Saturday, March 26, 2011

I'm no chicken ....

Intensely flashing light followed by that erupting crash of thunder and the hard smacking of hail, sleep was over. What's the time ... what's the time?? Darkness, again, wrapped the house as the deluge pounded. Are you kidding me? The jump is today .... do we do this in the rain? Surely not. Coffee, need coffee by the pot or sleep could possibly return. Well, o.k., up, dressed wondering "can they get a plane off the ground in this; AND, oh lord, that water hitting you like tiny bullets". Breath, just breath, the phone will ring any minute with a cancellation/postponement of the event.

By 8:30 a.m., meet, greet and prep complete, we piled into the plane. Spiraling upwards through clouds or maybe it was fog, we reached altitude. Unable to recall committing to such a CRAZY idea but I'm no chicken, forget standing in the door ... there was no door just falling, falling. Fog swirled in a vortex ...... "Mrs. Drake .... Mrs. Drake wake up"! "She's coming around Doctor". Opening her eyes, the Doctor's face took shape. "Your colonoscopy went perfectly ..... we removed 20 polops .... everything is fine."

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Ebb and Flow .... Wax and Wan ... Life and

Ah, Pisces the water sign, have appreciated the ebb and flow of the tide, force of the moon and the need to be flexible. Amazed by the exactness, predictability, let alone the affect on our lives, March 2011 has proven to be emotional, both elation and sadness simultaneously.


Timing is everything; it's absolutely true! The flight booked and real estate agent scheduled during the last full week of New Orleans Mardi Gras. A son is being transferred to Louisiana and needs to find a house; so, might as well have some fun while we're there. He had explained there was a 10 year plan regarding marriage even though wasn't certain of the location in that span of time. An afternoon phone call cleared up the question. The Bachelor/Bride "party/shower" was presently being held at the Abita Brewery. O.K. that fits. Saturday, the 5th, during one of the Black Tie extravaganza in the company of thousands, vows were exchanged, papers signed and beads thrown. Would have loved being there but life intervened with a different trip.


She was 97, my mother. She had lived at home alone since 1990 when Dad died. The 90th birthday party seemed to have heralded the loosing of most of her friends. A few years later a compression fracture in her back required home assistance. She managed to carve their duties from 24/7 to afternoons. A strong willed, stubborn, willful, world class procrastinator was loved anyway. Sometimes, it felt as though Scarlett O'Hara had moved in; particularly when we heard "I'll think about that tomorrow". Wanted to inquire where's the "fiddle dee dee" .... discretion is the better part of valor and impulsive daughters. The other trait that maddened was her need not to tell anything "important" .... i.e. do not worry her[me]. Once inquired if she had raised a mushroom for a daughter. She felt the analogy was imprudent [her word]. Our frequent conversations became nothing more than weather reports and a very brief "I'm fine". However, this call was greeted differently. 300 miles later found her having been settled into Hospice. She peacefully slipped away on the 10th [my birthday] only 6 days shy of her 98th.


They wed on a new moon in the mysterious, sensitive, creative sign of Pisces on a median high tide. Well, that could lead one to consider the obvious new step in life with the creation of a united life on an incoming swell of excitement and change. Cornball, maybe ..... it's actually what we choose to see. On a waxing crescent in the sign of a patient, tranquil Taurus and a receding tide, she slipped away to meet Dad for a long awaited tee off time. Wow, this doesn't need a clairvoyant. Reality is, it doesn't matter the reading.... life, as with the moon and tide, comes and goes, is good and bad at any given moment. Love and loss bound up together eternally ... not just mine but yours as well.

Come join me in the garden, let's talk of Spring and possibly planting by the signs. How about some Moroccan Orange Spiced tea .............