Woody on the 4th of July!

Woody made a new friend that night. Her name was Lily and she had THE BEST ears ever...just like velvet.

Woody preparing for blast off!

Launched!!!

 

 

 

 

Woody had been suspiciously quiet. That is until last night. All of a sudden he flew down from his perch and started buzzing right by my head...made several near miss missions. Finally I caught on and we had ourselves a conversation. He wanted to know why he wasn't featured more often on my blog.
I didn't really have any good answer but promised him I would remedy that situation TODAY. So, true to my word, I Woodified my blog!

Young and Spry-ish!!!

I only had to take one dose of arnica after loading and unloading two truck loads of wood yesterday...
I woke up prepared to be all gimped up, but nooooooooooooooooooo. I coulda hurled me some more wood today, no problemo!

Funny at 97

My 97 year old friend, Helen, and I were visiting with my sister, Mookie who has known Helen for several years. Mookie asked Helen if she still wore her Life Alert necklace. Helen started putting her hand down her shirt in search of the necklace and said: "I think there's something in there."
Mookie replied: "I hope there are two things."
With a  straight face Helen said: "used to be!!!"

One simple thing

It sure doesn't take much to make someone's day...errrr, at least my day.
My postal clerk put dried rose petals in my pob so when I opened it up, some of the petals went fluttering to the ground...oh my goodness. I'd been having a "not the very best day in the world" kind of day...it totally made my heart smile...and lifted me right up.

Yoga Daddy!

I am almost certain there is a passage from the Torah, Bible, Koran or some other religious text that addresses elderly parents in the following manner: Thou shalt not now, nor ever heed the advice of thy adult children.
You know what I'm talkin' about!!!
So, it had to be a family member once removed...a much more reliable source of information  (never mind his drug and alcohol history!!!) that suggested my dad look into yoga. The relative gave dad an article from, where else, the New York Times written by non other than a JEWISH DOCTOR!!! The guy had spent time in India and as a result rx'd yoga as part of his patients wellness care. Armed with a tiny bit of info. from a virtual stranger, dad was good to go for his first chair yoga class. I wish you could have seen him...cute as all get out. Dressed in his daily uniform of khakis, leather belt, button down oxford shirt, swanky yellow lensed glasses and his going out sneakers he was ready for action. I could tell he was both nervous and curious about his first class. When we arrived I spoke briefly to the teacher then escorted dad inside. I stayed while he got settled in and told him I would return to pick him up when class was over. When I arrived to pick him up he was chatting away with the teacher who was giving him some fun and interesting yoga facts. His hair, normally plastered flat to his head was sticking up in little tufts, his demeanor was lighter and he had a slight bounce in his step. As we were driving home I asked him what he thought about the class and he responded with: "I probably should have started a long time ago." Overtly, I tried to appear cool and non-invested but inside I was jumping for joy. For so many reasons my dad needs this class and I was very relieved that he found it interesting enough to try it again.
The second time I took him he confidently walked in, got some blocks and parked himself in his same chair. Tears welled up in my eyes...partly from happiness/relief that he was doing something to take care of himself...and partly from how proud I felt of him. Here he was, an 88 yer old conservative, midwestern guy who was wiling to check out this foreign practice called yoga. At home later that morning I asked him about class. He did a reinactment of some of the postures making sure to tell me the correct times to be breathing in and out. He wondered aloud if the teacher could give him some hand outs so he could practice at home :) Then he said: "the teacher rang these little bells and we were supposed to quiet our minds...then we breathed in the good thoughts and breathed out the bad ones. I wished we'd done that part longer." In that moment I felt such pure love and appreciation for my dad.

The Show Me State

I know that I live in a particularly left part of the country. You can find a little bit of everything round these parts. Kansas City, however, is another story. While progressive in some arenas, the collective consciousness is pretty dang dense. So, it should have come as no surprise that when I asked the TSA folks at the airport to hand check a little bag of essences that I instantly became a high risk passenger! Jeezo peezo. I handed the guy the bag of essences and then i was told i had to go thru the body scanner. Great. As soon as I was released from that procedure the guy said to me that because of the bag, they were going to have to pat me down. And the first thought in my head is: "if you think you are going to lay one of your 'mr. creepy man hands on my body, you are in for a fight.'
Fortunately for everyone he turned me over to two women. The first was the one who was going to actually do the pat down. As she was snapping on those icky rubber gloves (blue for those of you that care) she was describing in great detail where and how she was going to be touching my body...which by now is sweating profusely! Next to her stood a woman who looked like an older butch lesbian (BL). She was the bulldog security mama and was standing no more than a foot from me. Both of them were SO in my personal space that I was kinda wishing when they'd told me i had to be pat down i had taken my chances and bolted...this was excruciating. I was trying my best to find the humor in the situation...as i took the macro view it all seemed surreal and I smirked which i'm sure made me even more suspicious cuz it was right about the time that woman number one began the exam. However, she did have a good touch and i thought to myself that she'd make a decent bodyworker! So, she completed my back side and as she stepped in front of me to begin the front I said to her: "this is kind of an unusual job, isn't it?" She answered that it was but didn't miss a beat with the exam. She then moved to touch a part of my body that I just don't like to have touched and I instinctively recoiled. The BL lurched at me as if I was about to set off a bomb and it was her job to stop me!!! It wasn't all that funny in the moment but afterwards I found it hysterical. Anyways, because of that incident I had to go to a private room and explain myself to the female supervisor. Talk about sweating. My fear was that the babe was gonna force the issue, it was gonna get ugly very quickly and I would have to call my folks from jail! But to her credit she resolved it easily and then the four of us marched out of the private room as if in a parade!

Oh Lordy!!!

I need to get out more often!
I was waiting in the security line at the Oakland airport this a.m. and engaging in some serious people watching. (and no, contrary to what some of you might assume I was NOT scopin' out the g's!!!) I was just observing and being entertained. Until I noticed this woman...one couldn't help but notice her. Yes she was attractive and I did notice that (whatever!) but there was a particular energy about her...so light filled and radiant...TOTALLY  caught my attention. She was far enuf away that I couldn't see details but once she was closer I about had a heart attack cuz I was just sure it was Diana Jones (see music section of my profile for further info) I was trying my best to remain calm! I was staring hard at her and then finally came to the conclusion that it was not Diana for she did not have a guitar with her and she looked just a wee bit older than Diana. However, this woman was a charming and irresistable cross between Diana and Jessica Lange (I'm not bragging or anything but I was co-founder of the Jessica Lange fan club in the 80"s) Anyways, even tho it wasn't Diana, I still watched her go thru security and off to her plane. Done deal.
I am headed for my already boarding flight and realize I had to use the facilities in a big way so did a U-turn to make a last minute dash...and there in front of me is Miss Dazzle Pants herself!!! As we pass each other we make eye contact and shared one of those moments...you know, where your entire being lights up and you could just about explode...time stops...and then the next moment is there and I turn into the bathroom short of breath and sweating...telling myself to just keep walking! I about knocked myself out trying to get into the stall I was so happily distressed! I made myself take a couple of deep breaths to try and calm my nerves! And then I saw her AGAIN sitting at my gate. I really wanted to have the juevos to go introduce myself but my legs would not walk in her direction, dangit! Heck, I couldn't even look at her again.
I might be a lost cause in this dep't. Let us pray!!!