California Fever

Butterscotch

I could give a rat's ass about America's Got Talent, but I'm rooting for young Butterscotch--from DAVIS!  Hoping she takes home the MILLION.  Check her out on The Tom Green Show:

A Fabulous 4th

I hope everyone (in this country) had a wonderful and safe 4th of July.  Ours was wonderfully relaxing.  Our street was closed off during the night to make way for the Davis Bike Club's 31st Annual Fourth of July Criterium which is staged on downtown streets.  The first race began at 7:15 and the last one at 5:00.  Jeffrey and I quite enjoyed sitting under the big tree at our curb watching many of the races.  Mid-morning we walked to the park around the corner to watch the Kiddie Parade, and let me tell you, there was cuteness abounded.  At 12:00, in between races, there was a non-competitive kiddie ride where kids could take a lap around the race course.  They let the tiniest ones go first, and it was adorable watching those little tykes riding next to the male pros who were warming up for their race (see lower left corner).  The pros were thrilling to watch--65 laps.  Many dropped out along the way and there were two mishaps--fortunately no one was seriously hurt.  It was hard to capture a good shot since we don't have a very good camera, but that photo on the bottom row is not zoomed in--that's how close they were riding to the curb.  We had our picnic lunch sitting there watching the races.  Late afternoon we moved inside and I napped a bit.  About 6:00 we finally broke down and turned on the A/C.  You might have heard that we're having a heat wave out here.  (We're die-hards--we rarely turn on the A/C since we prefer fresh air, even if it's hot.)  At 9:00 we hopped on our bikes and rode to the park up the road where all of the town's festivities are held because we wanted to see the fireworks.  Having never been there on the 4th, we had no idea where to plop.  I spotted a small rise and we parked our bikes there and as it turned out, had a fabulous view.  It was one of the best fireworks shows I've ever seen--very impressive for our small town. 

Sam had asked me yesterday if I had any sparklers.  I'd completely forgotten that we'd stopped at a fireworks stand in Central Oregon last year on the 4th on our way back from Portland, but I couldn't remember where I'd stashed them.  We rooted around last night after we got home from seeing the fireworks and found them.  We stood in our driveway with some of our neighbors and lit sparklers and Jeffrey set off a couple of small sparkly fireworks.  It was a nice way to end the evening...and it reminded me that I really do believe that everyone has a divine spark.

Look UP!

I'm back.  I had a mostly restful few days, although I did 'force' myself yesterday to do some clean-up at home.  Not actual cleaning, mind you (that'll have to wait for another day), but cleanup.  (Although I've kept the place fairly tidy while J's been gone.)  I spent a good four hours yesterday sorting through paperwork--getting stuff ready to mail, filing, making files, organizing bills, tossing junk mail, etc.  I also did a bit of (inexpensive) shopping this weekend and picked up a few things for the house, including some plants that I repotted.  I love our kitchen--it's a 60's-style kitchen and I love it.  And after all the clean-up and adding the new purchases and plants, the kitchen's looking quite homey, if I do say so.  It's my favorite place to sit in the summertime. Eastern exposure, facing the street, huge tree at the curb, lots of windows and light.  I can sit in one of our big wicker chairs by the window as the breeze wafts in and have coffee and read or listen to the radio. Other than my clean-up session yesterday, I had a thoroughly relaxing three days off.  Napped, read, biked, lounged, went for a couple of country drives.  Yesterday I rode my bike through the greenbelt on the north side of town and then headed south to the Arboretum to my favorite spot in all of Davis:  the redwood grove. (They're coastal redwoods and they remind me of home.) By the time I arrived, the grove was nearly empty.  It was very warm yesterday (90).  I parked my bike and laid down on one of the picnic table benches and looked up.  And I laid that way for awhile--I could have easily fallen asleep.  And I wondered how on earth I could go so many years without lying on my back looking up through redwoods, because surely that's one of the best things in the whole world to do.  I love all trees, but, for me, there's something especially sacred and magical about redwoods.  Because they don't make sense--how do they not topple over?  Their roots are shallow and their skinny trunks are so very tall.  And I laid there looking up at the blue sky and the canopy formed by the tree branches and watched the top of one tree in particular move in the breeze.  And it made me think of the Golden Gate Bridge, because it, too, moves with the weather, but most people don't notice the movement.  Walking through those redwoods most people would have no idea that the tops of the trees are swaying--not just the branches moving in the breeze, but the entire tree swaying.  I grew up around redwoods (and my parents have some on their property), so I know they move, but maybe that's my lesson for today:  don't forget to look UP...because there might be something happening that I'd otherwise miss.

