La vida es mas compleja de lo que parace

Another week over and the worm is dead,
My friend said.
Yes, enough of the sordidness and world sorrow
I need some beauty tomorrow.
So out to the fields I fled.












Camera in hand, Chayanne in the ear, what better place to flee for beauty but our Carlsbad Flower Fields, 50 acres of giant ranunculus overlooking the ocean and historic Highway 101 in North County San Diego, flowers farther than the eye can see.






Beautiful, delicate flowers with paper thin petals...







Twelve million flowers, but any San Diego fifth grader will tell you there are no bees and no butterflies. The flower has no nectar, no pollen, no fragrance for attraction.






Thousands come to the fields, especially on the weekend, most like myself with cameras hoping to "capture the moment".

It's not long, however, before reminders of the real world intrude.





San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, about a half mile from the fields... radiation levels 16 times higher than allowed in drinking water in the groundwater, security breaches, news the plant can withstand a small plane but not commercial jet - what would happen with a tsunami?



And, silently, seemingly invisible to the tourists, our Mexican brothers working the fields... life is more complicated than it appears.

Good help's hard to find...

What is there about cats that makes them get all frisky and friendly when I'm in the middle of rearranging the furniture in my bedroom?

Not to be outdone by Frogger, Seci crawled under the chest-of-drawers too, as if on cue.

Rock on

Kelly walks into my room after coming home from dance class.

"You rock, Mom."

"What'd I do?"

Her mouth full of yogurt, she points with her spoon at the yogurt cup that I had just brought home from the grocery store.

It doesn't take much to make some people happy, does it?

(Or was she implying that I don't grocery shop often enough?)

One of the reasons I've not been blogging lately, Kath...

Kathie and the kids know I'm into making stuff - weird stuff, that is. Here is a blurry photo of my latest creation. (How do Pam and Heather get those beautiful photos?) It's a bunch of lampwork beads and Swarovski crystals strung on four strands of memory wire and hung around a recessed light over my dining table. Kind of a shabby chic chandelier, but much prettier than any chandeliers I've ever seen. You'll have to come on over and view it in person to see what I mean. Sparkly.

I guess it's no weirder than Craw...

Why Didn't I Think of That?

Serving jail time can be trying, particularly if it's a third, fourth, or more time around. In my jail it is not unusual to hear an inmate reflecting on their tribulations with "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I've used that line on complaining grandchildren.

Paging through an old issue of Rolling Stone at the hair salon this evening an ad for Old Spice caught my eye (hm-m-m, wonder why?). Small print caption at the bottom: "What doesn't kill you makes you better looking."

I like this one.

Zen for Kappa No He

In commenting about last weekend’s Walking this Way in San Diego Patty wondered “about the Zen stuff” and I had to explain to her the peace and harmony of the two rocks in sand on the beach. Turns out she didn’t recognize the photo as sand and rocks but in the process I explained

“The peace and harmony of this pair of rocks, can't you see it? There is a famous Zen garden in Kyoto, a rectangle with sand and 13 rocks. No matter how you locate yourself, only 12 rocks can be seen at any one time. Everyone convinced they are the one who will see thirteen rocks spends hours looking at the garden from different angles. By that time, their arrogance has become peace and harmony.”

Kappa No He from Japan came back with

“Wow, I didn't know that about the Kyoto temple. Although I can totally see a bunch of monks from ancient times trying to make that. "Hey, Masuyuki! Stand over there, how many do you see now?!" I'll have to look that up.”

The garden is at the Ryoanji Temple, a World Heritage site, and I was wrong about the rocks. There are 15 rocks arranged such that only 14 can be seen at any one time, regardless of the angle viewed. Only with enlightenment can you see the last invisible stone in the mind's eye. The garden was created in the 15th century, and remains in its original simplicity. There have been interpretations the rocks represent islands in the ocean or tiger cubs crossing the ocean among others, but it is up to the viewer to find out for himself what the garden means. It is an experience much like watching the sun change angles at the Taj Mahal.

