LET'S PARTY!!!!!!

Something wonderful happened to me and all because my husband had to undergo treatment for cancer!

I'm sure that sounds really weird, but let me 'splain.

First, he's doing very well.  In fact, he's finished his radiation treatments and only has a few immuno-therapy infusions left to do.  And, slowly, he is beginning to regain his strength and is feeling better.

We spent a great deal of time, of course, in medical facilities. I noticed lots of really cool art hanging on the walls and decided to donate some of my paintings.

I'm not sure exactly how it came to be that I thought to make some special donations to the kids' hospital but somehow, I got connected with a woman who has become a wonderful, new friend.

She told me there were few pictures, posters or paintings in the kids' hospital and I determined to change that!!!!

I've lost count of how many paintings I've donated but it's a lot and I hope there will be lots and lots more.  That is my intent!  After all, I have had a storage shed full of paintings, for  years, serving no good purpose to anyone!

OH!  I JUST REMEMBERED!!!!

I was going through some old paintings and found this one.

THE HAPPY TREE

When I first painted it, years ago, I had no clue where it had come from!  It is so unlike anything I usually do.  I liked it but I just didn't know what to do with it!  As soon as I saw it, I thought, 'Kids would like that, I think.'  And that's when I asked Rashida , who is my husbands appointed Social Worker (and an absolute doll who is also a wonderful, new friend!) if she could help me.  She put me in touch with B.J.  And, as the saying goes, the rest  is history!

Something has changed, drastically, in my way of approaching a painting...especially a new one.  I am not very concerned with what other artists might think.  I am not very concerned with how 'good' or 'bad' the  painting might be.  I am not much concerned with whether my friends will like it, or not.  My only concern is, 'Will it make the kids smile?'  If the answer is 'Yes', I am happy.

LET'S PARTY!!!

MAKE A WISH

SWING

VICTORIOUS!

THE THREE AMIGOS

I have a new love for painting and a  new reason to get up in the morning and I am so very, very, VERY grateful!!!!!!

PERFECT STRANGERS

If things hadn't happened to put us in that exact place at that exact time, there would be no story. 
But, we were.  And there is.  And it is a wondrous story.

My husband and I were walking toward the hospital entrance for his radiation therapy and doctor's appointment, which had been moved up by about 15 minutes in an earlier phone call.  Even then, we might not have been there at just that time, except that we were also called, this morning, and asked to come in for a blood draw at another location, entirely, which also shifted our expected schedule.

Because we were all where we were at that precise moment, we found ourselves walking, almost abreast, with a woman who caught my attention because she was wearing a top in my most favorite color.  Thirty seconds difference would have made a difference in what happened next.

I said to her, "I love your top!  It's my favorite color"

She gave me a little smile and said, "Thanks."

Then, I noticed her big, beautiful eyes....her big, beautiful, sad,eyes, welling up with tears.

Now, in that setting, you can see lots of people with tear-filled, sad eyes.  Sometimes, you share understanding smiles...or a little hug.  Sometimes, the kindest thing is to just avoid eye contact so that person can maintain whatever self control they need, in the moment.

In less time than it takes to write these words, I ran all those thoughts through my mind, wondering how I should respond to her.  A force, more powerful than me, moved me into action.  I asked, "Are you OK?"

She did what we often do at such times.  She lied.  She  said, "Yes.  I'm ok."  But the tears,  now  falling down her cheeks exposed the truth.

I said, "No. I don't think you are OK, at all."

I took one step toward her and she all but collapsed into my hug and began crying on my shoulder,  in earnest.  She told me, haltingly, that two years ago, today, her 26 year old son had unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm.

She told me she thought coming to work, as usual, might make the day easier but that  now, she wasn't sure.

I invited her to sit down with me on a nearby bench and just talk about it...and about him, her son, Nico, and anything else she wanted to talk about.  Or, we could just sit there while she cried.

My smart husband, seeing what was going on, had already continued on toward his appointment so Annette...that's her name, Annette....and I sat down and shared a most incredible and  powerful and blessed experience.

It probably lasted no more than 10-15 minutes but....the memory of those moments will stay with me for the rest of my life and I would bet my last dime Annette would say the same thing.

Annette chose to trust a Perfect Stranger with her bleeding heart and soul, hurting over her beloved son, Nico.

I chose to walk with a Perfect Stranger, for a few steps, on her painful journey, doing what I could to share her awful burden.

And if she'd been even two steps ahead of or behind us, on that sidewalk, none of this would have happened!

As is often said, 'Timing is everything!'

It's been a long, long time!

