Scratchy Sweater

Ever since the Super and Full Moon of a few days ago, it seems that the air has been absolutely thick with aggravation, something akin to wearing a 'scratchy sweater.' This seems to be happening not only on a global scale (unrest in many countries in the Middle East/bomb in Jerusalem), but on a personal level, as well. I literally wanted to jump out of my skin, today! Realizing that, I took a detour after work and enjoyed some sunshine (with 60-degree weather that we haven't had in 139 days) by a saltwater seashore while talking to my Rock-of-Gibraltor sister on the phone. Water always calms me down (as does she) and brings balance back in to my life. What a sweet Piscean she is.

Another famous Pisces checked out today, though: actress Elizabeth Taylor. When she was younger, she was the most stunningly beautiful and iconic brunette of her generation...with unique violet eyes. Had she been paired with Tony Curtis when he was in his prime...OMG what a visually stunning couple they would have made! Not to mention the attractive beauty of Liz & Montgomery Clift...be still my heart. I guess on this 34th anniversary of my first divorce I can no longer joke that I'm competing with Liz in the marriage category...that would honestly be disrespectful, now. I'll never forget seeing the huge playbill memory book my brother got from the movie 'Cleopatra' in which she played the lead role. While filming this very EXPENSIVE film of the time, she met and had an affair with her future 2-time husband, Richard Burton, a larger-than-life Welsh Scorpio (what a volatile combination right there!)

No doubt that the recent conjunction between the Sun and Uranus, 4 planets in Aries and the intense Scorpio Moon until this afternoon (Pacific time) played a part in my 'scratchy sweater' discomfort. This early in Springtime it's too breezy and chilly to be without it, but at the same time it was a source of extreme irritation and drove me absolutely bonkers! And that is even though I wasn't actually wearing a 'scratchy sweater'...it was rather the current mood of the last several days. Thank goodness the Moon has finally moved in to a-happy-go-lucky, the-glass-is-half-full, all-things-are-possible Sagittarian attitude! Vive la difference!

If I had a glass of champagne (as my brother had waiting for me after my intimidating divorce court experience ) I'd toast Liz to a life well-lived. Having read her biography of many years ago, I remain amazed at the multitude of medical problems she personally endured . Today, I'll settle for saluting her contribution to the big screen with a cup of coffee, remembering she hated to be called 'Liz.' May you find your place in the sun.

©2011 Debbie Ballard

Extreme Super Moon

March 19, 2011 (approximately 11:10 am PDT)...date of the 'super moon'...one this bright or this large not having been seen since March of 1993! The typical NW rain kept the clouds in place to obscure the view of this shiny orb the night before. Therefore, I climbed out of bed at 5 am today to behold a beautiful pre-super moon. There she was in all her glory: scattered clouds adoring her from afar, a golden-reddish orb encircling her circumfrence, farther away from her shimmering and permeated within the deep blue abyss, twinkling stars dotted the early morning...it was an absolute perfect feast for the eyes.

At almost the same time on this date 30 years ago (the last day of winter on a Thursday morning) the weather was not much different than today. It was still pretty brisk for March, giving you 'goosebumps' if you were without a jacket in a slight breeze...but seeing the pink ornamental plum trees and bright, golden daffodils in all their glory warms you up very fast. That day, 30 years ago, I was feeling on top of the world because I was lucky enough to be married to my second husband overlooking incredible Snoqualmie Falls. Nevermind that the wedding ring fell off the pillow and bounced to the very edge of the Falls overlook, and thankfully suddenly stopped. You can hear the gasp of my matron of honor in the audio tape when that happened. Signing the marriage license on the huge outdoor sundial, throwing 3 coins in to the fountain and a bus full of seniors clapping as we walked away as man and wife are etched in to my memory. The picture I remember most, though, is of a triumphant husband lifting his new bride in to his arms with a perfect wall of green ivy in the background. Even though the marriage started falling apart years later, I have always said that "I married in a beautiful place and I divorced in a beautiful place"...trying to extract the positive out of any given situation.

Having not traversed very much of Washington state, even though I had resided there for 2.5 years by the time of this event...I was driven by my new groom to a suprise honeymoon destination. I had absolutely no idea where we were going; I was merely instructed to pack both for cold and warm weather. In the dark of night he asked me to roll down the window when we arrived. I heard a 'rushing water' sound and instantly thought he had brought me to another waterfall. He replied, "well, it's the Pacific waterfall." He had brought me to a secluded & rustic ocean destination named Kalaloch in western Washington, perfect for honeymooners. Three days later I was almost killed by standing on one of the huge coastal logs moving amidst an undertow. However, during the honeymoon I also found a four-leaf clover for every year the marriage lasted. From the fantastic ocean vistas, smelling the enticing aroma of wood fire smoke from the fireplace, to discovering treasures from the sea deposited onto the shore; the moral of the story is: whether your life contain wax or wane, enjoy the beauty of the moment while it is happening...and as the famous poem goes:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.

