What I love about this flower is that it is so soft and delicate on the outside…

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yet has such a passionate heart hidden within

I haven’t been feeling well for a couple of days.  I feel like this guy

has lodged in my throat.  Not a fun feeling.  But I promised to inflict more photos on you, so here you go.   I took a lot of pics of various monkeys or monkey-type critters.  There were tons, and they were amazing.  Their cages were made of mesh, though, which made getting good shots difficult.  The upshot is that I only have two photos to share, but I like them.  The second one was taken through a thick window, so I’m kind of proud of the way it turned out.  Enjoy, or not, as you like:

This one had an attitude, you could just tell.  I liked that about him.

Through a smudged glass darkly

I have just returned from a mini vacation to Atlantic City with Emily.  What a blast!  We walked the AC boardwalk, lost $20 apiece in the casino (we know when to quit while we’re not too far behind), went to the beach in Ocean City where we failed to make our beach umbrella stand up and therefore fried a little, and went to the Cape May Zoo, which in addition to having beautiful animals to admire, was also free.  You can’t beat that!  We enjoyed good food, good company, and glorious weather.  It rained during my drive in, and again a little on my drive out, but other than that you couldn’t beat the temperatures and sunshine we had.  A couple of guys tried to get our attention while driving down the road in AC, and a (as it turned out) not-so-single father was hitting on me in the pool while his son splashed nearby; his wife showed up the next day.  It didn’t matter either way, because I have the best husband in the world and none of these men stood a chance!  Still, it was flattering, if a little off-putting.

I took a lot of great pictures.  This one is my new desktop wallpaper:

The following are from the Butt-Shot Series taken for Emily.  We are nothing if not immature:

There are, of course, many other shots not only of these animals (from the front and side, not just the back), but of others as well.  You can also expect photos from the beach and the boardwalk, however I thought these would do nicely to start off with.  They demonstrate what a great vacation we had!

Randy and I were watching “The Newlywed Game,” testing each other as the contestants played.  I remembered our wedding night, how my new husband told me that he wanted to make sure it was a night I would remember forever.

This is a dangerous thing to say to someone like me.   Now, almost 15 years later, I decided to see if it was a night he remembered.  After all, how could he be sure I remembered it if he didn’t?

Almost the only thing he remembered is what you’d expect him to recall.  He also remembered the room number, and the fact that there was a second, smaller, bed in the room.  The other details he forgot because, he said, he was too busy admiring my beauty.

I didn’t marry a dummy.

But then I questioned him about the movie we went to see before checking into the hotel.  The correct answer?  “A Walk in the Clouds.”  His answer?

“I want to say ‘Jurassic Park.’”

Nice.  So our wedding night reminds him of being attacked by dinosaurs.

Oh well, it could have been worse.  He could have thought it was “While You Were Sleeping.”

It’s not an exciting view, but it is a lovely one.  How could I be anything but serene while looking at it?

Today, for no particular reason (as Gump might have said), I brought Randy to Bartholomew’s Cobble.  The Cobble is made up of trails through the forest, along a river, or up hills.  Though it’s only one small town away, Randy had never been there before.  So when Randy asked me if I wanted to go for a walk this afternoon, I suggested Hurlburt’s Hill (HH) in the Cobble.  Off we went.

It’s a couple of  miles to the top of HH, through forest and fields.  The last bit is fairly steep and cuts through shoulder-high grasses.  By the time I got to the wooden memorial benches on the summit, I was convinced they were going to have to put another there in my name.  It’s really not that strenuous a walk if you’re in shape, but I spent a great deal of the past year laid up with back problems, so it took a lot out of me.  My back hurts now, of course, but it was well worth it.  I was able to watch the season finale of Jillian Michaels’ “Losing It” with a sense of righteousness: I got off my butt today.  In fact, I tweeted JM to tell her what I’d done, and dedicated the climb to her.  I realize she doesn’t care, but I did it anyway.  It made me laugh.

The view from the summit is gorgeous, although it was a little hazy today.  Still, you’ll be seeing photos from the hike here.  It’s always been a favorite spot of mine.  When I was younger it was my go-to spot when I was hurting or angry.  By the time I got to the top, the angry energy had been burned off.  The lovely pastoral view awaiting me would finish off the last of the negativity, leaving me with a sense of peace.  If I was troubled, I would find the answers I sought.  I had no problems to sift through today, however.  Today’s visit was for the pleasure of it.  I’ve been writing a lot lately about reconnecting with my past.  My family and I would walk the trails or hike to the top of HH in the summer, where we’d picnic.  Today’s outing was another step in my journey to reconnect to the good things from my past.

I was rewarded with wildlife.  As in… insects.  Next time I’ll remember bug spray.  There were also lots of birds and squirrels of course.  The real treat was the baby skunk who loitered on the only path through the tall grass.  We came across her as we were walking back down the hill.  As she kept running along the path rather than retreating into the grass, it became obvious that I was going to have to find a way around her.  I am not fond of tomatoes, or tomato juice, and I certainly wasn’t interested in bathing in the stuff because a skunk sprayed me.  In the end I spoke softly and soothingly.  She would occasionally stop, back up to the grass, and watch me fearfully.  I waited for this to happen again, and then slowly walked around her with my back to her in a non-aggressive manner so she could see that I didn’t pose a threat.  She let me by.  Randy cautiously followed my lead and, though he does like tomatoes, he also wasn’t keen to bathe in them, and he was equally grateful therefore to get past the baby skunk without incident.  Shortly after we passed her by, she waddled into the grass.  So she was just stubbornly standing his ground with us.  Bravo to her I say!

