Transit blues

Now that our offices moved downtown, I ride public transit every day to work. For 2.5+ years I drove my car, sometimes begrudgingly but a necessary evil - for I refused to do the 3 transfer public option. Now I drive 3 miles to the transit parking lot closest to my home, park, way, way, way back in the lot so my car isn't dinged to within a inch of a new paint job and I hoof it to the platform. I need the exercise, so I don't mind...and I have the ability to maneuver in and out of the car, get my bag from the trunk etc. And, I pay the ridiculous amount of approx $11.00 a month for a transit pass that my employer subsides!!! It is a bargain....and while there is the 1 hour commute time and inconvenience of juggling appointments (doctors, dentists, indian chiefs) and the very real possibility that the train is delayed - this happened almost every night the first 2 weeks I was riding in September,I ride with a lighter heart, knowing my carbon footprint is smaller. Not a grand or auspicious beginning...but I do get off right at the back door to my building.

What isn't so great about public transit - is the public part. Do people not understand that talking on their cells phones is akin to being next to them in their bathrooms....people, I do not care to listen to your jibber-jabber, or your personal escapades from the night before. One young woman was loudly proclaiming to whomever she was talking to the intimate details of the night before and tersely told the gentleman net to her - who was repeating her word for word to "stop listening"....frankly my dear the whole damn car could hear you and we were all wishing you would SHUT UP! (I had to keep from bursting out in laughter at his antics, did wink conspiratorially at him and mouthed "thank you", when she got up in a huff and moved to another seat, madly texting to someone-thankfully, in silence.)

I am utterly amazed at what people say and do on the train/bus. They speak in loud voices, they pitch fights with their sig others, they steal a ride, talk on cell phones, talk in loud voices to the person(s) they are with (attention, it's "all about us" right now), hogging the seat next to them with bags or body parts and have no qualms about hitting you with their bodies or bags... and don't get me started on the people waiting to get on the train..."it is so much easier if you let people out first" I want to say - for all of us!

I LOVE to read - using transit allows me to do a lot of reading in 40 minutes twice a day. I am easily diverted so I have taken to wearing foam ear plugs...I can effectively eliminate most of the noise that is in my immediate vicinity and ignore those loudest with effort. I have absolutely no shame in wearing earplugs and will gleefully indicate that I can NOT hear a word that is being said...it may be construed as rude, but I find the loud talking rude too. Right now I am reading Keeping the Peace (Mindfulness and Public Service) and The Scarpetta Factor...the first a "real" book, the other on my Kindle...my recent birthday present to moi-the coolest techno gadget I own.

Reading is a diversion. My already over-active mind needs to have the activity...I find peace in disappearing into the pages of whatever I am reading. I find joy too, and information. I find that my world has expanded, my vocabulary increasing and my imagination is sparked. I can not envision a day when I won't have a book in my hand, one inverted on the coffee table and another waiting for me to sit down and begin to turn pages...how is it that some people are just not "into reading"? Another mystery to resolve...not now, however, for I want to read.

Purrrrrr-fect

The label on the above photo should read "you woke me up! to take my picture?"

The other day, I started thinking about how much my cats personalities are vaguely similar to mine. It's just frightening how close some of them are....

I have two Russian Blues (well, that's what I call them - their mother was a wandering Siamese), Lola and Lucy - born June 14, 1997 in Seal Beach CA. They were flown to Portland via UA at 2 months old and I could hold them in the palm of my hands - they were that small. Litter-mates, these sisters could not be further apart in the personality pool...I sometimes question the DNA string that they share.

Lola (aka, "Don't you dare touch me") was aloof from the start. She would sit just outside my reach and if I failed to remember the rules and actually PET her she was gone! She lived under the bed for months....when I finally moved, I found the box- spring muslin in tatters - so apparently she took her mad out on the material and thankfully not my arms. She refused to be held, and if by some magic I managed to capture her, for indeed it was a capture....look out clothes and skin...rips and blood would soon be my reward for wanting to love on her. She would march across my lap to sit in Mike's, curl up and smirk at me, as if to say "can't touch me" - now that's gratitude for you-I'm her caretaker...

It's been 12 years,she is still sleek and shiny coated, regal when she sits on my desk or office window - gazing out at the bird-feeders, undisturbed by the hummingbird fluttering directly at eye level... she finds me now - to sit on my lap, or have me scratch her ear, or sleep next to me...she's mellowed with age and I find that has happened for me as well. When I first got her we were much more alike, both aloof and stand-offish, I like to think of it as being more shy than aloof...I'm positive she does too. After all, that noisy cold baggage area would have terrified me too.

Lucy (aka, Your-lap-is-my-lap) - has been the LAP CAT of the century. She has yet to find a lap she did not like...although I truly wished she would. She weighs in right around 10 pounds...loves plastic,(she chews on it) needlepoint yarn, and Laps! Whether perched on a stool, the sofa armrest, or lying on the floor, Lola will and does find your lap to walk around 3 times and curling up into a semi-circle...she's overweight so she spreads out more than curls up. Lola will also shame you into sitting down...if you happen to be standing just near enough she will mew and reach out for you, letting you know she's ready to be lap-sitting! And she glares as if to say "where have you been all day? I've been waiting!" Lucy is a napper, I like naps, Lucy wants to be cuddle, I like cuddles, Lucy is a lover ----- I like love...

Lucy is the bundle of 'wanna be loved'....that's where the similarity comes in. I'm that bundle of 'wanna-be-loved' after a long day at the office. I want someone to pay attention to me, hold me, stroke my hair (close enough) and make me feel warm and safe.

I've been cranky most of this week, my lovely Lola and Lucy don't realize that their presence in my life helps me to 'get over myself'....they have loved me from near (Lucy) and far(Lola) and my mood doesn't change their need,want or desire to be a part of my life. Thanks to the universe,that won't change for some time to come...I have a lot of love in my life. For that I am grateful.....

Deciding to dance through the door of sadness and loss

Today is Sunday, November 1...it didn't start out as previous Sundays, where I would call Joyce up and talk to her for 30 minutes about what was going on in her world.

Mike and I have had the really sad and thankless chore of going to Albuqueque, NM and close up his mom's home. Joyce Deal was an amazingly strong, independent, stubborn as a mule, life long Democrat, kind and generous soul who crossed over on Oct 22, 2009. While her passing eased her pain - she left a hole in the heart of my man Mike. I saw him cry, for the first time in 12 years, the night the boys spread her ashes on Sandia Mountain. We flew home the next day... heavy in heart but thankful that her time in pain was so very short. and we are grateful for that.

It's cold and sunny out today, and I was able to spend a few minutes outside clearing yard debris and planting garlic. My chest cold limited my energy level and so I limited my time--there is so very much to do. I am hoping that next weekend will be at least dry. Tomatoes need to be pulled out of the ground, trumpet vine needs to be cut back, leaves need to be gathered up and put to the curb. The 8x8 needs to be readied for next spring's plantings.
I am tired of this chest cold, the hacking, sneezing and lost of my voice has really lost it's allure.

I LOVE the Fall - it's my favorite time of the year, my birthday, the trees are changing as one can denote from the attached images of our street. Even in the rain the trees remain colorful and happy! Yes, I took that picture while driving....ok, ok, I know if it's not so smart to use your phone to call or text, it must be equally disturbing to the on coming drivers to see someone aiming a Kodak! (I probably won't stop)