Visual Treats

You are aware that I'm not doing the holidays this year, but this is one of my very favorite Christmas things on YouTube:

Flashy tree, mercantile goodness

Life is strange. I mean really strange.

Last week I was recuperating from the directory deadline and jumping back into Lisa' web design, all the time worrying about where the money was coming from. Yesterday (Sunday) was an actual day off. Joy sent over the materials for her newsletter, but I didn't even look at them until today. When I did, everything fell together and I whipped through most of the website work in less than two hours.

After working on Joy's newsletter this morning, I took a break and finally dove into the upstairs closets, clearing out the last of Steve's clothes in preparation for the Rescue Mission pick-up on Wednesday (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., so I'm prisoner until they show up). Reviewing my handiwork, I've never seen so many empty hangers in my life, plastic bird skeletons swinging under empty weight. Afterwards, I found out where to go get my documents notarized (that's for tomorrow).

Full of L-Tryptophane goodness!

As I said, I'm not doing the holidays, but the "tree" pictured above was staring at me through Walgreen's window, and it was only $20, so I picked it up. I set it up in the hall. Having had the call of the muse to write something here, I went downstairs to take this picture of it. Its proportions are compelling to me, but I do have to confess that it feels like Macy's has taken over the entryway: You know, shiny glitter, a hint at the actual shape and sensibility of a real tree, but minimalized, stripped of all but the most fundamental of essences. One thing I can tell you, there's no Baby Jesus in that tree. I also think the fact that the silver discs are just the size of quarters doesn't help make it less commercial.

Dave's coffee mug collection
adorns wall and ceiling of the kitchen

When I came upstairs to download the photo, I realized there were others, photos I had taken at Thanksgiving, that were still sitting, unprocessed, on the iPhone. So I downloaded the group and came up with these images.

The first one is the turkey. The second one is David about to carve at the table. Kittie did all of the cooking, and there was a lot of stuff, but the turkey is always the centerpiece, and she did a good job. You'll notice the little pop-up thing didn't pop up. She asked how she could tell if it was cooked, and I told her about sampling the temperature in the thigh, the breast and the stuffing: 180 degrees Fahrenheit. It was perfectly done.

This way to the butterflies.

I stayed at Motel 6, since their place is really too small to accommodate guests (although there is just enough space on the living room floor to fit a sleeping bag). I prefer to have my own room, my own bath and the civility of complimentary WiFi.

I drove up Thursday, starting around 10:30 a.m. and arriving (surprisingly) before 3 p.m. There was almost no traffic (not quite as true on the ride back, though). When I arrived, everything was pretty much cooked, and we ate shortly after my arrival.

On Friday, we took a walk down at the beach, walking along the boardwalk from he entrance to the beach (the only one in California which allows vehicles) about a mile to the Butterfly Grove, so named because it's a stopover for migrating Monarch butterflies. Here's a picture of Kittie and David on the bridge to the grove. I tried to get some shots of the Monarchs, but they were high up in the tree and the late afternoon lighting was bad.

No one drives on this part of the beach or the dunes:
it's a wildlife sanctuary. See why I love it there?

We left at the hour we did so that we could watch the sunset while strolling the boardwalk back to the car. Looking at this photo doesn't do the beauty justice. Is it any wonder that I call this place home? And is it any wonder that I am seriously considering a move back to my roots there?

Saturday morning we drove into San Luis Obispo and had breakfast at Louisa's downtown. I had the eggs benedict, since I believe you can tell the quality of the breakfast service anywhere by how they do eggs benedict. They are very good at Louisa's; always have been.

When I was clearing out the closets and packing up the rest of Steve's clothes, I listened to a special Christmas mix that I made several years ago; something to play during opening presents and such.

But, as I said, I'm not doing the holidays this year.



Oh yeah; one thing I forgot to tell you: I got an e-mail this morning from a woman who had seen Lisa's website redesign and wanted to talk to me about redoing her site, as well. And then a guy left his phone number on the machine this afternoon, also requesting a redesign. If they both pan out, this means that I have no less than three projects that are ready to roll at the first of the year.