It was a great afternoon, and we’ll go back to the Cobble next Tuesday when Randy has time off again, assuming the weather permits.  We’ve got more trails to explore, more wildlife to see and…

…more bugs to feed.

I don’t have much to say other than, despite my troubles, I feel really good.

Sit and rest a spell.  Where are you going, traveler?

How can anyone with rainbows in her eyes look so grumpy?

I am remembering why I started to spend less time outdoors as I got older.  First I contracted poison ivy, then mosquitoes attacked.  Doesn’t that sound like a movie?  “When Mosquitoes Attack…”

Today, while talking to my mother outside, something stung my bottom.

I love the outdoors, but it doesn’t always love me  in return.  Or perhaps it’s that it loves me too much.  I don’t know.  But I don’t seem to have a healthy relationship with it either way.  It’s as though nature thinks it has the right to do what it wants or something.  Still, I’m not giving it up.  I guess I’m co-dependent that way.

I wish I was digging my toes in this sand, looking at this sky again right now.  Where do you wish you were?

It has begun.

Awhile back Randy applied for a state-subsidized solar panel installation for our home.  What would have cost us approximately $25,000 is only going to cost us $6,000 to be paid over time.  We got it just in time- the state has recalled funds designated for this project in order to address budget deficits.  We’re one of the last ones to receive it.

We’ll get a tax break, and we’ll receive credit for any excess electricity generated.  The panels will cover most of the roof on the front of the house, but I can live with that.  Guilt-free late night television viewing and internet surfing, not to mention all of those all-nighters I have to pull during the school year, make it worth it.

The men from Litchfield Hills Solar have been busy little bees connecting to our electric panel, adding the meters, and putting brackets on the roof for the solar panels when they arrive in a couple of weeks.  I didn’t enjoy waking up to all of the noise on the other side of my bedroom wall, or to the sound of them tromping in the attic above me.  Randy is home to deal with them, however, so at least I didn’t need to get out of bed.  I hid my head under the covers and grumbled to myself until I accepted that I wasn’t going to get anymore sleep.  Then I stayed in bed a little longer, just on principle.  I’m up now, though, and basking in my fiscal and environmental responsibility.

This is technology that I’ve been interested in since I was a kid and it became available, so this is especially cool.  And the guys are literally whistling (and singing) while they work.  People who enjoy their jobs… amazing!

I haven’t had much to say for myself lately.  No new news on the health front.  My days have been spent reading, watching t.v., and playing on the internets.  I had to stop weeding because my back couldn’t take anymore. I’ve done some of the really light Wii exercises to build up strength and keep my weight down (extra weight not good for the back), but I’ve had to take a break from that as well.  All of the rain we’ve been having is probably making it worse, but I have to admit that I’m enjoying the downpour outside my window right now.  Despite the intensity of the rain, there’s something peaceful about it.  There’s no thunder or lightning, just the drumming of the water hitting the earth.  Nice.

For all of the whining and complaining I’ve done here, I should note that life really isn’t that bad.  I have a roof over my head for the rain to pound on, food and drink in my belly, the use of all of my limbs and, on that rare occasion, my brain.  I have books to read, a car that runs, lots of good friends, a wonderful family, cats who freely express their affection (whenever they think treats might be in the offing, but whatever), and the love of a good man who treats me like a queen.  I kind of love him too, which helps.

Now if only the flower beds would weed themselves, and money would fall out of the sky, life would be perfect.

There’s nothing quite like water, an egg sandwich, and radioactive isotopes to start the day off right.  Their flavor is very subtle.  Still, I can’t help but feel that there are better things with which to season one’s eggs.

I haven’t learned anything from the test yet (it takes a couple of days to get results) other than the fact that, should I choose to fly, my radioactivity may now trip security alarms at an airport.  This side effect will be gone in a couple of days, but in the meantime if you want to smuggle an extra bottle of water or something on board a plane and need a distraction, I’m your gal.

… on a cloudy day.  No matter what else happens in life, there’s beauty all around us.

I am trying, with greater or lesser degrees of success, to get some research done for school.  I don’t know what’s going to happen on Monday or the days to follow, and I have a lot due this week.

While I’m studying, Wheezy is stepping in to fill my shoes here.  She has used my camera phone to take these photos of herself endorsing Di’s new Etsy store, Inside the Red Door.  This is a new enterprise for Di, who does lovely work.  Wheezy especially liked this magnet and this necklace, and wanted you to know it.

The problem with the maxim, “Move a muscle, change a thought,” is that while I may have redirected my thoughts into something more constructive, I haven’t addressed the underlying issues that led to the negative thought to begin with.  It’s just going to come back, and maybe bring some friends along for the ride.

I was finally bored enough to play around with the video camera in my cell and the built-in webcam on my laptop.  I was further bored enough to record my cat, upload her to FB and even… gasp… create a YouTube account.  I’ve deleted the video (it being an experiment only and, really, how many sleeping cats do you need to see in a lifetime?) but now I can add video content here.

I wouldn’t hold my breath, though.

It was a very simple day, which I think is the best.  We spent time with family feasting and  trading mostly homemade presents.  Nobody had any money this year and it didn’t matter.

Though I asked him not to, Randy did buy me a present; he gave me a Garmin GPS unit for my car.  I have to travel in and around Hartford more often now and he worries about me.  I don’t have any money and didn’t have a proper present to give him in return.  I still had something for him, though.  He told me he didn’t want anything except my love for Christmas, so that’s what I gave him: I wrote him a love letter.  He assured me that it was the perfect gift.

I hope that, whether you celebrated Christmas or not, you had a beautiful and peaceful day.