At least it's beautiful. This was taken in between blizzards. There are 2' tall bushes next to that little fence.

The last blizzard was dry and fluffy powder but this one is made up of big, wet flakes. This one, I'm resigned to. Before it started, I made sure to give the dogs a nice long walk this morning and covered up some grassy areas.

I'm annoyed with the city for not even making one snowplow run through our neighborhood. The problem area is the hill that slopes down to the north and doesn't get the solar melt-off like the other streets. We've been driving in snow ruts for the last several days and this will just make it worse. Still, I would rather this mess than a whole winter of dry and brown. One drought is enough for me.

We started our day by going to Eldora so Honey and Sweetie could snowboard. Nice day up there, sunny and beautiful after last week's blizzard, but Windy! Windy enough to close the lifts by lunchtime. We headed back down and put the turkey in the oven. For some reason, it wouldn't finish cooking so we ended up at the table with some raspberry wine and some Fat Tire that Elvar left behind. What a sweet way to pass some time with real conversation, not just talk that happens on the fly. We ended the evening watching "Pride and Prejudice" on our brand new super-duper 32" flat screened LCD TV.

The blizzard itself was one thing. The meltdown is quite another. The general rule here is that the city doesn't plow the side streets, leaving the job to the sun. Usually that works when we've had just a few inches - but it will take several days for our street to clear off this time. The yard is going to be muddy long after the last snow has melted. My poor dogs got their first real walk this morning after being cooped up the house/porch/backyard run area.

I wonder. If I lived near a beach, would I be dreaming about being near the mountains as much as I dream about being near an ocean? I don't even need an ocean - a gulf would do.

More fun:

This is what I'm talkin' about (my sidewalk):

Man o Man, it's really coming down. They've been talking about this storm for a few days and it finally arrived. When I got up, there was just a dusting, just enough that I could sweep off the walk ways but now it's dumping! Our white Christmas is secured, at least with snow on the ground.

Sweetie and I went to see the Ars Nova Singers last weekend. I was suffering from a bout of ennui so much that when they broke into song, tears welled up in my eyes. I checked around for any sadness or reminders of past then realized they were tears of relief. I forget to keep aesthetics in my life sometimes.

I thought I would write more, but the dogs need walking so I'm outta here.

I took the dogs all the way up to the lake this afternoon after missing the morning walk. Each time I go there I'm surprised at how beautiful it is. The dogs like it, too.

A thin sheet of ice had obviously been melting during this last warm week but it was thick enough to hold the weight of a lone goose that was walking from one side to the other. It was a funny sight - a goose walking on water. I waited to see if he considered himself to be stuck but that didn't seem to be the case. He just took his time moving toward his friends. I left before he got there.

I found this Scottie at The Pet Set . Pretty darn cute. More Scotties in the new Bark magazine on the Amanda Jones ad.

Most of the snow has melted in town but it's still on the ground at home. This is the last year I'm going to struggle with the back walkway - it's going to be paved somehow by next winter, either with flagstone or concrete or something.

Plans for the rest of the year include 1) finishing the end of the year promo for the biz 2) getting all tax stuff in order 3) using up my Rec Center pass 4) reading "State of Fear" by M Crichton 5) reading 2 books about edible gardening 6) working on the house-painting project if the air warms up 7)continuing to dekludge.

Holiday plans include: The Boulder Piano Quartet at the Library; Ars Nova, also at the Library (ok, it's free); finding a Wii for Sweetie; getting Honey's Ipod; party at the Mission; and our annual Christmas Eve Chinese Feast and Christmas Day at Eldora.

The lights and tree are up since I followed my neighbor's lead and started the day after Thanksgiving. It sure is a lot easier when not much is done.

2 more weeks to go till the Earth starts tilting back to normal.

Yeah, we got some snow. The pile on the barbeque is about a third higher than this and it's still coming down. I'm fine with winter if there is some snow.

We went to see "For Your Consideration" yesterday at the Landmark theater. Pretty good with some really good laugh-out-loud parts to it ( loved the Entertainment Tonight spoofers). It was a rare outing with all the pack, minus the dogs. I found out that the Landmark got a 3-month extension to their lease before Barnes and Noble moves in to renovate before Whole Foods moves into their space.

Ok, back to work with a trip to Lafayette that allowed me to see the snow-capped mountains on the way back into town. This is a relief since there hasn't been any moisture for a while and it's been warmish. Dillon Reservoir was full on Tuesday when we drove past, but there just wasn't much snow before or after Vail Pass.

