"You have no idea."  This little phrase, nearly a colloquialism the way it gets thrown around these days, got me to thinking the other day.

Maybe you do__have an idea, I mean. Possibly, even probably, you could comprehend what it is that I and everyone else are experiencing if we took the time to explain rather than uttering 'You have no idea', wandering off shaking our virtual [or physical] heads. I mean, how many disparate occurrences are there that we cannot at least associate on some level, to some degree?

So where did this 'You have no idea' come from?  Do we envision ourselves so separated from each other that even our slang has become riddled with remotisms to be thrown out in apparent shrugging disregard? Sad. Maybe we should start with that when we begin on our restructuring process...the one where we begin to reconnect and build a better and more cohesive society.

Today, just to prove to myself that I still have that spark of jump up and slap insanity in the face for the hell of it, I went to town__Walmart to be exact__on a Saturday morning less than two weeks before Christmas.

I find doing things like this at my age to be good for one's heart. If you make it through the experience then you can pretty much figure you're good to go for another few months or so. Call it a pronosticative endeavor. [Yep, new phrase].

The outing was what you'd expect; total chaos with random intrusions of interesting occurrences. I'm not certain but I don't believe there was a single child in the entire store who wasn't crying/screaming...and there were a LOT of children.

Then there was the 100 years I spent on the spice aisle looking for the cream of tarter in the thumb-nail sized container down next to the floor. That was rewarding.

But I think my favorite was the slow motion traffic altercation after I left the store. I can't describe it as an accident because it wasn't__there was nothing accidental about it. The entire thing was very deliberate.

I would like you to picture, if you will, a five entrance intersection. This is not a major traffic inflow. It is off the main drag where businesses have leeway access roads. From these side access roads they pour into a central hub which then goes out to the main light and onto the highway. The only traffic light is at the highway intersection. All the other roads have stop signs.

So__

There are cars at all the intersections. Several decide they need to go all at the same time. Instead of giving the right of way to the car to the right as is the law, they all go forward...and keep on going at the top speed of, oh, 5 miles an hour, and continue until they drive into each other. WTF? Yep. Blam at low speed. It was, well, I don't know quite what it was but the rest of us just sat there and watched them like they'd all lost their minds.

Festival of Lights (Lyon)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_Lights_(Lyon)

"What is that?"
"It's a rainbow table."
"I can see that. "

"I paint a rainbow on the table every time I feel sad."
"Well that's kind of d..."
"..or angry..."
"....umb."
"...or worried..."
"Why not when you're feeling happy?"
"I don't need to paint rainbows when I'm happy. I already feel rainbows when I'm happy."
"But if you only paint these rainbows when you're feeling bad then when you sit at this table you're going to be reminded of all the bad times."
"No. I'll think of all the colors I used to wash the sad away."
"But..."
"So when I sit at my rainbow table I will feel the power of happy overcoming the power of sad."
"Hmm. Got an extra paintbrush?"

Tomorrow Mercury will turn direct. It will stop chasing it's own tail, talking out of the other side of it's own mouth, twisting your words to suit it's own twisted sense of humor for the mere amusement of bored spheres and get on with the business of communication in it's purer forms. This is a good thing and as long as we stick to sending out purer forms of communication from our end things should get better on that front.

Over the last year it has gone retro three times, all in fire signs. Each year it chooses an element and sticks to it. This coming year of 2013 it will makes it tour de force in water signs. What does this mean? Well, the fire signs were all about ___well, here, this will explain it better than I can:

The adjustments of Mercury retrograde typically occur three times a year, giving 2012 a dynamic start. The Mercury retrogrades during 2012 are in fire signs, bringing the spark forward from the power of feelings, as Mercury retrogrades back into water signs to connect with our passion, emotional commitment and our true beliefs. The adjustments that occur during Mercury retrograde typically have a theme that occurs all year long, shown by the elements of the signs affected. The Mercury retrogrades that occur[ed] in 2012 provide the opportunities for us to make adjustments in the practical aspects of our life from the information brought to us through the Mercury retrograde in fire signs; Aries, Leo and Sagittarius (occurring in that order). Decisions about our goals and aspirations will be the focus during the Mercury retrogrades of 2012 as change, breakthrough and freedom allows our feelings to break free from the restrictions of the past. Because we are making decisions to bring forward the visionary awareness into our new journey, new endeavors, new goals, the events during the Mercury retrograde time frames help us to veer away from the past emotional dramas and take bold steps out of the old situations to move into our new future. These adjustments will be very necessary as they allow us to make major changes, emphasizing our bold and innovative choices assigned to the fire signs of the retrogrades.

