sometimes

Forget that old woman nonsense; I shall wear purple. Here/now.

So cool that there was a gratitude journal in the waiting area at the Aveda school~I've kept one of my own since I was at Newbold.  (ye gads!  That's 28 years worth of daily writing.)

I was getting excellent radio reception.

Too bad I am not in that cool karaoke car with James Cordon.

Because.  Why the hell not do weird things to one's hair in the midst of massive life changes?

needle & thread

"Some days, creating/building the vision is like embroidering with a small needle and invisible thread. You just go by feel and take it in small bits until you can step back to see. I'm thankful for both the frustration and guidance. Needle and thread."

~Danielle LaPorte

the power of a labyrinth

It's been intriguing to me how walking in convoluted circles is such a soothing and illuminating activity, but I've walked several in many places and have usually found answers in my head by the time I finished.  Or, at the very least, the slow walking calmed the monkey mind down enough to think more clearly. 

Beautiful fountain help to muffle the city traffic.

Everything is still pending and as this is a public blog, that is all I will say.  But a healthy new chapter is about to begin!

not all the live music here is in honky tonks

Went to hear a portion of the Austin Baroque Orchestra do a recital last night at St. David's.  I hadn't been in this small side chapel before and very much enjoyed not only the live music played on period instruments, but also the view of the city and the twilight.

And the new-to-Austin VooDoo (cult doughnut shop from Portland) was conveniently around the corner from the church.

The Portland Creme version~SO much sugar.  My body is still in shock.

the blessing of a box fan

You know it's warm when the trail is empty.

Banana trees outside my door~giving that tropical flair during t-storms.

who knew?

That it could be too hot to swim?

Bogart enjoying a morning sans large construction equipment bashing about outside our wall

I finally went to the neighborhood splash pool (avoided it earlier as I figured it would be flooded with kids as it's free and in the 'hood.)  There were only three other women there and two very bored life guards.  And? When it's 114 and the pool is only 4' deep, it is too hot to swim.  Surreal.

with a smile and a song

My bank is housed is this cool owl building

A delish pizza made even tastier because it wasn't my oven that was adding to the heat wave here.

If Trader's doesn't want customers to hang out in the bathroom, singing their way across the wall, they oughtn't use sheet music for wallpaper!

I have to believe such music...a return to Poetry Friday

I have to believe a Beethoven

string quartet is not unlike
the elliptical music of gossip:
one violin excited
to pass its small story along
to the next violin and the next
until, finally, come full circle,
the whole conversation is changed.

And I have to believe such music
is at work at the deep heart of things,
that under the protons and electrons,
behind the bosons and quarks,
with their bonds and strange attractors,
these strings, these tiny vibrations,
abuzz with their big ideas,
are filling the universe with gossip,
the unsung art of small talk

that, not unlike busybody Beethoven,
keeps us forever together, even
when everything’s flying apart.

"String Theory" by Ronald Wallace from For Dear Life. © University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015.

It still seems that the world has gone completely mad recently~although, maybe it's always been discordant.  Hot July is a good time to lie still and listen to music and to fiercely focus on the small wonders in the day.

Pre-cut watermelon is a genius idea for those of us with teeny kitchens.

The girl is happy when she's in/near the water.

hats off

scent of sun-scorched towel

crunch over July-crisped grass

swimming bliss haiku

pennies from heaven=ka-ching

While I occasionally receive gentle mocking for my penny-picking-up-habit, I do not mind.  I just poured all my pennies into a CoinStar and came away with a gift tag for $10!!  All to be had by being observant.

the now and the not yet

Decisions, decisions

My life, this week, feels like a row of dominoes~so many things pending and yet out of my control.  So, I am swimming and walking and enjoying hours with friends.  Which.  Is life in any zip code, no?

Okay~they looked really cool in the moonlight

Deep Eddy's swimming pool is unique as it is man-made, but spring fed.  It's a brisk 65 degrees~which feels divine on our hot days.  I don't know how people sit it for the summer movie night series.    I haven't been here in a couple of years but was in the 'hood running some errands, so popped in.

Can there be meaningful kitsch?

"ice cream is jumpin" isn't quite as catchy as the original "fish are"

Best view of a summer~floating under clouds and oak tree

As it's National Ice Cream Day, had to pop into's Amy's~where they toss the ice cream.  While not as interactive as the fish tossing in Pike's Place, it certainly smells better!

and the livin' is easy

My belated Bastille Day feast

My canine pal for this weekend

When it's 118 in the shade, you have zero qualms about inviting yourself to a friend's pool

foreshadowing?

From a corner of a collage that I did last July (well, the little chocolate and pennies were found today). Changes are afoot; details to come.

here, kitty kitty

Had a delightful and delicious lunch  with a colleague this afternoon.

Everything is hollowed out for cats to snuggle in.

Another perk was that their computer system was down, and as we didn't have cash on us~lunch was gratis!

Be silly. Be kind. Be weird.

"My friend's mom has eaten healthy all her life. Never ever consumed alcohol or any "bad" food, exercised every day, very limber, very active, took all supplements suggested by her doctor, never went in the sun without sunscreen and when she did it was for as short a period as possible- so pretty much she protected her health with the utmost that anyone could. She is now 76 and has skin cancer, bone marrow cancer and extreme osteoporosis.

My friend's father eats bacon on top of bacon, butter on top of butter, fat on top of fat, never and I mean never exercised, was out in the sun burnt to a crisp every summer, he basically took the approach to live life to his fullest and not as others suggest. He is 81 and the doctors says his health is that of a young person.

People you cannot hide from your poison. It's out there and it will find you so in the words of my friend's still living mother: " if I would have known my life would end this way I would have lived it more to the fullest enjoying everything I was told not to!"

None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after thought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There’s no time for anything else."

(Not that I have anything against healthy living!!)

Looking toward the Symphony Hall

Out for my usual lake loop~decided to wait for evening as the heat index is ridiculous right now. Serendipitously, my miles coincided with the Symphony Sunday in the Park and I got to hear my favourite Beethoven piece.  (Well, my favourite symphonic piece.  My students are always calling me out on naming songs my favourite as I have so many, so I am developing sub-categories for favs.)

Turns out that this particular piece was also a favourite of Beethoven~The work was premiered with Beethoven himself conducting in Vienna on 8 December 1813 at a charity concert for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau. In Beethoven's address to the participants, the motives are openly named: "We are moved by nothing but pure patriotism and the joyful sacrifice of our powers for those who have sacrificed so much for us ".

(I can only blame the above sprinkle of academia on the fact that I'm sorting and cleaning out shelves and files from graduate school.  It's really too hot to think of anything other than a fan, cold drinks, and a swimming hole.)

Just some fun twinkly lights