Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Psychic Boyfriend
Hi blog! Long time no write!
I just posted this on Roger Ebert's blog, blog, and I put a bit of time into it so I just wanted to copy it here. It's not a made up story. It's the truth.
* * *
By Chris LS on October 28, 2010 9:25 PM
You don't know me and you'll probably doubt me, but I swear this to be true.
When I was 18, my first love was working a few hundred miles away and our on again/off again relationship was off again. I still lived at home, but a friend & I were camping out at a 3-day music festival. I met a guy there & invited him to come over to our campsite. It was a Saturday night. We had the radio on and we were talking and had just started kissing when I noticed very particularly, like a worm had just crawled in my ear, that the DJ said something about it being "straight up 12 o'clock midnight." I didn't think much of it at the time, and some serious kissing was as serious as things got.
When I got home after the festival, my mom told me that my ex-boyfriend had called many, many times. It wasn't long before he called again. His immediate question to me: "Where were you Saturday night at midnight?" I told him I was at the festival with my friend, but left out the part about the guy and the kissing. He was very insistent to know if I had been with someone else. I repeatedly told him no. He told me that he had been asleep and had woken up screaming at exactly midnight and absolutely knew that I was with someone else. I don't know if I ever told him the truth, which seems very unfair now.
Apparently, that wasn't his only psychic experience. He and his mom had both told me how, when he was a child, he had once woken up screaming because he knew that his older sister had been in a car accident. His mom had tried to calm him down, but it turned out he was right. Since I didn't know him then, I can't verify their story.
Anyway, the reason I wrote all this & the point I'm trying to make: I absolutely guarantee that my first boyfriend had some kind of psychic ability that wasn't due to some ability to "read" me. Like I said, he was hundreds of miles away and I probably hadn't even talked to him for a few weeks or so before what happened.
I just posted this on Roger Ebert's blog, blog, and I put a bit of time into it so I just wanted to copy it here. It's not a made up story. It's the truth.
* * *
By Chris LS on October 28, 2010 9:25 PM
You don't know me and you'll probably doubt me, but I swear this to be true.
When I was 18, my first love was working a few hundred miles away and our on again/off again relationship was off again. I still lived at home, but a friend & I were camping out at a 3-day music festival. I met a guy there & invited him to come over to our campsite. It was a Saturday night. We had the radio on and we were talking and had just started kissing when I noticed very particularly, like a worm had just crawled in my ear, that the DJ said something about it being "straight up 12 o'clock midnight." I didn't think much of it at the time, and some serious kissing was as serious as things got.
When I got home after the festival, my mom told me that my ex-boyfriend had called many, many times. It wasn't long before he called again. His immediate question to me: "Where were you Saturday night at midnight?" I told him I was at the festival with my friend, but left out the part about the guy and the kissing. He was very insistent to know if I had been with someone else. I repeatedly told him no. He told me that he had been asleep and had woken up screaming at exactly midnight and absolutely knew that I was with someone else. I don't know if I ever told him the truth, which seems very unfair now.
Apparently, that wasn't his only psychic experience. He and his mom had both told me how, when he was a child, he had once woken up screaming because he knew that his older sister had been in a car accident. His mom had tried to calm him down, but it turned out he was right. Since I didn't know him then, I can't verify their story.
Anyway, the reason I wrote all this & the point I'm trying to make: I absolutely guarantee that my first boyfriend had some kind of psychic ability that wasn't due to some ability to "read" me. Like I said, he was hundreds of miles away and I probably hadn't even talked to him for a few weeks or so before what happened.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Do spa days cause crazy dreams? or What did they put in the water?
* * *
Yesterday I took my first trip to Glen Ivy, a natural hot springs day spa.
This morning, this dream:
My boyfriend wanted me to go in & talk to his mom for awhile. I didn't really want to but I went inside to make them both happy. She was very nice. Several other family members were there. We talked a little bit. She asked how long we'd been dating & I said like about 2 months but we've known each other for a few years. We talked for awhile. I noticed that their living room floor had two levels, like they had built an addition to the front of it that was a step down from the original part, and that the couch stradled both levels. My boyfriend was talking and he was younger than me by several years and he was tan and good looking with long sun- kissed hair and a great body. He didn't have a shirt on & I wasn't really listening to whatever he was saying, I was just admiring his tan, muscular body and his hair and how he was moving & I asked myself is this what I really want? A younger, hot guy, something uncomplicated? And I answered myself yes, yes it is.
Then his mom & I were in a store. It was Christmas time and we were looking at boxes of cardboard trees & comparing prices. After that it was night and I was walking alone outside carrying a few plastic bags full of things I had just bought. I suddenly felt like running, so I started to run & it felt really good. Across the street I saw some girls & one of them I knew from high school. I yelled out hello. I wasn't sure if she heard me but I was enjoying running too much to stop. I wanted to keep running some more but I needed to put down my bags so I put them in a big trash bin in front of the store parking lot. I turned around & ran back the way I came and passed by those girls again & I thought one of them said something to me and remembered me but I wasn't sure & I just kept running anyway. Then I saw a big trash bin behind the store and some people were looking through it looking for stuff to take. I got worried about my own stuff & ran back to the trash bin up front & sure enough there was a family going through my bags and taking all my stuff. I yelled "hey that's my stuff, give it back" and they just laughed and said no. They thought it was so hilarious & they were laughing and really enjoying themselves going through my stuff and taking it. I said "I just bought that stuff, it cost me like 50 dollars" but no way were they going to give it back.