Gardening is all over for the year but I've been collecting leaves for composting. Leaf mold is something that I took for granted, growing up in the South, something I have to assist in causing here in this dry state. Attention has moved to the house painting project which I imagine will take us several months with the changing weather and all.


I stopped by Pier One and picked up a tree. It's not quite the aluminum tree with colored lights that Mama had, but it's my first aluminum tree.

Sugar and I are home again just in time for Thanksgiving with Honey and Sweetie.

We took a 10 day trip to LA: drove the southern route through NM and AZ to avoid a snow storm in the mountains. That route is much better on the train for me, though I did enjoy the leg from Flagstaff into Hollywood. This trip was short but intense in terms of moving leaps and bounds toward where I want to go. I could spend half my time in East Hollywood at ASHO, but going back and forth is really a pleasure. We drove back via NV and UT and UT was spectacular. It wasn't too long ago that I thought it was all just brown dirt. Was I ever wrong.

Roxie and Hansel were thrilled to see us when we got back and I was thrilled to see how clean the house was and how well my sons handled everything while were were gone. We celebrated Thanksgiving at the Hotel Boulderado big buffet which was very nice for all. Honey went on to work the T'giving feast at his resturant, the rest of us strolled the Pearl Street Mall for a bit. Then we came back home for sleeping (for the guys) and struggling with the new Blogger Beta version for a blog for the Scientology Mission in Boulder. A little Broncos/Chief football, some "Grey's Anatomy" and now Hansel is saying it's time for some lap time.

Nice to be home

I found this on Yahoo photos.

This time I voted, early again, but I really wasn't into it. I'm the kind of voter who votes for the individual issue or candidate so I'm not sure if I make that much difference. Some Dems, some Republicans, a couple of Libs. I pretty much voted against any amendments in an effort to keep the Constitution de-kludged. Term Limits for Judges - yes. No more money to the school districts (though it was hard to decipher those questions). I was going to vote for Ritter but at the last minute decided Beauprez, just to keep a balance between party control the State Legislature and the Executive Branch. I don't really see a lot of difference in the candidates and I'm fine with Ritter winning.
On the federal level, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Dems tidy up now that they have power.

We went to see Savion Glover at Macky Auditorium in "Classical Savion". WoW! I had seen "Bring in Da Noise" on tour but without him. This was tap improv with Classical music - Vivaldi, Bach, Bartok, Mendehlsohn and then an extended jazz jam at the end. I was enthralled!

Almost as fascinating was watching his light blue shirt slowly turn dark blue with all the sweat.

The clarinet player in the background is Patience Higgins. I have to go find out about him now.

A dusting of snow on the mountains and a flock of big fat geese flying over me from one field to the other. That's what Boulder has to offer.

It's already time to go home. Made a lot of progress this time with Ellen here. Coming back in a month or so. I've pretty much decided that going back and forth is the path we are going to follow for the next few years. I look around and try to image the puppers living here with all the sirens and helicopters and speeding cars. I can't take it any further than that. And now I've been thinking hard about another Wheatie spotted on Petfinder.com. Sugar says no, not now. He and the pups make good anchors.

Lots to be said for Boulder: It's clean and there are smart people living there. Stunning scenery to see everyday. Manageable sized town, great and lovely open space trails. Known and favorite places to shop. Love the business and how far it's come. I know it like the back of my hand.

Lots to be said for this area in Hollywood: Great plants producing all year long. Wonderful mountain views when the skies are clear. An ocean that isn't too far away. Lots of exploring still to do (this time we found the Silver Lake area) like the Getty Museum and park trails, and all sorts of food to find and try. And of course, thousands of Scientologists to get to know.

Ok, well, pack up and take the Metro to the train. Home tomorrow.

I was surprised at how quickly the train ride went by, especially since it was 2 hours late (mudslide in Pennsylvania). 2 hours sitting in that rundown little old station in Raton wasn't so bad since I had knitting and a New Yorker magazine. There were plenty of other passengers waiting this time, too. I forgot to mention the ride to Raton - a brilliant fall day, blue-blue sky, snow covered mountain peaks (not just a dusting), bright yellow and purple flowers all the way down.

I did run into a couple in the dining car who spent time at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival last summer and brought back memories of my summer spent there after high school. I'll have to explore that memory sometime .

