I am baaaaaaaaack!

Ok – so in the last ten days a lot has gone down. In the world, in our country and in our own little neck of the woods.

My godmother, my dad’s sister in Argentina passed away, leaving a hole in our family. She was suffering so much though it seems merciful to let her go peacefully in her sleep. Yesterday was her (would have been) her birthday. Her daughter Gaby, rounded up all her mom’s cousins and had them over at my Tia Betty’s home where my son and I stayed back in 2004. She videotaped each person as she went around the large dining room table and sent it to my sister and I, here in the states via smartphones.

Le Tour de France is in its 16th stage as of today. Chris Froome (Froomy to his fans) is wearing the yellow so far. I have not seen today’s stage yet. We record the live tape from three in the morning and watch it together when love of my life gets home.

ML has come to visit and gone. Much fun, tears and laughter as we watched all twenty-six episodes of Grace and Frankie, shopped, went to see Bryan Adams at Verizon Amphitheater, met up with Dana and went up and down the mountain. This was my second time watching the two seasons of Netflix’s comedy with my adorable Lily Tomlin and it was even better and more nuanced this time around.

I had not been writing much due to the visit, but my real, true, I mean it this time, start date is August first anyway. That is when I will sit to write and make myself have office hours. This is the day I become a new woman and actually discipline myself. I owe it to my writing if not to myself.

My words take on a meaning and trip of their own sometimes. They fly out of my hands and I can’t take them back once they are in black and white. Hopefully, I will get some material down and then edit, edit, edit and edit and share and edit and workshop it and edit some more.

My memoir class is just about over with a weird space between the July class and the last one in late August. I began another online class I am not very good at attending. I think I hate online video classes just as much as I hated TV aerobics and VCR yoga tapes back in the day. GIVE IT TO ME IN WRITTEN FORM for G’s sake!

Today was the first day back for my yoginis too. We limbered up today after a long hiatus.The theme was third chakra or your core power, especially your will power. Together with emotion and heart, intentions materialize when you match it up with your yellow sun energy. Last night, I downloaded incredible new age and soothing spa songs, creating two fresh yoga playlists.

At Bower’s museum, I purchased yet another bell sounding Tibetan singing bowl. I saw the Mummy exhibit too and wish I hadn’t. I had nightmares due to the graphic nature of the displays.

My garden is out of control especially with cherry Heirloom tomatoes in golden yellowish orange, red and green Christmasy ones and teardrop shaped bright red specimens. I don’t even have to buy lettuce anymore because plot one is exploding with curly leaf, almost romainey salad greens. Zucchinis are sneaky and all of a sudden they become huge baseball bats from yellow flowers. One pumpkin, so far and herbs to last me a lifetime. The neighbors in Arrowhead and down here are both benefitting from our constant harvest.

Mastermind concluded but I belong to a writing community online now and have homework due every Friday that is critiqued by fellow writers and in order to stay in the group, you have to read and give feedback to at least three people. I am making writing friends with ex Pats in Spain and Germany and others living in the US. I am impressed by most of what I read.

Meanwhile, I have re-read through Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, and this time I made the commitment and wrote out the prompts scattered throughout the chapters. I am heavily invested in Writing down Your Soul by Janet Conner, working through the powerful and profound questions on a daily basis. I am also relishing Chapter by Chapter by Heather Sellers. I am doling out pieces of The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr, which J had signed (oh how envious) to myself as I somehow fit it in with my library lent copy of Writing Memoir Together by Joan Tornow. I also started the fiction novel, A Paris Apartment which ML said was very good and a new memoir by Joan Anderson, this one called, An Unfinished Marriage. I love reading so much at once so I never have to say goodbye to any one book right away.

I think that’s about it and you are caught up. My poor dog, Cindi is looking at me waiting on dinner and I am about ten minutes late starting M’s supper. Bye for now.