Nothing much to say tonight,
So I guess I’ll write a poem.
The words are staying out of sight –
This will be no lengthy tome.

What to say, what to say?
My mind has drawn a blank.
I have nothing to convey,
Yet don’t want my blog to tank!

So forgive me for now,
And please come again.
I promise to add some “wow”
On this blog I must maintain!

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”

Just finished watching what I will say was probably the most unique animated film I’ve ever seen! My review gets to be tonight's blog post. If you haven't seen it, check out the trailer to get a taste...:)

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” finally arrived from Netflix the other day, and we wound up watching it tonight. I love these types of films – there’s usually enough adult humor to keep me entertained, and “Cloudy…” was no exception. It was far from the best animated film I’ve seen, but definitely good enough to recommend. The concept is so strange; I mean raining food? A little nutty! Ha, ha. When the food first started falling, it was actually making me hungry – it was a virtual smorgasbord. However, as it went on, the food became a bit less than appetizing, to say the least. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is a quirky movie with a few laughs, a few bad jokes, and enough entertainment value for kids and adults (yeah, yeah, I know, I’m easily entertained;-). If you’ve seen it already, or have read the book, I’d love to hear your opinion! I didn’t actually know there was a book till now, so I’m curious as to know if the movie remained true.

P.S. The publish time on this actually before I watched the movie, because I found the trailer and saved it here first. Blogger seems to count the time you start your draft rather than the time it's published.

Cuteness!

Today's post is just to share these adorable little mini horses we see on the one road we take for our foothill drives. Usually, they're too far away, but once in a while they're close enough for photos through the fence (there's also a watchdog we don't want to set off). The little chocolate guy with the flaxen mane is just a doll! He comes right over to the fence to see you:) The mares are shyer. The ultra-cute mini burro couldn't be bothered to look at me, with all that greenery. The photos of the little buckskin were taken last year. Haven't seen the foal or another one they had for a while, so thinking they might have been sold. Even though I'm 5' 10 1/2", I've always loved minis! My mom, about 5' 4 1/2", has always loved draft horses - go figure;-) Anyways, I hope you enjoy these little cuties, too!

Anniversary Tribute

Earlene Vogel (January 10, 1920 - January 30, 2009)

Today marks the one year anniversary of my grandmother’s passing. If you would like to read more about her, and our journey, I have it on this (long) post: Finally, the rest of the story.

For today, though, I just want to share some photos of her – these are some of her favorites, and some of ours. Her favorite colors were pink and brown (especially pink!:-). She used to sew all of her clothes, including the square dance outfits seen here. She was a beautiful lady and a good person, and she is missed.

Charles and Earlene, we love you and miss you both!

Depression

Why do I allow myself
To enter the black hole
Why do I let my mind wander
Where it need not go?
Answers to such questions
I do not know.

I worry and I ponder,
I agonize and I fret,
I sit myself down
And put my soul in debt
For things I haven’t done,
And problems I haven’t met.

I don’t really like
These feelings of pain
My useless worry causes me
Again and again.
I must learn to conquer,
To end this vicious reign.

To look in the mirror,
To see myself true,
This is what is needed
What I must do –
Look at myself and say,
“I love you”.

To believe I am good
Inside and out,
To believe I am worthy
Without a doubt.
To know I have a purpose
Is what it’s about.

It’s a rough road,
But I believe I can make it.
Life’s meant to be happy,
It’s just how I take it.
Whatever I do,
I cannot forsake it!

Original poem written January 1, 2000, copyright Erica Lea

I recently came across some poetry that I had stashed away, yet carried with me all these years. Now that I have a blog, I actually have a place to share it:-) The moon photo above was taken tonight. It's the first full moon of the year, aka the "Wolf Moon".

"Michael Jackson’s This Is It" - A Review and My Own Little Tribute

I debated about writing this post, but in the end, decided to go with what I felt. If you are not a Michael Jackson fan, and have ambivalent feelings about him, you can just pass this one by. If you are a fan, I hope you’ll read on:-)

When I was in high school, I hated Michael Jackson! I actually hated him, Madonna, and Prince. Funny how things change… I really like some Madonna music now, and Prince has actually become my favorite music artist. With Michael Jackson, I’ve gone from hate, to love, to disbelief, and back to love and appreciation.

