THE DUST WILL WAIT

Propped up in bed, 7 a.m.  (To me that feels like sleeping in and that I got close to 8 hours of beauty rest.  But, that's not where my thoughts should be spinning right now.  Damn "SQUIRREL!" inerference.) Anyhoo..... I grabbed my cell phone and opened FACEBOOK.  (Yes, I'm one of those oldies)  A friend said she didn't WORDLE.  Another SQUIRREL! So I searched for it immediately.  New Trend, Everybody is doing it.  (I mean - like - everybody!) The trick would be to read the directions first.  Which I didn't.  Simply put you have five blank boxes, six lines deep.  Six opportunities to guess a five-letter word from no hint whatsoever.  You type in a word, hit enter.  If a letter is correct it will pop yellow.  If correct and in the correct space it will pop green. I got three green letters on my very first attempt.  I hadn't read the WORDLE instructions so I wasted the next attempt.  (That is why cooking in my...

I purchased two pair of sweats yesterday.  One for me and one for my husband. When I shop for any kind of  pants, jeans, slacks, whatever... I never pay attention to the length.   That is because I am short and in the fashion industry long legs are the rule.  They are always toooooo long and I have to hem them.  If I can find a pair of jeans that are marked "S" for short (not to be confused with S for slim) it is the exception.   Women's pants usually come in one length.  But if you are lucky, you can find them in two other lengths:  short and long. My husband tried on his sweats and mentioned they were a little long.  I responded "welcome to a woman's world."  He told me he wasn't complaining, he was just responding to my query about whether they fit him. That brought me to the age old question:  Why don't women's pants/jeans come in waist width and length like men's? WHY?

When my mama and her eldest sister passed away in the summer of 1993, there were some boxes of old photos that came into my safekeeping.  Some had belonged to my grandmother Grace.  Others were from her mother, Augusta.  I spent many hours the following year sorting, scanning, and making attempts to identify them. There are yet photos that no one knows or recognizes and I have them filed under the category "Unknown."      This particular photograph has been the object of much conjecture and curiosity - especially when my brother Mike and I have discussed our genealogy interests.   Mike recently had the opportunity to read the journal written by the grandson of my great Aunt Hattie, my grandmother Grace's older half sister. Hattie was born in 1869 and married Herbert, a photographer, in 1887.  We knew that one of the reasons we inherited many interesting pictures was because of Herbert's livelihood.   Hattie's grandson Newton wa...

"Mom!  Look!  That woman is crawling over the barrier on the overpass!" It was a weekend in July and I was with my youngest daughter and her two children at the fast food drive-up window where we  had a clear view of the overpass on I-205.  My daughter's agitated voice jerked my attention away from the baby in the back seat.   I scanned through the windshield in the direction her hand was waving. "Awwwoooh!" was my response as my eye caught the movement of the  leg of a woman as she straddled the railing. I began rifling through my purse seeking my cell phone while still keeping my eye on the scene.  Where was that cell phone? Then a man drew our attention.  He was walking slowly toward the woman with one hand stretched in her direction. I recognized him immediately.  He was one of several panhandlers we've seen guarding the end of the off ramp at that location. Although we couldn't hear their voices, we could tel...

The earlier the morning and the more tired is my body, the more coffee smells like skunk.  I still drink it. Whenever I feel sleepy, a nap is inconvenient.  Of course, as soon as I can lie down, my eyes are like a big-eyed bird.  My husband can generally close his eyes and fall asleep anywhere. Except on weekend afternoons when I challenge his napping activity in front of the football game.    I say, “ crawl into bed and make it worth your while.”  So, he begrudgingly trudges back to the bedroom where he tosses and turns until he gives up and comes back to snore in front of the television. Why is it that a particular dish I need to use is always in the dishwasher… dirty.   And yet, if I have a dirty dish to put in it, the dishwasher is full of clean dishes waiting to be unloaded.  How can it be both ways? Q: What do you get when you combine my chapped split finger tips with the cold dry weather’s static electricity? A:  Some ...

MyHeritage : Celebrity Morph - Family history software - Family websites I'm not really out of blog fodder, I'm just being lazy. Also, wondering where I could buy that make up. Just saying.

Cloud of pastel pink green Rainbow arc Hearing theme from close encounters ? No photoshopping in these pictures. Does anyone else think these are strange messages in the sky? (The color may be from a fading Circum Horizontal Arc ? )

If I Had A Band - Thanks "all my friends" for the idea. Go to...... 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random The first article title on the page is the name of your band. 2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album. 3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. 4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result. (M*cr*soft Picture It, because I haven't figured Ph*t*shop out yet) Click. Hello?

We saw this interesting traveling Fish store on Saturday when we we made a six- hour drive for Buttercup's belated birthday party.

are much closer then they appear. See! I took this one through the back window. It's definitely closer!

