Hibernation

    Over the years, Hallmark™ holidays have been milestones that have marked many seasonal episodes and memorable events of our past.Especially in this country. For better or worse, businesses have scaled up as the advent of the next holiday approaches. As a youngster, the anticipation of each of these days brings with it an overarching sense of dread.Today, it is consumerism and how we roll with it. I think that it is okay to take another tack this year, by not buying what we don't need, or guilt-tripping ourselves into buying stuff for others ( that they don't need ). I am encouraging people to watch the documentary called "BUY" on Netflix™. It has changed my outlook on the state of our economy and the planet as a whole. God only knows what the next year will bring.

    The rains have arrived and it seems that summer has ended and winter has begun. What, dare say, has happened to fall and spring? This past week, a horrendous storm visited the North Bay and I got to stay inside all week... painting, drawing, cooking, eating and generally getting a case of cabin fever.

    Today we got a respite and the sun peeked out for a bit.It's nice to get outside and breathe in the petrichoric environment. There, you have a new word to add to your vocabulary ( sorry for the presumptusness ).Multi-tasking and distracting myself does not help if you are trying to squeeze glow-in-the-dark paint that behaves like Elmer's glue onto a rock. Nuff said. Wait! Soup is boiling over on the stove. See what I mean. Something tells me that we are not alone on this one.

Below is this week's "Rock of the Week"

Comprehending Serenity

 Spending a lot of time on the computer lately. Mostly by choice, and some by circumstance. It used to be that when you said you were spending time on the computer it meant that you were involved with editing a novel or working out some mathematical formula. 

Needless to say, I'm sitting on my butt wasting precious time that could be spent doing other things, like... uh, painting rocks for instance 😆 Nevertheless, it is what I do ( like Donald Fagen sings about ). 

    Last week, I was out at the beach collecting some rocks to paint when I looked around and noticed that no one was on the beach. Slowly I looked around, and aside from the waves crashing on the shore I noticed three ducks floating in the creek that runs through a trough before you arrive on the rocky part of the beach. Sitting down for awhile, I again looked back at the creek and suddenly noticed that the three ducks were ten feet away from me and walking right towards me.

    Not making a move, they were all quacking jibberish as they came right up to me. I had no food to give them and told them so. They didn't seem to mind and one even plopped themselves down. Naturally , I struck up a conversation with them and noticed how absolutely stunning their feathers were. These mallards had shiny rainbows reflecting off their wings which they seemed quite proud of displaying. I would have taken a picture with my IPhone but the thought came to me, " Why do I need proof of this?" and let the idea go. Besides, it was nice just enjoying thier company.When the Alpha duck started quacking loudly, I turned and noticed that there were three women arriving on the beach. They looked at me curiously from across the beach as they continued walking by me and my new friends. Not wanting to draw too much attention, I simply asked, "Do you have any cookies I could give to these ducks?" They said, "No, but we have an apple". I let it go at that and figured that the ducks would probably approach them when they settled on a place to sit down. They did.

    I got up and began to walk away (on my own) to the far end of the beach which was only about 100 yards long. Eventually I noticed that one of the women began to follow me. It was a little bit disconcerting, but I didn't think too much about it. Suddenly, she got fairly close and spoke, "Chris, is that you?" Surprised, I saw that it was my friend, Mary from the Calistoga Cares food distribution where I volunteer. "Wow, what are you doing out here?" I exclaimed . " We just decided to go to the coast today, and this is where we ended up ! Apparently,  this was a rather synchronous event because this was her first time there. She was just as bamboozled as I was, but after a short chat we just chalked it up to fate. 

    All three women were about my age, not that it mattered, but it got me to thinking... am I being stalked? Don't flatter yourself, Christopher. You are just another buffalo in the herd.

Below is this week's Rock of the Week...