I hated all three artists mostly because they were popular, and I was just being a contrary teenager. Well, I still hate “Like a Virgin”, lol! The first time I heard Michael Jackson on the radio, I thought it was a woman singing – my mom actually had to convince me it was a man. Fast forward into the early 90’s, and we came across MJ on TV. It was a performance of “Will You Be There”, and both my mom and I were spellbound. After that, my opinion of MJ changed completely, and I became a bit obsessed.

The obsession lasted quite a while, though I’m not really the “crazy fan” type. I just really loved his music, his dance, and how he seemed to really be doing good things with his fame.

The letdown came with the first lawsuit. I’m not going to go there, though. I will say that in my heart, I never could believe that he had done the things he was accused of, but my support still wavered.

Over all these years, I’ve still admired his music/talent. I didn’t really follow him anymore, but, as with so much of the world, was completely shocked and saddened when he died. Funny thing is that I never could envision him as an old man. So, in a way I’m not surprised, but at the same time, I still can’t believe he’s gone.

Both my mom and I watched the memorial, and yes, we cried. When I learned about the “This Is It” movie, I knew I wanted to see it. I had to wait for it to come out on DVD, and it was at the top of our Netflix list for this week. It arrived on Tuesday, and we broke it up into two nights of viewing.

It is awesome!!! It brought back all of the old Michael Jackson magic:-) It gives the opportunity to see how driven, talented, and kind (yes, kind!) MJ was. It’s also amazing to see all of the work that was going into the tour – it would have been an incredible show! We couldn’t believe the drive and dedication that went into each song performance. We also couldn’t believe that MJ was dancing as well as men half his age.

MJ seemed energetic, in sync, and joyful. When I say he was kind, I mean that even though others in the film treated him like a superstar, he didn’t act like one. He gave just as much as he asked from all of the performers (who are amazing in their own right!). He was nice. I’m sure that the film is edited to show the best of all of it, but the kindness and positive energy really just seem to flow out of MJ. It didn’t seem artificial – we felt it.

If you haven’t already seen “Michael Jackson’s This Is It”, I highly recommend it. Even though it was almost two hours, it wasn’t long enough. There are some performances I wish had been included, like “Will You Be There”. What is included, though, is often jaw-dropping in its magnitude. It would have been the show to beat all shows, I think.

As for Michael himself, I was left with these thoughts – I wished that when MJ looked at the man in the mirror, that he had liked and accepted what he saw. I wish he hadn’t felt the need to constantly mess with how he looked, but instead, recognized the beautiful person within and honored him. We all saw it, but I think our adulation was too much for any one person to handle. In the end, I’m glad he gave us the gifts that he did, but wish, for him, that his life had been more normal. Maybe next time…

No Time Like the Present!

Okay, it’s a little late for New Year’s Resolutions, so I’m calling this a personal goal! I need something to motivate me to write on my blog, and the only thing that I can think will do it is a bit of a challenge. My goal will be to post something every day.

In order to accomplish this, I plan to have a variety of posts. It may be simply a photo, it may be one of my ultra-long posts, it may be poetry (my own), or it may even be a video I’ve found that I think is worth sharing. It may or may not be meaningful;-) I just want to get my blog going, and hope others will enjoy the ride, too!

So, here we go – today’s photo was taken just last week in between storms. It was actually a double rainbow. It was a challenge, because my 18-55mm made it a little too far off, but the 55mm-250mm made it a little too close to get the whole rainbow. I’m not complaining, though – just to see it was a joy! I’d been running in and out all that day, because I thought we might finally see one. I guess the oranges are the gold this time, lol!

Until tomorrow…

May your holiday season be beautiful and bright, and may all your holiday wishes come true!