Okay...so it is probably a rock and a shadow. While up in the Blues this weekend, we were very close to the watershed wilderness where many Bigfoot stories originate. I was taking some digital photo's of the moon coming over a distant ridge when something caught my eye and shivered down the back of my neck. It just looked like something looking back at me from the next ridge up. I set my camera on 48X zoom and snapped two shots and hopped back in the truck. When I got home I realized my shaky hands did little to clarify whatever dark form had appeared in my lens. It is lying next to the tree stump. I say it is Bigfoot (snicker.) The hubby says it is my imaginary friend. Karmyn said it could be a young bear. Jammin' says it's a monkey with a teddy bear, and Buttercup says it is Strawberry Shortcake. You decide.

I was too tired to go into the store on our way home Sunday evening. “I’ll just sit in the car and rest,” I sighed and let the hubby run in to pick up a few last minute things needed for the workweek. Moments later an older model car that had seen better days rolled in to a nearby parking spot. There was an empty space between our vehicles allowing me total observation. So, I did what I do best. I watched. The driver got out and went directly to the trunk. The passenger hopped out on his side – he looked to be about eleven. “Mama,” he said, “do you need my help?” She opened the trunk, pulled out a baby stroller, and began the process of unfolding it. “No, I’ve got it,” she replied and inclined her head briefly towards the back seat. Acknowledging her gesture, he opened the back door. From there he reached in and carefully unbuckled the restraints on an infant car seat and lifted out a little bundle in pink. “Hi sweet baby,” he whispered ju...

We took the long way home today. This picture emphazises why we call it living in the valley. We are caught in a painters pallette between winter and spring. Dropping over the last hill, we found ourselves in the direct path of Willie and Waylan, two Percherons, that were being lead from the north pasture to the stable for a good scrubbing. Look at those huge feet. The owner said, " Sure you can take a picture. People are always asking if they can take pictures. But, you have to promise me that you'll check out our web site and let your readers know that these big boys are mighty purty when they are clean and dressed up. " Willie was very friendly and enjoyed the attention. He weighs in at 2000 pounds. I think that is why we hit it off so quickly. His buddy Waylan, is about 200 pounds trimmer. As promised, I linked to their home page plus grabbed their getting hitched photo. Well, hitched to a Carriage and taking part in someone's wedding ceremony. Imagine ri...

Late Friday night I stood at the window that faced the ocean and saw something more than the incoming tide claiming the beach. I grabbed my binoculars and then my bird book. In the moonlight and the lights from the motel, I could clearly see over 100 little Sanderlings running in the surf. They were doing exactly what my National Audubon Field Guide described. "As a wave comes roaring in, the birds run up on the beach just ahead of the breaker, then sprint after the retreating water to feed on the tiny crustaceans and mollusks left exposed." We turned off the lights in our room and we sat our chairs by the window to watch the little shorebirds antics. For well over an hour past our bedtime. They looked like ice-skaters because we couldn't see their legs moving. Back and forth they glided, always right below our window in the foamy breakers that at high tide were within five feet of the retaining wall. We walked down the outside stairs for a few minutes and could hear the...

My blog is worth $279,447.30 . How much is your blog worth?

Saturday blew in after a blustery night and I covered my head with my pillow. Not for long, though, as the tempting scent of fresh coffee called my nose and I was compelled to pick up a cup and say hello . "I've been thinking about Palouse Falls," I told the hubby as we shared home-cooked cold cereal. "What about it?" he responded. The "what" was that someone had said that the cold weather had sculpted some wonderful ice designs around the rocky waterfall and I wanted to drive the 60 some-odd miles to see if for myself. However, a Pacific front had moved in overnight and warmed the inland empire well above the freezing level. We decided to go anyway. My little car was on empty so our first stop was to buy gas . I stayed in the car and it seemed to take an eternity to complete the transaction. Finally, the hubby got back in and we drove off. "My gas card was denied at the island and inside." the hub by explained. "I had to use cash....

There is a small town cuddled up to a cold mountain river, surrounded by the gateway hills to the Blues. Back when we all celebrated Y2K, the town boasted a population of about 1,200 people. Since then it has become a bedroom community to our somewhat larger town and sharing the growing pains of the valley. Homes and property are still more affordable there and twenty miles is not very far to drive, especially for someone coming from a large metropolitan area. Those people from the big cities have been arriving and buying. They are finding an idyllic place where their dollars go father, peace and quiet are the norm, and they break away from the corporate handcuffs. The hubby offered to take me "up" there to a new art gallery that one of the owners had invited him to visit. She and her husband, from the Los Angeles area, bought attached buildings on the "main" street of town. (I think the downtown area extends a whole five blocks.) They are both artists in differ...

One morning last week, I was surprised to see an SUV on the side of the street about ½ mile from our house. Something totaled the vehicle. The front end was a V shape ending in the front seat. There must have been a serious injury. Where was the other car, I wondered? The next morning, the wreckage gone, I saw the other half of the crash. It was the stone wall surrounding one of the town’s historical homes, a Victorian mansion. A rock musician owns this property. When the musicians wife purchased the house a few years back she decided to return it to its glory days. At first, I was stunned when the painting began. Every day on my way to work, I watche d the progress. I also noticed a number of curious strangers parking along the road to review the restoration. In the beginning, I thought it was going to be gaudy. The contractor installed an electronic gate and security lights. They kept the beautiful old stone wall, but a mason was required to repair a section ...