“Vegas”

     

    Well, here we are in Las Vegas. We arrived yesterday and attending a wedding today. The best man in our wedding’s daughter is getting married. So, here we are.

    We gambled a little last night. My husband and I both broke even. I like Wheel of Fortune, while he heads for the Black Jack table. He actually came from the table $100 ahead. Sadly, this morning while I was at the spa - he is now in the negative. There’s always tonight! Gambling…what a racket. Very few get lucky and leave the casino with a jackpot.

    I’ll tell you what you can count on at a nice Casino Resort and that is good food. There are some amazing restaurants here with high caliber chefs. As a matter of fact, sometimes you can’t even get in to be seated. Planning and reservations are a must, which we have not mastered yet, but we fare well.

    My son attended a two year academic program in Utah and we would have to fly into Vegas, rent a car and drive to go see him. Hence, we became a little familiar with Las Vegas. Our hotel of choice is the Aria. Shopping is very pricey here, so I don’t do much of that, but I sure enjoy a spa day.

    This evening we will witness two become one. 

    My husband and I will be married 35 years this August. I would have to say the motto for my marriage has been “through thick and through thin.” 

    It ain’t easy

"Undertow"

 

    I live 5 minutes from the ocean and am a faithful beachgoer, so the undertow has always been a concern of mine. I enjoy swimming in the ocean. Every now and then, I'll hear about someone in the Monterey Bay being taken out to sea by an undertow. There are certain beaches that are known to have recurring rip tides; it's always a good idea to become familiar with a beach before venturing into the water. After learning more about the undertow, I could spot them along the shore. It's an eery feeling when I see one. My son is a surfer and well educated about ocean currents. He pointed out a diagram like this one and it helped me to understand what I was seeing.

    Merriam Webster's definition of an undertow: 1 : the current beneath the surface that sets seaward or along the beach when waves are breaking upon the shore. 2 : an underlying current, force, or tendency that is in opposition to what is apparent.

    The speed of an undertow as it goes back toward the sea is alarming. The only way out of one should you get trapped in it, is to swim parallel out of it (to the side). As you can see, it is a narrow stream of water with great force. 

    With summer upon us, many will be heading for the Santa Cruz beaches. I always post a YouTube video about the danger of riptides and how to escape one on social media as summer approaches.

    If you love the ocean water as much as I do - stay safe out there!  

    

    

“Travel”

 

     This image was my view out the window of the plane I was traveling in en route to Las Vegas, Nevada this morning. We departed from San Jose, California. I believe these are mountains in Southern Nevada. I love the variations of blue in the sky. My husband and I were invited to a birthday celebration dinner for my son’s girlfriend, Carianna. She is thirty-two years old (or young I should say). They live in Austin, Texas. 

    We used to travel quite a bit before Covid. With our kids getting older, our reins have become looser. The pandemic hit and travel was to be put on the back burner. We flew a few times last year and the experience was quite different - the stress of Covid loomed throughout the airport, in the plane and also at the point of destination. Today, it was a relief to not be required to wear a mask in the airport and in flight.  It was refreshing to see the airport parking lot full and most of all to see the smiles of fellow travelers; no longer hidden behind their masks. Some still choose to wear their mask. I still keep sanitizer in my bag and I avoid all handrails. With that being said, it was a refreshing day of travel. 

    We’re Austin bound in July!

“Stevie Nicks - Sara” 🎶

         Stevie Nicks and the 80’s…this song. It all started with Fleetwood Mac of course. I’ve seen them many times in concert. This band has such a unique sound. Their music almost has a culture of it’s own. It makes you feel ‘something.’ Their lyrics tell stories like most songs, while their sound is somewhat haunting. When I heard her sing this song, my world stood still for 5 minutes. It was an incredible performance by Fleetwood Mac. I read that this song is about her unborn child. She never did have children of her own, which she has said is one of her greatest regrets in her life. Her children were her many songs, I suppose. Choices.

    When Stevie took a hiatus for a while from Fleetwood Mac, she gave birth to a solo career. She hired two women as her background vocalists who were phenomenal. They complimented her voice so well. I’ve seen her perform as a solo artist. She is quite personable on stage. I appreciated the way she told short stories in between songs about her life and her music.