Walking This Way in San Diego

Used to be I could just put on my running shoes and go out the back door, through Torrey Pines Reserve and down to the beach. Life was simple. Nowadays, I take the iPod, cell phone, pager, and digital camera. Is that an age thing or have I unknowingly become part of Ted Kaczinski's runaway technology?

The usual San Diego trail workout begins with the requisite warning. Charleston has its copperheads and alligators (yes, ask Patty about the snake that was living under her sofa), San Diego has rattlesnakes and mountain lions. Torrey Pines Reserve just behind my house has the rattlers and coyotes but no lions. Mountain lion places are to be avoided since the big fire of 2003 wiped out much of their habitat. They're hungry guys these days.

Ellen Browning Scripps had the foresight to establish this preserve, one of only two locations in the world where the Torrey pine grows. The other is Catalina Island. Any first grader here can tell you a Torrey pine is identified by its five needle cluster. We are proud of our Torrey pines, until one blocks our view of the ocean.



Today the agave are blooming and, not to be outdone by Patty's wisteria, I have to take lots of pictures. Anyone who says San Diego doesn't have seasons is out of touch with the bloomings.






Patty says I'm the only person who can get lost in her own back yard. Today is no exception, what with all the talking on the phone and taking pictures while trying to run. Where did this trail come from? Never seen it before. Turn back? Keep going? Is there a life lesson here? Before long a bridge appears; unfortunately it looks as though the recent rains washed out about four feet between the cliff and the bridge. Keep going anyway with a running jump. Patty stays on the phone because she thinks I'm going to get myself done in back here.



Finally, the end of this trail - where was this sign when I needed it?








Coming to the beach. Patty says I'm on my own now - she's getting off the phone because she has better things to do than save me from myself. Change to the iPod. Nothing like Mana's Amar es Combatir (To Love is To Fight) to keep the pace up...



I take in some Zen...

Pass some other ladies in their outdoor gym...

Climb the trail to the other part of the Reserve...

I'm feeling ...


So home to make some 2" high biscuits... a very Charlestonian thing to do.

Wisteria on Melrose

On Thursday evening, Kelly and I were driving home from shopping - what else? - when we passed this sight. Kelly asked incredulously, "Is that a wisteria tree?"

"No, Sweetie," I said, "take a closer look." But I just had to bring my camera back to get a photo for my "album"...and, inspired by Pam (a far better plant photographer than I), a macro shot.

Anointed by Joan

I've been anointed by the famous Joan! Well, actually she only spilled her cup of tea on me yesterday at lunch, but I've been milking it. I too was so glad it wasn't iced or boiling hot...as it was, I was walking bowlegged for an hour. Heheh.

Whenever I try to leave a comment on her blog, I always get an error message that tells me if I want to try re-posting my comment, I should simply cut and paste the message as it shows below the error message. This morning, this was the message I was told to cut and paste.

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Hey Joan, what kind of outfit are you running here? Girl, I am going to tease you about this one today! :)

Culture of Fear: Red, Orange....

My daughter brought to my attention an excellent article by Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor for President Carter, in Sunday’s Washington Post, “Terrorized by 'War on Terror': How a Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America”.

Mr. Brzezinski says "...fear-mongering, reinforced by security entrepreneurs, the mass media and the entertainment industry, generates its own momentum. The terror entrepreneurs, usually described as experts on terrorism, are necessarily engaged in competition to justify their existence. Hence their task is to convince the public that it faces new threats. That puts a premium on the presentation of credible scenarios of ever-more-horrifying acts of violence, sometimes even with blueprints for their implementation."

An article well worth the reading time, asking the question, ”Where is the U.S. leader ready to say, ‘Enough of this hysteria, stop this paranoia’?”.

Lauren the Birthday Girl and the Little Weasel

Yesterday was the party for LaLa's 7th birthday. As usual, there were lots of kids running around and having a great time. My favorite part was having Patrick sit on my lap with his bankie and B at the end of the evening, sucking his thumb and watching Parent Trap - oblivious to the rest of the world.

