25 - 50 cents

went for a vespa ride around the neighborhood and noticed four kids in their driveway sitting on kid-sized chairs at a kid-sized table...with a kid-made sign announcing their sale of 25cent drinks...pulled over to investigate what they were selling...your choice of kid-squeezed fresh orange juice or bottled pomegranate lemonade...the oldest one, a 9 year-old girl, had a little electric scooter parked in the driveway and they were all very excited to see a big one like i was riding...asked them what they were going to do with the money, and all at once they [loudly] stated different things but the one that stood out was a 7 year-old boy who simply said they wanted to sell more than the other neighborhood kids down the street...i didn't have any money so i told them i would come back and they were tickled since i was their first customer of the day...i chuckled as i rode away and remembered my brother and i selling lemons from our trees in our front yard...i made my dad go back with me and we walked down the street back to the land of amateur entrepreneurship....we rounded the corner and bought two drinks from them, one orange juice and one lemonade, and you would have thought they just made their first million...what kid doesn't like shiny coins??
btw...the o.j. was pre-poured by a mom, but they were heavy pourers with the lemonade and i think they will make great bartenders someday.

on the way back, we stopped by 'the other' driveway marketplace manned by slightly older kids selling blended drinks...their approach was a little different in that your purchase was a steeper 50cents but came with your choice of four dirt-gravel putting greens and one go at it...they had a blender out on the table and had put ice in it and had squeezed lemon juice into it as well, however, my dad had to help them try to hook up their blender with an extension cord because it was not working yet...after many minutes of waiting, one kid running to his house and riding his bike back to us dragging another extension cord, and discussing many things amongst themselves while forgetting about their waiting customers, they fired it up right after my dad and i noticed that the blender was full of lemon seeds in addition to the ice and lemon juice. during all of this set-up, the four other kids had come over to this stand with their cups and their lemonade, and they were all playing on the putting 'greens'...they were also making deals to play and to have a blended drink like us other paying customers, failing to realize that they were spending the income they had earned only 5 minutes earlier...they ended up having too much ice and not enough liquid in the blender, so my dad and another kid helped them out by adding some lemonade and more ice until it was the right consistency...the blending ceased and now they were all buzzing around the table asking for samples...they poured some into a cup for us and were not even concerned with taking our 50cents, so we had to ask them who to give the money to...a hand shot up, we paid, and walked away as they were still hovering around the table waiting for their icy treat and more putt-putt golf.
btw...it was a pretty tasty blended pomegranate lemonade-lemon-ice drink on a warm day...and i didn't even find any seeds...must have been on puree. ;)

lookout

always wanted to stop for the view and 6+ years later i did with M...camped with friends below but never hit this rest stop...had a clear view of catalina island and a colorfully warm sunset complete with brilliant wildflowers...wish every day could end with such a view, reminding you of how big the world is and how either significant or insignificant so many little things can be...
















btw...hard to believe there is any question about what should be done here

march showers

never heard that march showers bring april flowers, but in this case a march baby shower precedes a may baby...

was amazed at how women came together and created a beautiful day for a beautiful friend... showering her with love by traveling to her, preparing culinary delights of all hues and textures and flavors, creatively decorating, administering and playing games, supporting her and her soon-to-be family with gifts of all types, and with lots of laughs and hugs.



btw...tried and true bakery that produced this gorgeous treat

TSA

flying back from CA, going through the security checkpoint...pushed my backpack through the conveyor to be x-rayed...TSA operator called for a bag check and i was whisked off to the side for an inspection...the inspector asked if i had scissors in my backpack and i answered "no" as if he was crazy (how the heck would scissors have gotten in there? i know i don't usually bring them on my vacations!). i was confused as to what they might have seen during the x-ray screening...he used his tongs to search the contents of my backpack and after the tongs didn't detect anything, he finally retrieved a gray plastic bag with a green box in it...at that moment, i realized i had forgotten to pack that green box***containing two ceramic knives***in my suitcase! he informed me that one can not bring knives onto airplanes and i believe he was quite serious...and since i was shocked about what i had forgotten to do and couldn't believe i was having this experience, i agreed instead of making a comment like "no s**t"...he told me i could either leave them there (heck no!) or that i could mail them from a hallmark store outside the terminal for $5 (but of course!). it was nearing my departure time so i scurried out towards the store (after asking one retailer for directions) and i made contact with a new employee who was very slow-moving and wasn't sure how to ship something...tick tock, tick tock...she finally asked a co-worker what to do, and after filling out a form with my contact information and getting ready to pay, she announced that it would be $15...come to find out, there was no negotiation and no weight-based pricing applicable in the land of captive customers and $16 starbucks, so i paid it, scurried out and back to a different security line since they told me on the way to the hallmark that i would not have to go through it again....not the case, so it was once more off with the shoes and jacket and out with the ziploc of lotions and lip glosses...and successfully through security screening and back on with the shoes and jacket and in with the ziploc of lotions and lip glosses and up the stairs and to the gate and in line with the rest of the herd just in time to sit on the plane by the window with my ipod and fall asleep all the way back home...now i just have to wait for my new knives to arrive that were a lovely gift from a best friend...i guess it will be like getting a gift all over again!