I haven't written a blog post in??????????????

Why?  Because I, more or less blog on Facebook.  I might change that.  Some new  people have entered my life who are not on Facebook 'cause they actually have other things to do.  Like save folks' lives.  So, I might occasionally post a new blog in order to share it with them.

Today, I was at the hospital where my husband is getting radiation treatments.  This time, I thought to take my camera so I could have some fun while waiting for him.  There are areas of the grounds which are breathtakingly beautiful!  And since he has only 4 more days of treatment left, I wanted to take advantage of my time there and try to capture some of that beauty.



I'll try to make some more posts about some other things about this experience when I find one of those round tuits.  ;  But, this post is all about the photos....so...here we go!

This is a trunk of a Crepe Myrtle.  Or is it an ostrich?

All the purple you see is Crepe Myrtle.  All the orange is Mexican Bird of Paradise.  

Wouldn't you just love to roll around in all that purple????

The yellow is Golden Lantana.

 There are many huge, old, Mesquite trees providing shade from that scorching sun.

Tell me this isn't a cowboy on a buckin' bronc.

This is a male Vermillion Flycatcher.

And this is the hospital where miracles happen!

 For which we are most grateful!!!

Aisle 7

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means it is old folk’s discount day at my grocery store.  I always, simultaneously dread-and look forward to-this monthly ‘outing.’  Some time back, I made the decision to try to make grocery shopping an adventure instead of an aggravation.  I go there, expecting to have something really fun and/or interesting to happen and I’m seldom disappointed.

Today was no different.

First, I saw an elderly woman (about my age) doing that hard job of corralling shopping carts in the parking lot and returning them to the store’s entrance area.  My immediate reaction was to feel abject sympathy for her and a huge swelling of gratitude that I am not forced into such labor in order to survive.

And then, it occurred to me that perhaps she thinks it is great training for the marathon she is going to run or the mountain she intends to climb.  We never really know what the true story might be so it’s probably better not to jump to uninformed conclusions!

The next fun thing that happened-and this is a common occurrence-is that I saw a girl child who is so doggone cute it is probably illegal!  Sharing that opinion with her mom and dad, in the girl child’s hearing, was a joyful thing!

And then……………….

I carefully park my buggy to the side of aisle 7 while I search the shelves for the pickles I want.  Across the aisle, a lady stands, with her back to me searching for something on her own shopping list.  She has left her cart smack-dab in the middle of the aisle….as I usually do.  Someone comes along and asks, politely, to be allowed to move her cart.  She immediately begins the same apologies we all offer at such times….to the person asking and also to me.  I tell her not to worry that I do it all the time.  “We all do.”, I say.  “We’re all alike….sisters from the same Mother.” 

Now, I know what we usually say is ‘sisters from different mothers.’  But, I was prompted, I’m sure of it, by ‘Mother”, to say exactly those words.

The moment I said it, I knew, beyond any doubt, that my new-found café-au-lait skinned sister ‘got’ it.  Totally and completely.

We both turned into nothing more than two huge grins….and hugged.  It just seemed like the thing to do.

And we talked.  And we talked.  And we talked some more.  We talked about things deep and things frivolous as only two newly discovered sister/friends can do!

Eventually, I stuck out my hand and said, “Hi!  My name is Sharon.”

She said, “Git outta here!!!!!!!”

Yes, her name is Sharon.  There’s not a whole huge lot of us with that name.  

I know that we have to stay in touch, so I give her my SKayArt business card.  She gasps.  “You are an artist?  So am I!!!”

She paints with watercolors, is afraid of oils and wants to learn to paint with acrylics.  I paint with acrylics.  I'm terrified of watercolors and not too friendly with oils.

She’s 70.  I will be in December.

I am thinking there’s a lot of synchronicity going on here.  I’m wondering if I’ve maybe found the painting buddy I’ve been longing for.  But, there’s one final issue that I wonder about.

I am a smoker.  Yes, I know.  People who smoke are the scum of the earth and responsible for a plethora of things which ail the entire Universe.  Nevertheless, I smoke and don’t plan on giving it up anytime soon.

I gather my courage.

“I have one last question for you. And this one is big. Do you smoke?”

Guess what she said…..just guess!

I can’t wait to get together with her to paint.  And if it never happens, those MANY minutes we spent together, connecting in LOVE, sometimes jumping up and down, laughing and hugging like long lost friends….well….now that is a memory worth having!

Our shenanigans, in aisle 7 touched more than a few of our fellow shoppers.  I would like to think we were pretty much sprinkling happily-ever-after fairy dust on them all.