J has our camera on the road with him, so no photos from my weekend.  But here's a shot of the Arboretum grove.  Not a very good picture, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like.

P.S.  I'm reading Gilead right now. Ohmygosh, now I understand what all the fuss was about.  It's just so...beautiful.

P.P.S.  And speaking of the Golden Gate Bridge, it celebrated its 70th birthday over the weekend.  Click here for a live webcam.

recharging

I haven't felt much like posting.  Last week was very hectic.  From the previous Friday to last Friday, I felt like I was going nonstop.  So yesterday I stopped...going.  Late last week a friend asked if she could sleep over tonight.  At first I said yes, because that's what I do--I say yes and think about the request later.  But then I began to feel stressed at the mere thought of it--not the sleeping over part (and I always enjoy her company), but the fact that I'd have to give up part of my weekend to clean the house.  I asked if we could switch it to Monday evening, and we did...but then I remembered that there was this event at the indie theatre a few blocks away on Monday evening and that I'd really wanted to attend.  I invited her to come with me, but she passed. 

I wanted a weekend without an agenda.  I didn't want to have to be anywhere or to have to do anything in particular.  I needed two days of unscheduled time.  I had a lovely day yesterday in our gorgeous weather.  My day included (in no particular order) a green tea latte from Starbucks, time spent watering the lawn, a leisurely stroll through the Farmer's Market around the corner (where I picked up a summer squash plant and some produce), a bike ride to the Co-op for some groceries (it's their annual 11% off everything sale this weekend), sitting in the shade listening to our school's jazz band play at the plaza around the corner, a browse through Bogey's Books (where I picked up this book), a Matcha Green Tea Blast from Jamba Juice, a long leisurely walk through the UC Davis Arboretum and a random walk back through the campus, reading in bed, a short nap, watching two films on DVD.  For lunch yesterday I made wraps from spectacular spicy handmade vegan organic tortillas I picked up at the Farmer's Market, and for dinner I had organic lentil soup with crusty olive bread dipped in olive oil.  I love when I can eat whatever I want without worrying about whether or not Jeffrey will like it!  :)

And best of all, I slept until 8:30 both mornings this weekend.  Since arriving home from work on Friday I've slept whenever the urge struck, even if my sleep/wake cycle is off by other people's standards. And you might not have noticed this from reading the above, but I haven't been in the car since I got home from work on Friday night.  I love being able to walk and bike everywhere--LOVE it!  Davis is arguably one of the most livable towns in the country.  I can see how they've worked hard to make it, and keep it, that way, and I truly appreciate it.  In my travels yesterday I saw squirrels, wild rabbits, lots of ducks (including ducklings), a wild turkey, a horse, and myriad dogs and cats and birds.  And I didn't have to go anywhere except for a walk.

I hadn't written a poem in a week.  I completely missed Poetry Thursday last week.  But I did write a little something for Sunday Scribblings today.  The prompt is "masks" and the poem is here. 

And now, if you'll excuse me, I hear a thirsty lawn.  Enjoy your Sunday!

split

Photo copyright Jenny Rollo (via stock.xchng)

you don't know how long
you've been here like this
face-down in the sea but
surely it's been awhile
judging by the moss that's
attached itself to your back
you used to be so majestic
you used to be so beautiful
as you soared through the
sky they don't understand they
don't even know what you
are and they'll probably never
figure it out because they're
all about weight and gravity
they don't understand that
wings are all around them
yours just happen to be made
out of granite but if they'd
take a look around a really
close look they'd recognize
that familiar split in the least
likely places they'd find
unexpected reminders
everywhere that flight doesn't
happen just in the sky

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt at Poetry Thursday is "split."  And this week's Sunday Scribblings prompt--in honor of the publication of Laini's book!--is "wings." 