concerti

watched and listened to two other musicians and a family friend play an organ accompanied by different string, brass, wind instruments and timpani. she is an accomplished musician studying for her doctorate and she has been playing since she was a young child. it was absolutely amazing to witness and to hear. it was a very small room and a pretty large, beautiful pipe organ...they have someone standing beside them throughout the concert to turn the pages of their music and to pull the stops on the organ in order to change the sounds it can produce. her back was facing the audience and the other musicians, and she has to watch the conductor through a mirror attached to the organ on her right; so she also has to interpret the conductor's direction in reverse whereas the other musicians are facing the conductor. at one point, she even played the organ using both of her feet only, and no hands! she was moving from left to right across the bench she was sitting on and her feet were flying...she was so involved in her performance that it was not only acoustically entertaining but it was visually entertaining as well. after the concerti, she told us that she had practiced for one month to play everything! i am not sure if that is a long time or not, but i know it would have taken me 25 years to learn!

i really enjoyed the performance by another musician of a recently discovered Antonio Salieri concerto that was actually missing its second movement (as they only recovered its first and third), and our family friend played a new concerto by american composer Margaret Sandresky. Sandresky was actually in the audience and worked with this young woman...it was only the second time the concerto was performed and it was very special because Sandresky wrote it specifically for the organ in that music hall.

so much practice, so much skill, so much energy, so much love for the music they are playing...a beautiful treat on a sunday afternoon...always in awe of the multitude of talents humans possess and how we share that with each other...what are your hidden talents or what will you discover?

woof!

specialty dog show, obedience and rally trials!

every size, shape and color imaginable...they all looked like they were so excited to be there. a warm, sunny day just in time to beat the rain!

watched some of the showings for the different breeds and enjoyed seeing owners walking around with their dogs too (competing and non-competing dogs), checking out the vendors and other animals. organizations were there promoting adoptions of certain breeds and one could find anything from specialty dog treats to bling-bling collars to doggie sunglasses. definitely got my doggie fix in, including loving on a 190lb brindle mastiff.



the most entertaining and the funniest are the agility trials...one for smaller dogs, one for larger dogs...one of the courses had a teeter-totter, a bridge and a ring they have to jump through. it also had upright poles in the grass that the dogs have to weave in and out of, plus one inflated and one deflated tunnel they have to run through. some of them jump over the hurdles really high, some of them hit the bars and knock them off and some of them soar over the hurdles as if they are flying! the border collies seem to be the fastest and they seem to love it as well.









































some of them bark while they are running and jumping too...and sometimes they just want to play with their trainer or bark at the audience or run the other way or skip an obstacle...after all, they are just dogs. woof.

day trip

started in the valley with cacti and visited strawberry, pine and payson to visit family. my cousin is building his first home from the ground up and as i walked around it and noted all of the materials and work that had already been finished, i was in awe. it is such an amazing feat just to build a home, and everything else we build today from microchips to skyscrapers. i was also reminded of the use of one's hands, arms, legs, torso, feet, eyes and brain as opposed to a machine doing all or most of the work.



couldn't say i'd ever seen a sign quite like this so i had to capture it...











...and the views from my uncle's house are breathtaking.











fresh, clean(er?), crisp air...dogs that walk in the middle of the street, that don't run away from their owners and that make you go around them...people know each other wherever they go...towering conifer trees and clumps of brilliant, white snow here and there...winding, curvy, two-lane roads...a great escape from big city life and somewhat of a step back in time...

btw...for a weekend getaway or longer at my family's cabins and for some unique, locally made honey at a very humble roadside stand. the wild mountain pecan is unbelievably decadent!