Grandma

All women should live so long as to be this kind of old lady!

Toward the end of Sunday service, the Minister asked, 'How many of you have forgiven your enemies?'

80% held up their hands.

The Minister then repeated his question. All responded this time, except one small elderly lady.

'Mrs. Neely?'; 'Are you not willing to forgive your enemies?'

I don't have any.' She replied, smiling sweetly.

'Mrs. Neely, that is very unusual. How old are you?'

'Ninety-eight.' she replied.

'Oh, Mrs. Neely, would you please come down in front & tell us all how a person can live ninety-eight years & not have an enemy in the world?'

The little sweetheart of a lady tottered down the aisle, faced the congregation, and said:


'I outlived the bitches.'

Writers and Their Day Jobs

This gives me hope:

Jack London worked in a cannery at age thirteen.

Charles Dickens pasted labels on bottles of shoe polish.

E.B. White sold roach powder an played the piano.

T.S. Eliot was a banker.

Zane Grey was a dentist.

Herman Melville was a customs inspector for the New York Harbor Authority.

William Faulkner served as postmaster for the University of Mississippi post office.

Alex Haley spent twenty years in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Maya Angelou worked as a cook and managed a restaurant.

It is said that very few writers actually make a living at writing. I guess it's true. We simply do it because we want to or have too. I know I'm easier to be around, less cranky, and life flows much smoother for me if I have my daily dose of writing no matter how bad it comes out.

Fruita Reservoir

Mom and I took Callie up to Fruita Reservoir today for a hike. It's in the Grand Mesa Two National Forest above Glade Park. Really pretty country. The hike itself is short; about three miles round trip, but the elevation gain is a couple thousand feet. Callie did really well. This was her first major hike. I think she's a natural at it and will be a great hiking buddy just as my Oz was. I look forward to many outings with my girl. We shot some pictures...of course! I have about a gazillian pictures, but blogger has issues with uploading. I'll post more later. You get the idea, the girl had a great time!



Callie decided she has a knack for rock climbing.











Stopping to smell the flowers on the trail.








Butterflies were everywhere up there. We caught this one working on its suntan.

Decompression

As I was tooling around town this morning doing my morning stuff I was looking around the valley and appreciating how easy my life has become. I work in the afternoon so I have all morning to do what I want. I wear jeans to work, I always wanted a job I could do that. I make an okay living for living in this town. I am surrounded by people I like and I trust and I care about. I am also surrounded by incredible beauty 24 7. Everywhere I turn around there is a terrific view, even in my own front yard. Life here is just constant decompression. No real stress, no real rush to get anything done.

When I was a kid we came to Grand Junction a lot for holidays, etc. I remember I hated coming here because my Grandma drove me crazy (oddly enough, she is the one person who reached out a hand when I couldn't get sober and really needed help), but I loved coming here because there is something that happens when a person enters the Grand Valley. I don't know what it is, but it's a feeling. Just an, "AAAHHH!" At least for me. My whole body relaxes, my mind tunes into to the here and now instead of the future. I don't feel rushed, I don't feel hassled, I don't feel tense. I just am. I feel extremely blessed to have landed on my feet here. My life is so easy! The universe pushed me in this direction and I didn't fight it, now I know why. This is how life should be.

New Pictures of Callie

Callie is growing like a weed. She had her final puppy shots last week and has been to the dog park twice. I limit our visits because every time we go she has to have a bath. She gets jumped on, rolled over, slobbered on...and she has the best time ever! I got some pictures with one of her new friends, Jasmine. Jasmine is an 8-year old Standard Poodle (only my favorite dog on the planet, fueled by Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley").

She's doing well. I'm trying to get someone to call me back. I guess there's a Flyball club in Palisade that sounds like it would be great fun for both of us and would use up some of her endless energy. But she is doing well on all the basic commands, fetch and swimming beautifully. She's 32 pounds last visit to the vet. I wish she would stay that size, that's perfect! Not to mention she just gets cuter every day!

Butterflies

This picture looks like a butterfly that wanders through my yard every day around noon. This isn't a picture of the actual butterfly I see because by the time I get my camera, he/she has wandered to the next yard and on with his/her daily routine.

I have identified immensely with the story of the butterfly that is the metaphor for life. Butterflies have become my new symbol for my life. I'm paraphrasing, but the story is about a man who sees a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon. He thinks he will be nice and help the butterfly so it won't have to struggle so much. The butterfly spends his/her life stumbling around and not ever flying because its wings aren't strong enough to carry it. The moral of the story is that life must have struggles to give us strength to live whole, healthy, productive lives. I also like to think that the struggles I have faced, have given me a great deal of appreciation for the life I have now. My relationships are stronger, more honest, deeper and more meaningful; and they wouldn't be that if I hadn't struggled through the relationships of the past and failed.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, Utah (AP) -- One of the largest and most photographed arches in Arches National Park has collapsed.
The Wall Arch on Devils Garden Trail in Utah's Arches National Park collapsed last week, a park official says.
Paul Henderson, the park's chief of interpretation, said Wall Arch collapsed sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.
The arch is along Devils Garden Trail, one of the most popular in the park. For years, the arch has been a favorite stopping point for photographers.
Henderson said the arch was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy others in the park: gravity and erosion.
"They all let go after a while," he said Friday.
He said it's the first collapse of a major arch in the park by since nearby Landscape Arch fell in 1991. No one has reported seeing it fall.
Like others in the park, Wall Arch was formed entrada sandstone that was whittled down over time into its distinctive and photogenic formation.
The arch, first reported and named in 1948, was more than 33 feet tall and 71 feet across. It ranked 12th in size among the park's estimated 2,000 arches.
Rock has continued to fall from the remaining arms of the arch forcing the closure of a portion of the trail.

Proof positive that change is inevitable.