Yea, I know. That was this morning.

I'm quite happy to be home.

I finally got off of jury duty after an exasperating day at the courthouse. I was juror #6 for hours until someone noticed my bored body-language and I got excused at the eleventh hour. I had stomach cramps for 2 days from the stress.

I went to Marie Antoinette yesterday after several days of playing with Barbie and Susan. I loved the movie, can't wait to buy the soundtrack, and drooled over the horses. It's getting mixed reviews, but I give it a thumbs up. Marie was 14 years old when she was sent off to France to marry one of those Louis'!

Uh oh. Dark chocolate and white chocolate have joined the family along with the Megas.

Yesterday I drove 700 miles. I had to get back up to the US of A due to a Jury Duty summons. Living almost full time in Mexico didn't get me a free pass to ignore my obligations if I still wanted to vote, since I do have a house on the Otro Lado (other side.) So I drove forever and had plenty of time to think. At the US border my line was very slow due to someone ahead of me trying to smuggle in drugs. Out came the German Shepards and many officials. Within moments the dog found a huge bag filled to the brim with something meth or coke related, I guess. That's all I saw as I finally got through. Duh. Looks like someone forgot to mention that wheelwells don't make good hiding places anymore. Silly people. I have even seen the border guards check tire pressure in case someone is smart/dumb enough to stash their stash inside the tires.
Ok. Now, this morning I was starving since my larder in my almost abandoned house is empty. So off I went to a huge breakfast. Sitting alone in a restaurant isn't so bad, but being a woman alone in a Southern California restaurant with a large plate of food that is being enjoyed is very foreign. The clichés are so true. But let me tell you what I was really thinking about. The facial surgery. As I waddle back to my car with too much flesh under my chin and a full belly, I notice complexions pure as snow on sculpted cheek bones. And, I wondered if they had come down to Mexico for the cheap medical care.

50 Things About Me That You Never Wanted To Know

1. I have flown from California to Egypt without a husband or sister to lead me
2. I have jumped a horse over a three foot fence, bareback, and with hands in the air
3. I have ridden a horse in a parade
4. I have waterskied on lakes on both sides of the country
5. I have helped hatch loggerhead turtles
6. I have jogged in Central Park
7. I have run in a handful of 10k's
8. I have eaten loquats up in the tree
9. I have ridden my bike without hands
10. I have had my appendex out after it ruptured
11. I have driven through the desert without air conditioning in 120 degrees
12. I have lived with both a horse and a pony
13. I have ridden that pony like a little mountain goat up and down hills
14. I have body surfed for hours
15. I have ridden the commuter train up to San Francisco
16. I have been to the Kentucky Derby
17. I have ridden a bus under the Suez Canal
18. I have driven across the country many times
19. I have been on a ferry
20. I have gambled in Las Vegas
21. I have parted my hair on the left side my whole life
22. I have ridden a camel out past the pyramids of Giza
23. I have french braided my daughter's hair
24. I have snorkeled in the Red Sea
25. I have eaten lunch in the space needle
26. I have held my mother's hand while she died
27. I have cried over the loss of her for over 17 years
28. I have helped a cat give birth
29. I have drank beer in the Hofbrau Haus in Munich
30. I have cross country skied
31. I have been to Yosemite
32. I have become allergic to shrimp
33. I have seen Niagra Falls
34. I have been backstage at a Grateful Dead's concert
35. I have killed a rattlesnake
36. I have eaten grapefruit right off the tree
37. I have seen Old Faithful
38. I have had a Compuserve account
39. I have seen Elizabeth Taylor in person
40. I have always considered spaghetti to be my favority all time food
41. I have been to the very spot where Caesar was killed
42. I have cried at my daughter's wedding
43. I have cooked chili the same way for 40 years
44. I have taken my niece on a trip as her graduation present
45. I have drag raced on a street with my Nissan Maxima wagon and won
46. I have smoked dope in Amsterdam
47. I have laughed so hard I cried with my friends
48. I have studied Chemistry
49. I have played cello duets with my Aunt
50. I have been to Luxembourg

If you beg me to I might come up with 50 more trival pursuits.

Taking Temperatures

I just hung up a new thermometer. It will tell me just how happy or unhappy I am.

