Liralen's Adventures Through Life

"I thought we were in Seattle.  What is that huge bright thing up in the sky?" It's been cool here, but sunny.  Ordinarily, it is sunny here through September and into October, the long Indian summer is almost always a part of Seattle weather, but it's fun to talk about, especially since all the weather reports had been predicting rain for most of the days we were to be here.  60's as a high and clouds all the way down the ten day forecast.  But it's been remarkably clear and sunny here while we've been here, and I've been enjoying it a great deal. I really enjoyed sitting on Isabel's back porch.  I read, I sketched the geraniums, and I waited for these guys to come to the hummingbird feeder.  There were hummingbirds who had staked out the feeder and it was always something of a thrill to hear the thrumming of their wings. Our time with Isabel is something I think I'll just hold private.  It was good and helped me heal from some things I...

Finally got my little camera hooked up to the connection as well as my phone. The phone is easy... but sometimes I just snap random things with the little camera that comes out so much cooler than I thought. Some of my utterly favorite things from the Paramount Studio Tour were things I hadn't expected. The first was finding that Lucille Ball had been the first true believer in the Star Trek franchise, and the photo in the front forum of the tour area. It was also the first time I realized just how much of a power Lucille Ball had been not only in her own studio, the Desilu production company, but later on also in the whole of the Paramount powerhouse of TV and movie making.   The sign shop was amazing, mostly because the guy that was in charge of it all had started with pinstriping cars, and had done such a good job on one of the cars that someone had offered him a one-time job at Disney to do that kind of detailing for the rides there.  From there he'd gone o...

So John left on the 12th, in order to meet up with me when I reached San Jose.  I left that evening. I finished packing up and walked myself and my suitcase over to Tonya's house, where she made me a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, which I stuffed into my bag. When Lisa showed up, we packed ourselves into Tonya's little car and headed to the airport. Both Tonya and Lisa had sons who had just gone off to college, and their homes were also a little more empty the way I had.  So we were all talking some about the changes in our lives, which helped me a lot. The Southwest flight to LA was uneventful, and easy with two other seasoned travelers. Once there, they took me under their wing and got an Uber to the Hollywood Hotel. It was the only one that Raymond would let us stay at, and he had good taste.  The room we got was spacious, had an enormous bathroom, and was handicap accessible.  Tired, thirsty, and a little punch drunk from getting out, we headed to the c...

I was feeling so sad yesterday and I didn't really figure out why until the evening and seeing all the memorials and pictures people were posting about remembering on all the social media things. Gradually coming to the realization that emotions don't always have to reasons, and it's just something that happens.  Feelings just come and go, and they aren't any particular kind of truth and they don't define me.  I feel sad, it's not that I am  sad, which is a newish distinction for me to make and was made all the more obvious by the language used to deride each other in first person shooters. It's interesting realizing that I learn more from the contrast. John's now off on the road, having to leave early in order to actually meet up with us in California. With the extra day he'll have plenty of time to stop and hike and enjoy himself along the way, while we're touring a studio he'll probably be hiking in Reno. *laughs*  Jet, John and I ar...

Honestly, it wasn't 'cause the bees found them under the elastic of my beekeeper's outfit.  *laughs* Though, perhaps, it helped. I'm finally kind of settling into the fact that Jet is out of the house, and that doesn't mean that I'm not his Mom, still.  My fitbit still says, "Hi Jetsmom!!" every time I look at it...  But I am finding that I'm settling into this new way of living. Just in time for me to uproot everything and go to LA with Tonya and Lisa and putz about there before heading up on a train to San Francisco, where John will meet Tonya and I and we'll all drive north together, wander about the redwoods, and then head further north to drop Tonya off at her friend's and the two of us will go visit Isabel in Redmond. Which should be good, too. One thing I'll note is that I've really recovered all my functionality from March, and my massage therapists are working on the last out-standing knots in my left shoulder.  I...

John's brother, Walt, and his wife, Cathie, stayed with us for the weekend, and we were really busy Friday night running around Longmont and finding all the breweries and ending up at the Pumphouse for dinner.  It was fun, and they invited some friends from Fort Collins, who had fun talking with us. Saturday was the farmer's market, introducing them to Farmer John's peaches and whole wheat flour, and finding some breakfast at the Izzo's bakery.  Then we went into Denver and the Taste of Denver to see our neighbor, Greg, play in Paradise Theater , a Styx tribute band as part of the nostalgia trip for the whole fair.  There were hundreds of booths there, food and vendors of all kinds.  One guy was selling bamboo bedding, and it was fun asking him more questions... Most people selling things only know enough to sell them, no more, and for someone like me, who really has to know a thing, it gets interesting talking to someone who only knows enough to sell that thing,...