the dream life

One good thing

The best thing that I did today was go to a bookstore grand opening.

If you live around these parts, you really should check out the Morris book shop on Southland Drive. For one thing, the people who own it are exactly the kind of people you want to be around and for another thing, you know what they sell there? Books. Actual books. Not all that other stuff that the big chain book stores sell. All that other stuff is great, but I love going into a book store and looking at books and let me tell you, the selection in there was delightful.

Other than that, my day was sort of strange. I bought strawberries and whole wheat bread at Whole Foods as if those two things were somehow going to comprise a meal; I started organizing clothes then stopped; I went on a long hot walk; I discovered Hulu and watched episodes of One Day at a Time and Fantasy Island. (Which reminds me, what's the deal with all the other people on Fantasy Island? I mean the people other than the people who arrive to have their fantasies fulfilled. Are they all just actors hired to make the fantasies come true, or do they actually live on the island and know nothing about the whole fantasy thing?)

Some days just don't get off the ground exactly like I'd planned. 

Oh well. 

At least there's stuff to read.

Bon voyage and little mugs

Last night, my brother and sister-in-law and nieces threw a bon voyage party for my mom, who is on her way to England (the homeland of her soul.) Ava presented my mom with a really cool sign  

and we all sat around and ate delicious pie and drank coffee.

Tracy and I received our coffee (yes, we just sat around in a giant soft chair while Ava and Chloe brought us things) in the most fabulous mugs. The mugs were a gift from Chloe's sister-in-law, and I just fell in love with their charms.

 

After doing some quick research, I believe them to be the children's mugs from Bybee Pottery.

I would imagine there are few people who grew up in the exact region where I grew up who don't own at least one piece of Bybee.

We went there on school trips and Sunday drives. It's just one of those Kentucky places that you honor. 

I'm not spending much money these days, but I feel I must acquire a set of these mugs, not only for those small coffee moments, but also for when the girls come over for dinner or snacks.

My friend Anessa

This is my friend Anessa.

We met in Woodland Park when we were in college.

   

We met at a time in my life when I was floating -- trying on a lot of different things, unsure of myself, looking but not yet grounded or focused. We met at a time in my life when getting along with people was sometimes difficult for me, but I never had a hard time getting along with Anessa.

She is one of those people, the kind with the bright light in the center of her that radiates out and flows over everyone and everything that she touches. You feel better when you're around her. She's kind and compassionate and loyal. She's funny and smart. She's enormously talented, and she's a knockout. 

I don't spend enough time with her but we've always found ways to stay in touch, no matter where we were living or how much time went on in between visits. 

Anessa is an artist. She is an artist in all aspects of her life and she is also a painter. Over the past few years, her work has blossomed and evolved and I am so deeply impressed by what she does. I believe there are big, fabulous things in store for her.

Yesterday I walked down to Isle of You for the Summer Solstice Celebration, where Anessa's paintings are on display, then we had dinner (including pie)  and then she spent the night at our house. 

This morning, we visited the girls and did a little sidewalk chalking.

We had a great visit. It was so good just to sit and talk, something we hadn't done in a long while. I hope I won't let so much time go by before hanging out with her again. I love my friends and I'm especially grateful for the ones who know everything about me -- the ones who dyed their hair pink with me, the ones who have witnessed my failures and successes, the ones who have heard me say crazy stuff only recant it later, the ones who stick in there with me through all the changes.

There always will be changes, and our friends keep us connected to what's beautiful and true.

Upcoming greatness

When we receive an invitation to something really good, I put it on the entry table by the front door so that every time we go in and out of the house we can experience joyful anticipation. This is the invitation that's currently gracing the table and I can't wait. 

Anessa + her rockin paintings + Lolli + her rockin store + summer solstice = awesome Saturday. 

Zoo trip

This morning I received a surprise invitation to go with Chloe and the girls to the zoo. I was honored to accept the invitation, of course, going on adventures with the girls being one of my favorite things.