    

    I am planning to see her in concert at the Red Rock amphitheater in Denver, Colorado in May. I’m looking forward to my moment in time again when I was very young; as she belts out the vocals to Sara.

"Rescue"

 

       This adorable little creature was found huddled in a corner on the vanity in my bathroom, behind an artificial plant. He was very scared. I have a deck off my master bedroom, where I often sit and he must have haphazardly flown in while the doors were open. It looked as though he was probably flying around my bathroom for a bit, looking for safety; as I found remnants of his presence in the tub and near the window. Thankfully, he found what he thought was his natural habitat in the corner. There he sat.

    My husband found him sitting there after he heard peeps of some sort and begin to look for the source of the sound. Upon discovering him, he gently scooped him up and it was like the little fellow knew he was in good hands (literally). Together, they walked to the back patio deck and my husband said, “now, go fly back to your family little one.” 

    Simple little moments like this are worth cherishing 🤎

"A Quarter"

 

    One of the benefits of going to the grocery store with my mom was that she would give me a quarter to use in the candy and prize machines. The other benefit was sometimes being able to pick out a box of sugary cereal, but that rarely happened. As I look at this image, I am reminded of how little it took to make this little girl happy. I wasn't much of a candy eater, so I would go directly for the machines with the little plastic prizes. I'll try to remember some of them...a ring with a fake plastic stone was my favorite, plastic figures, a chain, tiny erasers and once in a while a super ball was fun. I felt very lucky on the drive home that I was able to get a tiny toy on that day with just a quarter. (I think the the dime and nickel machines had the candies). 

    There were no devices to be on after family dinners. It was person to person contact instead of social media. The kids on the court I grew up on would meet up for our nightly game of hide and seek. The street lamp would go off and into our homes we went. I had barbies, color books, binder paper and pencils to keep me busy and my boy neighbors had their legos and chess game. They would also build their own high tech kites. They were huge! When we got a little older, we could ride our bikes to 7-11 for slurpees. Can anyone out there relate to this? Haha.

    Today, our world is different for children because it just is. Time marches on and things change. I'm grateful I can look back and remember those simple days of putting my shiny quarter into the machine and that exhilarating feeling of twisting that lever...click, click, click and out came my prize in the plastic egg shaped container. 

    "What did I get!"

    

The "Power" of Talking

 

    I love this representation - the simple interaction of one person telling another person about troubling thoughts and feelings they're having about something, someone or a situation. This is commonly know as "therapy" in an office type setting, but it can be done anywhere and with anyone. There is also the other end of the power of talking and that is the "power of listening." This can take some skill.

    What I see in the image above is a woman with her many thoughts mixed up, leaving her confused and unsure. She could perhaps be scared as well. Her thoughts look like a bunch of yarn that is tangled. If there are any knitters or crocheters out there, you know how frustrating this can be. You almost want to give up at tying to entangle the yarn and saying "heck with it!" and throw them in the trash. I would see that as denial or burying your head in the sand. "If I don't see the problem, it will go away." Back to the power of talking...As she begins to blurt out all she is feeling, the speaker is listening. And listening. The listener is careful not to interrupt the speaker's flow of words. Sensing the right time (a pause), the listener reflects back what she thinks she heard the speaker say; validation. As they together sort out her different tangled emotions, the strands yarn are separated and put to their proper ball of yarn. I see three different categories above in three different colors. I am assuming she is leaving the office with three different areas in her life to work on. Most importantly and hopefully, she is leaving with clarity,

    Then, there of course is the aspect of the speaker "getting it all out." There is nothing worse than keeping your feelings bottled in; man or woman. Our feelings have merit because for whatever reason; good or bad - it's how we feel! During this session, I am going to assume that there were certain things she disclosed that was best to let go of; no need for them to be taking up space in her head. This eases the entanglement; better focus.

    And if we listen well enough, sometimes the person who trusts us enough to share with us, will come to their own solutions or plan of action; literally talking herself into a calmer and more organized space.

    I'm not sure if good therapy rests in the power of listening or talking.