Now a crowd had gathered in the parking lot. It had turned into an event and everyone was waiting to see what was going to happen, if the family was going to give me back my $50 worth of new stuff. The four family members were dressed like clowns or gypsys. The crowd of people were having a fun time. There was a van there from Jimmy Kimmel Live & the whole thing was going to be made into a big joke on TV later. I felt pretty hopeless and sad because it had turned into this big fun party for everyone and no one was helping me.
I ran over to a school and went in the library & they said I could use their phone to call the police. I didn't think it was right to call 911 for this & I was looking everywhere for the regular police phone number. Meantime Tom Cruise was sitting at the desk by the phone & the phone rang. I answered it & it was his lawyer wanting to talk about his divorce from Nicole Kidman. I handed him the phone and was still feeling pretty hopeless about getting my stuff back. I saw out the window a SWAT team all wearing wetsuits & hats of either NYPD or NYFD and they were all jumping one by one into the ocean. I ran outside & stopped the last guy. He seemed kind of dorky & stupid & I knew he wasn't going to be much help.
Then I was inside a building, maybe a TV studio. Two women were on a couch, one of them was Jennifer Aniston. She was trying to give me beauty tips. She asked me to turn around & she pulled on the material on the butt of my pants. The material stretched out an inch or two & she said that my pants weren't tight enough. I thought my pants were just fine the way they were & I told her that I wouldn't want them to be any tighter because if they were then I would want to wear a long shirt that would cover my butt because I would otherwise feel like my butt was hanging out.
Then I was at home in my pajamas and I decided to try one more time to get my stuff back. I walked back to the trash bin in front of the store. The crowd was mostly gone but the gypsy clown family was still there. Again I asked them to give me back my stuff and again they laughed and said no. They were still feeling happy and had enjoyed all the attention. I knew it wasn't going to happen so I started walking away and said something mean like "you may have my $50 worth of stuff but at least I have a life." The clown family mom said something like that they needed a ride and I thought that they were staying in the trash bin because they had no car, no money, and nowhere else to go. I was standing on the sidewalk and I saw a huge black and white feather floating towards my head. It was enormous - more than a foot long and about four inches wide. It circled around in the air and landed right on top of my head like it was parting my hair. I felt hope and I looked around to see who had sailed that feather onto my head because I knew it was someone with magical powers or skills - someone who would be able to help me get my stuff back.
END DREAM
because I woke up when Joey said, "mommy, I don't mean to bother you, but it's already 8:55."
Yesterday I took my first trip to Glen Ivy, a natural hot springs day spa.
This morning, this dream:
My boyfriend wanted me to go in & talk to his mom for awhile. I didn't really want to but I went inside to make them both happy. She was very nice. Several other family members were there. We talked a little bit. She asked how long we'd been dating & I said like about 2 months but we've known each other for a few years. We talked for awhile. I noticed that their living room floor had two levels, like they had built an addition to the front of it that was a step down from the original part, and that the couch stradled both levels. My boyfriend was talking and he was younger than me by several years and he was tan and good looking with long sun- kissed hair and a great body. He didn't have a shirt on & I wasn't really listening to whatever he was saying, I was just admiring his tan, muscular body and his hair and how he was moving & I asked myself is this what I really want? A younger, hot guy, something uncomplicated? And I answered myself yes, yes it is.
Then his mom & I were in a store. It was Christmas time and we were looking at boxes of cardboard trees & comparing prices. After that it was night and I was walking alone outside carrying a few plastic bags full of things I had just bought. I suddenly felt like running, so I started to run & it felt really good. Across the street I saw some girls & one of them I knew from high school. I yelled out hello. I wasn't sure if she heard me but I was enjoying running too much to stop. I wanted to keep running some more but I needed to put down my bags so I put them in a big trash bin in front of the store parking lot. I turned around & ran back the way I came and passed by those girls again & I thought one of them said something to me and remembered me but I wasn't sure & I just kept running anyway. Then I saw a big trash bin behind the store and some people were looking through it looking for stuff to take. I got worried about my own stuff & ran back to the trash bin up front & sure enough there was a family going through my bags and taking all my stuff. I yelled "hey that's my stuff, give it back" and they just laughed and said no. They thought it was so hilarious & they were laughing and really enjoying themselves going through my stuff and taking it. I said "I just bought that stuff, it cost me like 50 dollars" but no way were they going to give it back.
