Jul 2015 - NOT a Blue Christmas for the Blue Lady

SLC is cooperating this year by having a
white Christmas.

Smokey Rose looks just right in
Christmas mode

The Blue Lady Goes Home Again

Rockford is the home of the Sock Monkey. We love them.

People say I have too many homes. This past weekend I went home to my hometown, Rockford, and when I told people in Salt Lake that I was going "home," it confused several people. I say I am going home when I mean I am leaving this place in Salt Lake & going to where
 Smokey Rose and my things are. I say I am going home as I prepare to leave for the Black Hills. I say I am going home when I go to Rockford.

Maybe I told you that a few years ago I decided to give up on going to Rockford in the summer. It's wicked hot, and I don't want to do much of anything outside. Autumn is the best time of year, so I have been going to Illinois in October for several years now. Fall break beginning weekend, or Columbus Day weekend, often works out very well.

This time I did most of the things that I really like to do in Rockford and the surrounding area. I spent a lot of the time with my dear friend Jan, someone I have known since forever because our parents went to grade school together. She has a boss who can be difficult about permitting the use of vacation time, but this time the boss gave Jan Monday off (it's not a holiday at her workplace.) That coupled with the weekend meant Jan had 3 days to do things with me.

At Home in the Hills and a Car Story

Our retreat bedroom

Smokey Rose and I are at our home in the hills, and we are very happy. We both love this place a lot and feel so relaxed and comfortable here. I can't say we do all that much that is interesting to write about. We are on retreat.

Summer - Again

Packing in process

This is all I have to say...it's summer again. I am already miserable. I just have to live through it. It could be worse; I could be living in Yemen.

Dream #2 - The afterlife

A postcard from somewhere in Mexico

It began in a kind of nothingness, and then I was in a lovely meadow being greeted by my dad and my dog, Mr. Otto, from my childhood. In a bit, my mom and others joined us. The whole dream was about being oriented to what life after death was like, being taught the ropes about that.

Dream Week

Art from France

Of course I dream. Everyone does, but most of the time I don't recall at all the content of my dreams. If I do remember a bit, I know it was just going over things that I saw heard or did that day in some kind of randomness. Laying down (or not) memories, I'm sure. I also don't put much into trying to interpret dreams. They mostly seem to me to be meaningless neuro-biology at work...not worth spending time with the next day.

This week, however I had TWO very clear and long dreams that had narratives. My friend M says I should share them. So here goes.

Dream #1 ..... the working out of anxieties dream ..... I think

Scene one - the hospital

I was at "the hospital" although it was like no real hospital I have ever been in. It had old fashioned wards and a maze like quality to it. There were people there, but none of them were real people that I could ever recall meeting. But it was the maternity section.

This and That - May 24, 2105

I'm kind of stuck about what to write at the moment so I'll just send you some pretty pictures from Red Butte Garden so far this year and maybe some random thoughts and call it good. We have had a LOT of rain this month and so the flowers are looking great. Right now it's the irises that are stealing the show.

At the moment, these peach colored ones are my favorites

Concern ......Caring

A bit of seriousity today. I listened to Elizabeth Warren and President Obama kind of dueling about the Asian Free Trade Agreement coming to a nation near you soon. I happen to like and trust both of these people, and it is difficult to hear them kind of fighting with each other. But in the end I came away thinking, this is something I should care about .....but I just don't.

This happens to me a lot.

For example, there is the whole violence in the Middle East thing. This is all horrible, for sure. No redeeming virtues at all. Nothing good here. People suffering mightily all over the place. But I have reached the point where I kind of believe this story in the Onion.....New Evidence Suggests Middle East Conflict Predates All Human Civilization. Really, just read the Bible for goodness sake.

And the whole violence in the Middle East thing makes me feel 110% powerless. There is literally nothing I can do about it except to think and talk about it. Certainly I have no bright ideas whatsoever about what might could help solve this problem. Nobody has, as best I can tell.

Planning to Be Retired - Part Deux - Where to Live Lists

Should I stay or should I go?

Another Thing you may or may not know exists is lists about good & bad places to live when you are retired. Of course the world is full of lists of all kinds; I guess we love to read them, so why not? I read them all the time. None of them ever prove to be really helpful, I must say, but still I can't help but click on the latest list by someone about something. They are good, clean entertainment.....and food for conversation or blog posts.

Planning to be Retired - Part One, MONEY

This is ON THE LIST

The Planning for Retirement Industry - it's a thing you know, as Sally, the Unbrave Girl would say. There is NO SHORTAGE of advice and other things you may or may not have any interest in. After awhile you just kind of tune it all out and say "Enough already! Leave me alone." But I keep going back to it, just to see if there is something important I have missed.

Happy in the Spring

A postcard from Belarus
which gave me joy when I found it in my mailbox

Spring is officially here. I might as well be happy. I am happy. There's lots to be happy about right now.

Travel My Way

I love to travel. There are so many places in the world that I want to visit. I am looking forward to being retired so that I will be able to have the time to go places I want to go. But I intend to travel the way I want to travel. I'm kind of set in my ways about this. I want to be able to fully enjoy my trips and that means I need to do them my way.

California Dreamin'

My very favorite poster of all times

I wish I were in California right now. Three years ago I got restless about this time of year and I just needed to get out of town. My friend Sheri helped me pick where to go. That turned out to be Laguna Beach, California.

Big News and little

Baby Ava Irene on her birthday

The BIG news is the arrival of baby Ava Irene in Chicago. My dear niece gave birth to her on January 20. Mom, dad and baby all doing fine. As you see she has lots of lovely dark hair...got that from her dad for sure.

The name Ava is found both in Sweden and Iran so my niece decided it was a good one to go with Ava's dual heritage. Irene was my mom, really loved by my niece. I am so happy to see that name continuing.

Let's Try Again

Happy New Year

I am better now. I still have a cough which startles people sometimes, but I feel pretty good. When I tell people I was sick, I get very little sympathy. Instead I get topped. "Oh I was too! I was in bed for 6 days and couldn't move at all...throwing up all over the place, almost had to get admitted to the hospital. etc, etc. etc." It's a bad winter for health around here.

Right now it's difficult to be outside because the annual January bad air is back. We are regularly having red and orange alert days when we are not supposed to drive. Everyone does, of course, because for most people there are no good alternatives. Those who have options, like me being able to commute by UTA, are already doing that no matter what the air alert is.

ANOTHER Week of Being Sick

I received this postcard from Russia this week. It expresses exactly how I feel right now.

This post will not be long. I wrote the last one Sunday during the day. That same night, when I went to bed, I started coughing. I couldn't sleep because of all the coughing. Monday was worse, and Monday night even worse than that.

I gave up and went to see the doctor on Tuesday. A very nice young family practice resident told me he didn't think I had the actual flu like the whole rest of the word seems to have because I didn't have a fever. But he clearly saw I was miserable. He gave me some codeine to help me stop coughing and get some sleep. It worked. My friend Jan took me to the grocery store for a big stock up of sick food.