I've been spending my online time getting information about the Hurricane Ivan damage in Lower Alabama . That is a favorite vacation destination for us and we have lots of wonderful memories of warm Gulf waters in September, squeezing a few more weeks out of summer after the beaches empty. I check in on local topics at a Gulf Shores board from time to time to see what is going on. Most of the conversation lately has been about the elections and the planned development of the area. Some were heatedly against it but the city councils seemed intent on plowing ahead with condo on the water. One 40 story condo was planned - most are 3-15 stories tall.

Now, so much of it is gone or ruined. This is where we always stayed. The pool is not there.

I'm beginning to understand "Gone" in a new way.

Yesterday the drumming monk walked by my house, singing this time. Either there is something Very Significant about his return or maybe he just lives nearby.

This morning, I saw my breath on the porch outside. I was standing there next to it. I'm not ready for cool or cold weather but there is a seduction going on in the way the air is cooler and easy to breathe, the flowers are brilliant, and the shadows are getting longer. I'm being lured into a new season that it hard to resist.

I am a man, and whatever concerns humanity is of interest to me.

Terence
Roman comic dramatist (185 BC - 159 BC)

Found Magazine:
we collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles- anything that gives a glimpse into someone else's life. anything goes...

Ahhh....

There are 2 fawns relaxing in our yard outside the back door. This is one of the benefits of living 4 blocks from the first eastern wrinkle of the Rocky Mountains.

I thought I noticed an area of the garden that was used for bedding recently.

I used to frequent the Astronomy Picture of the Day but after a while, got bored with planets, stars and gases and pictures of places I won't get back to for a long time. But hey! I just found the
Earth Science Picture of the Day and I like what I see. Today's was about a Lenticular and Cumulus Cloud duo. How cool is that? I figure if you're going to be here for a while, learn about the area, right?

I saw winter today. Several months ago, we booked a couple of rooms in Vail to see Lance Armstrong at a pro cycling race. The race was cancelled and our reservations could not be, so Sweetie and I took a couple of days off to ride up I-70. We've always whizzed by Vail on our way to Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Pool but never stayed there. It's fine. Reminded me a little of the European parts of Disneyworld, but it's fine. The walk along the creek is nice.
Last night we went to sleep to rain and woke up to a dusting of snow but going over Vail Pass we saw real winter. Not just a dusting of snow on the the evergreens, but a couple of inches on the ground. It cleared out a bit but picked up again at the Eisenhower Tunnel.
Luckily, the sun came out as we rolled into home sweet home.

War Making Headlines, but Peace Breaks Out

Some excerpts:
.......
The chilling sights and sounds of war fill newspapers and television screens worldwide, but war itself is in decline, peace researchers report.
In fact, the number killed in battle has fallen to its lowest point in the post-World War II period, dipping below 20,000 a year by one measure. Peacemaking missions, meantime, are growing in number.
.......
For months the battle reports and casualty tolls from Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) have put war in the headlines, but Swedish and Canadian non-governmental groups tracking armed conflict globally find a general decline in numbers from peaks in the 1990s.
The authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in a 2004 Yearbook report obtained by The Associated Press in advance of publication, says 19 major armed conflicts were under way worldwide in 2003, a sharp drop from 33 wars counted in 1991.
........
"Not only are the numbers declining, but the intensity" — the bloodshed in each conflict — "is declining," said Marshall, founder of a University of Maryland program studying political violence.

I lost my soldier blogger. No, he didn't get killed but it looks like the plug was pulled. No archives, nothin.

I'm gonna miss him. I hope he gets home ok.

There is a place in town called McGuckin Hardware. I read somewhere that a local designer said that whenever he is stalled in the creative process, he goes to McGuckin's and is revitalized. Funny that a hardware store would do that, but it really does. Really, it's paint and nails and garden stuff and household stuff and pet stuff and electrical and plumbing, just like any other hardware store, but it's different. I imagine it has to do with the creators of the store - somehow their vision, hopes, dreams, wishes and other magic were infused into the merchandise and the merchandising and that just makes it better.

See? I was stuck about what to write about tonight and I thought about McGuckin's and got unstuck. You gotta stop by there if you're ever in town.

Somehow, after the planes went into the buildings on 9/11, Volunteer Ministers from my church were able to get onto the site and help the rescue workers in the first few days. They stayed on and helped for months afterward locating missing people and helping victims sign up for benefits.

The general outpouring of help from all sorts of people after Hurricane Charley hit is inspiring. Here's an article about Volunteer Ministers helping those victims.

We were at Sweetie's apartment today. He was working on cleaning everything to be painted while I watched. I have offered help like a good mother, but he wants to do it himself.

While we were loading up, that monk walked by banging his drum. I smiled and looked at him and he looked back at me but I didn't feel blessed. He looked like anyone else walking by on a sidewalk, going somewhere, except he was dressed in white and yellow robes banging a drum.