Carpe diem

©2011 Debbie Ballard

Destination Three

Pair-A-Dice RV Park Creston, BC, Canada June 24-26, 2005 Site 25

very nice, well- kept campground right in creston, population of about 5,000...wireless internet only $2/day (which is better than the $5 or $9.95 a day that has been available where we've been thus far)...cable, phone, 50 amps, 24 hour laundry and FREE firewood for campfires...crossing into the canadian border from nighthawk which is in the middle of nowhere and is only open 9am to 5 pm!...you immediately see the sense of pride bc canadians have no matter their financial stature with their use of flowers to enhance their properties...friendliness abounds (spent last nite around the campfire with two couples from calgary)...the view from above osoyoos and castlegar are grandiose to say the least...oliver, bc
has 40 wineries within 20 minutes...i really like how the canadians have standard bed and breakfast, as well as, artisan road signs on the highways pointing the way...kootenay pass has really fantastic scenery (all 5,407 feet in elevation)...north of creston is a burg called boswell on kootenay lake in which there is a house of glass...we, however, did not tour this attraction made of over 1/2 million discarded embalming fluid bottles, hehehe...most memorable experience:
walking the dog i came upon two killdeer birds that did an elaborate "dance" complete with a full repetoire of screeching in front of me that i thought had something to do with their mating...after reading about them online i realized that they were protecting their nest...yep, sure enough right in the gravel underneath a picnic table in site 6 there were 4 speckled eggs camoflaged very well...when you come near the adults do a "look i've got a broken wing" scenario that diverts the attention you make towards helping the poor bird as they scurry off further away from their nest, ad infinitum...very ingenious...here are urls for more info...you learn something every day...

www.crestonvalley.com

www.birdwatching.com/stories/killdeer.html

©2005 Debbie Ballard

Destination Two

Chopaka Lodge, Palmer Lake, Near Loomis, WA June 21-23, 2005 Site 4

definitely in the Washington "outback" here...the campground has water/electric and has very quaint log cabins with fireplaces...there are walnut, pecan and hazelnut trees the owners harvest...campground is right on the lakeside...internet and cell phone don't work out here but tv satellite does!...the lake is very calm, with mountainous terrain on either side...thought I heard a woman screaming but it was only the resident peacock...never actually saw the bird but heard it often...walt and brother-in-law mike caught 6 kokanee (salmon) one day and 4 the next...(always getting that word kokanee mixed up with kootenay, which are mountains in canada)...lots of sage-colored sage bushes, hehehe...walt's sister bev cooked up some fantastic fried chicken...impressions left with me as we traveled to this area:

washington has a multitude of fruit orchards...much more than I ever conceived

there is enough vacant land in washington alone for every person in the united states to have a "lot"

the harvesting of round bales of hay instead of rectangles

silver and red tin foil streamers in the cherry trees shimmering in the wind as they catch the light of the sun to scare away birds-mesmerizing to see

huge piles of weathered sticks that hold up branches laden with fruit were a picturesque testament of what abundance can mean

the occasional yet consistent distant "booms" of the propane out in the orchards

learned about the open range area with cattle guards built in to the roads to keep the herds in the area where they belong

abandoned gold and silver mines

north of pateros the conglomerate of white military satellite dishes (what are we listening for exactly?)

wild white daisies, black eyed susans, french bearded irises, california poppies and every color rose imaginable

what kind of festival does apple country have? why apple pie, of course

Molson, WA-population 35 but with an interesting school museum and outdoor (life in other times) museum

seeing about 4-5 majestic california big horn sheep (awesome!)...the ones that have horns much bigger than what it looks like their heads can withstand

albino jackass-now that certainly was a horse of a different color

for your amusement: late one evening i got to videotape 3 mule deer munching on tender grape leaves right across from our campsite...much later in to the nite i was up watching an old movie from 1946 (the razor's edge) with a small window open...i started hearing branches cracking and breaking in the distance from out of that window in an otherwise silent nite thus far...now it was pitch dark out there...and there had been a black bear attack up the road involving a resident and his dog...so i'm thinking is it mule deer walking thru these dryed branches or a BEAR?...i turn on the amber porch light which was totally useless...but i'm too afraid to shine a flashlight out there in case the "bear" happened to be right outside my window by now...after all, i had eaten bacon that morning!...listening intently with my finger on the mute button of the remote control, i can just start to somewhat discern something... soft laughter between two male homo sapiens!...not long after, i started to witness the nice campfire they built because of their midnight hunt for seasoned wood...boy did i feel dumb!...ah, adventure

©2005 Debbie Ballard

Destination One

Leisure Time Crescent Bar Resort, near Quincy, WA June 7-20, 2005 Site 35

well what can i say? after sitting in the sun for about 15 minutes and having a banana split with breyer's cherry vanilla ice cream and hershey's chocolate syrup drizzled all over it who wouldn't feel ready to write in their blog, huh?...freedom of expression, right? if you take a look at the url you'll see where we are currently until i can figure out how to download pics...don't the basalt cliffs look like the ones in egypt before they made the dam back in the 70s?...we (the gypsy woman, my baseball-happy hubby and the RV pekingese (Rosa Victoria or Rosie for short) have been parked here for 2 weeks and last night was the first time it rained...we are right on the columbia river 7 miles away from quincy, washington usa...lot's of sun...300 days a year...some wind...crickets sing even in the daytime...lots of stars at night...very cute quail, hungarian partridges, pheasants, black billed magpies (listen to it's call on the website below) and chukars about...and every so often the air force fly boys use this area to practice manuevers...man do those jets go fast!...latino country in which i had my first barbacoa in 27 years!...barbacoa with fresh flour tortillas and chopped up onions, cilantro and salsa verde (green tomatillo sauce)...and it was absolutely delicioso! for those of you who want to know barbacoa is made from the facial muscles of a specially-cooked beef head...it is like the most tender roast beef you've ever eaten...hmmmmmmm...anyway, enough about food...this is our first trek as full-time RVers (living all year round in a motorhome) outside of being near our once former home...modern-day gypsies...with much yet to experience and discover...i'm in my element...

http://www.crescentbarresort.com/

www.percevia.com/explorer/db/birds_of_north_america_western/obj/74/target.aspx

©2005 Debbie Ballard