Maybe we can hope for Spring after all. Hope springs eternal and all that!!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
BEEN THERE...DONE THAT
It's not that I haven't had any recent adventures or that life's been boring or anything. On the contrary. It's just that talking about myself takes a bit of effort. So, dear readers, in a nutshell, I've just experienced some drastic transitions involving "hanging up" my tires for long periods of time. Maybe "drastic" is too extreme. "BIG" might be more accurate. As in buying a membership in an Escapee RV park in California's Sierra foothills and moving, settling into a new lot, staying put and getting comfortable with new people, new surroundings, new rhythms, new responsibilities.
Change is good, right? Change makes life interesting; change opens doors and makes us strong and flexible. Says so in the fine print, right here! Well, the thing is...I've been busy volunteering in the park, having lots and lots of visitors and simply haven't been on the road much -- but that's about to change. In the meantime, my computer is host to thousands of unpublished photos. So until there's some new stuff to share, I'm starting a "Been There, Done That" series of "old" photos, not in any particular chronology.
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Coarsegold Creek and Fungi after early September rains
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Park of the Sierras Neighborly Critters
More than you need is greed, and if you eat food that doesn't belong to you, you might even end up dead!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
FALL IN THE FOOTHILLS
Witnessing the changing seasons in Coarsegold has been such a pleasant experience. Summer, especially hot Summers, gives me the blahs; Fall is energizing and exciting and pulls me outside!
Say AAAAAAAHHHH!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
LAUGHTER...
...is therapeutic, reduces pain, increases job performance, reduces stress, improves the flow of oxygen to one's heart and brain, helps prevent heart attack, slows blood pressure, triggers the release of endorphins and increases one's general sense of well being. Or put another way: Laughter is the best medicine!
"You can fake an orgasm, but you can't fake laughter." (Bob Dylan)
And some of us wear our hats on our sleeve. I mean, knee!
Laughter is the closest distance between two people." Victor Borge
I'm sorry Cindy -- I know you're not "fuzzy," but this was the best photo of your fabulous smile!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
UPPITY? YOU WANT UPPITY?...
...LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO UPPITY!
FIRST, THE VENUE
The Eastern Sierras...
A DIVERSE GROUP THAT CAME FROM NEAR AND FAR
Such as Monica, who traveled from New Jersey...
And this family, three generations of RVing women in two Lazy Dazes from Arizona: Lisa, mom Janet and Lisa's daughter, Jennifer.
THEY ARE WELCOMED...
...with a feast of weenies, campbeans, a salad bar and s'mores prepared by wagonmistresses, Joan and Lorna, and, after dinner, warming Kahalua, compliments of Calicia!
THEY GET PRESENTS
Wrapped in "gift bags" from "303 Products," (a company that had provided the Ladeze with generous samples of protectant and carpet cleaner), augmented by shop rags, ice cream sticks for cleaning window tracks, pipe cleaners for clearing spider webs from water heater tubes, towels, wipes, Skoy cloths -- all in keeping with the cleaning and lubing theme of this "event." Also included were the traditions: rubber bands and kazoos and an emergency road kit of chewing gum, bailing wire and bandaid!
And a table full of handouts: checklists, medical forms, pet information, regional travel guides and maps and vendor product information.
THEY TEACH
Joan is an advocate of liberating women from their FUDs (fears, uncertainties and doubts) and to that end armed us with a packet of syllabi and handouts for the presentations she would make each morning. (Click on the photo to better see the "Table of Contents" for the confidence-building material she put together for us.)
Never before having attended a Ladeze event, with spunk and pluck, Heidi engaged us in a lively interactive presentation, "Essential Lists for Solo Travelers," that covered ideas, suggestions and information germane to most of the Ladeze present.
THEY ADVOCATE
Cancer survivor Linda reminds us to get mammograms. (Linda, we're thrilled you could join us. When I think of you, the words "true grit" come to mind!)
THEY LEARN
Not one single woman was absent from Joan's daily presentations. This one on "Keeping it Clean and Movin' Free"...
...or this one on "Waste Tank Maintenance."
THEY VOLUNTEER
Calicia, among many other gifts of her time, demonstrates the advantages of "Freedom Waterless Car Wash." (BTW, Calicia, who generally travels from Massachusetts, is a charter member of the Ladeze group, having attended the first and all but two other Ladeze events.)
THEY ARE ENCOURAGED TO
ELEVATE COMFORT LEVELS
See? Maintaining the stuff "Under the Hood" isn't so scary after all.
THEY ARE CREATIVE
This time with beads. Some made earrings; others made R'minders (to put the antenna down, to make sure the cat didn't escape, etc!)
THEY CONTRIBUTE BOOKS, MUSIC AND GREAT STUFF...
For their fund raising yard sale...
...And then go shopping!
THEY PREPARE DELICIOUS, HEALTHY FOOD
THEY PAY RESPECTS TO THE CULT OF BACCHUS
Joan is indeed a renaissance woman. In a matter of hours, she can go from cleaning an RV's air filter to instilling us with an appreciation for California Chardonnays.
We had been pre-prepared with comment and grading sheets.
As Joan introduced each label, wine elves then poured between palate cleansing cheese, water and crackers.
Happy campers, yes indeed!
Hmmmmmm, I like the "green" better than the "blue." Better pour me some more green, just to make sure.
Not just first class, but award-winning
High fives for a job well done.
THEY PLAY GAMES
Babes to women. Who are they?!! Successfully matching today's what-you-see-now, two winners identified *most* of the cutiepies!
THEY BOND, TALK STORY, MAKE FRIENDS,
SHARE EXPERIENCES
THEN SAY "SO LONG FOR NOW" IN HIGH STYLE
P.S. Stay tuned (in a few days) for scenes from "Hootin and Hollerin" Ladeze style!
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