But now I'm here, getting settled before getting back on my course tomorrow. I set out for a late afternoon walk up Edgemont to Franklin then over to the shopping district. A tree loaded with ripening pomegranates appeared to my left, then a budding gardenia beckoned, after that, roses that were as tall as me - then a persimmon tree and lots of lime trees, all bearing fruit. In and among all these plants that I recognized were ones I've never seen before and they all kept ushering me further along until I had quite a nice walk under my belt. I turned back down Los Feliz and stopped in at Jon's for some sandwich makings then headed home.

I love LA, especially this neighborhood I've adopted as a second home for a while.

I'm wondering if it's worth fussing over. Since Honey moved back home, he has been really, really good about letting us know about when he'll be home or if he's coming home at night. Last night, he didn't bother calling but did show up in time for work. Tonight, he hasn't called and I happen to be awake anyway since I'm leaving for CA tomorrow/today. We are all agreed that he is an adult and doesn't have to report. But it is one simple common courtesy that I made a point of asking for. Now I have to decide how big this issue is for me. Big enough to ask him to find somewhere else to live?

I was on Skype with my friend Pui when she said her aunt had called to say there was a revolution going on in Bangkok. I can't imagine! Tanks in the same town, surrounding the capitol building and the army taking over the government. She is ok now, back at home a couple of hours away from Bangkok. Such a small world now, isn't it?

Getting ready for another trip to LA. I've made it enough times that it's no big deal now. The worst is getting up at 4:30 in the morning to catch the Amtrak bus in Denver for the ride to Raton. The rest is gravy. I really enjoy the long stretches through the SW and waking up in the 2am to see the moon in the middle of blackness. I really hope someone is able to keep long distance train travel operational out here in the West. Sleeper out, coach back. This time we are going to zip down to Hermosa Beach for a few hours. Just love that ocean...

Yesterday, working the pre-game at CU, the wind was everywhere! I completely forget about those 40 mile/hr gusts that whip up on clear, sunny fall days. I also forget about those golden globes of leaves and how vivid fall flowers are. Ok, I'm resigned to fall's arrival.

When Sweetie bought himself a fancy new laptop, we got our little toy-like iBook back. It was a tiny one that doesn't have much room or speed to do anything. I've been wanting to take a lap top to LA when I go, so Honey went with me to the Mac Shack and we picked up a newer, speedier one that was set up for wireless. It would have been $250 to upgrade the other one and we got $125 credit for the old one so the $700 cost really was 1/2 that. I've only used it to be online during "Law and Order" up in the TV cave, but it's still pretty fun.

Speaking of "Law and Order", WHERE HAVE I BEEN?? I'm addicted to the 'Criminal Intent' version and lucky me: re-runs play on USA, TBS and Bravo as well as the ones on NBC. What with "Boston Legal" and "L & O", my Tuesday nights are pretty well sewed up for the winter.

Anyway, it's close to 7pm and the sun is going down a full hour later than it did the last time I noticed. I'll end with some pics of my lovely 4 o'clocks and my lovely lovies against a Saturday Sky:

Saturday sky a little late. You can see it started out grey and drizzly.

I never knew that I would love someone whose nipples were pierced but now I do. Honey came back for his ID last night and this morning, I found a brochure about piercing on the kitchen counter. The eyebrow and lip just weren't enough. In a gentle effort to discourage further piercings, I lovingly call it 'self-mutilation' when I ask about them. Now when Sugar comes home, I say things like, "Ask Honey to show you his nipples." Life is always offering us new directions, isn't it?

Yep, the yellow haze turns out to be from the 56(!) wildfires in the west. So glad that Colorado hasn't suffered from fires this year. It looks like morning in Dixie except it's yellow. There was a gorgeous orange moon last night against a navy blue twilight sky.

Walking the dogs at night now means dusk and cool air. Today the sun's rays were yellowish like they are when a fire is nearby. Yesterday, a sight I'm unaccustomed to appeared: dew on the car. Mabon is right around the corner.

I found the word petrichor a while back and enjoy having a name for it to go along with the experience. Where is a word for the smell of clothes that have dried outside on a clothes line? During the summer, everything goes outside to dry and the scent is so delicious. It's so fresh and pure and promising and suggestive of LIFE!

Sometime I want to write about this change of life having to deal with adult children. Honey is really giving me a straight up lesson in dealing with this new role. I want to come to comfortable conclusions about the situation and he keeps presenting new challenges. He is calling into play all these people tools that I've been accumulating over the years and seeing if I really understand how to work with them.