Yesterday was a great day.  J's on the road; he'll be home probably late this afternoon.  I was going to go with him, but desperately needed some downtime after a stressful week at work.  I finished a novel, slept late, went for a lovely walk in the UC Davis Arboretum, and bought some bargain books at Borders and the thrift store.  CCACA, our country's largest ceramic art conference, is here this weekend.  And since we live downtown, I was able to walk to exhibits of ceramic art by students at several colleges and universities.  I saw shows by College of Marin (hosted at my bank--they'd been setting up the show when I was in there after work on Thursday), Solano College, Cypress College, Mendocino College, Academy of Art University, San Jose State University and California State University-Chico.  I also saw the exhibit for the California Clay Competition at The Artery and a wonderful exhibit by Daphne Gillen and Susannah Israel at Pence Gallery. Pence is just a block from the house.  They always have wonderful ceramic art in at least one of the galleries.  Ciara loves Pence--it's not every 9-year-old who asks to go to an art gallery.  :)  There are many exhibits I haven't seen yet (including one by the students at my junior high!) and I plan to continue my art stroll today.  The weather is glorious--in the upper 80's.  Just the way I like it...

10 items or less

the manzanita trees were beautiful
the transistor crackled with static
i lost my class ring in the dirt
zorro was my fantasy
the rocking chair was white
nightmares brought panic
who told you that?
no one knew
dull knife
stuck

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt at Poetry Thursday is "10 items or less."  I used syllable count in descending order.  (I'm easily entertained.)

I'm continually amazed at the connections I make online.  When I returned home from work yesterday after a crazy day and checked my email (webmail is blocked at work), I found MySpace friend requests from this group and this guy.  Both made me smile...because poetry and Japanese drumming?  Surely two of my favorite things.

My folks are in town.  I had no idea they were en route--I thought they were going to spend most of April in Palm Desert, where one of my stepbrothers had rented a condo for the month.  They left for their trip the day after we left for ours, and ironically, they were traveling through much of the same area--just a day behind us.  They visited two sets of friends in the Phoenix area and then went on to Palm Desert to hang out with our stepbrother and his family for awhile.  They arrived in Dixon last night and it sounds like they'll be here through the weekend.  Meanwhile, Chelle flew to Cozumel yesterday for a rendezvous with some girlfriends, so my brother's bach'ing it with the kids.  (It's hard to keep up sometimes.)  Jeffrey's got a rehearsal in Sacramento today for a gig tomorrow morning.  (He has two gigs tomorrow.)  My folks are coming to Davis to have lunch with me today.  Maybe we'll go here.  This is the place that has poetry open mic's every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month.  I still haven't been to one--every time I've wanted to go, something's come up.

And you?  What are your plans for the weekend? 

plunge

can i go deeper?
will my heart feel invaded?
i blindly submerge

********************************

This week's prompt at Poetry Thursday has me quite excited.  Of course, excitement doesn't always translate into action.  ;) 

Although I fell behind while on my trip, I've been trying to get back onto the 37 Days Challenge shadow portrait bandwagon.  My shadows Flickr set is here.  The 37 Days Shadows Portraits pool is here.

I've also done a couple more Wreck This Journal pages since I returned.  That set is here.  The WTJ pool is here.  There's some amazing stuff there. 