Now a crowd had gathered in the parking lot. It had turned into an event and everyone was waiting to see what was going to happen, if the family was going to give me back my $50 worth of new stuff. The four family members were dressed like clowns or gypsys. The crowd of people were having a fun time. There was a van there from Jimmy Kimmel Live & the whole thing was going to be made into a big joke on TV later. I felt pretty hopeless and sad because it had turned into this big fun party for everyone and no one was helping me.
I ran over to a school and went in the library & they said I could use their phone to call the police. I didn't think it was right to call 911 for this & I was looking everywhere for the regular police phone number. Meantime Tom Cruise was sitting at the desk by the phone & the phone rang. I answered it & it was his lawyer wanting to talk about his divorce from Nicole Kidman. I handed him the phone and was still feeling pretty hopeless about getting my stuff back. I saw out the window a SWAT team all wearing wetsuits & hats of either NYPD or NYFD and they were all jumping one by one into the ocean. I ran outside & stopped the last guy. He seemed kind of dorky & stupid & I knew he wasn't going to be much help.
Then I was inside a building, maybe a TV studio. Two women were on a couch, one of them was Jennifer Aniston. She was trying to give me beauty tips. She asked me to turn around & she pulled on the material on the butt of my pants. The material stretched out an inch or two & she said that my pants weren't tight enough. I thought my pants were just fine the way they were & I told her that I wouldn't want them to be any tighter because if they were then I would want to wear a long shirt that would cover my butt because I would otherwise feel like my butt was hanging out.
Then I was at home in my pajamas and I decided to try one more time to get my stuff back. I walked back to the trash bin in front of the store. The crowd was mostly gone but the gypsy clown family was still there. Again I asked them to give me back my stuff and again they laughed and said no. They were still feeling happy and had enjoyed all the attention. I knew it wasn't going to happen so I started walking away and said something mean like "you may have my $50 worth of stuff but at least I have a life." The clown family mom said something like that they needed a ride and I thought that they were staying in the trash bin because they had no car, no money, and nowhere else to go. I was standing on the sidewalk and I saw a huge black and white feather floating towards my head. It was enormous - more than a foot long and about four inches wide. It circled around in the air and landed right on top of my head like it was parting my hair. I felt hope and I looked around to see who had sailed that feather onto my head because I knew it was someone with magical powers or skills - someone who would be able to help me get my stuff back.
END DREAM
because I woke up when Joey said, "mommy, I don't mean to bother you, but it's already 8:55."
Friday, April 16, 2010
Elton John & other musical heroes
It seems like Elton John has been around forever.
I've been a fan since I was a kid. Some of the first albums I ever owned were Elton John albums. When I was a pre-teen teaching myself to play guitar, one of the songs I played over and over and over and over again was "Your Song." That song is so beautiful, I would often cry while I played it and imagine that someone I loved wrote it for and was singing it to me. (Okay, I know that Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics, but Elton wrote the music and sang it, okay?) I still sing along when I hear those old songs on the radio. I've never not enjoyed Elton John's music.
And yet .... and still .... everytime I hear him play, including today about a half an hour ago, hearing him play "Tiny Dancer" on the Oprah show, I am completely blown away again everytime. Every. Time.
A few years ago, they showed his Red Piano tour on TV. That was the first time recently that I was reminded of just how talented and amazing he is. Along with his typically incredible piano playing, he rephrased the line "how wonderful life is" in "Your Song" and it just floored me the way he did it. It was so simple, such a small change, yet it was so different, and it brought new life to such an old song. It started a big bubbly flood of emotion in my chest that exploded all through me. Today on Oprah, I was again blown away by his piano playing, by the (seemingly) effortless way he made the notes sound like rain, glorious rain, or twinkling stars. He makes absolutely beautiful music.
I sometimes lament that an artist like Jim Croce could never make it today. His music is too honest, too beautiful, too sincere. Most of his songs ("Operator,""Time in a Bottle,"I Got a Name," "I'll Have to say I Love You in a Song") are without the coolness and attitude that's so popular these days. Man, I sound old. "Back in my day, music was good, I tell you, it was better!" Ha, Ha, Ha, I sound like an old man!
Anyway, I like some current music, but my heart belongs to 70's singer songwriters: Jim Croce, James Taylor ("Fire and Rain" - yes please, can I have some more!), Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Harry Chapin, John Denver, and later Rickie Lee Jones, Suzanne Vega ... the list is long, and I'm not even including awesome 70's rockers like Steve Miller!
70's Singer Songwriters. Love, love, love them. Which, by the way, I am one.
:)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Yosemite April 2010
*
YOSEMITE APRIL 2010
4-7-10 Wednesday 6:30 pm …. And We’re Off!
Out the door, in the car, and on our way for our first ever visit to Yosemite. I’m expecting to see a bit of snow and a lot of beautiful waterfalls.
As we were leaving the house, Joey walked around saying goodbye to everything, as in “goodbye bedroom, goodbye bathroom, goodbye toilet.” Absolutely true: his voice cracked & he was kind of crying as he said goodbye to the toilet. He’s a very sweet, very sentimental kid, just like his dad was when he was a kid.
