THE CARWASH

I left the house with a few simple things on my agenda.
Get a haircut.
Grab a few things from the grocery store.
Get some gas.
Run the car thru the carwash.


Darned if that last item didn’t turn into a “story” and prove to me that I should never go anywhere without my camera.

I’m going to just skip over the part where I kinda forgot where I was going and went right past one gas station where I could get a car-wash…and then another one, kitty corner, across the intersection. I had ‘cheap’ gas on my brain. But, I forgot to remember that the ‘cheap’ gas place doesn’t have a carwash.

So, it was necessary to make a few turns to get back to where I wanted to be. Turns out, it was one of those situations where ‘you can’t get there from here.’ Eventually, though, I did get back to one of the places I meant to go. I zipped right in there…and then saw the sign that said….

CAR WASH CLOSED

Now, remember, that the other place is on the opposite corner of this busy intersection, so unless I want to take another long detour, I have to make it across all 3 lanes of traffic and into the left turn lane. That turned out to be much easier than I expected.  Mission accomplished!

OK….so I’ve purchased my gas and the basic $5 car wash. I get in line behind one car inside the wash and one waiting their turn.

When it's my turn, I enter my ‘code’before proceeding into the bay.

There’s an obnoxious buzzer that rudely lets me know that I’ve entered an unacceptable code. I try it again. Once again, I get the rude buzzer.

Thankfully, no one was in line behind me, so I back up, drive around to the front of the business and explain what has happened to the clerk.

She spends a very frustratingly, for both us, long, long time doing her darndest to try to solve the problem.

Eventually, she gives me back my ticket and says for me to try again.

Naturally, this time, there’s one car in the bay and two more waiting in line ahead of me.

The sun is beating down inside the car. I am dressed for the cooler temperatures earlier this morning. I am getting hot.

And…I realize….I really need to ‘go’ somewhere else besides this carwash
Determining to hold out…or hold in…or hold on…whatever, I just sit there, patiently waiting my turn.

Patiently might be the wrong word to use here.

I have a real problem with these drive through car washes.

I get discombobulated. Disoriented. Claustrophobic. Dizzy and Nauseous.

I have honest-to-goodness panic attacks when those flapping red things start coming at me and the car starts vibrating. I have to close my eyes or I might just open the door, jump out and run screaming through the blasts of water toward FREEDOM!!!!

Add to all that, I need to ‘go.’ I start wondering how all that water flying around is going to affect that particular condition.
It’s not a pretty thought.

Eventually, of course, it’s my turn.

The very kind clerk has actually been watching and comes out to make sure that my code will work this time.  It didn't.  Rude buzzer again.

She says, "Let me try."

She enters the code, including 2 items that I didn't read as part of my code number...and voila....I get the green light to enter the bay!

I feel like a total idiot...but I ask you...Does this look like 917...or 00917?
Be careful how you answer that.

Finally, I pull inside and………



What the heck?!?!?!? Water is coming into the car! How is that happening.



I open my eyes, risking a panic attack, and see that when I rolled up my window, I sorta left the sun-visor sticking out, so of course, the window isn’t really closed. Whoops. I quick fix that and shut my eyes again.



Well, part of the time I did. The rest of the time, I took these pictures.

SHEER PANIC!

OH, PLEASE, LET ME OUT!!!!

Eventually, I get out of there and there’s only one thing on my mind. It is this fervent prayer.

Oh Dear God, I would be so very GRATEFUL if just this one time, you would turn all the ‘stop’ lights into ‘go’ lights ‘cause now, I REALLY GOTTA GO!!!!!!!!



Thank you.

NEVER ON SUNDAY-4

Haiku-A form of Japanese verse having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively, involving allusions and references to nature or seasons. Also, a poem written in this form.

HAIKU FOR SUNDAY

A Sunday breeze blows

No falling leaves on which I write

Words with no meaning.

DARK-THIRTY

I love the early morning.

It's calm.

It's quiet.

It's still...and peaceful.

It's too early for the morning traffic...and the resulting emergency sirens rushing to fender-benders.  I always say a little prayer that it is only a fender-bender.

It's too early for reveille...which I can hear clearly, from the nearby air force base.  And, it's still too early for the multitude of aircraft to be flying over my house.  And, no, I don't really mind the noise.  I'm grateful to those men and women and I usually say a little prayer or them, too.

It's too early for the kids walking by on their way to school...being all loud and rambunctious...while they still can.  Before some mean ol' teacher makes them sit down and be quiet!

