Delightful, celebrating and shadows

This very vocal friend wandered up while I was photographing this delightful "planter."  I reached my hand out, but he/she stayed just out of reach.  The owner of the antique store said her husband discovered this abandoned Queen Anne sofa and she, in turn, made it into a working planter!

Just around the corner from that planter, this mural celebrating our four-legged friends is a new additional to the Greenway walking trail at Lilburn Park - spotted on my walk.  I'm thinking the kitty in the first pic looks like the one on the skateboard there at the top.

My usual Saturday walking partners were both otherwise occupied, so I listened to downloaded music from iTunes and walked alone, which I never mind.  As I've probably mentioned before, I love dragonflies and they seem to pop up when I need them, on good days and bad days.  On this day, a beautiful one stayed with me for almost the whole hour and then, at the end, drifted away toward some wildflowers.

Marie sans sa tête, alternate celebration and the Beaver Moon

- I titled this photo, "Marie without her head" - spotted at a quirky antiques / event place in Atlanta called Paris on Ponce.  Her skirt is made of brown paper.  A truly startling sight that is considered an art installation and not even in honor of Halloween.

- There were only two Trick-or-Treaters last Friday at my house - smiling teenage girls who came just as I was getting home at 6:30pm.  And that was it!  I'll take the rest of the candy to my volunteer organization's candy basket.  Niece Carla, who lives in Turkey with her husband and daughter, great-niece Mina, came up with a fun Halloween celebration for her almost five-year-old, since there is no Halloween in Turkey.  They had a Halloween sleepover with two of Mina's young friends and had a Halloween candy hunt - just like an Easter egg hunt.  A unique and fun way to get candy without Trick-or-Treating.

- Driving home last night from a meeting by the light of the Beaver Moon.  Friend Janice said that is what the November 6 full moon is referred to, but she didn't know why.  The Farmers' Almanac online tells me that the early Native Americans named it the Beaver Moon because "For both the colonists and the Algonquin tribes, this was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. This full Moon was also called the Frost Moon."  It sure lit the sky up last night.  So beautiful.

Here's what lights up my world today - it's the weekend!  Yay!  I hope your weekend is full of unexpected delight.

Cloud-like, fun shirt and always within never

- A cloud-like tree in the abandoned Shoney's (Bob's Big Boy) parking lot near my house. I used to love their strawberry pie.

- Listening to an interview on NPR with singer Bruce Cockburn, who is reportedly wearing a shirt with the slogan, "I'm only wearing black until they make something darker." :) I laugh because I get a lot of flack for wearing black so often. I like it because of its versatility with other colors and its elegance.

- Finishing the book, "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery. This was just an amazing book, and I loved that it embraced the notion of looking for beautiful things within your day. Two of the characters stop to listen to the distant sound of a someone playing the piano: "(we) let the sun warm our faces while we listened to the music drifting down from above." One of the characters concludes "maybe that's what life is about: there's a lot of despair, but also the odd moment of beauty, where time is no longer the same. It's as if those strains of music created a sort of interlude in time, something suspended, an elsewhere that had come to us, an always within never."

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan and everyone affected by the tsunami devastation. Louvregirl has this link to a blogger in Japan who gives a first-hand account.

Beautiful walk, star trek for real and Moby Duck

- The walking path at Tanyard Creek Park near my office, lined with lacy trees.

- Loving the wake-up call that the space shuttle astronauts got from William Shatner on Monday morning: "These have been the voyages of the space shuttle Discovery. Her 30-year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before…" How cool is that???

- Reading a New York Times review of a book with the best title I've heard in ages: "MOBY-DUCK - The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them" by Donovan Hohn. The book is truly about a journalist's ocean quest for 28,800 rubber ducks lost at sea off a container ship, discovering where they came from, where they drifted, and why.

Dogs at work, Dakota and a kind stranger

- I've blogged about Replacements, Ltd. before - they are a great resource for replacing china, crystal and silver pieces you might want. But I love that they have a "bring your pet to work" policy. This "Carolina Traveler" piece shows what a great place to work this truly must be.