(This photo doesn't do LaLa's eyelashes justice. They are to die for!)

Poor barn is dead .... or is it?

On Thursday Jennie wrote:

“The barn is down.

The ranch that witnessed history through the eyes of one of Missoula's oldest families is now ready for 104 homes. But, like my mother taught me--don't ever give up. I still have hope that it will go back up; if not on it's original 1865 spot, then at the very least, next door on the 40-acre conservation easement parcel where the original brick home sits.”

"Bloggers are Thinkers"

So I found this link for xkcd over at Pam's blog, and just had to copy the current comic for Kathie. You see, Kathie told me about a month ago that bloggers are thinkers. (I was so flattered!) And right now I'm thinking that in fifty years when Kelly is 70 and Jessie is 78, they'll both be talking about how their mother and AK were blogging fools!

You'll probably have to go to the source to be able to read the writing in the comic strip. It's worth the trip. (Uh oh - that rhymed. Wonder if I'm having a relapse of limerick-itis...)

Thanks, Pam!

Through the Happy Glass(es)

Kelly speeding by on her Trikke, and

Sam My Man looking weirded out...

as usual.

Happy Glasses

My kids think I'm a kibble or two short of a full bowl, but I just love my happy glasses. I got them at WalMart for ten bucks. They don't make me look like Jackie O or Sophia Loren, but no sunglasses are going to do that for me anyway. What I like about them is that they're polarized in such a way that when I turn my head a certain angle in the springtime, I see bright pink azaleas and intensely yellow forsythias under trees laden with pale yellow-green baby leaves against a deep, deep blue sky. Just driving down the street makes me smile. The coating's starting to peel off the frames, but I can't give them up.

I wonder if there's a lens like that for my camera...

With a Shield on her Arm....

Last weekend I was in Missoula, Montana, making one of those frequent trips to see the grandbaby. My elder daughter - would she cringe at that description? - is a city planner for the city.


Missoula is the city where The River Runs Through It - yes, from the book and movie of the same name. Indeed, this photo was taken downtown. It has names like Hellgate High School, and the University of Montaners call themselves Grizzlies.

Jennie may have felt California cities were beyond planning when she left Berkeley for Missoula. Now she works with a people who didn’t have a speed limit until recently, when threatened by the federal government to take away their highway funds. Not that Montanans are into speeding. They just feel the individual is best qualified to determine the best speed for the conditions of the moment.

Ted Kaczinski wrote his Manifesto on runaway technology and industrialism in the woods of Montana. Not that Montanans would support his methods. They just feel he made some interesting points.
While I was visiting, the issue for debate was whether these historical buildings from the late 1800s could be torn down to make way for a development.

The original farm acreage has been subdivided among descendants, the barn sitting on property just across the fence from the original homestead and more modern family homes. Two sets of cousins taking opposite sides, the city planning office, lawyers, and the developer are involved in court battles over whether the barn can be torn down for the housing development. In fact, when I went to check out the site, the roof of the barn had been taken off the day before. To his credit, the owner of the demolition company was taking the time to take it apart piece by piece, labeling so it could be reconstructed on another piece of the farmland rather than destroying the buildings should the situation be resolved to preserve the buildings. He didn’t have to do that, but that’s how Montanans are, I guess. The developer was from Idaho, and that always makes for interesting interactions. When I left, the city and a set of cousins were still going to court to stop the tear down. Well, it's even more complicated than that, having to do with county and city jurisdiction and permits.

My daughter is in the middle of it all. She e-mailed me this week to say she had been called the Che Guevara of the planning office. She said she didn’t know much about Che but she thought that would make me a proud mama.

Damn right I am.