Today is "Picnic Day" at UC Davis.  It's a HUGE deal.  It's the largest student-run event in the country, and it draws about 50,000-60,000 visitors to campus. (I just checked the website and they're implementing the 'rain plan.'  Bummer.  Yesterday was gorgeous, but we knew rain was in the forecast for today.) It all kicks off with a parade this morning at 10:00, which goes by half a block from our house.  Last year J was out of town and I walked to the corner with our neighbors (who've since moved) to watch the parade.  This year I think I might not go any farther than the wicker love seat on our teensy front porch.  I'll simply roll up the bamboo screen and watch from there.  Because at 11:00 I'm scheduled to meet up (on campus) with a group of Obama campaign volunteers to work the crowd.  The Sacramento for Obama group (which already has over 300 members--not MySpace friends, but members) coordinated this for us.  Those of us in the Yolo County for Obama group (we're just getting started) are going to join forces with them.  It will be my first gathering, even though at my.barackobama.com I'm the group administrator for the both the Davis and Yolo County groups.  I missed the March 31 meeting here in Davis (since I was working that afternoon in preparation for my bereavement leave).  Our next Yolo County meeting is April 24th.  Today I'll have a chance to meet the co-chairs of the Sacramento group.  That group is already doing fabulous things and planning a large gathering for all of the Northern California groups on June 9th.  I'm thrilled that Sacramento is going gangbusters.  Our poor ol' capitol city often gets overlooked by the glitzier L.A./Hollywood, San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley glamour.  But Sacramento's where we're making laws, baby!  I saw "Ba-ROCK's" on the Phoenix 4 Obama group's site a few weeks ago and thought it was a clever idea.  I biked all over town yesterday (while J was at a rehearsal in Sacramento) looking for rocks.  Didn't find any, but I finally found some bags of "accent gems" (clear flat-shaped 'rocks' in different shades) for $1/bag at the Dollar Store.  So I'll be spending my morning, Sharpie in hand, writing the Yolo County MySpace info on those suckers, as well as "Obama '08!" and *H*O*P*E*.  And let me tell you, that's a lot of info to write on such a small space.  ;) 

A Liar's Party

Betcha can't guess what I did last night...

Yes!  It was finally time to host "A Liar's Party" for Patry Francis!  We had it at the lovely home of my pal, Toni.  (Our place is way too small.)  The photo was courtesy of Bob, Toni's wonderful husband who went upstairs and left us to do our chatty thing.  Patry's husband, Ted, had dropped her at the party and then headed back to their hotel.

I was the only other blogger in attendance--the others are friends from my workplace (junior high).  The bloggers I would have invited all live some distance away, and I know it's hard for people on a weeknight.  I invited 12--seven of us were able to make it. 

From left to right:  me, Kathy (head of our English dept.), Patry, Toni (school nurse), Gina (teaches English and Drama--she recently won a grant for some training at the Globe Theatre in London this summer...our Drama students are currently in rehearsal for "Pirates of Penzance"), Esther (our much-loved former German teacher--she retired at the end of last year), Carolyn (head counselor...Taylor's grandma...Patry's granddaughters sent a gift for Taylor...so sweet!) and Debbie (our inclusion--special ed--teacher).

Toni and Debbie have lived across the street from each other for many years, and have been in a neighborhood book club for nearly as long.  So when I asked, Toni said she'd be happy to host us since her book club has previously hosted other authors.

And just to keep things really cozy...Toni's daughter, Lindsay, will be marrying Carolyn's son, Dan, this August.

This is a warm and wonderful group of women, and I hope that Patry enjoyed her evening with them.  I know that she has a game she somtimes likes to play with these book party groups, but we were so busy peppering her with questions that we never got around to it.  We learned that she likes to write in the mornings.  That she once read in a "Writer's Digest" publication to simply write 3 pages every day, even if one doesn't feel like it--so that's what she does.  About her earlier novels which were not published.  About suggestions her editor made for The Liar's Diary.   About some, um, interesting ways a few readers have responded to the book.  And how her oldest son waited 20 years to collect on a childhood promise.  See, you have to host a party so you can get all the juicy details, too!  ;)

Patry is just as smart and witty and sweet and delightful and wonderful as I'm sure you all imagine her to be.  She and I shared with the group the joys of blogging.  I started to say the highs and lows, but I can't think of a single negative that we mentioned, since we both love it so much.  (I guess the only downside would be that it can be a tad addictive.)  ;)

Patry shipped a box of books to my home late last week and since we all planned to buy books from her, after Jeffrey accidentally opened the box (not reading the label--thinking it was one of his usual Amazon shipments), I grabbed a copy and between Sunday and after work yesterday, devoured it.  (Well, the story, not the actual book.)  It's a page-turner!

