Self Portrait: Red Backpack, Fairhaven, WA, 2012

My snowy owl I got with JoyfulJerri,
drumsticks to jam on the street with
my bucket from Lowe's turned upside
down (you never know where you'll
find a band around here, seriously)
and a volume of The Collected Poems
of Emily Dickinson, first published
posthumously in 1890. She was rejected
as a poet in her own lifetime, never to
experience life as one of the most beloved
American poets of all time.

XXIII.
"I HAD no time to hate, because
The grave would hinder me,
And life was not so ample I
Could finish emnity.

Nor had I time to love; but since
Some industry must be,
The little toil of love, I thought.
Was large enough for me."
~ Emily Dickinson

Rock on.

Peter-Peanut Sunbathes His Nose



After breakfast, everyone takes their morning nap.
Peter-Peanut naps in his (furry, yes I'd wash it but
he loves to smell his own fragrance, so...) sleeper.
But his nose: SUNBATH! SUNBATH!
Still in the Afterglow of JoyfulJerri.
What a Wondrous Day!

~*!~

AND IT WAS GOOD. WAY AWESOME GOOD!



I've been touched by an angel.

She LURVES Garfield and her photo
album here was actually autographed
by Jim Davis himself!

For those who don't know, Village Books
here in Bellingham sold Molly the Owl 
by Eric Blehm and this is Joyful Jerri with
the very last copy plus a calendar we
discovered of barn owls by artist
Jeannine Chappell (is she a MOD?!)

We laughed for hours. And one thing...
every single person who we met became
Joyful around Jerri. True. Now I can rest
because I have met my first MOD.
AND IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN BETTER!
(non-MODS: Molly Obsessive Disorder,
please GOOGLE it because it's just not an
affliction that can be explained!)

Jerri was so deeply touched knowing how many
of you asked me to give her your love. She was
genuinely moved, sharing it was this same love
that got her through her heart surgery.

YAY LOVE!

MISSION CONTROL: THE GARF HAS LANDED!

TODAY, my friend Garfield arrived in Bellingham! Meet Joyful Jerri, who is not only a MOD, but a...hmmm, yeah, she told me this wouldn't be easy; not like someone with Garfield Obsessive Disorder could be called GOD. (We'll have to work on that.)Despite having never met in person nor having spoken on the phone before her impending arrival, we spoke tonight for hours on the phone once she checked into her hotel room because I spent a second day confined to bed, and this is one gracious, kind, empathetic, awesome friend. She understood and encouraged me to rest so we will meet up tomorrow around 11'ish! (I can hardly wait.) Felt like talking to an old friend I have known forever. YES, MODS, I TOLD HER YOU ALL SEND YOUR LOVE AND BEST WISHES AND EVEN NAMED NAMES, YA'BETCHA I DID!
KNOW SHE FEELS THE LOVE.Well, tomorrow is NOT going to be Day 3 in bed so off to sleep we go with our friend bringing record-breaking, unseasonal, gorgeous, sunny weather with her for which I am personally grateful. As much as the rest of the world is being traumatized by catastrophic events caused possibly by global warming and climate change, this is the first real "summer" I have experienced since moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1991, and I am LOVIN' IT!
This is Joyful Jerri in her award-winning "Witchypoo Garf" costume which, should she wear it here, would make her look like a "local!"
(We're that kind o'town, ya know!)
Sweet dreams, all. I'll give her a big hug for ya, too!
~nighty-night~

IS SHE HERE YET? MOM! GET OUT OF BED!

WE ARE HAVING OUR FRIEND
OVER TOMORROW AND YOU
HAVEN'T BEEN OUT OF BED
ALL DAY: PIP-PIP!
HOP TO IT!
Do you ever get to a certain age and simply stop asking why? We have waited excitedly to welcome
Joyful Jerri for as long as we can remember, walking
every day, feeling absolutely FAB! So today is a sick
day? SERIOUSLY. Well, tomorrow is a new day, and it's for hugs, laughs, and mischief-making, so
off to bed and good morning to all of you, and you MODS OUT THERE, LISTEN UP: JERRI ASKED
ME TO GIVE YOU ALL HER LOVE!
SQUEEEEEEE, MY FIRST MOD IN PERSON!
Sick or no, Life is Beautiful.