Jorge Drexler: Dos Besos y Un Abrzo (Two Kisses and a Hug)

How often do we get to reach out and touch one of our heroes? Jorge Drexler, an Uruguayan (OK now, how many of you know where Uruguay is located in South America?) singer-musician-poetic songwriter played this week at an intimate venue in San Diego on his tour of Europe, the US, and South America, already receiving glowing reviews in the LA Times and NY Times among others. I counted myself lucky to be there to hear his unique and beautiful music. Even more lucky to meet and talk with him after the show where he greeted every woman with two kisses and bid goodbye with a hug.

Well known in Europe and Latin America, Jorge is just catching on in the United States after winning an Academy Award two years ago for the best original song, the first Oscar to go to a Spanish language song, Al Otro Lado del Rio (To the Other Side of the River) from Motorcycle Diaries. More on that story later.

His current tour coincides with the release of his most recent album, 12 Segundos de Oscuridad (12 Seconds of Darkness) - already a best seller in Europe - whose title song was inspired by a lighthouse in a small town on Uruguay’s Cape Polonio where he had retreated to escape the demands of post-Oscar success and the break-up of his marriage. 12 Seconds refers to the darkness between beams of light needed for sailors to navigate, and in our lives the need to have darkness between light, to have patience rather than attempt to escape uncertainty, doubt and restlessness as we look for our path.


For our evening, Jorge sang accompanied only by his guitar and yes, believe it or not, his laptop computer. Amazing what these techno-pop artists can do. He talked with the crowd between songs explaining, for example, the meaning behind Hermana Duda (Sister Doubt), that doubt can be better than self-confidence as it leaves the mind more open.

Midway through the evening he set down his guitar and explained his next song would be a capella, that one evening about two years ago and one and a half hours north of San Diego he sang this song a capella - no mention that this was the Oscars night - and, finding he liked the song better this way, he has sung it only a capella since.

The song was Al Otro Lado del Rio, the Academy Award winner, and we all knew the story behind the a capella. Although acclaimed in Europe and South America, Jorge Drexler was an unknown in the US when the song, composed and sung in the movie by Drexler, was nominated for an Oscar in 2005. With Drexler an unknown, Antonio Banderas and Carlos Santana were asked to perform Al Otro Lado del Rio amid protest and petitions from the Latin music industry. Gael Garcia Bernal, who played young Che Guavara in the movie, stayed away from the ceremonies in protest. Jorge handled the snub with graciousness, but when his name was called as the Oscar winner he used his ninety seconds to sing verses of the song a capella. Continuing to sing this song, his most famous, a capella has been his protest.




With men such as Jorge Drexler in the world, I think I could change my Men Like War thought to Most Men Like War.













Videos of four songs from the most recent albums, Eco and 12 Segundos de Oscuridad, can be watched at his official web site

Haikus from Kelly

I'm cleaning my office at home today. It's quite a project - I started yesterday and got so involved that I had to ask Pennie if I could take today off to finish!

What usually takes me so long is all the distractions..."I'd forgotten all about this!" or "Wasn't she cute?" or "Hm, wonder what I can use this for now". The treasures I found today are below, written originally by Kelly back in 2004 when she was a senior at Bishop England.

worker bees lay their nests
they work all day
and come home to crazy kids

dogs are super cool
they come in all forms
Kel really wants one today

Mustangs are even cooler
yes, they sure are
please get one for Kelly

Poor kid. She's still waiting for the dog and the Mustang. Hopefully, the crazy kids never materialize (kids - yes, crazy ones - no).

Beer haiku blog

Clicking on the links to blogs other people list in their sidebars usually lands me on something fun. I think I got to this one indirectly from Janet's blog.

The haikus are cute, even if they are about beer (ick - I can't stand the taste of it)! Some of them are even Kelly-quality.

A class in the "Causes and Prevention of War"?

Ever dreamed of taking classes at MIT? You can, for free, online. Well, not for credit, of course, but by the end of this year, the contents of all 1800 of MIT's classes will be online. I was particularly intrigued by the handout for "Causes and Prevention of War". (You and I would like this class, Kath.)

Go here to see the courses that are available. From the Astronomy link, I found this very cool site - Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Isn't the Internet amazing?