Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Happy Birthday Mom!




Happy Birthday Mom!

We both laugh about how alike we are, despite the fact that the last time I lived with you was when I was 12 years old.  It was strange growing up with such distance, but even stranger is the characteristics I have developed that are so alike to you.  

We are both introverts, who relish spending time puttering around, crafting, cooking, or gardening.  You study the Bible and religious texts, while I study psychology and literature.  We both love scarves.  You dance a mean two step, and I have been known to dance like nobody is watching.  Alike, but different.  2 different flavors of a simple and sweet ice cream, that is you and me.

Everyday I wake up, grateful to be alive, happy to be your daughter, and so pleased with how life has turned out.  I stand up for what I believe in, I have faith in the future, and I cherish the past, because that is what you taught me.  

I am grateful for you and love you very much!

Another thing we have in common - loving men in hats
Soundtrack:  Willie Nelson's Blue Skies (makes me think of Tutu...)

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Salt Water

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.  
~Isak Dinesen


This year has started out as an exploration of truths forgotten.  Rediscovery of old habits, like hot tea before bed, has led me to a more rested place.  Replacing the wine has not been near as difficult as I expected.   I am an extremely emotional person, however, and I am not sure if the lack of alcohol has made the emotion more palpable.  At times, I actually miss the the reset button of the hangover, that I often used to escape any fear or anger I might be experiencing.  It seems  that without alcohol, I tend to hang on to the fear or anger, and let it brew into a nasty depression (since behind any anger is deep sorrow).  I am lucky to have Nascar at my side to keep me from drinking too much of that bitter brew.  


Nascar and I spent the weekend in Fort Bragg, CA, on the Mendocino Coast.  It was stunning.  The crashing waves, the tide pools brimming with life, the knotty pines and angular coastal trees were breathtaking.  I grew up in San Diego, and though we had a less dramatic beauty about our beaches, I always found myself drawn to the rhythmic sounds and the calming motion of the waves.  This Saturday, Nascar and I spent all day near the water.  We explored tide pools, walked through gardens, and watched the sun set over the ocean, and the moon rise over the mountains.   It felt just about perfect.


I am bewildered at how much I have ignored about our earth through my youth.  Despite living 2 miles from the ocean for 5 years, I had never explored tide pools before yesterday.  Nascar and I skipped from rock to rock, climbed over boulders, and found so many totems of life, that an urban girl like me often takes for granted.  As Nascar said, "I love the tide pools.  These life forms have a whole ocean to live in, and they choose these strange, almost uninhabitable places to place their beauty."  I found my first star fish, and I thought I was Jacques Cousteau for a minute.  Nascar is like a 5 year old boy by the sea, and he led me into caves and peering into crevices to find whatever might be hidden within.  It was really quite magical.


Early morning walk on Glass Beach


Partners

Searching for fish

Path to the end of the earth

Sunset is coming

Tide Pools
Crab in a Crevice

Alive

Dancing Starfish

Bam, just call me Ms. Cousteau

Hi God!

Ecstasy

My Man

Me!





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About Me

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I am Nurse Bacon, a registered nurse who works hard and and lives a full life with her husband, Nascar Pitcrew. A little surly and a little sensitive, I am very much enamored with life and its nuances.