This little girl is so beautiful.

I worked the CU game on Saturday so missed the Saturday Sky post. It's enough to say that it was grey and dreary until the game was over then it was hazy blue and white.

This summer has been a ride. June in LA seems like last year. July was so friggin' hot and we worked on so many projects and Honey was gone and not in touch and Sugar was out working most of the time. The crews have changed and new people are here but the feel of the business has changed from the inside out. From the vantage point of mid-summer, autumn usually looks like an ending to me but in reality, so much starts when the sun slants back South.

Now Honey is back home for a while,telling us about his life and planning to go to LA with me later; Sweetie is back in school and sounds great; Sugar is continuing to enjoy life and is also going to meet me in LA later this month.

I finished "Stategery". Now I'm working on "Ender's Shadow" again, knitting some scarves, found a meat market to replace the blend for the dogs that the Raw Food lady used to provide, starting "House" tonight, painting our bedroom, working the games, finished the garden planting for the year, still doing cards. Really looking forward to being back in East Hollywood though I hope the heat wave disappears by then.

A rare early morning rain

Auditioning for the Saturday Skies blog ring...

Denver Botanical Garden
Sweetie's feet on foot massage path.

Denver Botanical Garden
River Birch

Denver Botanical Garden

Lace Bark Pine

The sun just started to creep back into the sunspace. On target again this year.

I couldn't help it- I had to listen to some of the new audio tapes of the 9/11 victims. I've never ever considered what the 911 operators had to experience. Speechless.

August is barrelling right on through and it's almost mid-month. The business is slowing just slightly, but mainly because a couple our guys are not around. One went to work at Gaiam, one went home to work with his parents for a few months. More flow in and will replace them but these 2 will be missed.

Most of our projects are wrapping up. Still working on the interior paint jobs and still need to get the exact color for the outside. You would think that 'Barn Red' would be a universal color, but it's not.

Things have settled out with Honey being gone. He understands now that we all feel better when he is working and we do need to hear his voice every few days. Sweetie has been around more since he is working for us and shares a lot of our interests. We went to the church in Denver the other day to help organize the central files area.

Dogs are fine.

It's so friggin' hot. The heat from the computer is even too much tonight.

I am addicted to grape popsicles. Premium Selection from King Soopers.

I love my little kitchen. The window overlooks a little patio area with bushes and a little solar water fountain. Some prisms hang from the top sill and turn the morning light into lots of spectra. Often messy, but a well-loved space.

Welcome to my garden and please help yourself. The mom has been munching on my yard for the last month but I just started seeing the fawns (there are two) a few days ago.

Yap, yap, bark, (more thunder) BARK!, WOOF!, WOOF!

All this thunder but no rain yet. This is the only place in the country where I have seen virga (from Wikipedia.com: In meteorology, virga is precipitation that falls from a cloud but evaporates before reaching the ground. At high altitudes the precipitation falls mainly as ice crystals before melting and finally evaporating; this is usually due to compressional heating because the air pressure increases closer to the ground. It is very common in the desert.). It's very unsatisfying to experience.

Thank you Craigslist. I asked for something to build a back yard planter with and you delivered. Tons of free moss rock were there for the taking. Man, was it heavy. The sad-ish part about it was that they were demolishing a sweet little home on 5th Street and a huge mansion will probably take its place. But, anyway, we scored.

Nice downpour, eh? Well, I went outside to enjoy the rain from the porch and now there's a Fox News truck out in the street.

Before the rain, a smokey smell was in the air, then the drenching began. I looked east and saw orange flames coming out of the 2nd story of the house behind my neighbors' across the street. Called the neighbors, Marilyn and Jeff, who didn't have a clue what was going on. Then 911. Then, Honey ran over to get people out of the house, neighbor Jeff started knocking it down. Fire trucks showed up en masse; 2 police cars blocked off the street, an ambulance appeared. The fire was out in minutes. No one was home; the gerbil was saved.

The firefighters thought the flames were lightening induced and said if it had gone for 5 more minutes, the whole side would be burned. The flame was exciting, but short lived. Interesting to see what makes the news trucks come out.

High summer. Tending the grass, cleaning out the ditch but leave the chicory and poppies and those gummy ball plants that are native to the area. Water and cut, water and cut, gnats flying around. We took apart a funky grocery store fountain that never made the right sound and set up a little burbling water feature by the back porch. The sounds is so compelling and all that is going on is water is piping out of a little hose propped on some rocks in a container. We are almost finished with our patio under the elm. The fence just needs painting and trimming. Work, sweat, smell, breathe, listen, then ease into an empty pool to cool off and then read. Great summer days.