Click on photos to see larger:-) Most of these photos were taken 12/24/09, on an unexpected but terrific trip to Kings Canyon National Park! Ornaments courtesy of Lowe’s;-)

Hope Holding

You see into our souls,
Your gaze steady but unsure…
Friend or foe, you wonder,
As you prepare to flee.

You have no reason to trust,
Few two-leggeds are ever kind.
Being shouted at, dodging flying rocks -
That’s what you’ve come to expect.

Your body remains tense,
Your stare is oh-so wary,
Yet we see it in your eyes,
The smallest glimmer of hope.

Speaking softly, we retreat,
“It’s okay, just wait, it’s okay…”
We implore you stay,
While we run back inside.

We whip out what we have,
We hope it’s enough,
Cross our fingers,
Dash back out…

And there you are!
Our hearts lift a little
To see that you stayed –
That you still had hope.

Ribs sticking out,
Spine all bumpy,
You had no choice
But to wait.

To hope this time
It would be different –
This time,
Someone would care.

You ate as fast as you could,
Afraid someone would take it,
Afraid it still might be a trick.
You glance up again…

Our eyes meet, our souls touch,
In that instant
We connect
And then you are gone…

Above are some of the faces my mom and I have fed (please click on photos for larger versions). There is a huge stray problem in this part of central California, and the shelters are all seriously overcrowded. The Shepherd and Heeler mixes above came through with the Heeler’s mom January through maybe March of this year, and then disappeared (more info here: Stray Story). They just reappeared, minus the mom. We were shocked! We are on the other side of an almost six foot wall, so have only ever been able to throw food to them (thank goodness we have a step to see over the wall). They’re very leery, though the missing mom had been trained. The pup is old enough to have come into season, and so picked up these pits. The three males have all obviously been fighting. The red male’s face was so swollen, he couldn’t eat hard food. Both pits have mange, which I know is common in the breed, and they’re very thin. Think they’re living off hormones…

The cats are just a few of the strays we’ve seen in our park here. A neighbor told us that someone here only likes kittens, and tosses them out when they get too old. The little furry one is a total sweetheart, and has had the most socialization. We used to see her running around hunting lizards, and she was soooo skinny (too many lizards are bad for cats)! She finally caught sight of us, and started getting regular food. She disappeared for a while, so we thought maybe she’d been reclaimed. However, she’s been back for a couple of weeks now…

The black and white cat is a male, and needs to be trapped and neutered – which we’ll have to figure out. Supposedly, the SPCA helps, but they’re a ways away, and we can’t live trap here. We have nowhere to put an animal recovering from surgery, either. So, for now, he’s become comfortable enough to eat here, and looks so much better than he did! This photo was taken through my bedroom window. I’ve been able to briefly touch him, but he will hiss at me. He’s not a true feral, but is not comfortable around humans anymore, and runs away quickly.

“Ears” is the third cat to overcome her fear of humans in order to eat. The male actually showed up with her one night. She appears to be heavily pregnant. She also has ear issues. Whether her ears are genetically folded, or are like that from infection, we don’t know. She has sores behind them from scratching so hard, though, so they’re not normal. I’ve been able to very lightly pet her, and she sort of welcomes it and sort of doesn’t. Meaning I don’t quite trust her not to turn around and get me – she’s got a little of that vibe;-) Treating a cat with an ear problem is hard enough when they are tame… However, I hope we can get to where we can put some ointment on them. As for pregnancy, we’ll cross that hurdle when we get to it…

If we were able to round these animals up and take them to the shelter, they would not be adopted. They would simply be euthanized because in this over-populated world, there isn’t much room for unsocial animals. I believe with time, the cats could all be handled and would crave affection. Most shelters don’t have that time, though. As mentioned, the one kitty is sweet, but she still needs to be tested for FeLV and FIV…

So is this life better than death? I don’t know. All I know is that we’re here, and they’re here, so we’ll do the best we can. My mom said this today, when we were trying to decide about feeding all four dogs (because we could get in trouble here for encouraging them to be around): “I don’t want the reason that they died to be that we didn’t feed them when we were able to do so.” And so we will…