What's That You Say, Mrs. Robinson?

Batton Down the Hatches

Trying to get a handle on the coming week and it's a completely mixed bag. Here's what's on tap:

Monday: Fixing the drip system, celebrating a birthday with a friend, getting ready for the rest of the week

Tuesday: Chiropracter appointment, Memorial Service for TC (who fought a 24 year battle with brain cancer), Healthy Cities Tutoring rcognition event

Wednesday: Tutoring, meeting with a peer coach

Thursday: Lunch with Mom and her cousin in the city

Friday: Hair appointment, Darren's band playing a gig in RWC

Saturday: Help get Dan ready to go to a big conference in LA

Sunday: Breath

And during the next couple of days I also have to tend to: Doing a summary of things we need to buy/book for our upcoming Europe and sending out to the rest of the family...get a handle on the summer social event arrangements (sponsors, venue).

Putting it all down here helps me wrap my head around it. My perimenopausal hormones are in full force right now and just keeping an evel keel is an on-going battle. Luckily I'm surrounded by caring, patient people and I don't have a tone of day to day responsibilities so really I'll be fine.

And just for the hell of it...a photo share. This is the rooster than resides in my MIL's yard in Hawaii (he is wild....not her choice to have him there). Beautiful but annoying at 4:30am.

Writing and Art

I needto get back into a writing habit without stressing over how cool or relevant the topic. What seems to inspire me is looking at photos I've taken over the past many years and recalling something about the moment or going with a thought or feeling that the photo provokes.

I recently went to the Bouquets to Art exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. I went by myself. Floating between the exhibits, I lingered over the ones that captured my eye and my soul and skipped over those that did not. It was a few hours of pure self-indulgence and it was gratifying. So many of the exhibits were stunning. Some were just nice and some were odd. A little bit of everything. Just how I like it.

I will be doing this again. Soon.

 

 

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What will I bring?

A wise woman, with whom I was having lunch today, gave me a great suggestion in preparation for meeting my dad for the first time later this evening.

She suggested that I spend a few minutes either in my head or on paper thinking about not what I was expecting out of our meeting, but rather about what I wanted to bring to the moment. What kind of energy am I going to possess? Center myself around my inner being and visualize where I want to be after all is said and done, regardless of what actually transpires. I'm doing this here in real time, so bear with me.

I want to bring an energy that is open to whatever needs to happen. Energy that is whole and not broken because that is who I am at the very core. I am not looking to be healed, I am not looking for answers to any questions. I am simply open to the human being in front of me and learning who and how he is. If we only have the few moments in front of us and nothing further, that that's OK. If we find a connection and share a part of our lives moving forward, then that's OK, too. It will unfold as it should.

I want to bring acceptance and understanding and vulnerability. I want to bring joy and abundance because I have so much of both.

I don't have expectations about the outcome, but I am visualizing how I want to be at the end of this weekend:

I will come away from this experience as whole as I entered it. I may be exhasuted, I may be invigorated, but either way, I will be whole. I will be richer for having experienced this time with this person. I will grow somehow closer to those that are already so close to me because we will have had this experience together. I will learn something from this person and this experience. I don't know what that is yet, but I will.

I will feel whatever I feel, and I'll be a better person for it.

 

The Art and The Joy

Although it has been brewing for quite a while, I have recently felt a resurgence for wanting to do more cooking. Not just the regular stuff. New stuff. Trying new recipes and techniques and actually picking up some skills is what is really appealing to me right now.

It is highly likely that this cooking bug has been fueled by my recent trip to Italy and France. The food in both places was TO DIE FOR and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I also feel the need to get into the classics rather than just looking for fun recipes on-line the way I usually do. There is something about working from a good cookbook that just feels right.

I have a copy of The Joy of Cooking written by Irma Rombauer (her family also makes my favorite chardonnay). Actually, I have two copies. One that my Mom gave me in 2006 (the 75th anniversary edition) and the copy she got when she was married back in 1970. Sadly, I must admit that other than looking to it for a few basic technique questions, I haven't used either much. Today, however, I can't pull myself away from it as I'm discovering all of the treasures inside. From 'Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew' to 'Skillet Corn Bread' to 'Spicy Chinese Slaw', there seems to be an endless suply of delicious things to work on.

What I don't yet have is the quintisential Mastering the Art of French Cooking by the immortal Julia Child. Have no fear, I bought a copy yesterday on eBay that was printed in 1967 which is also the year I was born. I should have it in my hot little hands in the coming week. I wanted a used copy instead of a new one. I think, perhaps, they have more soul.

I aspire to get straight to work on that one by attempting the crown jewel, boeuf bourguignon. Julia's boef bourguignon. Yes, I saw the movie. Several times. J'adore. I figure, why not? If I can do that, I can do a lot of things. I will NOT however be trying an aspic or boiling lobster any time soon. I wouldn't want to eat either once cooked, so why waste my time? I'm sure there are plenty of other treats between the covers.

And yes, this indulgence is enabled in large part by my continued sabbatical. It's October 9th and I'm still taking time off.

Bon appétit!

Black and Whites - Few and Far Between

Although I tend to be drawn by color when I take photos, I do love black and whites. There is actually more drama in most of them. More feeling. More of a story. Perhaps it is the "what is left to the imagination" phenominon. Whatever it is, just the exercise of putting these few together to post here has made me want to seek out more B&W subjects. 

I think Paris would be a fantastic place to do that, don't you? Good thing I'm leaving for Italy and Paris in a couple of weeks.

 

 The photos below were taken (in order) in/at:

- A Buddhist temple in Maui
- My Gym
- Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas, Kenny Chesney concert
- Van Ness Street, San Francisco (both of the last two)

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