It is so Hot. The porch thermometer in the shade reads 95º so I have to wonder what it's like in the sunshine. I've been using the dogs as my role models - find a cool place and don't move very much. Good thing we managed to finish the living room make-over before this temp spike. One thing nice about an empty nest is that every room is clothing optional.

Sugar wanted the carpets cleaned for real so the carpet cleaners came and went. With Honey's move-out and all our furniture off the carpet, I'm getting a sense of space in this house that I've been craving - but not knowing I've been craving. With the furniture gone, there's no excuse for not changing the wall colors in some rooms so I've been working on that. The paint only goes as far as I can reach, though, since I insist that Sug has to do the high parts.

When Sweetie moved out a couple of years ago, we moved into the east bedroom and I love the sunrise and the garden view. The little burble from the solar fountain makes it's way up there. All I want to put back in that room is my big maroon chair over by the window.

We've been sleeping in the living room on the futon which is a nice change but it's a little too eccentric to last. The dogs like it.

I love summer. Raining now outside. Nighttime. Windows open and the fans running. Marvin Gaye on I-Tunes.

This morning we had to get the Subi's tire repaired, get the rental truck back, get all the guys off to work, finish moving furniture & vacuuming for the carpet cleaners, feed and walk the dogs, and help 2 translators for an hour. Sugar and Sweetie went off to work and then Honey went missing "By the subscriber's request, this phone is not accepting incoming calls." Phone calls kept coming in, the carpet cleaners arrived and I entertained the dogs outside by weeding the front walk.

The afternoon was quite a bit calmer.

I love Ed Greene. I never really forgave Larry Green for taking Sam Allred's job at Channel 4. Sure, it was time to learn to point to the blank screen and Sam didn't want to do that, but - really. Larry was O. K. but he got complacent so fast. Ed still seems to enjoy the job and enjoy the people he is working with. Hard to believe I can't find any images to post - he is such a public person. Hope he stays for a long time.

Flip the page and welcome July. 62 more days of my summer and I hope it lingers after that.

This is the first summer in years that I haven't worked somewhere else and I have time to keep up with the yard. We've just about finished the homemade concrete patio under the big elm. The little branches are brittle so there is litter there, but I love the privacy of the place. I've been decorating it - my laughing elephant Buddha, a bird bath and other odds and ends.

Sug and I finished the Mother's Day project that he and Sweetie started before we left for LA. After 20 years with a metal post & wire driveway fence, the wooden one is pretty fancy.

arrggh!

What an incredible storm! 3" in my rain gauge. Hail everywhere! Now it's a beautiful sunset shining on dark purple clouds in the east.

Maybe having 2 kinds of salt shakers next to the computer is an indicator of something?

I'm considering how I want my house, now that we have one less roommate. It seems sort of ruthless to turn Honey's room into a gym or entertainment room, since he may want to come back after the lease is up. But when Sweetie moved out, suddenly, his room was our office, filled with books and tapes and the filing cabinet. When he slept over, he was on the floor or on the couch. Roxie decided to pee on the big empty floor but Hansel still doesn't venture in there. Maybe I'll make it into a guest room, something we've never had.

First there's work to be done - clean up the vestiges of Honey's stay here, take his motley collection of furniture that he left behind over to the dump, paint the walls an adult vanilla shade of white, and then move into the new phase. I think it will include cable somehow.

There is something about summer that brings all sorts of projects to light. So much to do before the equinox!

Back from East Hollywood: a week of June Gloom, some glorious days, then heat, lots of green and flowers, fern filled canyons, Fatburger, and Vermont Ave. Great train rides out and back, passed this huge fire near Walsenburg then home to windy dry Boulder. Good to be back.

My time spent blogging has been handed over to Asian translators in Australia and Thailand - interesting work via Skype. Completely absorbing.

Honey is moving out today. Once I Got It that nothing was ever going to be the same, things began to make sense (somewhat). I'm all for this move at the moment. The dogs got their summer shaves - no more skirt/kilt till cool weather comes around again. I'm preparing for a 2 week trip to LA, staying near Los Feliz again. I'm caught between 'can't wait" and 'not now!'. It's so beautiful in Boulder this time of year.
Went to get the tickets. I love the promise of Union Station. Sweetie's coming with me on the trip out .