It is true that I have conflicted feelings about zoos. I don't like the premise that we somehow have dominion over animals, that's it's somehow okay to take them from their natural habitats, put them in cages, then gawk and stare and point at them. (I tried to ask them telepathically if it was all right to photograph them.) The deep sadness in the eyes of the primates is difficult to bear. Even though I'm glad that the animals in the zoos won't be hunted or poached, will receive medical care, and ample food, I think their hearts must long to be in the wild. 

And yet, when zoos are done right, they are almost like churches to me. To be able to look at a tiger or a lion, I consider a great gift.

I do think it's a good thing for people to have exposure to live animals that they may never have opportunity to see were it not for zoos. I hope that this exposure leads to compassion and understanding. And despite my zoo feelings, the Louisville Zoo is a very nice one. The people are mostly kept at a distance and the animals have space and privacy. The landscaping is beautiful. There are trains and there is a carousel. 

We saw beautiful, majestic animals today. We communed with elephants  

and maned wolves and giraffes

   

and Ava's favorite animals -- flamingos.  

We also got to pet goats and I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before but I just love goats. If we ever live on a farm, I definitely want some goats. The goats we sat with today were serene and sweet.

We had a good, good day, the four of us. I'm so grateful to be given opportunities like these -- to be able to experience life with my nieces and go on adventures together. Today, as always, I was struck by what a great mother my sister in law is -- how she is always so fair and even-tempered and kind, how she is always flexible with her eyes cast both at the big picture and the small details.  I was also struck today by how much the girls love and admire one another, how Ava takes care of Emme and includes her in her fun. I'm lucky, lucky just to know them, let alone be related to them.

Storm watch

This morning the heavy rain and crashing thunder tried to call me back to bed. Storms always try to convince me that I don't really need to go to work. Storms, especially when they are dark, always tell me that the thing I need to do is retreat and rest and listen to them. 
I got in the car anyway, turned up Deva Premal and plugged in my aromatherapy diffuser (my car smells like lavender now. I highly recommend it). I had to go on several detours because of trees across the road. When I got to work, I discovered we'd lost a big oak on campus  

and several smaller trees.

Back at home, we had a limb on power lines and there were several trees down around the neighborhood.

While I do not love the damage they do, I do love the storms themselves. I love the electric energy they create and the power they have to stop everything, even time.

We had a family friend who told me once that she loved thunderstorms. She told me how she liked to sit on her porch as they came through, how she liked the fine spray of water on her cheeks, how she drank in the earthy smell.

I was a girl when she told me this and in the moment that she told me, I shifted my awareness. Storms, which had previously scared me, became awe inspiring and mysterious. I saw that instead of seeing myself as separate, I could see myself as a part of the storm. I could see myself as made of the same stuff. From that moment on, I saw the beauty in storms and I have loved them ever since. Everything that I love about them was always there. All it took was intention and a slight shift in my consciousness for me to change my perspective.

Even though I love storms, today I grieve the loss of some fine trees.

Sunday fix

If at 5:17 p.m. on the Sunday of a three-day weekend you find that you've done not one thing that you hoped to do and that you're all out of sorts in general, a good solution is to buy a bunch of food, eat it outdoors, then take your boys to the dog park. For good measure, when you get back, grab your tiny book light and read in the way back of the dark yard.

Fairy discovery (always good)

I had to work yesterday morning...not typically the way I like to start out a three-day weekend, but it was graduation and graduations are exciting, so I didn't mind. Afterwards, I wasn't really sure what to do with my afternoon. There were so many things that I wanted to do and the weather was luscious. We had lunch then decided to visit some garden shops.

We ended up at Louis Flower Power (the one in Jessamine County) and discovered that they've got a fairy . 

thing going on out there

They have fairies and elves and fairy houses. After my shopping blow-out in Nashville, I decided not to buy anything, but I admired everything. I fell very much in love with this garden statue and caressed her lovingly.

Then, we came home and I was inspired to work in the garden and weed and create my own fairy paradise but instead, I ended up plopping down with a good book then going for a walk and *poof* it was dark and that was that. I don't know if I'll do anything productive today or not, but the weather is still wondrous and the world feels wide open.

