I am always gratified by moments of "substance". We have so many distractions in our day that separate us from those moments. We are misled into thinking that the distractions are important. Job deadlines and to-do lists feel necessary. Then something triggers us; a comment, a song, a moment of pure joy or sorrow, and we are reminded that the true substance of our lives can be found in the smallest moments of our day, but we have to be willing to see it, hear it and respond to it.
I remember a church song that says "take time to be holy". I feel that way today, even though my "holy" time was spent watching the link below. I am so grateful.
Stop, watch.....but mostly, listen.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10242008/watch3.html

Enough said

http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2008/10/the-big-gay-threat-to-california.html

Those autumn leaves...

Ah, the beautiful colors of Fall. The ambers, reds and yellows signaling cooler days and warm fires. OK, so if you live in Southern California those fires aren't in your fireplace, they are in the surrounding hills, jeopardizing homes and animals. Oh, and humans. Yes, the Santa Ana winds are upon us. We get those gentle breezes (65 miles per hour) that toss glowing embers under the eves of homes, or in conveniently located piles of dried leaves and branches from a drought-filled summer. The pictures are from my front door about 1 hour after the Porter Ranch fire began. The palm tree picture is of the same set of trees, just from different angles so you can see the sky. It is bright orange in one direction, and clear blue facing the other way. (Hard to tell from my photography!). And, in the hopes it won't discourage people from visiting and swimming, a picture of the crap in my pool from the winds. Thank goodness for the pool guy.

One annoying aspect of the onset of fires (besides the poor air quality, loss of homes,etc) is the non-stop TV broadcasts of guys in face masks saying the same thing over and over again. When will they realize it is dramatic enough to see these fires without them having to blather on and on about them.

On that note I will heed my own advise and quit blathering on my blog!

La Vida loca

Meet Frances. She's the one sporting the miniature Daniel Boone hat. (note: this WAS the end of the day, big surprise!) Frances invited Denise and I on a little trip with some other friends to wine country in the Santa Ynez area. As you will note, the day started with a refreshing rain. For those of you from Seattle, this may sound like a disasterous beginning, but for us it was such a welcome moment! The air was clear and the views spectacular, and that was BEFORE drinking tastings from 6 (yes, six) wineries. Quite the task to battle...six wineries, but we were up to the challenge. Thank goodness for our designated drivers, Keith (and later Val) and Javier. After tackling the wineries we settle into the Hitching Post like we owned the place....wrangled up some good grub and tossed back a couple more cupo de vino just for good measure. Seriously nice day. Ironically enough, it was a day that I didn't think I could "spare". So many more pressing engagments (ok, other people say 'chores'). But it was so good to drive out of town and spend an entire day computer and chore free.

We do live so close to some rockin' places. People should really visit more often.

The peaks and the valleys

Just to start, I read and re-read what I wrote below to check myself because I can be labelled as "quick to go dark" on a subject. I don't want to over-dramatize OR make too light of a subject, but I also want to pass on the process of healing and moving forward. Share the love. I'm just doing the best I can, so read on:

The highs and the lows. We all have them. This week has been a roller coaster of emotion. You know how you have those times where you just feel so fortunate? This was that week for me.

I feel fortunate that I could be a part of the healing that this small community is going through. Last night was our first football game and the band performed at halftime. All of this took place after Pete's memorial in the afternoon. I watched a boy become a man, as Alex stood as the last speaker at his dad's funeral. We all cried as he cried and asked the crowd (too large to fit in the church) to please forgive the engineer driving the train, because that is what his dad would want. At half-time of the game, the Kish Clan were quietly escorted into the stadium to watch Alex perform. The band was great, and in a small way we all felt the step forward.

And I feel fortunate for the (small?) successes noted above in pictures. Lisi is a National Merit Semi-Finalist! She is one of 5 students in her school who earned this honor, the only other girl being Shirley, who is also in Band, and also a drummer girl. Very cool moment, and worthy of a whole blog in itself. I would love to describe a day in the life of Lisi, because, as many of you already know, what she does in a day is impressive for both its difficulty and need for endurance.

This aint high school like we did it! We are so proud of her. In many ways we feel that this is the tip of the person that AnnaLise is. Yes, she is smart, but it goes so far beyond that.

So today the weather is perfect...sunny and crisp. We have limited obligations, so the tempo is relaxed. This day is beautiful in many, many ways.

Perspective

There are occasional moments in life where things become cloudy and clear at the same time. This happened for me on Friday afternoon, when the Metrolink train wreck occurred. It was a surreal moment to see the accident and realize that it was the exact train at the exact time that I rode on with my niece, Chelsi, and Lisi and friend Cindy in June. I remember our train stopping for the signal light to let the freight train go by with a whoosh. Whoa.
Say a little prayer of thanks for a safe journey.
Unfortunately, one of our band students, a friend of Lisi's that she talked into joining drumline last year was not so fortunate. Alex's dad, Pete (Ernest) was commuting home on that train. I felt a pit in my stomach when I saw Alex's facebook asking for people to pray for his dad who was still not home and it was midnight on Friday. Pete, the guy with a smile on his face every time we'd greet. Pete, the guy who stepped up to run the pancake breakfast last year for the Band, even though he had one the next morning for his church. I got a text from Alex the next day that was gut wrenching and simple...his dad didn't make it.
It is cloudy right now. A heavy marine layer lies over this valley we live in. It mimics the heart. But for all the fog, the clarity is sharp: Life is precious and in a split second yours can change or end. Appreciate your moments.

On my honor...

I will strive, to do my duty, etc. etc. OK, here I sit, in the Ventura County Courthouse, serving my country. Better here than Iraq, as the Judge said earlier. It really is a fascinating process, this jury system. This is a huge case, a criminal case, that I can't talk about right now. Suffice it to say, it made my stomach turn when the Judge read the charges and the guy was sitting right there. One is always reminded that we are innocent until proven guilty, but man-oh-man, someone did something very bad. Unfortunately, it is a two week minimum case, so a number of us were excused. I now sit and wait to be called for a shorter case.

It took me all of 23 minutes to make the drive this morning; a drive I thought would take about 45 min. so , of course I gave it an extra 15 so as not to be late, so I had ample time to watch the scene. Lots of people arriving with books tucked under their arms. Once through the screening for weapons (thank goodness, as you know the boredom alone can cause one to do crazy things) we settle into the holding tank. Here you hear lots of sighing. The sigh of having to listen to them talk about honor, and serving, blah blah blah. The sigh of sleepiness that comes when air conditioning is played like white noise to lull the masses. The sigh of frustration as some of us are excused, while the sigher remains. Lots of sighs.
The second hand creeps forward...I learn the "secret code" for the WiFi access and give just a little sigh of happiness. Then they call my name.
Sigh.