My neighbors arrived back from a 4 month leave to their other home in California. In their absence I fed their darling little wild cat every morning. Lupita considered me a decent substitute for her adopted people and we became fast friends. If it was too hot, I made sure the food bowl was put in the shade so she could eat in relative comfort. During our several hurricanes she found a dry spot somewhere while I had to ford the streams running down our street to go check on her. Both cat and food made out fine. She let me pick her up and expected it everyday, rubbing my legs until I would bend down and scoop her onto my shoulder. I went over to her house this morning to return the gate opener, and there she was talking to me about how her other humans had returned.

So her humans came back bearing gifts of thanks for tending their little girl. And now I can tell just how deeply I can suck in air. This morning I have the Air Conditioner off and doors open to the sea. The salt air and the lapping waves are some of my very best friends. The wonderful salty/low tide smell must have been what I drew in on my very first breath on earth. There is truly something wonderful in my old primal brain that happens when I get it.

My horoscope for today:

Normally your motto is 'Instant gratification takes too long,' but the stars send a mellowing influence your way. Now you're asking yourself, what's the rush? Right on! Enjoy this placid, peaceful energy.

Me? In a hurry? Not today.

It's an epidemic. I can't even imagine what this is that is happening to our grown-ups. Maybe it's an exponential multiplier starting with the few back in oh 1920, or so, and growing out of anyone's unbelievable imaginations. Naturally it has always been such a hush-hush subject. Uncle Jack and his roving hand. The priests and their so-called celibacy.

I suppose most girls/women I know have had at a bare minimum an odd breast brush by an old man just like he didn't mean to. Or maybe a quick kiss that wasn't expected. Little girls and old men. Or little boys and old men. Guess what, old men! It's disgusting. It's not appreciated or enjoyed and causes scars in the children. The actual fondling and having intercourse with little kids is not only scaring that never heals totally but also causes revoltion at the memory for the rest of their lives.

Has it always been this bad?

Progressive Sunrise Pictures

This morning is really quite pretty and almost getting cooler. I stepped outside to see what the cats were doing and was met by 79 degrees of fresh air. 79, not a typo. That's cool for us. I'm telling you how badly I've suffered through the summer with all that air conditioning. Within the next few weeks we should be sleeping with air off and windows open. It's worth waiting for. Listening to the lapping water is so lovely to sleep to.

I love how the sunrise changes the color of the water. It looks like melted copper. If I ever figure out how to post a link to YouTube, I'll try a video so you can see the melted copper turn into waves.

Never underestimate the value of running water. Tap water. How did my ancestors survive with just pitchers and basins? I kind of think I have a hand washing OCD, rather minor, but hard to control when my hands feel sticky. I'm fine around horses where my hands are constantly dusty, grimy, sweaty. But as soon as I hit the house I'm washing. Soap and water.

So we went without running water for 48 hours while some water main to the city was whatever...replaced, moved, something that made them turn the town off. Oh how I suffered. Can you feel my pain? We were down to washing with bottled drinking water. I was extremely conscious of every time I had to get my hands clean NOW! It's a problem.

At least I don't have an issue with rechecking light switches and locked doors and coffee pots. (Thank God for the automatic turn off switch in the Krups!) There's surely other issues I'm not copping to or consciously admitting to myself.

I could sure use a piece of pizza right about now. When Barbie and Sybil were here they made such a wonderful pizza for me. I may have to go scrounge one up. Any good ideas of what I should put on it? I like almost everything. I just about inhale Hawaiian style pizza. I can't remember chewing the salty sweetness of ham and pineapple combined. It goes right over my tongue as fast as I can get it into my stomach.
Time for lunch!

Sonora is standing next to her mother, Pony, in this quick snapshot. It's truly unbelieveable to see this little 3 month old foal growing like a weed and filling out and building muscle. I completely give credit to the grass out in the desert. Also, having more than just a paddock to explore has got to make a difference in muscle and brain development, and bone growth. Pony gave birth to Sonora on June 14.
My Bella is now a year and a half old. Her mother is Pony and her father is an incredibly beautiful Andalusian. Her eye is what artists try to achieve. She was born on March 17, 2005. Notice how green the desert is behind her.
It took me all of 5 minutes to fall in love with her and 2 1/2 months to buy her. It scares me to death to think about starting a yearling. What if I make a mistake?!! She has had the ferrier trim all 4 feet, and has stood quietly while being tied, and has had a large old saddle cinched on her back. All done with gentle hands. She has accepted all of this willingly and seems to know what her job will be in a few years. Right off the bat you might consider her to be a Buckskin, but I'm thinking maybe next spring she will shed out as a grulla.

