by compound complex 293 Replies latest jw friends
Momz: Lovely indeed - yet I fear for the peace of the sancturary should the tykes make their goal!
I share your fear. Luckily the clubhouse and the endless array of snacks is being raided as we speak. But they are $60 towards their goal. Dad already gifted them an electric guitar, keyboards, and amp. Fortunately, ours is one of the 3 story homes, and their band is relegated to the 3rd floor.
momz
For me, it was an early rise and out the door at 9:09 a.m. ... to conquer the neighboorhood on foot.
The sky, a watery and cheerless fade of blue from yesterday, was playing the equestrian to scurrying mares' tails, presaging the onset of more wet weather (if I've got my meteorology correct [rain is forecast for tomorrow]).
Forsythia, redbud and flowering quince brightened the landscape at eye level - fortunately for my fragile spirit - and I discovered some new varieties of white-blossomed trees on the road not taken (i.e., that not usually trod by me). Such bold and traffic stopping extravagance (this is why I walk - I see so much more and don't crash into the trees I wish to examine more closely).
I am researching a curiosity regarding the leaves borne on floral axes of a particular oak - intriguing.
Never would've spotted it from my car.
Speaking of automobiles, a fellow baby-boomer drove on by in his '61 Corvette ... Cool wheels....
CoCo Qui Marche
It was good to walk again through the countryside so familiar yet abandoned of late by us air-breathers. The smoke has cleared sufficiently to permit a more healthful trot than has been possible for several weeks previous. The distant ranges are still not absolutely in focus, but the forested middle ground is quite "there."
Last evening the sky put on quite a display; it appeared that at least three separate shows of light, color and form were performing simultaneously.
I climbed to a point higher than where home is and had a 360-degree view of the most spell-binding sunset since before the fires began 21 June. One set of clouds was knotted at its base but burst open with flourish, spreading fan-like upward and outward, fingering its way through the slowly darkening sky. Elsewhere, the clouds were like dirty cotton pulled backwards through a knothole.
Finally, and most awesome of all, were the layers of gray batting, floating effortlessly above a sun just beginning to glance the horizon. Then, someone turned on the lights - the palest pink turning incrementally to a richly hued coral - and illumined the underbelly of the now staid mass of cloud, perched motionless and majestic, as if declaring to this mere, stupified mortal so far below, "Ain't I grand?"
Well, here I go again - carrying on about the sky. I had to go outside a second time to be sure that I wasn't imagining what I'm about to tell you: the sky is blue. You might be wondering what's the big deal. We here in northern California suffered through smoky gray skies for hours - days - weeks. While this tragedy may occur once again, still, today's bolt of dazzling, deepest blue is a stunning backdrop to the towering pines and incense cedars kissed by Ol' Sol that surround me.
It is a cathedral superior in all respects to those edifices of stone and stained glass that men have erected under the cracking whip of their spiritual dominators.
I miss going out at night to look at stars. Maybe I'll get to do some of that in Indiana when I visit there this week. I really miss going to the coast to watch the stars on the beach. Desert nights are lovely.
The following description of the climate of Los Gatos was written by one who has made the subject a special study: "The Santa Cruz Mountains shut off the harsh breezes from the ocean, and the creeping fog from the Bay of San Francisco very rarely finds its way into this vicinity. Calla lilies and the tenderest geraniums flourish and bloom in open air the year around. Tomatoes and green peas, gathered from the vines, often form a part of Christmas dinners, with strawberries, taken from the vines in open air, for dessert. The altitude above the ocean, between four and five hundred feet, and freedom from fogs, have caused the place to be sought by many invalids who have regained their health. The bay wind generally prevails through the day and the mountain breeze at night. This thoroughly ventilates the foothills and adds to their healthfulness. We have no thunder and lightning, and no cyclones, hurricanes or tornadoes; no heavy frosts or snows, floods or droughts; no malarious diseases. From the first of May to the first of November we have no rain, no showers, while in what we call the winter months showers and rains fall sufficient to thoroughly moisten the ground. We have much clear weather in winter—about the same as April and May in the East. The soil is so deep and open that where it is thoroughly cultivated it remains moist to within a few inches of the surface all summer. Travelers who have spent years in search of the model climate say that our climate could not be surpassed on the globe, and they certainly are correct. The great variety of growing orchards add beauty to the general appearance of the foothills and the valley, which spread out below Los Gatos into a picture without a parallel."
www.mariposaresearch.net/santaclararesearch/LOSGATOS.html
The days continue to warm me to the core yet socks and towels, boiled on the stove and scrubbed in the kitchen sink, take two days to dry in the tepid sun. Nighttime temperatures dip steadily deeper into the range of 40-some degrees, and, as a consequence, the early morning chill sends a frisson up and down the spine. On clicks the thermostat and the heater's flames commence slowly to ease the cold that has crept unseen through not-really-so-solid walls.
The neighborhood, lovely as ever, has taken on a new aspect, however ...
What are you writing Co Co?
I'm happy to see this thread, I had not seen it before. I have recently moved, and taking a walk in my new neighborhood on Friday, I was thrilled. It's not much compared to some I've read here, but wonderful to me. In the space of 30 minutes, I left my little neighborhood, and found myself facing rolling hills as far as I could see, and passed a small creek where I found a patch of cat tales, and a crane, or heron of some sort. On the other side, was a pasture with cows, and an old broken down weathered barn. Up on top of the hill to the East, a row of windmills (not the quaint sort, working windmills producing power).
Hi Beks!
Good to see you here! What a change from your old neighborhood, so I gather. Sounds great, just like what I see when I walk a short distance from my home.
Is this your fave time of year?
Please see www.freeminds.org/coco in answer to your question.
Love,
CoCo