Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Seven Little Ghosts Song

http://vintageholidaycrafts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/vintage-halloween-little-girl-red-cape-black-cat-pumpkin-card1.jpg


Did anyone else's Mama sing a song to them when they were little about "Seven Little Ghosts Sitting on Seven Little Posts, singing Whoooo?"  I loved it and my mom always sang it in a very quiet, spooky voice.  Of course, I had to teach it to my kids when they were little, too!


HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Image(s) courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com

Monday, October 29, 2012

Happy Blogoversary!

Yesterday was my Blogoversary, meaning I've been adding to this drivel for 4 years now -- some months more consistently than others. I'm still not sure of the point of blogging -- to journal, to record history, to share, to reach out to the world in some way, to allow introspection and unloading of words and emotions. I'm not great at it. There are many other bloggers out there that are incredibly witty and entertaining. Some have A PURPOSE. Some produce works of art and photography. Some have blogs to make money. I've noticed recipes, gardening and home decor are popular, as are oodles of pictures of people's children to share with their family and friends.

Mine is a hodgepodge of life as it comes to me. No theme. Just my crazy assortment of experiences and interests and thoughts. And maybe that's why I blog. So much of what I do is not tangible so recording it here makes it...real!

So onward toward year FIVE of me Bloomin' Words

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Grief Comes in Waves

I'm a SF Giants fan.  My daughters live in San Francisco and you can't help but catch the fever even as far down as the Monterey area where I live.  My brother, on the other hand, was a big Detroit Tigers fan.  We spent the first years of our childhoods in Ohio, then moved to California like so many other dreamers in the '60's.  My oldest sister had graduated from high school so didn't last long here -- she returned to the Buckeye State as soon as she could and lives there still.  So I do feel a little bit like a traitor for not sticking with the Tigers as my fav team (I'm sure I probably made some "cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye" promise to my brother to to never forsake them when we were kids).  There was that time that I got so mad at him over something that I tore up his Rocky Calaveto baseball card--Rocky and Al Kaline were his favorite players, of course.

Anyway, I've had the flu this weekend so haven't been up to much beyond sleeping, playing on the computer, and watching the World Series.  Suddenly it all hit.  I missed my brother.  I missed my dad.  I missed my husband.  I missed my mom.  And my mind ran the course of things I'd read:  "Okay, you can grieve and feel sad, but you can't allow yourself to 'stay' there," or "Okay, now remember all the good things and happiness they brought you -- think about that, not sad thoughts."  But I also remember that "Grief comes in waves," and sometimes it comes when you least expect it.

And sometimes, for whatever weird reason, I welcome it -- it makes me feel alive, it's proof that they were here and our love was real, it honors them to know they are not forgotten.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Wonderful Williamsburg!

Aye-yie-yie!  Imagine returning from a fabulous family vacation, falling right into charity committee work, click-click-clicking into a new school year -- everything suddenly seeming like its all in fast motion.  Sums up my life for the last two months.  So let's rewind here and go back to my last post -- yes, back into hot, sultry summer days, into that rental car driving from the blue waters of North Carolina's Outer Banks into Virginia....  Back, back, back to hot summer days, radio blaring, my daughters and I taking photos out the car windows as we take in the scenery.  And then we pull into Colonial Williamsburg!

Lunch at a town tavern was simple fare, but satisfying. It was mid-summer hot and we were thirsty!
It's interesting that there are actually a few private citizens living in some of the houses in this non-drivable historic area of town.
We watched artisians and laborers at work....
 Shopkeepers....
 and soldiers in the military encampment....
We even listened as Patrick Henry and other speakers presented their political views.
The courthouse was the site where Benjamin Waller read the Declaration of Independence on July 25, 1776, after it arrived from Philadephia.  Such history resonates through these walls and on these steps!.   
 The Governor's Palace below is a strong reminder that we were once under the rule of the British Monarchy.
  
The wig room....
 
 Lavish linens on the canopied beds....
 
 
 Swords lined the entry hall of the Governor's Palace...
 The flag during this period bore British and eventual USA symbols.

Being the history buffs that we are, this was a a much loved and memorable stop on our road trip north!