The Best Bee

"Guinea Bee"

{we do not know who to give photo credit to,
but thank CD3 for sending this, our first 
GUINEA BEE!}

WE HAZ COMPANY COMING: MUST LOOK OUR BEST!



"Vinny-Guinea"



"Peter-Peanut"

"Bhindi"

"Yum-Yum"

 ~*~

Local kitty wins big at first Internet Cat Video Festival - KCPQ

Local kitty wins big at first Internet Cat Video Festival - KCPQ

We here in the Pacific Northwest are 
existentialists...blame it on the seemingly
endless, grey, rainy days. A local cat took top prize at the first Internet Cat Video Festival illustrating our despair.
(you might giggle. He reminds us of Cujo Cat, actually. See "The Cujo Cat Chronicles" on "My Blog List." 
Cujo suffers just South of here...)
Film Noir VIVRE le Chat.
Sponsored by the famous Walker Art 
Center Gallery of Minneapolis.

WHAT IS THAT NEXT TO MY LITTERBOX AND WHERE IS THE REST OF MY GIRLFRIEND?

 

If you recall, Chai got to move back down to
Seattle after my "head bumps" because I 
couldn't walk him anymore but he is happy
living with his feisty tortie, Sami, rescued
after she was spotted just walking down a
highway north of Seattle. After two years
of not receiving any socializing, she became
more feral which made her the perfect 
"arranged marriage material" for our
wayward Bengal Cat. But in the summer
her luxurious fur gets all matted and she
gets too hot (remember we don't have air
conditioning up here) so she gets a "lion cut"
or some facsimile thereof. She thinks Chai is
a "drama queen" (understatement of the year)
and merely tolerates him for she has no choice.
They were supposed to give her a "lion tail" too.
They didn't.
Now she will take it out on Chai when he least expects it. 

 

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING BENEATH A LATE SUMMER SUN, SANS SKIS!



These poles are called "Exerstriders" and are designed for striding the same way one cross-county skis except they absorb the shock of concrete, dirt paths, you name it! With a good, stiff latte under these athletic compression tights, they make wonderful companions ensuring balance, utilizing all parts of the body, and increase cardiovascular endurance and upper body strength, particularly on the steep march back UP the nearly 45 degree ramp into Fairhaven! Have hiked so many miles through the years that both rubber tips are nearly worn off but - hey - I'm just getting STARTED, all of you in my heart with every stride I take beneath a sky where eagles soar.

THE WALK: PART 1, "WHERE EAGLES SOAR"

Taylor Dock, kind of a "locals' secret" has become my place for walking meditations. These are strange days, indeed: tapering off pain medications harder to withdraw from than heroin. 
Why did no one tell me?

Since January, I am tapering off nearly all pain
and anti-seizure medication (taken to help prevent chronic, daily migraine) due to contraindications
and an unusual heart condition, a fifth electrical
pathway in my heart...the only way to survive the
process is to WALK IT OFF. I didn't know how. With Nordic walking poles, determination, discipline and grit to walk every day or nearly
so, I feel transformed - at least while out.
Once home, it's the shakes, pain, mood swings...
severe fatigue, weakness, dizziness, vertigo, nausea,
falling, passing out, ad nauseum. This process will
continue for at least another year.

Walking, yoga, and meditation are saving me. 
My friends are saving me.
The guinea pigs rescue me!
Deep in meditation, surrounded by the San Juan Islands, nothing exists but pure, unadulterated exhilaration that I can walk again!
So many cannot, and those who can often take it for granted unless they, too, have struggled back to the world of the Living from the Brink...Here, filled with joy and unending gratitude,
Heaven descends to Earth with Grace Endless.

AND IT WAS GOOD...

THE GNOME AND ME:
WALK #7
...now, to rest.