Gettin' back to where I once belonged

Since the first time I met Tracy's friend Jeff, I've wanted to go hear his band (I feel compelled to mention that as much as I deeply, deeply love the John Hughes contributions to film, when I watch Sixteen Candles as an adult, I am stunned by the character of Long Duk Dong, which has to be one of the most offensive presentations of Asian stereotype ever. This is just an aside, and I'm certainly not blaming the band for that...so, anyway.) I've wanted to hear them for a long time. First of all, I just really like Jeff a lot and second of all, they are an 80's cover band. They are, in fact, Lexington's premiere 80's band.
They play frequently at an Irish bar that's near our house and I routinely check their website to see when they're playing and I suggest that we go, but then we do whatever else we have to do and by the time 9 p.m. rolls around, we are either too exhausted or already wearing pajamas or actually in bed. Tracy doesn't drink at all and I drink alcohol about three times a year, so we just don't find ourselves in bars very often (even though I like bars for the darkness, the neon signs, the appetizers and the people watching.)
But last night, we went on a date.
Chad and Chloe graciously offered to take us out to thank us for a recent babysitting gig and even though we feel no thanks are necessary for that, and even though we really wanted to pay our own way, we were thrilled to go out as adults and have a time together. We knew we would go to Nagasaki. (Yes, I know that fish are not vegetables. The fact that I have allowed a little bit of fish back into my diet is the subject of another post) then we would do something fun like Karaoke or bowling or some such thing. So, of course, I checked the Long Duk Dong schedule, and they were playing.
Last night we headed out to Nagasaki and had a great meal.

(Although, I didn't pay attention to what I was doing and ordered up a bunch of expensive rolls. Sorry, Chad and Chloe), then, we actually did a little grocery shopping. I'm not lying. We needed some essentials so we stopped by Fresh Market and got them. Then, we went to O'Neill's. The timing was actually perfect. We got there just before the band was set to go on. The place was pretty well packed, but we found a table. The bartender immediately brought us a sample shot of Ale8 and Knobb Creek slushie. Since, like Tracy, my brother doesn't drink, and my sister in law doesn't do bourbon, I was the only taker. I didn't even drink all of it (and it was a shot), but that wasn't because it didn't taste delicious. This is all just to say that we aren't your typical partiers.
But, we sure did have fun.

The show began with 80's videos - some that I'd forgotten about but love like the Eurythmics Here Comes the Rain Again-and that immediately lulled me into an 80's reverie that made me feel really weird in a really good way. Then the band came on with a light show and they were so good. The thing that makes them so good is that they are a great band. They aren't getting by on a gimmick. They are seriously good musicians and can genuinely deliver the songs they play and the songs they play are - you know - the songs that people of a certain age remember in a certain way.
As Chloe put it, "I feel like I'm in my bathroom, there's a few inches of snow on the ground, and I'm hot rolling my bangs."
Exactly.
The crowd was a mix of people who were in their twenties during the 80's, people who were in their teens during the 80's, and people who were little bitty babies during the 80's, and we all grooved on the 80's vibe, remembering our memories and singing along. As I watched the dancing that was going on next to the stage, I saw for the first time in a long time, dancing that I know how to do. You know, high school dance dancing. I can't express how happy that made me. It was good, good stuff.
We left by 11 so that Chad and Chloe could relieve their sitter, so Tracy and I were actually home and in bed at a reasonable hour.
Next time, I'm going early, and getting a table up front.

Did the earth move for you?

This is the third earthquake of my life and once again, I didn’t feel it. There was one (sorry, too lazy to do research at the moment) that happened when I was a kid. It had to be before the seventh grade because we still lived out in the country. I was talking to a friend on the phone and she said, oh my god did you feel that? And I said, wha? And she hung up and I looked out the window and people were running out of their houses. Sure enough, it was an earthquake and everyone else around me felt it, but I didn’t.
Tracy says there was one when we were in high school. He knows it was high school because of the house where he was living. I don’t remember that one at all.
And early this morning, Tracy and Woody and I all soundly slept while the earth rumbled on. My mom called me and said that it shook her bed and rattled her windows and my grandmother said it moved around the stuff on her dresser. At our house – nothing. Just zzzzs.
I’m fine with it, I guess. I don’t particularly think I would enjoy feeling the earth quake, but it’s a little odd to know that quakes are happening and I’m not sensing them.