- My mother reporting that a young lady visiting her assisted living facility is named Dakota. What do I think about that name? I reply that I think it's very cool.

- Driving a vivid green Volkswagen Beetle rental car while my car is in the shop. A woman at the gas station comes over to tell me how cute it is. She is just in time because I cannot figure out how to get the gas cap off. She figures it out* and waves a smiling goodbye as she drives away with her husband.

* Push down, then turn. Oh. :)

It's Friday! Happy weekend, my friends!

Nice digs, today you are you and the thinks

- A bird condo with flexible rental space available. :)

- "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you." Happy belated birthday, Dr. Seuss! (It was yesterday.)

- Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try. More from Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel). OK - I'll stop now. Long ago, the family read to me so much that I knew how to read when I entered first grade, so they put me on Dr. Seuss books and allowed me to read on my own. I've always loved his books.

Lured, not at all and treasures

- Finally succumbing to the lure of a Cadbury Crème Egg display and having one. It is a once-a-year Easter treat.

- Sitting for a moment with friend Bettye at my volunteer organization way past dinnertime and wishing someone would just bring dinner to us. I jokingly say, "Being single is HARD, huh?" And then we laugh because it is really OK. :)

- Picking up Szechuan shrimp on the way home, I am delighted by my fortune cookie fortune, "You discover treasures where others see nothing unusual."

Journey, grace and walking music

Dreaming of spring. My "weedy pot" during the recent snow.

- Realizing only yesterday that there is a message stitched into the edge of the inner pocket of my jacket, "Life is a journey. Stay warm. Keep dry."

- Blinking back tears while watching the Olympics medal ceremony in which skier Lindsey Vonn receives her gold medal. There are a number of athletes who have handled themselves with grace and dignity during the games and she is one of them. Another is Canadian first at-home gold medalist, Alexandre Bilodeau, who spoke so proudly of his uncomplaining handicapped brother and all he must endure that he inspired a bystander at The Today Show interview to say Bilodeau makes him proud to be Canadian.

- Following a singing man down the hall after my volunteer stint at Georgia Public Broadcasting. As he holds the elevator door for me, I tell him how much I enjoyed his hallway singing. (It was “O mio babbino caro” (O My Beloved Daddy) from Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi.”) He says a little sadly that he is not as good as he used to be. I say that we could all say that about something and thank him for the few moments of walking music.

Return, spring dessert and show tunes

- They're back! There were reports last year of the the disappearance of bees. Beekeepers visiting their hives would find them deserted (it's like the mother ship came and got them.) And realizing that, indeed, I had not seen any bees buzzing around my flowering plants for a couple of years. But yesterday, spotting some bees through the kitchen window. Where have you been?

- A lovely spring dessert of angel food cake, strawberries and whipped cream. Yum.

- Reading a report that President Obama gave Queen Elizabeth an iPod as a gift, all loaded up with show tunes. I hope she liked that.

Pesäpallo, laughing on the outside and good for him!

- Why I love Postcrossing – I usually learn something new: I received an email thank you from Satu in Finland for the postcard I sent her. On her profile she says she likes Finnish baseball and I asked on my card if it is the same as American baseball. She replied, “I have to tell you that Finnish baseball is different...but still really nice game...:)” I looked it up on Wikipedia and it is called “Pesäpallo.”

- Seen on a concrete post in the parking deck of Georgia Public Broadcasting: someone has written $949.00 on a black smudge and circled it.

- From the very formal Georgia State University Alumni magazine, “Alumni Report”: “Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, who attended the School of Music as a music management student from 1998-1999, was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on Saturday, September 20. The three-time Grammy-winning rapper and actor is the first rapper to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Since his initial breakthrough, Ludacris has maintained his status in the world of hip-hop as well as achieved a successful career in the film and television industry.”

I like it anyway, miracle and or not

- The mystery plant finally bloomed with puffy things. I think it's beautiful, but my neighbor assures me it's a weed.

- My mom and dad may switch their vote to the Democratic party. Will wonders never cease...

- A super-stretch Humvee limousine races by in the early morning darkness toward the airport, making me wonder if a celebrity could be inside.