Something similar happened in the presence of Tibetan monks who were doing a sand mandala at the library last year. Watching them interact while they worked and seeing them walking back from lunch at the cafe, they seemed like nice young adults having a good time. I thought they would emanate something spiritual by their presence, but it came through their art which transformed something in me.

When my kids were growing up I didn't tell them what to believe in terms of god, God, gods, goddesses, supreme beings, the Green Man or Mother Nature, Allah, Vishnu or whatever. I have my own ideas, but I figured if there is some omnipotent presence who wants to get in touch with them, it'll (he'll or she'll?) be able to do it without needing me as a via on the line. They were able to come up with some thoughtful ideas of their own.

I think distance is involved in that drum banging blessing. I see him walking down the road, I think "oh, he's blessing the town". I have some time and space to get the idea of being blessed which is what really does it. Getting the idea of being blessed is the trick.

There used to be a Buddhist monk who would walk around town banging a drum. It's a flat handheld sort of drum like the one that Phoebe Barr used to use in dance class while we ran, ran, leaped, ran, ran, leaped, etc. He dressed in white loose clothing, baggy bottoms, with a yellow sashy sort of covering. He walked all over town, steadily beating the drum at a brisk pace, clearly enjoying himself. What he was doing was blessing everyone, I think.

He's back. I saw him today talking to a man in a pickup truck. I'm glad that he's back. I'll take blessings however they come.

There is nothing like a mid summer afternoon in the 80's, big cumulus clouds in a deep blue sky, swimming laps in an outdoor pool all to yourself. Chlorine must be good for me.

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."
Albert Einstein

I have to link to this soldier since I read his blog every day. If you check it out, read back through the last month. It's a good read. That's where I got this quote.

I caught a glimpse of a cardinal among the loblolly pines and started swimming almost daily. When we got back, we heard frogs in our yard. I can't remember the last time I heard frogs in our yard. That was pretty much our vacation. I do enjoy travelling across America.

We leave in a day or two for our annual road trip across half of America. We leave the arid Colorado climate and wake up the next day in the moisture filled air of Topeka Kansas. What I like is the change of landscape and the greening up and the waterways that multiply as we go East. The 2nd day is more rolling hills and farmland, then through downtown St Louis and onto Paducah, Ky. Topeka to Paducah. The last day, we arrive at our destination.
The first time I took the trip 11 years ago with 2 little boys, I wondered how safe we'd really be. But we got out on the highway and saw small town America and truck stops - all the kinder, gentler America that really exists, not what is portrayed on the news. I agree: man is basically good.
Back in a couple of weeks!

'A First Derivations Dictionary' is a great tool to have around if you like to know the meaning of words without getting complicated.

I've been reading "Cold Mountain" because I decided to boycott the movie since they filmed it in eastern Europe somewhere. ?!?!?!?! Isn't there enough undeveloped area in the Smokies to film a Civil War story?????? Anyway, my point is that the author, Charles Frazier, turns a good word but often come up with some archaic terms that I have to know in order to understand the image. 'First Derivations' comes in handy for me there.

Solitude.

It seems like I would be missing everybody and craving their company but I've been relishing my own this afternoon. Honey is working with Sugar and Sweetie is moving toward Norway via Copenhagen so it's just Tweetie and me today. I've been enjoying a series of mundane tasks: cooking, reading, doing some work for the business, discouraging the squirrel from the bird feeder, watching the rain. I had determined to clean my room today, but never got there. Enjoying iTunes radio: Public radio out of LA and now Magnatunes Renaissance and Baroque music. Reading some blogs and watching the rain some more.

Somebody just walked by on the street. With a dog.

Yeah, it's probably a boring read but what a rich and full afternoon it's been in my universe.

This warrants another post today. Sweetie called! (Sweetie is my first born, Honey is #2). He sounded great and exhausted. They watched the stage final yesterday only 5 feet from the finish line so he was up close to Lance. Today after sleeping in the bus station, they walked 8 miles up L'Alpe d'Huez (6% grade), watched the race and walked 8 miles down. At least they weren't alone: I heard there were 900,000 people on the mountain. Tonight they are sleeping in the city park along with all the other cycling fans without rooms.

Sigh. Now I can have a good night's sleep.

Recently at the food bank, I took several calls from people who need food. The place where I volunteer is one that provides food to agencies who then provide food to individuals. One lady called for her mom and I gave her a list of numbers to call. Her mom then called back and said no way was she going to call all those people - she didn't know them and anyhow, she's disabled and she needs someone to bring her food now cause her daughter is at work. A guy called in and was getting food stamps that were taken away, then Emergency Family Assistance cut him off, now he needed food. A cheerful lady called to find out where to get food, too. She didn't sound down and out, just cheerfully interested.