Again, I say............

The Trip That Almost Wasn't-Days Two and Three

It was hard to leave Sedona but there was still lots of gorgeous scenery as we made our way toward Payson, Arizona.

 

And, as you can plainly see, the rain was beginning again.

Yes, I should have cropped out our Arizona sunburnt and cracking dashboard of our old car.  But I didn't.  It is what it is.

 

And yes, I should have cropped out the reflection of my pack of smokes.  That, too, is what it is.  What I want you to see is that we are heading into even more stormy weather.  Of course.

The higher we went, the worse it got....or the better...depending on your viewpoint.  This day, my viewpoint was more inclined toward fear than joy because it was a busier highway

 

It rained and it rained and it rained some more...often really, REALLY hard.  It was some white-knuckle time, for sure. 

 

But, then, the rain stopped and out of the corner of my eye, I was able to see a pull out at this spot.

 

 

We pulled out.  We stopped.  And look what we found!!! 

 

I totally, completely, absolutely loved our trip...rain and all...and here's the heart-rock to prove it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEDONA!!!

What can you say about Sedona, Arizona?

Words fail. 

So do photographs.

Nevertheless, I will share some of both with you but I will let the pictures do most of the 'talking.'

 

As you can see, as we approached Sedona, it was a bit rainy and gloomy.  But, just as Hubby promised...the weather cleared when it mattered!

 

 

I like this photo so much I'm showing you the original and the cropped versions.

 

 

Smart Hubby got this next shot!

 

There is more to our little adventure, but I will share that with you tomorrow.

 

I am grateful!

 

P.S.  No...this isn't all the pictures I took but I am trying to keep your visits to my blog short and sweet for you instead of long and boring.  LOL

The Trip That Almost Wasn't-Part Three

Yes.  We are still on the first day of our trip.

We are just leaving Yarnell and are amazed by all the lush green hillsides and pastures.

 

But,of course, there are clouds in the distance.



Many clouds.

 

I think that's a completely different place than just outside Yarnell, but I have so many photos of distant rain clouds that it doesn't much matter.  At any given time, the road ahead of us looks pretty much like that!

 

 

However. Hubby has assured me that wherever we go, whatever we do, when we need for the rain to stop, it will.  He's certain of that.  And guess what?  He was right!

 

 

When we wanted to get out and take pictures of the beautiful scenes we could...with nary a raindrop fallin' on our heads!

 

 

The road twisted and turned as we made our way toward Prescott.

 

We reached the edge of town, in the beautiful pine forest, just about time to stop for the evening.  I spotted a darling little motel with a beautiful water feature in their garden.  I was tired and thought I'd take a picture of the little garden the next morning before we left.  As I was getting out of the car, I dropped my camera and broke it.

 

I cannot write here the things I said out loud, loudly, and certainly not the things I thought.

 

Sigh.

 

Day Two

 

After a not so great night's rest at that darling little motel (There must have been an elephant family in the room above us.), we headed out for some breakfast and waited for Best Buy to open so I could get a new camera.  NOT. IN.  THE.  BUDGET!!!

 

I took a photo, with my brand new camera, from the parking lot of Best Buy.  You betcha!  Raining buckets!  And in the process of learning my new photo program, I apparently deleted the photo 'cause it's nowhere to be found on my computer!

 

Sigh again.

 

Onward.

 

 

Elk on top of a building in Prescott, Arizona

We like him!

 

We loved Prescott.  It's such a picturesque old town filled with Victorian houses and a lovely town square and courthouse.  We hope to go back.

 

As Hubby predicted, the sun came out just in time to enjoy this .

 

 

 

But soon we were back to this view from our car.



 

 

Yep.  It's raining again.

 

We are climbing another mountain range on our way to:

 

 

Jerome, Arizona

 

Jerome is an old mining town which has become a complete tourist trap,  of sorts.  But it's still charming and delightful.  I wrote about it on another blog after a very special trip with my Grandson, several years ago.

 

You can read about it here:

http://skayspeak.blogspot.com/2009/11/jerome-arizona.html

 



 

 

This is the main street through Jerome.  Narrow-just a tad!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Uh-Oh! 

 

A local law enforcement person was having a word with the driver of this semi.  I am reasonably certain it will cost him a  pretty penny to have mistakenly or stupidly taken this NOT truck route!

 

 

It doesn't take long to drive through Jerome and down the hill toward another adventure.  On the way, we saw this.

 

 

Rock formations began to get quite colorful as we came down the mountain. 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a reason for that.

 

Next stop:

 

SEDONA!!!!