Did Christmas just go by? This was the 1st year ever with no Christmas tree but it was also the 1st year ever that I was in a house with Christmas lights outdoors, I strung them along the porch roof end to end. Holiday glee, walking to the gate every night to turn and see that festive glow of blue & yellow, red & white shining back at me. Mini-lights reflecting purple & green in the wavy and clear pool water. The smile that gave me was an early Xmas present. So SoCal. |
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Where did the last eleven years go? November 26, 2002 mom was here, and then she wasn't. January 10, 2003 would have been Myrna's 79th birthday. I was determined that 1/10/03 would be a happy day, a do something good day. Lose a life, save a life. So Jerry and I visited four shelters on January 10th. Turned out it was Pilot who was waiting for us eleven years ago. The work of grief, finding a new way to love, began with Pi: http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/use-rituals-ease-anguish-loss Less than a year old but rarin' to go, I brought Pi to my Topanga jogging trail. Not long after a rock that had been there all the years I had jogged by, that never caught my eye, jumped out at me. Pilot - in rock form. Same color? Same size? Yep. As I was seeing that sameness, revelation #2 came: this would be Pilot's place when it was ashes to ashes time. A puppy with a plan for the years beyond her last years. Death had fresh prints on me. What better place for the offspring of succulents I've planted, so busy multiplying there's no more room in the yard. This is the second home for some, 10+ years old and so happy their new growth continues like crazy. I dug out spots for seven sprouts and placed each inside chicken wire to guard against thirsty critters. They circle Pilot's rock, the perfect next place for my traveling gypsy aloes. With Bo and Misty ashes sprinkled between. Aloes, ashes and a rock for resting on to take in the view of the valley below. The San Fernando Valley; Pilot was always a valley girl, Misty spent her whole life there, and Bo moved from Topanga to the house on Alhama. Over half of my California years have been in Woodland Hills. I'm a valley girl too; feet on the ground, eye to the sky. Pilot's rock, peace out. August 11, 1920. that's when my dad was born. he passed away in 2006 so today would have been his 93rd birthday. if only he could have seen this view this morning. on a trail in the fresh morning air, warm sun and quiet all around. that's a gift SoCal style. thinking of you dad.....
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kathleen helmerBallot measure Yes on Prop 2 (confinement of chickens, pigs & veal calves) changed my life. Much of what you see on My Story Tails comes from that change. The People Have Spoken: YES! on Prop 2 - http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2008/11/prop2-victory.html
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