In the car, we teased Joey about the goodbye toilet thing and he was able to laugh about it, not taking it too seriously. He still kept saying goodbye to things: goodbye Long Beach, goodbye park, goodbye big round hotel, etc.
(SWITCHING TO PRESENT TENSE . WARNING - I MAY SWITCH A LOT.) Frank is driving. Traffic is light. Dodger game on the radio. Downtown LA is clear in the distance with a lovely mountainous backdrop. I’m writing this on my netbook from the passenger seat. .Life is good.
4-7-10 Wednesday 8:30 pm … McDonald’s
Barely an hour into the drive, Joey claimed to be starving so we stopped at a McDonald‘s off the 5 freeway on Van Nuys Blvd. Guess what - indoor Play Place. Super. I knew that would slow us down. We spent about an hour there. Frank agreed to go with Joey down the crazy pink curvy tube slide, and then Joey wanted him to go a second time. I tried to save Frank by pointing to the sign. “Look, the sign says kids 4 - 12. Daddy can’t go.” Unfortunately for us, Joey is an excellent reader. He walked over to the sign, read it, pointed at the “parents can play too” rule and looked back at us. Poor Frank! But he’s such a great dad: he went back over, crawled back up to the top of the Play Place and went back down the pink curvy tube slide again.
4-8-10 Thursday 1:00 am … Almost There
We could have stopped in Bakersfield, but with Joey finally asleep in the back, Frank kept on driving and we talked to pass the time. Next thing we knew, we were in Fresno. We maybe should have stopped then, since we’re totally unfamiliar with the road up to Yosemite, but Frank kept on driving and we got to our hotel not long after midnight. We were getting pretty tired, and as Frank carefully drove up 30 miles of dark and gently curving mountain road, suddenly the town of Oakhurst came into shimmering view, looking like some kind of sparkling jewels against a dark background. It was really lovely and a welcome sight for sleepy eyes. So we had a very late check in, but we were a full night early. When we wake up in the morning, we’ll be only about 15 miles from the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. After a good night’s sleep we’ll all be very, very happy about that.
P.S. Being city dwellers, we were also quite struck by and very impressed by the majestic, magnificent blanket of stars overhead as we drove through the darkness on our way up Interstate 5.
4-8-10 Thursday 8 am … Oh What a Beautiful Morning
So after a scant 5 hours sleep (I’m an 8 hour girl, for sure!), I started up the standard 4 cup hotel room coffee pot and headed down to the lobby to get some milk to make Joey his morning Ovaltine.
Driving up in the dark last night we could tell we were coming up into the mountains but couldn’t see much beyond the trees along the roadside. Looking outside this morning, what can I say: it’s beyond beautiful. The sun is bright; the day is crisp. We are way up in the mountains, surrounded by trees and many beautiful shades of green. Oakhurst is a lovely little mountain town, cozily nestled in among the trees like an animal in its burrow.
(I think that checking out that online Yeats exhibit yesterday has had a lasting poetic effect on my writing. Sorry. Or not.)
After a few more cups of coffee, we’ll be off to discover the day. Yosemite, here we come!
4-8-10 Thursday 9 pm … It’s a Beautiful Day
So we got a bit of a late start, but headed out and up for Yosemite around 11am. Shortly before we even reached the National Park entrance, there was a sign that said “snow play” so of course we stopped to check it out. Wow! Super cool snow play area in a place called “Goat Meadow” though we didn’t see goats or a meadow, just snow, deep snow, like halfway up to your knee at times snow. I wasn’t expecting to see so much snow, but snow there was and lots of it, not just here but all over Yosemite. It’s funny: I was expecting a lot of waterfalls because of all the rain we’ve had this year, but it really didn’t occur to me that would also mean that there would be a ton of snow. It was strange, though, because some areas (mostly shady and higher elevations, duh) were still covered with snow, while in sunnier spots there was no snow at all. Logical, I guess, but it wasn’t always so obvious why some areas were a winter wonderland while others were perfect spring landscapes.
We had a perfect weather day, it was cool but not cold. We were a little underdressed; in fact, Frank was even wearing shorts, but none of us ever put on a jacket, though later in the day Joey was getting a little bit cold. In the snow play area we were already joking that it was “swinter” which is a made up Phineas & Ferb holiday that combines summer and winter so you can enjoy the best of both without it being too cold or too hot to enjoy it.
We took a leisurely drive up through Fish Camp (lovely tiny town) and Wawona, taking in the scenery, taking photos, and marveling at how beautiful it all is. After going through a long tunnel, we came out on the other side to a spectacular view of the Yosemite Valley and a huge waterfall. Just stunning. Frank and Joey took a short hike up above this big rock area that was kind of like a waterfall because water was running all down the face of it. I started to go too but the trail up was very similar to a creek - lots of water running down it, not much dry area for walking - so I passed.
It had been a long drive, with lots of stops to stare in amazement and take pictures, so by the time we got into the valley we were all pretty hungry. We headed over to Yosemite Lodge where we found a food court. Nothing special but it did the trick. The best part is that, completely coincidentally, one of Joey’s best friends is also in Yosemite with his mom & dad, so we all met up at the food court thanks to the magic of cell phones.