Pony, Sonora and Bella are going back out to the hundreds of acres for more free grazing. They just came in for pedicures this week. There are two more mares and foals out there, and a little band of geldings on the other side of the fence that hang together. I miss seeing Bella when she's on pasture but all the boring little lessons I might try to teach her can't possibly compare to the mental and physical growth, and learning her own balance while being out in her little herd. I have to remember that anything bad that could happen to her in the wide open spaces, could happen in the paddocks as well.

This is the last one, I promise. (Cara Scissoria greeting cards) Tickles my fancy as I'm sitting here watching/listening to the replay of the 9/11 news. My whole body is droopy and exhausted from worry about our Proud country.

That's probably too small to read. It says, "Livin' Velveeta Loca" It's from Cara Scissoria greeting cards. There are some very funny political ones and Christmas cards.

Wow what a week! My fun sister and her fun daughter came to visit just in the nick of time to enjoy the dramatic weather we had all week. They flew out yesterday and naturally today dawns bright and clear, smooth and cloudless. Oh well. My niece had a wonderful time tanning by the hot tub which was filled with cold water that turned warm all on it's own. Barbie and I did get to snorkel but the water was still just a bit too stirred up from the hurricane to see the beautiful fish.

I drove the girls back to Hermosillo alone since my husband was busy. That was also a treat to have the opportunity to shop at my own pace after I dropped the girls off. I stopped at a supermarket that has had my attention everytime we've driven past. I really like to grocery shop and shopping in a foreign grocery store has always been a treat. Now the game is to find as many familiar and favorite foods that might be hiding within the Mole' sauces or refritos. This store suprised me with the abundance of choices, even more soup choices. That is one of the main things I always remember and feel guilty about upon returning to the Otro Lado is the amazing choices we take for granted. Simply makes me dizzy as I fill my basket with old faithfuls. Anyway, this nice market was clean, well stocked, and took over an hour to browse through. I picked up a piece of ginger-root so we might consider making something Chinese this week.

I get to go out to see Bella today. The mares and babies are back home. I'll try to snap a picture of Sonora for you. She shows the positive effects of being free and happy for almost a month. Every foal should have this chance to muscle up.

ahem. I spoke too soon. The Tropical Storm formally known as Hurricane John did come for a visit and is staying around longer than I would have wanted. It's been raining for almost 12 hours and the wind picked up sometime in the middle of the night. But it's the swells and surf that really command your attention. Pounding surf that rattles in your chest and hits the sea walls with such gusto that the spray goes above the roof lines. Pretty intense. I tried to snap some pictures but it just doesn't do justice. I'll keep trying a post something if it seems worthy of your inspection.

By the way, I am a weather junky so that's why I bore the dickens out of you with weather stories. Also, being raised in the San Francisco Bay area did not prepare me for real life, weatherwise. It's much more dramatic everywhere else in the world than is SF.

Big John is on his lumbering way, slowly spinning up the Mexican coast. You can't tell it by this mornings' picture of the smooth-as-silk bay, with the fishermen fishing and snorkelers floating by. Maybe by this time tomorrow the swells will be big and the surf nasty.

Patience. It's all about learning patience.

Living in Mexico has taught this anal-Anglo that everything does not have to happen this instant. If you are willing to wait a damn minute you may have what you desire, or something close to it, or something even better.

Another valuable lesson I'm learning is that Mexicans as a generalization do not judge people on their looks, but more on their hearts. Somehow the folks I have met are so much better at looking into your soul and deciding if they want to be friendly with you or not.

There goes Pluto. As happy as we all were with our little 9 ball neighborhood, there was some discussion awhile ago that there could be more gaseous, circling snowballs added to this cute planetary system. That wasn't exactly earth-shattering to imagine there could be more, but it seems a bit devastating to decrease our escape options.

Ok let's get back to this hurricane stuff for a minute. There's Ileana out there somewhere in the western Pacific making our bay look so mad it's like a 5 year old having a tantrum. The waves are beating the shore and seawalls, trying to get their own way. Did you ever think the Sea of Cortez could be so influenced by what happens hundreds of miles west, way over the Baja Peninsula?

I think the So. Cal. surfers are ever so happy to get their boards on this free ride. Some businesses might be short-staffed while the kids hang 10.

Down here I just get seasick if I watch too long.