Can you guess where I was on Memorial Day?

We've been taking the dogs out and away for walks on the weekends. We tried Teller Trail but no dogs allowed where we wanted to go, so went to Walden Ponds in East Boulder. This is a place that took me several visits to really appreciate. It's basically some holes in the ground that were strip mined, then allowed to filll with water to make a wetland area. In the dry winter, it can seem pretty desolate. During drought, it's downright sad. But right now, the ponds are full and lots of birds are visiting. The most noticeable ones are the big white pelicans with those black tips. They look like swans but their beaks give them away. There are lots of duck families, too - we counted 4 sets of parents and ducklings just at the Wally Toevs pond. The Continental Divide views are always breathtaking but this time of year, there is more to see that is close to hand that entertains.

The birds woke me up at 5am this morning just as the sun began to lighten the sky - just barely. Just a few birds, not enough to inspire me to get out of bed. The real inspiration came at 6am when the whole avian chorus arrived. This has to be the best time of year, when the days are getting warmer but there is no threat of overwhelming heat.

For our 25th anniversary last year, we went to Cambria, CA and stayed at the Cambria Shores Inn. We found it at this Dog Friendly website though we didn't take ours. It's a beautiful area that I don't hear about very much. I did hear a passing mention of it on an old episode of Six Feet Under.

Now I'm collecting gentile acknowledgements.

"My pleasure"
"The pleasure is mine."
"Pleasure"

Stuff like that.

I can attest:

It's a sobering experience for your baby to receive his registration card from the Selective Service System. Honey turned 18.

Daisy came over and then back over and then over once again so we asked her to spend the day with us.

Boulder Daily Camera

Mum's the word for mom
Scientologists promote 'silent births'

By Aimee Heckel
April 22, 2006

When Morgan Kemmerlin entered the world, it was quiet.

Her mother was not screaming in pain. She wasn't firing profanities at the doctors or her husband, like in the movies. No one so much as announced, "It's a girl."


Morgan, now 10, experienced a "silent birth," a Scientology practice that has recently come under the spotlight with the birth of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby. The baby, a girl named Suri, was born this week.

Like the Kemmerlins, of Louisville, the Hollywood couple believes a silent birth limits the negative subconscious reactions people have during painful experiences.

By eliminating spoken words, you eliminate subconscious and illogical triggers that may pop up later in life, Scientologists say.

But people unfamiliar with the concept call it mysterious or weird. Others call it unnecessary. The Web site, Marriage.about.com, says a silent birth is not recommended by medical experts because, if taken too far, it can hinder family bonding and intimacy.

The Web site defines it as giving birth with no sounds, including music or expressions of pain. Some people don't speak to their child for a week, the site says.

Scientologist Rev. Patty Allread, of Englewood, says those are some of the biggest misconceptions. Allread says a silent birth only refers to spoken words.

"Believe me, the mother's going to moan, but maybe they try not to scream really loud and startle the baby," she said. "It's been long known babies have awareness inside the womb, and that's not strictly a Scientology idea. You just try to have as calm and as peaceful of an environment as possible."

She cites the "Dianetics" book, by L. Ron Hubbard, the foundation of Scientology: "Maintain silence in the presence of birth to save both the sanity of the mother and the child and safeguard the home to which they will go."

Scientology, which bills itself as a "practical religion," has five Colorado branches, including one on Pearl Street in Boulder. Allread said 13,000 people are on the state's mailing list and about 1,000 statewide are active members.

She said Scientology topics, such as silent birth, hit the mainstream media, churches are flooded with curious calls. The religion is young, founded in the 1950s.

Allread has three children, all who experienced natural, but not silent, births. She said she didn't know about it then or she would have chosen silence.

Doctors find ways to accommodate a silent birth. Instead of talking, they write or sign. And in an emergency, she said, no one would expect a doctor to risk the patients' welfare.

"It's a very personal and individual thing, giving birth, and a big tradition of mothers choosing what kind of birth they want to have," Allread said. "A peaceful and calm environment benefits the mother and child."

Cathy Kemmerlin, Morgan's mother, agrees. She compared her first traditional birth with her second two, which were silent with minimal drugs.

Scientology has no stance on whether a mother should use pain relievers.

Instead of speaking, Kemmerlin wrote and made gestures. She said she felt more aware, and her midwives seemed "in tune" with each other.