After lunch, we all walked up a nice, easy trail to the bottom of Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls, so I’ve read, is actually three waterfalls. The highest fall you can see from the road; the middle fall is hard to get to see, and the lower fall is the one we walked right up beneath. This is when Joey started getting pretty cold, because the mist from where the waterfall crashed into the rocks was blowing on us. We took some photos, and marveled, marveled, at being up so close to such a truly awesome sight.
On the walk back to the car, we saw some people bunched up together and as we approached them realized why: there were several deer just hanging out, eating grass or shoots or whatever it is they eat. They weren’t scared of people. They were so close you could touch them, literally. You could have hugged them around the neck. No one tried, that I saw, so that’s good. Apparently more people get injured from deer than from bears around here. They look so sweet, but, you know, don’t fuck with them! We later saw deer in various places around the park, which didn’t spoil the wonder, not one bit.
Joey’s friend’s parents saw a couple of bears in a meadow earlier in the day before we met up. Frank saw a bear later while I was driving us back to our hotel. I hope I see a bear. Or two or three or a lot of bears. That would be definitely cool.
Anyway, it was a long and tiring day. Driving back to the hotel, I noticed the road was much wetter than it was on the way in. It must have been due to today’s beautiful swinter weather melting all that unseasonal snow. I dropped Frank and Joey off at the hotel and was happy to find a Von’s grocery store in town. I picked up some supplies then headed back to the hotel for an early night in. More tomorrow.
4-9-10 Friday 10 pm … Just Another Beautiful Day in Yosemite
Yes, it certainly was another beautiful day. This morning, Joey insisted on having a swim in the unheated outdoor pool. Frank took him down; I stayed in the room; they were back in about 10 minutes. Joey did jump in a few times but his hair wasn’t even wet all the way.
After that, we headed up the mountain. We stopped at the Sugar Pine railroad, but apparently the steam engine was having issues, so we didn’t stay for a ride on the rail cars. We’ll probably head back there tomorrow to try our luck again.
So we drove on up and into the park. No snow play today. We drove back through the tunnel then stopped to take a short walk up to see Bridalveil Falls, the waterfall you first see when you come out of the tunnel. It was a very short, easy walk to a very awesome waterfall. You get right up at the bottom and the mist is flying everywhere. If you stood there for 10 minutes you would get very, very wet.
After that, we headed down into the Yosemite Valley to the Ahwahnee Hotel to meet up for lunch with Joey’s friend Charles and our not so new but I would definitely now say our friends, his parents, Martha and Charlie. The Ahwahnee Hotel is an enormous, beautiful place, full of gigantic stone fireplaces and huge windows looking out upon fantastic views. It’s kind of Arts and Craft meets Native American in style and décor. Very nice. If you don’t mind spending the money, it’s totally the place to stay here in Yosemite. I had checked it out online and it was listed as starting at something like $429 per night, so that was a no for us, for this trip anyway. It was lovely having lunch there, though. We talked and ate delicious food in a gigantic dining room with maybe 3 story high wood beams on the ceiling.
After lunch, we let the boys play outside for awhile. Then we all took a walk up to check out another waterfall, name unknown, that was very near the hotel. Then two of Martha & Charlie’s friends also met up with us, then we all took about a two mile, poop you out, bit of a workout hike to Mirror Lake. The lake is named for the fact that the surface is very mirror like, reflecting back a perfect mirror image of Half Dome and other surrounding mountains, rocks, trees, etc. It was really beautiful. I sat on a rock along the edge to take a good rest after our hike. Just spectacular.
I didn’t see any bears, darn it, but I did see something really cool on our hike to Mirror Lake: a deer - a big one! - ran through a clearing right by where we were walking. I joked to Frank later that we all froze when we saw it just like deer freeze in car headlights. We all froze and watched it run by us, scared of us, running for cover. It was awesome!
All of our feet were hurting, so we walked back along a paved road instead of taking the hiking trail back that we had taken to get to the lake. Back at the hotel, we said our goodbyes and headed over to Yosemite Village. Unfortunately, it was almost 8pm by this time, and everything was closed or closing. I’m sorry we didn’t get to check it out, but we all felt pretty wiped out so, oh well, we were tired anyway.
On the drive back to the hotel, we stopped several times to look at the stars. We just don’t get to see stars like this back home. There aren’t a mere few constellations here and there. Up here the sky is literally a blanket of stars, stars everywhere that come way down low in the sky. The only problem was that it was also really, really freezing cold out, so after about a minute I would jump back in the car and crank up the heat. Amazing beauty, but, brrrr….
So after a long and tiring but wonderful day, we’re now back at the hotel, ready to sleep the sleep of the dead and rest our poor aching feet….until tomorrow!