It's even too early for all the birds who frequent my yard.  Except maybe for the mockingbirds.  Sometimes, like me, they are VERY early risers.  Or they are night owls.  But whichever they are, they will sing their little bird hearts out whenever they bloody well want to!  Good for them!

And, it's still too early for our cat, Codi, to be in bird-stalking mode.  Thankfully, she's not what you could call a really good hunter!

It's not too early though, to watch the moon setting.  Bella Luna is often forgotten in the morning.  Sometimes, she's at  her most beautiful then.

And pretty soon, it's just the right time to watch the rising sun give 'my' mountains a good morning kiss.

And to watch the morning clouds turn all sweetly rosy-hued.

It's exactly the right time to listen to the music of my water fountain trickling happily away sounding almost like a little mountain stream. And soon, I'll be able to  watch the birds come get a morning drink from the fountain or my birdbath.

Or just to stop a minute to say "Good Morning, Skay."

My neighbor's chinaberry tree, in the autumn, sends me a cheery hello.

Early morning is my best 'creative' time.  I am often at my computer writing as early as 5 a.m.  That's usually when these blog entries get written. 

Or I might be already at my easel painting away.  Sometimes I write in my journal.  But always, this is at my elbow!

I write...or paint....and sip.  I write...or paint....and sip.  And I am reminded to BE GRATEFUL! 
Have I mentioned, I love my coffee cup!

Before I know it, daylight is creeping in and all the big and little noises replace the stillness and the silence.

But that's ok, too.  It's a new day!  I'm GRATEFUL for each new day.  And excited by the possible possibilities!

MY FRIEND, CATE........

sent me this.
uhhhhh....it was full when I got it.

There are three foods that I believe prove the existence of God.

1. shrimps

2. avocados

3. strawberries



When I was a girl, I lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Summertime meant strawberries! Wonderful, sun-ripened, ruby- red FAT ones, picked right off the vine!

I love this desert I live on, but like many other of my favorite plants, you just can’t grow strawberries here. I should say I don’t know how to. Maybe someone knows..just not me.

Anywho…….

One day recently, an unexpected package arrived in my mailbox. It came from Cate, so I knew whatever it was, was good!

And it was. It was Merry Christmas good, is what it was!

There were some of her home-made soaps and such…

and this………

this….............

this................

TREASURE!!!!!!

My mouth immediately went into salivation overdrive!

It was all I could do not to tear into those beautiful preserves and just lick them right out of the jar!

But I waited.

I made myself wait.

It was hard, but I did it.

Because………..

One of my very favorite treats, in all the world, is…….

DON’T LAUGH UNLESS YOU’VE TRIED IT!

…..hot cornbread, oozing with lots of melted real butter and then slathered with either strawberry or apricot preserves!!!!

Oh! Just thinking about it nearly makes me swoon.

Or sing.

“Ah, sweet mystery of life at last I've found you!”

The next day, I just couldn't wait any longer.  So.....

I made cornbread to go with our good ol’ country meal of pinto beans and fried taters.

Desert?

You got it!

This right here!

I have to admit something. It wasn’t really ‘this right here.’ I ate all of ‘that right there’ without giving one tiny thought to taking a picture of it.

So, I had no choice.

I had to make another pan of cornbread the very next day….so I could have some more of this.

Just look at that picture!

And imagine.

Imagine the sweetness of perfectly sun-ripened strawberry preserves, made, with love, by Cate.

Then, imagine some sweet, creamy butter  …..made, I imagine, by a happy California cow.

Next, imagine, if you can, the savory crunchy cornbread as the perfect counterpoint to all that rich, sweet goodness, made by me. Not really. It’s just Jiffy corn muffin mix.

Then, imagine you've got this sitting right in front of you!

Then, imagine that you’ve died and gone straight to heaven!

Well…that’s where you’ll think you’ve gone just as soon as you get some of this delectable goodness in your mouth where it belongs!

There’s another thing I think proves the existence of God. It’s friends like Cate.


Thanks, Cate. I am truly GRATEFUL!

GIVING THANKS

Great Creator of All That Is.

I give  thanks for the bounty and the beauty of our Mother, EARTH, which you have given us for our home.

I give thanks for all the LOVE which I experience, whether receiving or giving.

I give thanks for all the water and all the earth and the creatures upon it.

I give thanks for  the sun, the moon and the stars and all of the space between all things.

For there, in all those creatures, places and things...... there YOU are.

Amen.

SOMETIMES, I JUST GOTTA PREACH A SERMON

One day, during an e-mail ‘chat’ with a friend, I wrote these words.