I volunteer at a food bank because I think that redistribution of food would handle a lot of the problems on this planet. I'm a vendor in some large grocery stores locally and I see food dumped in the trash bin Every Single Day. And meanwhile, all people starve in the Sudan. The problem with volunteering in this food bank, is that most of the people I see come in are chubby or at least not thin. The two people above who called are probably worried about getting food, but they had attitude, you know? I imagine that the people in the Sudan are hungry without attitude. But I'm going to continue helping out as a push in the general direction. Maybe some of these chubby hungry people will feel satisfied enough to turn around and help some other hungry people who are not so chubby.

No matter where you stand on the war, this charity seems worthy of support:

Aid to Wounded Soldiers

Today was a first. I got my first email from Sweetie, who is spending a few days in Paris. They saw the sights today and ate lunch in a cafe off the Champs Elysees and dealing with the elements of a hot and humid city. Off to Lyon tomorrow.

Having one's first born across the Atlantic for the first time does make one pay attention to all things east of one (if you live next to the Rocky Mountains).

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Sigh::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

There are times when you just have to close the door. My tendency is to leave it open a crack, but sometimes, you just have to close it.

That lovely wet, sprinkly, green, lush June is gone and Dry Heat has moved into Colorado. It's 99º outside with 13% humidity. I can put clothes out to dry on the line and they will be finished in 20 minutes. I can go places with wet hair because it will be dry by the time I get there.

We set up the tent in the back yard yesterday. It's too hot to sleep inside and I am resolutely against buying an air conditioner for 3 weeks out of the year. It was cooler and dark and just lovely until the racoons woke me up by rattling around on the porch. At least I think it was racoons. I hope.

We have a week of high temps and no rain. Thank goodness for that wet, sprinkly, green, lush June we had. The reservoirs are full.

I've decided to list my iTunes playlist. It's been a struggle deciding to do this since it's such a personal thing. Do I really want people to know that I sing along to Nas? It's time to bear my soul:

Mornin' by Al Jarreau
Embraceable You, Billie Holiday
They Can't Take That Away, Billie Holiday
God Bless the Child , Billie Holiday
'Taint Nobody's Business if I Do, Billie Holiday
Ain't Misbehavin', Billie Holiday
Stormy Weather, Billie Holiday
Presence of the Lord, Blind Faith
Beautiful, Christina Aguilera
Badge, Cream
I Believe, Fantasia
Grazing in the Grass, Friends of Distinction
I Can, Nas
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
Killing Me Softly with his Song, Robert Flack
Soak up the Sun, Sheryl Crow
Safe and Sound, Sheryl Crow
Strong Enough, Sheryl Crow
All I Wanna Do, Sheryl Crow
Everybody is a Star, Sly and the Family Stone
Hot Fun in the Summertime, Sly ATFS
Stand! Sly ATFS
Everyday People, Sly ATFS
You Can Make It If You Try, Sly ATFS
Love's in Need of Love Today, Stevie Wonder
Knocks Me off My Feet, Stevie
Pastime Paradise, Stevie
Summer Soft, Stevie
As, Stevie
Fishin' Blues, Taj Mahal and the Pointer Sisters,
Sweet Home Chicago, Taj and the Pointers
You Ain't Much Fun, Toby Keith
Who's That Man, Toby Keith
Who's Your Daddy?, Toby Keith
I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston
I Have Nothing, Whitney
Greatest Love of All, Whitney
the all the Al Green Greatest Hits

Whew! That was cathartic.

Maybe it's time for the child to leave home when the parent launches into a life lesson and the child finishes the sentence and the rest of the lesson verbatim.

Or when the child handles the parent, obviously trying not to be condescending and the parent thinks, "Maybe he's right..."

I've always been one who wants to know before I go. A lot of Life is, 'you'll know when you see it'. Well, I think I'm seeing that my first born is a man.

Today Lance is in the lead, wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. There were some amazing points in this race: seeing how the teams rode together, seeing them ride over cobblestones in the rain in the last leg, seeing the US Postal team ride in a beautiful, geese-like formation and seeing the smiles on George Hincapie and Lance's faces when they were at the finish line.

Tyler Hamilton and the Phonak team impressed me by coming in second after losing 4 of their team members. This was the guy who won 4th place with a broken collarbone last year, so he's one to watch.

The Tour de France started yesterday and we started watching. Lanceis off to a good start, in 3rd place as of today. He is such an inspiration.

My interest in this sport has been fueled by Sweetie - just like he got me interested in Star Wars, Hockey, and The Lord of the Rings. Last year during the Tour, he was on the Bicycle Tour of Colorado but this year, he'll be in France at L'Alpe d'Huez for part of it. Yikes! My youthful overseas travel is still fresh in my mind. I hope he stays in touch with me more than I stayed in touch with my parents.

I'm happy to find out that Honey is interested in resuming his spiritual path after a short hiatus. You never know how your children are going to turn out, what path they will follow. Thankfully, our acorns fell near the tree and seem comfortable with home as a base they can depend on.

A successful action for us has been to give our kids plenty of opportunity to exercise their own self determinism. Yes, I do offer my editorial comments free of charge but for the most part, the kids have been able to craft their own lives. They have been a joy to raise and are wonderful young adults.