Tomorrow, all seventeen of us we will head up to Santa Barbara, which is an hour and 20-30 minutes from home for a three day, two-night visit. We will all be staying at a quaint little B&B. I say that now because I really have not seen the place up close and personal. We will though, very soon. We have an outline of places to see and have left plenty of time for beaching. We will be located 1/2 block walk to the beach and I understand they have a wonderful playground on our beach, which will be perfect for the kids. Our list of things to definitely see begins with the Santa Barbara Zoo. You know that this zoo is one of the nation’s smallest, but most enjoyable, and family friendly. There are over 600 animals, so how small can it be??? More
Natives are on Tour Again in Santa Barbara, California
20 Jul 2010 1 Comment
in Day Trips, Family Activities
Natives On Tour of Hollywood Return Home
12 Jul 2010 4 Comments
in Day Trips, Family Activities
We are home, all seventeen of us, from our “Natives on Tour in Hollywood” adventure. We did not feel like natives, we felt like tourists. Yes, before you can ask, we saw the Hollywood Wax Museum, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and The Guinness World Records Museum. All of these entities need upgrading. But when in Hollywood, like when in Rome, you do and see what they have available to you. We ate at Miceil’s Pizza where nearly umpteen million years ago I went on my first date. It felt out of the ordinary to be sitting within sight of the table where I sat with a stranger eating my first taste of pizza, switching gears and looking at our family all sitting, eating, laughing, and enjoying the moment. We also ate at The Pig and Whistle, which is housed in a most wonderful, historical building and the food was very good. Morning came and we found our large party at Mel’s Diner, which was a perfect beginning of day two. By the way, you must also know that we ate our way all day at the coffee establishments and the various “snackettes,” mixed with an abundance of shopping and the offer of tours offered along the boulevard. There is no shortage of food, fun eating, shopping and people watching in Hollywood. In the middle of our jaunting, a huge cloud spread across the skies and within five minutes it started to rain. Hey, this is Southern California. It does not rain here in the summer. But it did. You should have seen Hollywood Boulevard with everyone scrambling for every nook and cranny to stay dry. The streets thinned of people and were soaked. Ten minutes later the rain had stopped and the streets began to dry. More
Natives on Tour in Hollywood
08 Jul 2010 3 Comments
in Day Trips, Family Activities
Our family lives in Los Angeles, California. It is a hop, skip, and a jump on the new subway to get to Hollywood Blvd, where we have six rooms reserved at the old (1927) Roosevelt Hotel. All seventeen of us are natives of Los Angeles, but we are going to play like tourists in Hollywood. There is enough to keep us constantly busy. We have two days on Hollywood Blvd and one night at the hotel. I will keep you posted on our adventure:Natives on Tour In Hollywood.
Our plans have us lunching at Musso and Frank’s, touring the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with all of the characters on parade, viewing the stars of famous people on the Boulevard, seeing Toy Story 3 at the El Capitan, dining at The Pig and Whistle, and swimming at the hotel. The next day we will breakfast at Mel’s Diner, go on a tour of the Kodak Theater, walk the Walk of Fame, view the Wax Museum, and Ripley’s Believe it or not. Some of us plan to go to the Max Factor Museum while the others go on their appointed rounds. We want to make certain that we save enough time to enjoy the hotel and all its glory as well as seeing all of the wonderful places we have outlined for our adventure: Natives on Tour in Hollywood.
Hattie McKay
03 Jul 2010 3 Comments
I have decided to volunteer at a rehabilitation center and everyday, when I enter The Oak Hills, I see my future self strapped to the bed, being pumped and sucked, poked, jabbed, turned, swabbed and looking for someone to tell my story to, someone who would listen it. I approached several agents with the idea of telling the stories of the patients in The Oak Hills, and they felt that it was too depressing. Yes, in fact, more depressing than they and I ever realized, but equally uplifting, a side they did not see. My thought was and still is, that if you become depressed at knowing the possible, probable future, perhaps your present will brighten and you will seize the moment to live it fully.
One day, I spotted a woman whose wheel chair was placed in front of the double doors leading off to a sun filled patio. I peeked in on her, she sat up in the chair and I could tell she was deciding what to do with the attention. I smiled and told her that I would like to tell her story and she said, “You can tell my story, you can tell it in twenty breaths.”
“ What if it takes more?” I said.
“If it is more, then, we will have to deal with it,” she said.
“What is your name?” I asked.
“ Hattie McKay,” she said.
“ You’re looking good, Hattie McKay.” I said.
“ You’re looking good, too,” she said.