4-10-10 Saturday 8 pm …. Home Sweet Home
No rough hikes today but still plenty to see. The weather changed; swinter was gone. Today was quite chilly. We drove over and took a ride on the Sugar Pine Mountain Railroad, pulled in open cars behind an old steam engine built in 1913. It was a beautiful ride, a little over an hour, through snowy woods full of tall pines, cedar, and oak trees. A cold, beautiful, friendly, relaxing ride though the half melted winter wonderland.
So we were ready to head for home, but Frank was getting hungry and remembered seeing a BBQ sign at a restaurant in Oakhurst, so we made a lunch stop at Todd’s Cookhouse BBQ something - can’t exactly remember what the sign said. Anyway, we both agreed that it was probably the best BBQ we’ve ever had. Frank had ribs and brisket; I had a pulled pork sandwich. Oh, and Joey had fries, which he said were very good also.
So, an easy afternoon, then a long drive home. It’s good to be back, because we’re all pretty exhausted. All in all, a wonderful trip, with two days of perfect warm weather to go exploring and one chilly, relaxing afternoon to top it off.
YOSEMITE APRIL 2010
4-7-10 Wednesday 6:30 pm …. And We’re Off!
Out the door, in the car, and on our way for our first ever visit to Yosemite. I’m expecting to see a bit of snow and a lot of beautiful waterfalls.
As we were leaving the house, Joey walked around saying goodbye to everything, as in “goodbye bedroom, goodbye bathroom, goodbye toilet.” Absolutely true: his voice cracked & he was kind of crying as he said goodbye to the toilet. He’s a very sweet, very sentimental kid, just like his dad was when he was a kid.
In the car, we teased Joey about the goodbye toilet thing and he was able to laugh about it, not taking it too seriously. He still kept saying goodbye to things: goodbye Long Beach, goodbye park, goodbye big round hotel, etc.
(SWITCHING TO PRESENT TENSE . WARNING - I MAY SWITCH A LOT.) Frank is driving. Traffic is light. Dodger game on the radio. Downtown LA is clear in the distance with a lovely mountainous backdrop. I’m writing this on my netbook from the passenger seat. .Life is good.
4-7-10 Wednesday 8:30 pm … McDonald’s
Barely an hour into the drive, Joey claimed to be starving so we stopped at a McDonald‘s off the 5 freeway on Van Nuys Blvd. Guess what - indoor Play Place. Super. I knew that would slow us down. We spent about an hour there. Frank agreed to go with Joey down the crazy pink curvy tube slide, and then Joey wanted him to go a second time. I tried to save Frank by pointing to the sign. “Look, the sign says kids 4 - 12. Daddy can’t go.” Unfortunately for us, Joey is an excellent reader. He walked over to the sign, read it, pointed at the “parents can play too” rule and looked back at us. Poor Frank! But he’s such a great dad: he went back over, crawled back up to the top of the Play Place and went back down the pink curvy tube slide again.
4-8-10 Thursday 1:00 am … Almost There
We could have stopped in Bakersfield, but with Joey finally asleep in the back, Frank kept on driving and we talked to pass the time. Next thing we knew, we were in Fresno. We maybe should have stopped then, since we’re totally unfamiliar with the road up to Yosemite, but Frank kept on driving and we got to our hotel not long after midnight. We were getting pretty tired, and as Frank carefully drove up 30 miles of dark and gently curving mountain road, suddenly the town of Oakhurst came into shimmering view, looking like some kind of sparkling jewels against a dark background. It was really lovely and a welcome sight for sleepy eyes. So we had a very late check in, but we were a full night early. When we wake up in the morning, we’ll be only about 15 miles from the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. After a good night’s sleep we’ll all be very, very happy about that.
P.S. Being city dwellers, we were also quite struck by and very impressed by the majestic, magnificent blanket of stars overhead as we drove through the darkness on our way up Interstate 5.
4-8-10 Thursday 8 am … Oh What a Beautiful Morning
So after a scant 5 hours sleep (I’m an 8 hour girl, for sure!), I started up the standard 4 cup hotel room coffee pot and headed down to the lobby to get some milk to make Joey his morning Ovaltine.
Driving up in the dark last night we could tell we were coming up into the mountains but couldn’t see much beyond the trees along the roadside. Looking outside this morning, what can I say: it’s beyond beautiful. The sun is bright; the day is crisp. We are way up in the mountains, surrounded by trees and many beautiful shades of green. Oakhurst is a lovely little mountain town, cozily nestled in among the trees like an animal in its burrow.
(I think that checking out that online Yeats exhibit yesterday has had a lasting poetic effect on my writing. Sorry. Or not.)
After a few more cups of coffee, we’ll be off to discover the day. Yosemite, here we come!
4-8-10 Thursday 9 pm … It’s a Beautiful Day
So we got a bit of a late start, but headed out and up for Yosemite around 11am. Shortly before we even reached the National Park entrance, there was a sign that said “snow play” so of course we stopped to check it out. Wow! Super cool snow play area in a place called “Goat Meadow” though we didn’t see goats or a meadow, just snow, deep snow, like halfway up to your knee at times snow. I wasn’t expecting to see so much snow, but snow there was and lots of it, not just here but all over Yosemite. It’s funny: I was expecting a lot of waterfalls because of all the rain we’ve had this year, but it really didn’t occur to me that would also mean that there would be a ton of snow. It was strange, though, because some areas (mostly shady and higher elevations, duh) were still covered with snow, while in sunnier spots there was no snow at all. Logical, I guess, but it wasn’t always so obvious why some areas were a winter wonderland while others were perfect spring landscapes.