“Humans are always creating. That’s how we were made. We’re creating beauty, harmony and love, etc., or we’re creating more chaos, confusion and fear all the time.”

The moment I wrote them I was struck by the fact that those words are powerful TRUTH.

I’ve known this truth for a good while now. But this time, when I ‘said’ them, it struck home with me in a different, deeper way.

Every thought we have is a springboard for creation. And I don’t mean it’s an opportunity for creation…I mean the thought itself is the power that moves the creative force within each of us into action!

Think about that!

If that is true, how important is it that we learn to train our minds to dwell on the desired results…thereby creating more ‘desired results’…

......instead of the undesired results….thereby creating more undesired results?

It’s the whole Power of Attraction concept…which I believe is TRUTH.

To me, that concept is easy to believe. What’s harder is the ‘training my mind’ part.

Most of us are familiar with this passage from the Old Testament.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6

I’d always thought that verse meant to teach a child how to act. Today, I believe something different. I believe it’s more about teaching a child to train their minds…to teach them to recognize truth…that we ARE creators…..to make them aware of and help keep them focused on…creating beauty, harmony, healing, love, joy, peace and all those things which we call ‘good.’

Instead of teaching them to ‘act’ right, it’s teaching them to ‘think’ right.

The thing is…if the parents of those children don’t know how to do that, they most certainly can’t teach it. I know I couldn’t, when I was mothering my two sons.

But then, I wasn’t taught it either.

And neither were my parents…or theirs….

That wise, old Cherokee tale of two wolves is appropriate here, I think.

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

******

Here’s another interesting quote from Philippians 4:8.

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

If those words are good and true ones, what do they mean? What does the instruction mean, literally, to ‘think on these things.’? And for what purpose?

I believe that those words are instructions on how to create your life….plain and simple.

If so, what purpose then, is served by allowing our minds to dwell on things that are untrue, unjust, impure, ugly, 'bad report' –like gossip and fear-mongering?

Furthermore, we’re admonished to think on things of virtue and praise. That leaves no room for road rage, back-biting, resentment, blame or shame, does it?

What is created if we dwell on those things?

Nothing I want in my life.

Here's the thing, though...we can't wait until we're in the middle of a panic attack or a deep depression or some kind of unfolding drama…………and then think...Oh, I need to change my stinkin' thinkin’!

We have to learn and practice… i.e. train our mind… in order to be able to keep our mind focused on good BEFORE those events come into our life. And that will only happen when we decide we'd rather do the work to change…. than to stay the same.

There's another verse...the one about loving God with all our heart and soul and MIND. Jesus told us to do that.

It’s Mathew 22:37 if you want to look it up.

.Now, can you tell me how we are loving God with our whole mind, when we are dwelling on past mistakes, or being mad and resentful at our moms or dads or husbands or wives or kids…criticizing anybody… or worrying about anything at all?

I really think the human race...and especially religious teachers...might have missed the boat on this whole 'mind' thing.

In DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD, Necie, very wisely says, "I just want to think pretty pink and blue thoughts."

I know lots of  people think that's a pretty naive way of looking at things. But I'm not so sure of that.

This much I know  is TRUE.

Ever since I acquired my attitude of GRATITUDE….it’s been lots easier to think on things of ‘virtue and praise’. And somehow, for some reason, everything just seems to be easier, happier, more joyful, peaceful and downright fun in my life.

Amen?

Amen!

Sermon over.

Well.......I just 'thought' it was.

Right after I finished what I thought was my last edit to this 'sermon', I stepped out onto my patio and saw this.

I've been needing a picture of a bird at my birdbath for another post I've written.  I was GRATEFUL to get this, but there were lots and lots of birds sitting on the telephone lines.  So, I 'thought', Good morning, birds.  I would just love it if some of you would go to the birdbath, too.  Maybe you can be a blessing to a lot of people when I put your picture on my blog."

This, as God is my witness, is what happened next....within seconds!

COINCIDENCE?

OR CREATION.

ON BEING GRATEFUL FOR WHAT I DON'T HAVE

Recently, a facebook friend posted a very wise comment. It was something to the affect that we should sometimes be as grateful for what we DON’T have as for what we DO have.

I got a real good chance to practice that kind of gratitude this morning.

I’ve been working on cleaning my kitchen. Notice, I didn’t say I was ‘cleaning my kitchen’, just working toward that goal. 'Cleaning the kitchen' implies that the whole kitchen will get cleaned.