"I could relax in childbirth," Kemmerlin said. "It's a very different thing than having people coming in, they're chit-chatting and you're sitting there in pain."

Still, Mallory Mensah, a Louisville doula, frowns upon a totally silent labor and delivery. She said deep moaning helps the woman cope and helps her body open up.

"You'd be surprised how many noises you hear from women they'd never even think would come from them," Mensah said. "I encourage that, because it's important to get into an instinctual, primal state to really surrender to what your body needs to do."

And words can be encouraging and comforting, she said.

"I don't think it's very realistic to not talk," Mensah said. "When you're really at a birth, and you can see a woman is needing some help, words tend to be a way to help."

A smooth birth comes down to whatever the mother needs to keep her relaxed and feeling safe, Mensah said. A woman shouldn't feel restricted or guilty if she needs to talk, she said.

When she gave birth, Mensah said she wanted the lights dimmed and minimal talking. The first words her son heard were her Islamic husband whispering a prayer in his ear.

But she said she's attended other births with "hooting and hollering and cheering, and that's beautiful, too."

"If a woman feels safe and comfortable and supported, it's amazing what she can do," Mensah said.

I joined the "Nat'l Assn of Railroad Passengers'" in order to add my voice to the pleas to keep national train service available. Bush was going to cut Amtrak funding altogether but then decided to re-instate it minus a huge chunk of what was there. I read that dining car cooks and waiters have been protesting in Chicago since they likely be loosing their jobs.

I like to take long road trips but would like to have the option of train service when I become a senior citizen.

This is what I like to see:

"Drug firms 'hype up diseases to boost sales'".

Sometimes it takes a while for the media to hop on the Real News wagon since celebrities demand so much attention but they get around to it, bless their little hearts.

The gist:

Drug companies are inventing diseases to sell more of their products, it has been claimed. Scientists have accused major pharmaceutical firms of "medicalising" problems like high cholesterol or the symptoms of the menopause in a bid to increase profits.
Experts from around the world will meet in Australia today to discuss what they have labelled "disease-mongering".

The group, which includes experts from Britain, will gather in Newcastle, New South Wales, where researchers have been examining the issue. David Henry and Ray Moynihan, of Newcastle University, claim the industry is exaggerating conditions and turning them into something more serious.

Female sexual dysfunction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and "restless legs" syndrome have all been promoted by the pharmaceutical industry in the hope of selling more drugs, they say....

Even shyness is routinely presented as a "social anxiety disorder" resulting in the person being prescribed anti-depressants.

Spring finally arrived.

When I think about going to Hollywood, I forget to imagine the pressure and the masses; the constant flow of people; the steady sound of traffic; the ease with which someone will lay on his car horn at 6:45am; the look and feel of dirt and grime that is part of lower income city life. No one scrubs the sidewalks and catches the spills as they happen.

But all those things take a back seat to the flowers everywhere and the view of the Griffith Park Observatory from the top floor of the apartment on Edgemont; the full moon above the palm trees; the golden sunsets blazing toward the east on Sunset Boulevard; the panorama from Barnsdall Park; the interesting array of ethnic food at Jon's; the buzz of the Los Feliz neighborhood; standing on the Santa Monica Pier waiting for that Asian guy to start his act; walking around Union Station and the downtown area.

Ashes and Snow exhibit in a temporary museum in the Pier parking lot.

Great trip.

The ride turned out to be delightful and quick. We got the sleeper, the good side of the train, tasty meals included in the upgrade, beautiful weather. Now we are experiencing true cold weather in Hollywood, rain, some sleet and a tiny bit of snow in the western mountain peaks. In spite of that, the birds are singing, azaleas, camellias, and all sort of other plants are blooming. Nice to be here.

Amtrak :::sigh:::

I love to travel by train but Amtrak is so uneven in its presentation. Sometimes it's a great trip and sometimes it's dirty, stinky and slow as molasses. If someone has a heart attack in the middle of nowhere, the train stops and waits a couple of hours for an ambulance. Some of the back country scenery is staggeringly beautiful. The food is way overpriced. The club car has terrific 360º views. The seats are nice and wide but if you have a crabby old lady from Back East next to you complaining all the way, well, that's no fun. You have to remember to take a jacket or a blanket because it gets chilly at night.

I roped Sugar into travelling with me to LA by train for this trip. Looking forward to it. We were offered a cheap upgrade to a sleeper with meals included so this trip should great!

LA, here we come.