We had a perfect weather day, it was cool but not cold. We were a little underdressed; in fact, Frank was even wearing shorts, but none of us ever put on a jacket, though later in the day Joey was getting a little bit cold. In the snow play area we were already joking that it was “swinter” which is a made up Phineas & Ferb holiday that combines summer and winter so you can enjoy the best of both without it being too cold or too hot to enjoy it.
We took a leisurely drive up through Fish Camp (lovely tiny town) and Wawona, taking in the scenery, taking photos, and marveling at how beautiful it all is. After going through a long tunnel, we came out on the other side to a spectacular view of the Yosemite Valley and a huge waterfall. Just stunning. Frank and Joey took a short hike up above this big rock area that was kind of like a waterfall because water was running all down the face of it. I started to go too but the trail up was very similar to a creek - lots of water running down it, not much dry area for walking - so I passed.
It had been a long drive, with lots of stops to stare in amazement and take pictures, so by the time we got into the valley we were all pretty hungry. We headed over to Yosemite Lodge where we found a food court. Nothing special but it did the trick. The best part is that, completely coincidentally, one of Joey’s best friends is also in Yosemite with his mom & dad, so we all met up at the food court thanks to the magic of cell phones.
After lunch, we all walked up a nice, easy trail to the bottom of Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls, so I’ve read, is actually three waterfalls. The highest fall you can see from the road; the middle fall is hard to get to see, and the lower fall is the one we walked right up beneath. This is when Joey started getting pretty cold, because the mist from where the waterfall crashed into the rocks was blowing on us. We took some photos, and marveled, marveled, at being up so close to such a truly awesome sight.
On the walk back to the car, we saw some people bunched up together and as we approached them realized why: there were several deer just hanging out, eating grass or shoots or whatever it is they eat. They weren’t scared of people. They were so close you could touch them, literally. You could have hugged them around the neck. No one tried, that I saw, so that’s good. Apparently more people get injured from deer than from bears around here. They look so sweet, but, you know, don’t fuck with them! We later saw deer in various places around the park, which didn’t spoil the wonder, not one bit.
Joey’s friend’s parents saw a couple of bears in a meadow earlier in the day before we met up. Frank saw a bear later while I was driving us back to our hotel. I hope I see a bear. Or two or three or a lot of bears. That would be definitely cool.
Anyway, it was a long and tiring day. Driving back to the hotel, I noticed the road was much wetter than it was on the way in. It must have been due to today’s beautiful swinter weather melting all that unseasonal snow. I dropped Frank and Joey off at the hotel and was happy to find a Von’s grocery store in town. I picked up some supplies then headed back to the hotel for an early night in. More tomorrow.
4-9-10 Friday 10 pm … Just Another Beautiful Day in Yosemite
Yes, it certainly was another beautiful day. This morning, Joey insisted on having a swim in the unheated outdoor pool. Frank took him down; I stayed in the room; they were back in about 10 minutes. Joey did jump in a few times but his hair wasn’t even wet all the way.
After that, we headed up the mountain. We stopped at the Sugar Pine railroad, but apparently the steam engine was having issues, so we didn’t stay for a ride on the rail cars. We’ll probably head back there tomorrow to try our luck again.
So we drove on up and into the park. No snow play today. We drove back through the tunnel then stopped to take a short walk up to see Bridalveil Falls, the waterfall you first see when you come out of the tunnel. It was a very short, easy walk to a very awesome waterfall. You get right up at the bottom and the mist is flying everywhere. If you stood there for 10 minutes you would get very, very wet.
After that, we headed down into the Yosemite Valley to the Ahwahnee Hotel to meet up for lunch with Joey’s friend Charles and our not so new but I would definitely now say our friends, his parents, Martha and Charlie. The Ahwahnee Hotel is an enormous, beautiful place, full of gigantic stone fireplaces and huge windows looking out upon fantastic views. It’s kind of Arts and Craft meets Native American in style and décor. Very nice. If you don’t mind spending the money, it’s totally the place to stay here in Yosemite. I had checked it out online and it was listed as starting at something like $429 per night, so that was a no for us, for this trip anyway. It was lovely having lunch there, though. We talked and ate delicious food in a gigantic dining room with maybe 3 story high wood beams on the ceiling.
After lunch, we let the boys play outside for awhile. Then we all took a walk up to check out another waterfall, name unknown, that was very near the hotel. Then two of Martha & Charlie’s friends also met up with us, then we all took about a two mile, poop you out, bit of a workout hike to Mirror Lake. The lake is named for the fact that the surface is very mirror like, reflecting back a perfect mirror image of Half Dome and other surrounding mountains, rocks, trees, etc. It was really beautiful. I sat on a rock along the edge to take a good rest after our hike. Just spectacular.