Hattie McKay was a little woman with strong hands and arms. Her face showed deep lines of age and hard work. She strained to remember and was always polite and answered a question with a completely formed sentence with a nice little pleasantry added on the end. One day when we were talking she winked at me and motioned for me to come close as if she had a secret to tell that would shake the earth. More
TWO POINTS SHORT
03 Jul 2010 Leave a comment
in Poetry
You have to know that no matter how good you are and how many wonderful deeds you do in your life, when you come to knock on St Peter’s gate, he will greet you with such grace, he will look up your score and let you know that you are one of the best, but you are just two points short. As you turn to walk the other way, you may remember This Poem.
TWO POINTS SHORT
You do not need to know who I am to hear my voice.
I am obscured from you by an absolute choice.
You may want to start spending your efforts and your time
But if you do the meaning will be lost in the rhyme
Getting old and realizing your name becomes the focus of the day
You haven’t lost it; it is just located further back than you can say,
Having your bloated body plucked, sucked, poked, and rolled in a loop
Life has become centered on the waking moments giving way to pee and poop
You wonder and wander back to a remembered time when you were the king of the ball
You remember it well, that foggy hog stealing your memory; all
Changing the order of things blocking thoughts, ideas, and dreams
You are strapped to the mattress, but they don’t have your mind, but neither do you.
It can’t be night again, what happened to the events of the day, your debut
Was it yesterday or the day before when you arrived here in this cave, a tunnel of being?
Peace and hopelessness resigned, calming your mind leaving your ears to ring.
You have given of your time and moved along as they have prescribed,
Where’s the light at the end of this event. You’ve certainly tried.
Ahh, here is the help, here is the light, it shines on somewhere; it is waiting for you.
You see the light shining in prisms, you and the others in the room, here’s your crew
You move towards the line that is forming, as you are whisked along to the front
You are the center of attention. Are you the only one?
You hear the voices discussing all that you have done.
Your deeds, contributions, indications, hesitations, retributions and tribulations
Your strivings generate peace through instruction, love through modeling, contributions
Your prerequisite for truth and honesty shine through the assemblage piled high
Your cooperation in matters concerning the masses is legendary, essential, will never die
Your quest for trustworthiness and loyalty among all is illuminated time and time again
Your visions and hope for humanity won prizes, awards and claims a distinction; Bien.
Your responsibility towards justice and mercy for all mankind gave you benevolence
Your charity and kindness have been rewarded by never keeping us in suspense,
But through the loving, guiding, teaching, training, giving, hoping, and caring,
Doing and saying the right thing came as naturally as the load you were bearing
You find out you are two points short for eternity’s entrance fee.
Pearly Gates sure looked good all along the way, the ones now you can actually see.
No entrance fee dear soul not for you or me, go back, do it again for an eternity.
CLOSET STORY # 2: I Heard tell…
22 May 2010 2 Comments
in My Closets
A Closet Story # 2: I heard tell…
I heard tell that you should ALWAYS buy a good pair of shoes and a good bed because if you are not in one of them you are in the other.
The above telling makes such good sense to me now that I have begun in earnest to clean out my flipping’ closets once and for all. I begin with the shoes. They were all good shoes at one time or another, but time and wear take their toll. I have to decide which shoes are good to keep and which ones will someone else be happy to have? This little nagging voice in the back of my head says, ‘It’s never gonna happen. You are not going to throw out much today.’ It is not going to happen because I cannot part with any of them. They have given good service. Is that what we do with a good pair of shoes that has given us comfort year in and year out? Throw them out? Maybe? We’ll see.
