasy

I have a fantasy about life. It even includes a white picket fence.

I came across this white picket fence the other day. It was just sitting in the middle of the park. I was drawn to it because of my white picket dreams. When I walked over to it, there was nothing inside the fence worth looking at. There are far more interesting things on the outside of this particular fence.

It made me wonder if I'm limiting my dreams by corraling them with a white picket fence fantasy. What if the most interesting things about my life are on the outside of that fantasy?

Not to say that the fantasy is bad. But maybe it's just that....a fantasy.

Not grounded in reality.

One interesting thing about this white picket fence is that it's portable. Maybe I can learn something from that.

Convention-al Lunch

It's summertime in Sacramento and you know what that means.....


People will be leaving their heads in the middle of the street?

No.

It means I can eat my lunch outside. I love to eat my lunch outside. Today I ventured over to the Convention Center area. My favorite deli is in that neighborhood. Pennisi's Deli on the corner of J and 13th.

They pile the corned beef so high you can get a nose bleed

Yes, that's marbled rye with swiss and 1,000 Island dressing. Isn't it beautiful?

There are several pieces of sculptured art located outside the convention center.

Beautiful benches, Chester Cheetah like dudes, really tall families....

Sandwich at Pennisi's.....$7.50

Strawberry Soda.............$1.89

Lemon wafer cookies......$2.00

Summertime lunch with the naked guy...........

Priceless

Four Corners of the Capitol

The only thing State Workers like better than Cesar Chavez Day is free stuff at lunch time.

May is Bike To Work Month. If you don't work for the state, you may not have gotten the memo....but it is. Today was a celebration/bike festival/give away day. I heard a rumor that Maria Shriver and Guy Fieri were giving away ice cream at the East End and I grabbed my camera and headed to lunch early. There were scores of booths set up by private vendors and counsels. They handed out information on organic farming, they gave away tomato plants in peat pots and fresh tulip bouquets. Whole Foods handed out free shopping bags and someone was giving out ice cream...but it wasn't Maria Shriver when I got there. I didn't see hide nor hair of Guy Fieri either.

Stuff on the East End Stuff on the South End

Stuff on the West End.....there was a lot of stuff. It was mostly information about health and living green. There was a guy there who had made a pontoon boat out of plastic bottles and trash he'd found in the ocean. He made this boat and is going to sail to Hawaii in an effort to raise awareness on plastic ocean trash.

Here's the sail flying high on the front. Junk Sail. Not to be confused with a Yard Sale, which you can't float to Hawaii....

There were tons of people in the beautiful sunshine. In fact, they were bussing people in!

It was hopping everywhere but the North Side. Business as usual there.

Think green California! Ride your bike to work (unless you live in the suburbs 30 miles away, then you should carpool.... ;o)

Something...Anything

I'm in a funk.
I want to commit to writing something on my blog each day.
Something.
Anything.

Hopefully I won't have too many more of these dry days.
Hopefully my funk will lift and my anythings will turn to somethings.

Short Pants and Guns

I was going to write an article on the new renovations going on at the State Capitol. I was at the Capitol with my camera getting ready to document the latest pedestrian detour roadblock.......





when I was totally distracted by short pants and guns.

Get On Your Bad Motorscooter

And Ride

Bored or Boring?

I'm bored.

Or am I boring?

I'm not especially talented. I'm not especially attractive. I'm not especially bright.

It doesn't seem as though there's too much to report from my mediocre brush with life. At least that's what my internal dialog is telling me.

Then I thought maybe I'm just short sighted. Could it be that what seems normal (translation: boring) to me may just be a matter of perspective?

Here's the view from my lunch table today

I bet not every one ate their lunch in a place like this today. Bet most people wouldn't care to either.

See? Did you hear that? Poor perspective. No appreciation. It's not my first choice so therefore I can't appreciate it. It's all shit or sunshine with me. Black or white. No grey. The trouble with a black and white perspective is that it doesn't allow for much color either.

There could be worse places to eat lunch. And I actually found it quite pleasant there. It was a beautiful day. I like the bustle of a business lunch hour and the friendly feel of Sacramento. There was good conversation while I ate my sandwich.

Can you blog about a lunch hour? I wonder what that would look like after a year. Would I want a record of my lunches for a year? Hmmmm....

Maybe I can keep my eyes open a little more. Maybe my life isn't boring. Just because I'm not living my dream life doesn't mean it's not still my life. The one I actually have. The only one I'll get. Maybe I need some new perspective.

The Barista Didn't Hear Decaf

I don't think the barista heard me say DECAF. I gave up caffiene about 18 months ago. I'll occasionally drink a diet Coke, but only occasionally.

Well, today I stopped by Starbuck's on my way to the grocery store. My reward for having to endure WinCo on a Sunday afternoon. Venti, decaf, 2 pump classic, non-fat latte. I order a venti since it's decaf.

It's hard to steer a shopping cart and drink a coffee. NOTE TO SELF: stay at Starbuck's and enjoy the $4 coffee next time. It's hard enough to steer a shopping cart in the aisles of WinCo on Sunday with both hands involved.

Well apparently I didn't notice that the milk carton I selected was leaking like a sieve when I put it in my cart. I apparently didn't notice that it was leaking all over the store as I swerved in and out of old lady traffic in the aisles, with one hand. I sure had a lot of energy, though. And I was looking really cute because I was wearing the new scarf my friend knitted for me.

I got to the check out, waited in line, causing unseen puddles of milk, making tracks with my tennis shoes. When I was through to the other side bagging my groceries, the clerk notices the milk trail. I, however, was secretly surging energy and bagging my groceries with lightening speed. The milk is forming a substantial puddle under my cart.

Overhead speakers are used, emergency paper toweling is deployed, my scarf is making me sweat like a you-know-what, the lady next to me is giving me disapproving looks and probably thinking I'm not all that cute in my scarf. I don't really think the caffeine caused the milk leak, it just didn't help my process of events.

I called my friend on the way home to tell the story. It's a 30 second story and I told it in about 3.5 seconds. Speed talking/rambling is a known side effect of my caffiene use.

It didn't occur to me that the barista didn't hear decaf until I was standing in Target 2 hours later dying to talk on my phone. I had already left messages with my sister and 3 friends and had just talked to another. There was no one left.

I should have driven back to Starbuck's and spent the afternoon with the barista.

MISSING -- REWARD

REWARD

missing -- much loved sense of humor

well worn from hearty use

cheerful with a tendency to look on the bright side

only a slight bent toward the cynical

edged with irony

last seen at the onset of menopause

please return if found

family is offering reward

Rain on the Lake

I went back to Yosemite this week. I have been struggling so much lately with feeling abandoned. My perceptions of what has been, what currently is, and what may be to come are all colored with this deeply rooted idea that I am somehow forgotten.

My hearing has become dull, my vision dim, my tongue is nearly mute.

While sitting on the lake, in the rain, I notice there were rings of hope for me. Drops from above spilling beauty at my feet.

I am overwhelmed by beauty. I don't know why, but somehow this tells me I'm not forgotten.

Simple. Natural. Beautiful.
Like Rain on the Lake.