There is a lot to be said for not having upsetting people in your life. It's easy to step into the "I'll handle them" trap, but inevitably, the bright and shiny person will be darkened, even if just to the degree of getting annoyed or angry. Bright and shiny is worth protecting, even if you have to turn your back and start walking.

Finally, I cut the tether to a small and meaningless job that I've been staying with for no really good reason. It was time and the conditions ripened so that the decision was clear.

Big sigh of relief, lot of space in front of me and a surprising lack of concern about replacing the paltry sum of pocket cash I was making.

And a glorious early Spring day to boot.

Very nice.

After dropping Honey and Sugar at DIA, I saw a coyote running along the median.

Yesterday, dinner at the Med. Never fails to please. Presents included a new skillet, Godiva chocolate, flowers and some CDs from Wild Bird Center.

All in all, a very good day.

Notable natural views of late:

Driving east from Longmont to I-25, seeing a large flock of birds flying west in undulating currents of air. The surprise that the flock kept going and going and going for at least 5 miles, criss crossing the road we were on.

A great blue heron standing in east Boulder creek. Still, alone.

I've spent the last few days in wonder at the games that large corporations play. Buy it, take away the space to display it, demand a credit, refuse to credit, demand a credit, refuse a credit, pretend a credit is going to come but it never will.

There is so much waste that sends me reeling out of the store.

Jamba Juice is now in the store - will it replace all the Starbucks cups in the shoppers' carts?

Absolutely nothing to say.

How easy it is to mirror another universe.
I've given up reflecting teenaged boys and taken up puppy dogs.

How come the reality is sometimes so different from the dream? Does mass and pressure make that much difference?

I spend a lot of time in grocery stores, since I work for one of the major companies that sell there. I'm partial to our local Kroger company, King Soopers, but interesting things are happening at Safeway. The company is changing the design to "Lifestyle" stores to make shopping an event, similar to shopping at Whole Foods or Wild Oats. I'm not sold on it. The fixtures are changing over to laminated plywood to appear more elegant, the lighting is more focused into spotlights, there are areas of "wood" flooring in produce and other places. You really have to make a dramatic adjustment when you walk into the store since it's darker than outside. The Safeway "White Shirts" are all over the stores, placing and replacing stacks of Vitamin Water and Firelogs.

King Soopers has gone the other direction, adding brighter lights to their stores. There is a real neighborhood feel to the ones here in Boulder, especially the one on Table Mesa Dr. Along with the genuine customer service at King Soopers, I appreciate that the management is a lot easier to deal with than Safeway management.

This fella is spending a year at Disney World.

I can't imagine a year there, but more power to him. Spending a year doing anything you love is something to be proud of.

Stinking, friggin' cold. I haven't been sick for years and now I have this lingering mess of mucus in my head. At least I'm not alone since the whole family got it. I imagine it could be more depressing but I don't want to.

The last few months, I've been working my way out of a dependence on convenience. I have plans that promise to be highly inconvenient but I want the product so I have to change my patterns.

First, I changed the accounts where I work, not for the convenience factor, but for the fact that I was getting lulled into the rhythm of the small picture. I enjoyed the place and the people but sometimes, too much agreement can stick a person where they don't really want to be.

Next, I arranged my schedule to work out 3 days a week and bought a yearly pass to the rec center. So far, I've been keeping to the schedule and finding little treasures such as the wet sauna and swimming in place against the jet sprays in the lazy river portion of the pool.

There are changes happening with the advent of our empty nest. Pulling my attention off this last one is harder than I imagined with lots of starts and stops. The other one is turning 21 in a couple of days. My body is becoming a little ole' lady! I just don't want my life to be one.

It's January 7th and I'm watering the yard out of necessity, not out of pleasure. We've had record snows in the mountains but it is so dry here on the plains. Dry and dusty winters are not my favorites.
On the other hand, it makes for pleasurable outings with the dogs. Bikers and walkers and joggers abound.

Someone recently asked me what my future holds. Gee, I'm not sure beyond an upcoming empty nest. This is an odd time of life for me. I always had future goals and plans for myself mocked up till I had kids. Their needs were so prodigious and I was so fascinated with the process of child raising that I'm just noticing how much of my attention has been wrapped up in this family.

I've been keeping an eye on the rest of the world but it surely looks different now that I can give it my full attention.

My next project? Mankind.

in just by e.e. cummings

in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame baloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old baloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and

the

goat-footed

baloonMan whistles
far
and
wee

A new year and a new moon. What a nice combination!