Life in the Slow Lane

Have you ever stopped to ask for directions only to find that your confusion and rising sense of panic is worsened because you can't understand the "help" given to you? Maybe you don't even recognize the language you are hearing. Such was the case on our most recent vacation day. We were enjoying our Los Angeles vacation like any true angeleno would: tuned to AM 1070 listening for our doom as announced "On the Fives", that is the traffic report. The Saturday of a three day weekend and our doom was pretty much sealed: the traffic report named each of the freeways on our planned route south. But we've considered the Greater Los Angeles area our home long enough... surely we could outsmart the poor, speed-limit-abiding, ignorant tourists clogging our freeways. Besides, if our wits weren't quite sufficient to get us from Point A to Point B along an alternate route, we always had our Garmin GPS for back up. So off we zipped. Permit me briefly to p...

It really is impossible to know how one candidate's triumph over another during an election will affect your life. Here is the straight truth: I have a flat loaf of too-strong Pepper Rosemary Bread cooling on my stove and cabbage in my fridge because Obama was reelected. But that is not all, friends. No, that is, by far, just the beginning of it. Exactly three weeks after I made the short walk to my voting precinct, I heard rustling at my door and a purposeful knock. I opened the door to find an enormous box. My neighbor was smiling behind it. "I've signed up for weekly delivery of local, organic produce. With Obama president for another four years, I thought I would do my part," she explained. I didn't quite follow her explanation, only that she had more food than she and her husband could eat... far more than she could even fit in her tiny kitchen. We were just beginning to see the bottom of our Thanksgiving leftovers, having a neighbor share their abu...

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but we caved. Friday night at 8:23 found us racing to the Disney Store to purchase annual passes so we wouldn't need to stand in line Saturday morning. Don't ask us exactly how we justified the purchase, but let's just say this month we are eating out of the abundance of our freezer and pantry supplies rather than accomplishing our normal grocery routine in an attempt to diminish the impact to our savings. And look... standing in line to meet Winnie the Pooh: And with the stubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff: Really, believe me, it was meant to be... I mean... we just happened to be at Pooh's Thoughtful Spot for the only 15 minutes when all of our favorite residents of the Hundred Acre Woods were there to take pictures. I know this still doesn't quite justify a spur of the minute purchase of annual passes to Disneyland, but look at those eyes! Pooh Corner was clearly a hit. CutieLittleBoy requested we r...

I've been thinking about the expression "When God closes a door, He opens a window." It is meant to comfort the frustrated, to assure that just because you aren't able to go or do the thing you had anticipated, God still has a plan for you. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Perhaps it is because the language purist and individualist that I am resents having a cliche applied to my life. Or that I am an over-literalist and the analogy of having a door closed on me and then trying to find a window that I don't mind climbing in, seems a waste of time and energy. It reminds me of one super stellar housesitting gig I accomplished where I locked myself out of the house. The only way I could come up with to get back inside was through the doggy door. Of course, the dog was of the purse-carrying kind and there was no way I was going to get into the house through her route of egress, but I did spend a good deal of time imagining scenarios wherein the doggy door was my path to succe...

There are many reasons to take public transportation, not the least of which is because CutieLittleBoy asks repeatedly to get on the "bus/train". So we agree: Vacation Day 1 is all about riding the bus/train.  For those of my readers who take public transportation every day, please stop laughing. I once read an article by a man involved in urban ministry who preached the necessity of teaching children how to use public transportation. As a rite of passage he took each of his three children downtown at the age of five and assigned them the task of making it back home by themselves. (I could possibly be wrong about the age, but it was shockingly early.) As a postscript he included the comment that he secretly shadowed his children to make sure they were safe, but I always figured he included that only at the insistence of his wife who likely spent the entire day sitting at the kitchen table biting her nails and watching the second hand inch around the clock. Not...

The year 2013, we've decided, is the year of the Los Angeles vacation. Since getting married, SOS and I have alternated between domestic and international destinations for our vacations. After our two weeks in the Cook Islands in 2012, this year calls for something a little closer to home. Problem is, we think our normal vacation time (and hours) might be otherwise occupied. So where can you go for vacation experiences and keep it all contained to weekends? There's no place like home: Los Angeles, let the good times roll.

For my 30th post in 30 days, I am bringing up an old post just because I have nothing better to say. Besides, isn't it every woman's dream to stay 29? Thanks for my loyal readers for sticking with me for 30 days. Hopefully you will see some new posts again on this blog before my next vacation and/or birthday. Periodically, when I need a paperclip, I reach into my handy box of paperclips and pull out one, only to find an entire chain of clips trailing behind. 
I find this surprisingly irritating as it automatically impedes the normal rhythm of my day, as I must carefully unhook clip after clip. I couldn't understand who had the time or the necessary boredom to link the clips together and then the rudeness to leave them in the supply area where I occasionally went to grab another handful of clips.
 I am too embarrassed to confess how long it was before I realized that it was  I  who linked those clips together.
 Someth...