I didn’t see any bears, darn it, but I did see something really cool on our hike to Mirror Lake: a deer - a big one! - ran through a clearing right by where we were walking. I joked to Frank later that we all froze when we saw it just like deer freeze in car headlights. We all froze and watched it run by us, scared of us, running for cover. It was awesome!
All of our feet were hurting, so we walked back along a paved road instead of taking the hiking trail back that we had taken to get to the lake. Back at the hotel, we said our goodbyes and headed over to Yosemite Village. Unfortunately, it was almost 8pm by this time, and everything was closed or closing. I’m sorry we didn’t get to check it out, but we all felt pretty wiped out so, oh well, we were tired anyway.
On the drive back to the hotel, we stopped several times to look at the stars. We just don’t get to see stars like this back home. There aren’t a mere few constellations here and there. Up here the sky is literally a blanket of stars, stars everywhere that come way down low in the sky. The only problem was that it was also really, really freezing cold out, so after about a minute I would jump back in the car and crank up the heat. Amazing beauty, but, brrrr….
So after a long and tiring but wonderful day, we’re now back at the hotel, ready to sleep the sleep of the dead and rest our poor aching feet….until tomorrow!
4-10-10 Saturday 8 pm …. Home Sweet Home
No rough hikes today but still plenty to see. The weather changed; swinter was gone. Today was quite chilly. We drove over and took a ride on the Sugar Pine Mountain Railroad, pulled in open cars behind an old steam engine built in 1913. It was a beautiful ride, a little over an hour, through snowy woods full of tall pines, cedar, and oak trees. A cold, beautiful, friendly, relaxing ride though the half melted winter wonderland.
So we were ready to head for home, but Frank was getting hungry and remembered seeing a BBQ sign at a restaurant in Oakhurst, so we made a lunch stop at Todd’s Cookhouse BBQ something - can’t exactly remember what the sign said. Anyway, we both agreed that it was probably the best BBQ we’ve ever had. Frank had ribs and brisket; I had a pulled pork sandwich. Oh, and Joey had fries, which he said were very good also.
So, an easy afternoon, then a long drive home. It’s good to be back, because we’re all pretty exhausted. All in all, a wonderful trip, with two days of perfect warm weather to go exploring and one chilly, relaxing afternoon to top it off.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Ode to the Internet
*
I am reelin' with a feelin' today. I have been WOWed. Thank you, precious wonderful internet.
What a magical, fantastic, amazing, miraculous, infinite, convenient place. It is as limitless as the universe and keeps growing every day. From the comfort of your own home, you are just one click away from pretty much anything that interests you. It's a powerful force that some use for evil but most use for good or benign purposes. I realize this isn't a shocking revelation to anyone who goes online, but still ....
We're planning a trip to Yosemite, so this morning: weather.com + click + Yosemite = we better bring our warmest coats because it's gonna be cold. Then I started playing some Facebook games and my mind wandered to some of my favorite writers. So I typed "Erica Jong" in the search box. Sure enough, I found a Facebook page and clicked to become a fan. I snooped around for a few minutes, checked out the the link to her website and to some blogs she'd written on Huffington Post. Cool. Read a little, learned a little. Similar results after doing a Facebook search for Stephen King. Then I searched for William Butler Yeats. OMG - jackpot! Somebody posted a link to an online Yeats exhibit from the National Library of Ireland (http://www.nli.ie/yeats/). I spent about an hour (without completing the tour) leisurely navigating my way through this amazing treasure trove of information and artifacts just as if I were* walking through a museum. Thank you National Library of Ireland (and Facebook link poster)! Super, unbelievably awesome and straight from the convenience of the comfiest chair in my house. Poor old libraries don't stand a chance!
Not that I don't like libraries; I do. I guess I'm old school (and thrifty) that way. I like to take my 7 year old son & we both get to borrow any books we like FOR FREE! It doesn't get much better than that. I'm curious about kindles & ipads but I don't have one (yet?) and regular old books are just fine by me. Books are either the original internet or the anti-internet: an information sharing device that is ancient in origin, extremely low tech, extremely portable, amazing in the wealth and breadth of information available, easy to use anytime, anywhere, and capable of reaching in and connecting to our deepest selves. Not too shabby! Anyway, my same said 7 year old son loves to play online games and watch funny things on UTube and will never understand how amazing and miraculous it is that he can do that because to him it's just normal everyday whatever.
I've read some articles about how someday soon textbooks will be a thing of the past and kids will read and do all their schoolwork on ipad-like devices. What a strange and wonderful world we live in. Can you imagine? What's next to amaze us - time travel? Free effective solar power? World Peace? The future is now, and so is the past, and it's a beautiful day, so have a great one and maybe go read a great book - or do a web search! Spectacular!
* PS - I also consulted the internet on the proper usage of "I was" versus "I were" for the above sentence & easily found a site (www.dailywritingtips.com) that addressed my question.
:)
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