whidbey island

peace...

evening solice...

 

bizmark

i’ve been there twice now, to the house down the lane bordered by forest shrubbery, with the view of the ocean….

it’s quiet, only the sounds of the birds to wake me in the morning. there is little to do, and whatever it is can be decided after the morning coffee taken on the porch…

j makes me the coffee usually (i claim to not be able to use the expresso maker).  somewhere around lurks baby-girl, who, while being a girl cat, is definitely not a baby (think 72 year old crochety woman witha touch of arthritis). she is still leary of me… muffin, on the other hand (paw) is an attention slut, and is always willing to jump onto any available lap for a scratch. j is working on convincing her to not bring any more rodents (dead or otherwise) into the house, but she is a hunter at heart…

the evenings are quiet, j, me,, the cats, and occasionally, a’s special friend – that a picture of him above. although to be thruthful, he might be a she. biz was seen with a baby racoon a few months back…..

i hope to spend more weekends there. it’s a tonic to the noise and bustle of my new home. the three hour drive south is worth it to sit on that back porch, listen to the morning birds, stand out in the rain, watch the lightening, or talk to biz as he/she comes to help himself to the remains of the catfood.

oh, ya, and there is j too of course..

peace…

i can see the cherry blossoms….

i slept for a solid six hours last night! if you know me, you’d know how unbelievable that is for me. six hours of not waking up (at least that i can remember…), definitely of not waking to go to the washroom….i’m not sure why it happened, but i am so glad it did. six hours in such a deep sleep that i hadn’t even thrown off the covers….

i wonder if my coma -ike sleep was the cause of my morning mood….i showered, dressed, checked out of my hotel room, and hopped aboard a bus to take me on a ferry from victoria to vancouver. and the day was spectacular…the sun shining, a cool breeze wafting from the ocean…and i was…well…smiling…inside and out…

so here i sit now, in my home-away-from-home hotel…my room overlooking the art gallery in vancouver, thankful for the day, for the glorious morning, the great lunch with family, and the understanding that this time of transition is such a gift…

yes, more transition…the move to the new city on the horizon, the new job, the unfolding of a new relationship, the ever-present evaluating, and learning to just “be” in my life…

i’m taking it easy tonight, a saturday night in the city…choosing to not spend it with company…choosing instead to relax and snuggle in my bed… and yes, hpong for another night of  life-giving sleep….dormez bien mes amis…

ennui and cuddles…

well, it’s been a been a while….have been trying out new ventures, getting away for as many weekends as i can, visiting with family, re-evaluating some friendships, and rolling throught the highs and lows of love and sex….

i’ve also realized that i need more laughter in my life. there hasn’t been nearly enough lately…care to help with that?

it’s a bit of a down day today. just a bit of ennui i suppose…wishing it was four months from now, wishing i had someone to cuddle on the couch with here…ah well, it will come with time..i will make it happen (just not so much into loving the “patience” thing…)

so…i’ve also been exploring different aspect  of my sexuality lately…i won’t go into too much detail about it here….yet …but i will say that i’m surprising myself with a few things…

planes, trains, and automobiles….

“just take a deep breathe and relax”…..well, i can imagine that being said in so many situations more pleasurable than today’s.

i was supposed to go to victoria this morning to meet a couple of people i have been wanting to meet for some time now. but instead, my flight was cancelled. now if i’d been thinking, i could have rebooked on another air line (which was apparently flying), but didn’t even think of it at the time! wanting to at least try to enjoy a few hours of the rest of the day in vancouver then, i put my energy into figuring out how to change my victoria-rupert flight to vancouver-rupert. sounds simple enough, right? that’s what i thought. to make a linf story short, two, somewhat snitty, agents said that was impossible. i’d have to cancel the original  booking and rebook a new flight. it would, of course cost much more money….(given the lateness of the new booking). so, i decided, what the hell, i’d take the ferry over to victoria, enjoy the afternoon (sadly, minus the people i was supposed to meet) and take my original flight home…..but then, after getting to the ferry termimal, i hear that the weather is worsening, and some flights in/out of victoira are “iffY’, so i decided i’d better just stay in vancouver……

so here i am, hours to go before i leave, the day wasted…..and what is even more annoying is that i had to get up early instead of spending a leisurely morning lounging around with a new friend…..(but that’s a whole other post…).

p.s. guess what….? when i showed up at the airport, and spoke to an agent here in person explaining that i needed to cancel my original booking and rebook from here, guess what he said? “why don’t you just cancel the victoria-vancouver portion? it’ll be simple and you won’t have to pay anything extra….” go figure….!

oh, by the way..my last trip three weeks ago? …..my flight from vancouver to ‘rupert got turned around mid-air and returned to vancouver due to ice build up on the wings….in order to get home the same day i had to rebook to terrace, and get a ride to ‘rupert from there….. maybe i should stay home for a while…..

random thoughts on a stormy night….

friday night…curled up in my chair relaxing, thinking of the coming week and beyond….

this week i head to vancouver again…..a meeting, a couple of workships to give, a couple of friends to spend time with, an opportunity to maybe make a new friend or two…. and a quick trip to victoria for brunch (you can ask, but i’m not going to tell why….). i’ll just say that i’m looking forward to the coming travel….

and the beyond….? plans for the holidays…a trip to baltimore/washington dc….new years eve in vancouver… spring vacation…selling my house…new work experiences to wrap up my 11 years here…and then moving south to a new job, a rented apartment, and the my life’s next adventure….

an unconventional thanksgiving…

no turkey for me…it was a trip to vancouver instead, spending some time with some family, and an evening with nerdgirl ….

the highlites:

four new pairs of heels….(imelda wannabe?

fabulous steak dinner, great conversation and laughs, a bottle of scotch (not such a good thing the next morning…), and two tix to a canucks game next weekend!!!

sitting on the steps of the vancouver art gallery at 2 in the morning, people watching, eating mcdonald’s fries……

sunday night watching (and talking with) beautiful women taking their off clothes (well, most of their clothes anyhow….), meeting new people, sharing very scintillating stories, and laughing……

and as for thanksgiving dinner….sushi….what else? oh wait, i think there was a meal at denny’s in the wee hours of the morning….i have memories of a cheescake milkshake….. it seemed worth giving thanks for at the time…..

images…

the quintissential french fashion accessory - the scarf....me on an open air double decker about to see paris by night, then meet a sexy parisian for a drink....could it get any better....?

me in giverny, france...in claude monet

beauty in the small things..

the grandness of a french palace does not eclipse the beauty of this found treasure

more of paris…

i fell in love with the architecture, with the age of the buildings, with the “ornateness” of the city, with the history….the streets of the city centre are mostly of cobblestone. they are small and twisted, enabling one to imagine the narrow paths of the original city…

it’s easy to cross from the right bank to the left (which i did many times) over one of many small bridges. in this city of light and love, couples are often seen passionately kissing on the bridges, or on the banks of the seine…

the madeleine church

a close up…

notre dame

a rose window

fabulous architecture

another church

on the left bank

and no pigeons…

city hall

can you imagine the history…?

one of my daily sights

fountains abound

a view from the musee d’orsay

another view of the seine

another of the many bridges

an early morning stroll

the seine river

versailles gardens….

the grounds are immense….paths opening up to outdoor “rooms”….plush with ornate fountains….imagine classical music playing in the background as it was the day i was there…