Not happening. Not today.

I’ve been pretty preoccupied with getting prepared for the Holy Trinity Art Festival and had let things go in the housecleaning department, so it’s pretty bad.

I’ve never been a really good housekeeper. I always had other things to do and just wasn’t that obsessive about having everything all spotlessly clean.

In the last few years, I’ve gotten even less obsessive about it.

Somewhere I read that in the last days of your life, it will absolutely NOT be memories of scrubbing the kitchen floor or making the beds or doing the laundry, which you will treasure. When I read that, I gave myself permission to concentrate on having more experiences and making more memories which will sustain and comfort me in those days..... instead of doing housework.

I am grateful to have learned that.



Today, I am truly grateful for something I don’t have.

I don’t have a big kitchen with lots of cupboards and floor space and counter top.

I have this itty, bitty kitchen.

Yep, that’s the whole shebang right there. A whopping 7’ x 10’, as I recall.

And am I ever Grateful it’s exactly the size it is.

I say that, truthfully, because today, I have been scrubbing cupboard doors, among other things.

Not nice, new easily cleanable cupboard doors.

Kinda old, hard to clean ones, because they have a multitude of layers of paint on them with all kinds of careless brush marks which left fairly deep grooves in the paint for dirt, grease and grime to accumulate.

Wow…that was quite a sentence there! But, I expect you got the drift.

G.R.I.M.E.

Yep...they're also the kind of old kitchen cupboard doors which won't ever shut just right.

The bottom line is that after scrubbing just 5 lower cabinet doors (two of them are louvered-which makes them even harder) and the front of my kitchen stove, and cleaning my two glass shelves in the window and all the ‘stuff’ that I keep there….

.......my hands were yelling at me, quite rudely, that they intended for me to S.T.O.P.

Right now!

So, I did.


Let’s look at the kitchen window again, ok?

That’s something right there that I’m really GRATEFUL I have. I have it because my sweet hubby installed those glass shelves for me because I wanted them. And that was all the reason he needed. That and so he'd have a place to display some of his old Ball jar collection.

Just look at the way the light on all those colored jars and bottles shines...spreading happiness and joy all around my little kitchen!

And if you don’t mind, I’ll show you a few more things in my tiny kitchen that I especially enjoy.

But first, I have some ‘splainin’ to do, Lucy.

My little kitchen is not, as you can easily see, generous in the cabinet or counter space department. So, I have had to get really creative to provide myself with every extra inch of storage and workspace I can find.

A few years back, when a neighbor was remodeling, they discarded this little louvered cabinet.

I grabbed that right up because I thought it would work in that narrow space beneath the window. Eventually, I extended the top to go all the way back into the corner by the stove and added the mosaic top. It is so handy! And I love all that color! Mostly, I store canned goods in it. It’s narrow enough so that cans don’t get lost like they would in a cabinet of regular depth.

The microwave is sitting on a home-made wood contraption on rollers that I found in a yard sale. If I didn’t have this, where on earth would I put a microwave? And, it also provides a handy place for the trash bin.

I decided that I needed to add a picture of the microwave stand.  So, I'm going to.  However, this ain't a pretty picture.  I forgot that I had just made tuna salad sandwiches and had put the empty can down for our cat, Codi, to lick clean.  Yummo, says, Codi!  Also, I didn't bother to move the broom...I have no other  place to put it...or to try to hide the microwave cord....oh...and also...our trash can really looks gross.  I have no idea what all those marks are on it...and I haven't cleaned the micro.......oh, enough of the excuses.  This is, truthfully, better than things usually look in my kitchen! 

At least, the trash isn't at overflow stage...which it often is.

Onward.........

This is a huge drawer of some kind which another neighbor discarded.

It was almost the perfect dimensions to fit in the very narrow space between the fridge and the counter. We turned it on its’ side, added a shelf and some rollers. Now, we have a spot for the toaster! And even more storage!  The cat treats aren't usually there.  I just forgot to move them.  But, truthfully, something is usually sitting there.  Or several somethings.


I love my little sign….but I don’t really mean it anymore. I don’t think my kitchen is lousy at all. I think it’s perfect!

And after today, I guarantee you I have a real good dose of GRATITUDE that I DON’T have one of those roomy kitchens that I used to long for.

If I had one, I would just have to spend even more time cleaning.

And I’ve got better things to do.

Like blogging.

Or napping.

Which is exactly what I did after my little cleaning spree.

I am grateful for my comfy bed and my pretty comforter and my itty-bitty kitchen.