And in a sweet twist for me, Patry and Ted spent Monday night in my hometown of Crescent City.  When I spoke to her after work on Monday, they were making their way down the gorgeous Oregon coast.  I had told them that Crescent City would be about halfway between Portland and Davis via the route they had mapped out.  (Laini hosted a party for her on Sunday night.)   So on Monday night Patry and Ted stayed at Hampton Inn & Suites, where old Seaside Hospital used to be located.  That was where my brother and I were both born and where we both had tonsillectomies--me at age 3, him at 12.  So imagine my delight when I phoned her from work yesterday morning and heard her say, "Oh, we're just leaving Good Harvest..."  She said last night that when the cafe staff had asked how they'd heard about Good Harvest, she nonchalantly replied, "I have a friend from Crescent City..."  Good Harvest is where we have breakfast when we're there--good food and great handmade willow furniture.  Patry and Ted had both been very excited to see redwoods for the first time--I told her she'd hit a big bunch of them just south of town, since 101 would take them through Redwood National Park.

The only disappointment about this entire experience was that Patry and I didn't have more time to hang out together. We had a few minutes as I drove her back to her hotel.  This morning she and Ted are off to Corte Madera to visit Book Passage, one of the country's best indie bookstores.  (I saw Natalie Goldberg speak there several years ago).  Her book tour continues in the Bay Area before they fly to Chicago later this week. 

It was a wonderful evening with a wonderful person.

*****************************************

In Unity Week news...  Unity Week is kicking my butt!  :)  There are three of us on staff who have organized these activities.  We each took the lead on one big project.  My big project was working with the kids on our Darfur committee.  Yesterday was their day to present, which they did during both lunch periods.  They set up a slide show to run onstage in our Indoor Commons, which is also our cafeteria.  But that was just a tease to entice kids to check out their exhibit in our (unused this year) Home Ec room.  I can't post photos here, because that would break my 'no student photos' policy, but their presentation was a huge hit.  They wanted it to feel like night, so they put dark paper over the huge windows and strung a bunch of white lights.  They had a slide show running and built an example of a simple structure a Darfur refugee might have in one of the refugee camps.  They had an information table, where they provided handouts and answered questions.  They also encouraged visitors to their exhibit to write postcards to President Bush to encourage him to take action to protect innocent civilians in Darfur.  They made green ribbons that students and staff could be seen wearing the remainder of the day in solidarity.  And they created a green ribbon paper 'wall' where students could write their sentiments about Darfur on large green paper ribbons which we now have displayed in the school lobby. 

Our school district's school climate coordinator was on-site yesterday and I encouraged him to check out their presentation.  Afterwards, he told me that he'd told the kids he was so impressed that he wants them to take their show on the road--to do their presentation at our sister junior highs.  They were quite excited by that news, and I couldn't be prouder of them.

Today at lunchtime (all three grades have lunch together on Wednesdays) we're staging a cultural fashion show.  We had a dress rehearsal at the end of the schoolday on Monday.  The fashion show committee has pulled together some wonderful outfits for the show--from Pakistan and Ghana and Vietnam and Japan and China and India and Tonga, etc.  And the show is going to open with a special performance by our high school's award-winning Madrigals.  Yours truly will be the commentator, and this morning I'll be helping our decorations committee set the stage for the show.

Monday morning I helped our language tree committee hang their piece in the Indoor Commons.  The kids came up with this concept to show all of the different languages spoken by our students--as based on a language survey they gave to all students last week.

There's also a world map in the Indoor Commons.  Last Friday, every student was given an opportunity (during their P.E. classes) to put a dot on the map indicating the country or state or city they most identify with.