I also cannot part with the little black blouse I wore under the suit, which is long gone to our daughter’s wedding umpteen years ago. Her first one, may I add. I also cannot part with the suede shirt Skip bought me 10 years ago because he said it looked nice on me It still is not my style and makes me sweat and look large, but still in hangs among the others that have the same qualities. I still think that someday, just someday I will wear the travel skirts I bought, still fit into, over twenty-five years ago. Oh Gawd. I have looked through some travel purchases and just have to stamp my foot and shake my head. The embroidered vest and skirt from the Ukraine looked spiffy on the ship that night for dinner as did the Peruvian shawl and the Thai pants and jacket. The Norwegian sweater makes me look thin, that’s why I bought it, but it is too darned hot for Southern California weather anytime, ever. More
Sedatives and Tranquilizers
09 Apr 2010 Leave a comment
I have been super tense, stressed or whatever you want to call going out of your mind with worry and fear. I realized that my closets started to bulge like never before. My goodness, I could not throw away stuff fast enough. On the way home from my pilgrimage to the little boutique up the road, I realized what the heck I have been doing for nearly all of my life. Yes, I love to look nice and absolutely adore the smell of new crispy clothes. But there is a flippin’ limit to what a regular human being needs. Five closets full of sedatives. Oh my gosh when I realized that all of those clothes were not a necessity to cover the body but a necessity to cover the soul, I stopped the car in a dark parking lot and laughed at myself until I cried. At that moment I hated everything. Stop! Do not give in to this shit, I said out loud to no one. It was then that I realized I have been going to the stores when life gets too much to be comfortable and or when I have to make a decision, or when things pile up on my plate. I have come to see each garment as a tranquilizer of the past or as you will, a sedative I needed at one time or another. I have sedatives and tranquilizers from over 20 years ago maybe, probably longer. I can’t seem to throw them away. Do I think I will need them again someday to fill a void or erase a pain? Still parked in the parking lot, my thoughts brought me back to the two bags in the back seat of my car. Yes, the sedatives are still working, but for how long? Will they wear off once I take them out of the bag, or when I cut the tags off? How long will it be until I need the next fix? Wait a minute; I don’t care when I will need the next fix. It is not harming my health, it is not putting me in debt; it is not hurting anyone. Now, I have come to grips with it all and very glad there is an outlet for me. The only thing I will need to do is get more closet space. Hey, how about double poling the closets I already have. I can double my tranquilizing capabilities. Oh yes.
Seeing Through The Purse
09 Apr 2010 2 Comments
in Reflections
I had an interesting experience when we went into the Museum of Tolerance with our Brandeis group. We had to go through a metal detector.(17 of us) When we left the museum, the lady I drove with got all upset at the car and said the guy never put her keys back into her purse. I do not know what happened, but I could see into her purse for a moment as if it were clear plastic. I saw her keys right there. I asked her if I could put my hand into her purse, she said yes. I didn’t even rummage around, I just put my hands right on the keys and pulled them out. The ladies were stunned and woweyed me etc. For some reason, they had a great deal more respect for me on the way to lunch. So I took advantage of that. I got them the number 1 parking place right behind the restaurant. They said they think I am psychic. No, I am not, but did not mention that I used to live in that community for 5 years when I was having our babies. (Cheviot Hills, West L A.) And besides Century City is right there where my parents lived and we went that way twice a week for years and years. So getting parking was not hard. But the key thing, well, I am also amazed. Seeing through purses is not my ordinary thing.
Sorority Reunion
12 Dec 2009 Leave a comment
in Reflections
A Sorority Reunion
I graduated U.C.L.A. in 1961. It scares me to even write that date let alone conjure up what all that those many years mean. I am sure they mean as many things to as many people who are still alive and still have the memory to remember what it is like to be 49 years away from those days. We scheduled and held a sorority reunion on a lovely, warm October Saturday.
Many people who were invited did not come to the event. I know exactly how they feel; they would rather a Mac truck hit them than attend anything like a reunion. As I said, I know how they feel, but I feel differently. Of course the day of the event and some days leading up to it, I hated my hairstyle, worried that I hadn’t maintained my acceptable appearance, my weight was not what I wanted it to be, but hasn’t been where I wanted it for years. I worried that they would have accomplishments way greater than mine, or that they would have nothing to say to me and I, nothing to them. More
Thank You Poem to Sheila by Dea Warming
12 Dec 2009 Leave a comment
in Poetry
I got the mail and to my surprise
A box addressed to me
I hurried back with it in tow
So anxious just to see
What could it be, I couldn’t guess
What my thoughtful friend could send
I’m running now, back to the house
Will this driveway ever end??
I’m in the house now and wouldn’t you know
There’s a ringing from the phone
Hey, I have a gift I want to see
Could you please leave me alone??
So, I picked it up and said “Hello”
Who could this person be?
Oh what a thrill, I’m happy now
They’re from AARP
Just think of it, at lower cost
Because I’m old is why
This life insurance will set me up
But only if I die
I said, “No thanks”, my plan’s to live
They said, “You never know!”
With the slightest chill upon my voice
I said, “I have to go”.
So, here I sit with box in hand
Excitement begins to grow
From this unexpected thoughtfulness
From a friend I’m blessed to know
So I pull on the box
It’s taped quite well
My heart is pounding now
I lift the lid, I peek inside
“A Lady Bug, Oh WOW”!!!!
I’ll cherish this for all my days
This gift my friend has sent
I’m feeling good and feeling loved
Which I know was your intent.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
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