Wish it would rain more often, happy half-hour and makes for a good smile

- Pulling up to the gym, it is closed due to a power outage probably due to the heavy rain of the day. However the power was working at Taqueria Los Hermanos next door. Friend Leisa pulled up and called out, "Want to go drink instead?" And that's what we did.

- When I waffled over my beer selection, Raul, the brother taking our order, asked, "Corona Light?" It pleases me greatly that he always remembers. When I was going to school full-time and studying the Spanish language, I used to sit in there on Saturday afternoons and eves drop on the five brothers and their staff speaking Spanish with each other.

- Raul cheerfully photographed three teenage girls with their camera until they were satisfied, asking them to say, "Sopapilla!" instead of the usual "Cheese!"

Glow in the dark, one can hope and it doesn't get any better than that :)

- Leaving for work in the dark and seeing a glow just up the way. It turns out to be huge blow-ups of Tigger and his friend SpongeBob SquarePants all lit up.

- The blow ups belong to two men who love Halloween. We don't get a lot of Trick or Treat action in our condominiums, but they prepare for it anyway.

- Mr C's sign this morning:

Meatloaf
Trivia
MNF

(Monday Night Football)

Peace, comfort and out of Os

- Driving straight toward the waxing crescent moon, the sky behind it light pink and gray blue.

- Good comfort food at the mid-week church dinner, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and english peas.

- Mr. C's metallic letter sign advertises a special of "Grilled Chicken and Patato Salad."

Just busy, Bohemian art and inner clock

Scarlet by Bob Trammell

- Laughing with my health coach Frieda, calling from Texas. When I answer the telephone she says, "There's my social butterfly!" I am rarely home when she checks in, but I never would have described myself as that.

- Winning a necklace that I bid on at the silent auction from Passion at Piedmont. And for not much money - I can't believe I got it.

- Getting a good nights sleep and waking up at the appointed time even though my alarm clock did not go off.

Beautiful place, nice man and chuckle

This is what it looked like except there were red tablecloths

- Attending a lovely event benefiting the Piedmont Park Conservancy - A Passion for Piedmont and enjoying the cool evening air, people watching, delicious food and schmoozing with my client.

- Because of the gasoline shortage in Atlanta, the television news is full of reports of outages, there are cars stranded on the side of the expressway and every conversation seems to involve where you found gasoline. The man from the dry cleaners cheerfully retrieves my clothes even though I had lost my ticket because he remembers me and shares a tip about where to find gasoline nearby.

- Reading The New York Times Dwight Garner’s take on books of lists: “This columnist enjoys books of lists as much as the next reader. But the (sales-boosting) gimmick of adding the phrase “Before You Die” to the end of these titles has him feeling a little rattled. Before he dies?”

Beanstalk, kindness, giddiness

- My mother always uses a word for the kind of plant that took up in my pot, it is a "volunteer." I decided to let it be, water it and just let it grow, but it seems to have reached its full height. I think it looks like something Jack might have climbed up.

- The elderly man I see at different times of the day walking slowly up and down the road where my office is. He has long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, wears a bucket hat, tweed jacket, shorts and sneakers. Hands in pockets, he seems to be in deep thought. A co-worker told me they refer to him as "Slow Walker" and added that the business next door allows him to live in the back of the warehouse. I'll bet he has a great story.

- My father's happiness and relief that the results of his scary test were good. He was told he had the bone marrow of a 50-year-old. He said, "Now if I just had some hair, I'd be dangerous!"

Lovely things

- On the way to work this morning, I smiled at trees trying to bud in 28 degree weather. They are probably wondering why the weather doesn't settle down. The wild(?) geese in the office complex next door were all companionably situated on the grass - most likely waiting for the lady in the red t-shirt to come feed them.

- My friend found peace in making the Chicken Tetrazzini recipe I gave her - which was passed down from Jo's much loved mother-in-law.

- On the way home I passed a home with a grand statue of an eagle in the front yard. The house next door had an iron claw footed bathtub in a flower bed with a sculpture of Sacagawea next to it!