And yesterday during lunch the two girls heading up a hands mural project got students to write on paper hands the nationalities or races they most identify with along with one thought about unity.

Tomorrow is a minimum day so our teachers can join their fellow teachers at their sister schools in articulation meetings.  I'm looking forward to having a nice, quiet afternoon in the office just so I can catch up a little!  :) On Friday, our assembly committee will be doing two shows of their Unity Week assembly.

This weekend?  I plan to sleep.  ;)

Stage 2 in Davis

As of this writing, the videos for yesterday's Stage 2 of the Tour of California aren't up yet.  But I did find some Flickr photos of the cyclists zipping through downtown Davis.  I can't believe these guys were no more than 2 blocks from our house in three different directions and Jeffrey didn't even go outside to watch.  Sheesh.  (I couldn't get away to watch at lunchtime yesterday--I was swamped.)  Here they are in Davis heading south on B...here's the turn from B onto 2nd...and from there they headed north on F.  I'm looking forward to seeing the videos from yesterday's stage--not just to see Davis but because it took them through the Napa Valley.  Today's stage 3 takes the riders from Stockton over some steep climbs into San Jose.

NOTE:  If you haven't already seen it, an update on Taylor appears at the bottom of the next post.

Tour of California

The Amgen Tour of California comes through Davis around mid-day today.  This is the largest cycling event in the country, and the cyclists are going to zip through our downtown streets 2 blocks to the west of us, 1-1/2 blocks to the south and 2 blocks to the east. (I'll be at work, but I'm hoping Jeffrey will capture some photos.) They're coming into Davis on Russell Boulevard which borders the UC Davis campus on the north.  It's a street that's within maybe 4 blocks of my school.  I'm going to ride my bike to school this morning (for the first time in MONTHS), and if I can possibly get away at lunchtime, I'm going to zip over to Russell to see if I can witness the race for a few minutes.  The paper said it will only take about 15-20 minutes for the cyclists to make their way through town, and that the speeds will be amazing.  It's like having the Tour de France zipping through your town.

Here's the info on Stage 2 today, which takes them from Santa Rosa through the Napa Valley to Sacramento.  And here are videos from yesterday's Stage 1 event--Sausalito to Santa Rosa.  Scroll down to the one labeled "Peleton Pile Up."  Eeeek.  We saw that on the local news last night.

Today's stage begins at 10 am PST.  If you get Versus channel, you can watch each day's footage from 7-8 pm PST (10-11 EST).

There are some great shots up at Flickr.

I've got a busy day and week ahead of me.  It was nice having a 3-day weekend, but I didn't get as much accomplished as I would have liked.  I'd forgotten that we'd be gone on Sunday, even though it was nice to get out of town and take a nice drive.  I can't even remember now what we did on Saturday, although I do know we went grocery shopping.  Friday was one of those 'a day from hell' kind of days, so I think I was sort of rebounding from it on Saturday.  Oh, I remember now--Jeffrey went to hang out with one of his musician friends in Sacramento for awhile and I took my bike out for a spin.  It was a lovely sunny day and I rode to the library.  I did get through some stuff yesterday, but every time I'd sit down to get caught up online, J would need the computer again for work stuff.  It's hard sharing a computer when one of you is using it for your liveliehood.  So if I haven't been by for awhile, know that I'll get there eventually.  Yesterday I finally started making a list of all that I need to do (instead of trying to keep it all stored in my head).  And I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed as a result.  ;)

UPDATE ON TAYLOR
I know I haven't given you an update on Taylor in awhile.  Last week Carolyn reported that Taylor was beginning to have some sensation in her fingers.  The family was thrilled, even though the doctors appeared to act like it was no big deal.  You can read about it on her blog.  But (as of this moment) what's not on her blog is that on Saturday, SHE MOVED HER BIG TOE!   YES!!!  Carolyn asked me to share that with all of you, because we both believe that the power of your collective good thoughts have made a difference in her recovery.  Please continue to send healing thoughts her way.  We're not giving up hope!  Thank you.