For 2013 Mercury will be transiting and retrograding through water signs. This will affect:

In 2013, Mercury retrogrades three times, all in the water signs of Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio. Issues relating to the emotional aspects of feelings  beliefs and inner essence becomes the key aspects for this time. Mercury brings forward important information that relates to our beliefs, passion and the power of our feelings moving our life and expressions forward. With 2013 being a SIX year, there will be many changes within the home environments  relationships, families and locations. These areas will become reflection of the transitions that are happening within. [This also is the area of the astrological wheel that affects healing__sixth house__nutrition, and general attention to detail concerning health and well being].

Water is an excellent healer. This is an auspicious outlook for anyone who is interested in studying healing in any capacity or in receiving any of the healing arts. It is also a good sign that there will some major breakthroughs in healing research. Even when Mercury goes into it's retrograde motion and appears stalled and we start getting our frustrating messages or no messages at all, remember things will even out.

Mercury turns retrograde February 23rd at 19 Pisces
Mercury turns direct on March 17th at 5 Pisces

Mercury turns retrograde June 26th at 23 Cancer
Mercury turns direct on July 20th at 13 Cancer

Mercury turns retrograde October 21st at 18 Scorpio
Mercury turns direct on November 10th at 2 Scorpio

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.alphalifetrends.com/mercuryretrograde.html

For consideration__a conjecturation en cheek:

Here in the states there is a movement that rears it's pointy little head every few years. It is referred to as the secessionist movement. It usually gathers around Texas but there are other locales that embrace the idea [Arizona has a group as do other locales__the SW seems rife but not entirely exclusive].

Now most of us scoff at these folks. Make jokes at their expense. Treat them as though they are a few bricks shy. But really they are sincere in their desire to secede from our Union__really they are. So my proposition is this:

Give them Detroit.

*waits patiently for the furor to die down*  I know, I have friends in Detroit, too. They wouldn't find this at all a viable solution but...

Detroit is a dying metropolis. Sad but true. An American wasteland. A place where once prosperity reigned and now urban decay and downfall bloom. What can be done? Many things have been tried. Many things have failed. Miserably.

So__

Take all the malcontents who wish to carve themselves a place away from the mainland [w/o actually leaving] and give them a place that needs to be... rejuvenated...at the expense of those who are no longer interested in being contributing members of our society. It is, after all, a border city, just not one that will require a fence [unlike the area where they are now]. Plus one for the new owners. I don't see the Canadians inundating New Detroit. They won't have to squabble about immigration reform. They will have water. This is not something they have easy access to where most of them are now [the American SW being just a touch thirsty]. There may be some reconstruction needed, but  hey, it means they can build as they wish w/o all that pesky government intervention. It's a win/win.

All we have to do is convince the current residents of Detroit that they really want to move. Maybe to a cattle ranch in Texas? A condo in Scottsdale?

Last night was about cats. Cats in general__cats in my particular sphere__cats I don't believe have ever walked this planet.  Cats.

I went to bed early. I was tired from doing not much and as we all know that can be exhausting. I was so totaled by my tiredness that, after falling asleep at 8:30,  I woke-up at 1:30am and was greeted by one of my cats who informed me [loudly] that her bowl was empty of crunchies and that needed to be remedied NOW! 

'Yeah, yeah.' I stumbled down the hall in post midnight stupor. 'Whatever. Get over your cat-self.' And proceeded to the necessary room. This, of course, was completely unacceptable and occasioned more and louder protestations from the cat quarter.

'Oh, for G's sake, shut the hell up!'  And then I poured cat crunchies into her bowl directly from the bag. 

Now, I know better than to do this when I am completely awake and limber, having to bend over the kid gate to reach her bowl [the kid gate being in place to keep the dog from catfood ala carte]. Even then I use a measuring cup as I tend to lose control over the amount of food that flows out of the bag. But when you have a hollering cat and a semi-comatose woman at 1:30 in the morning one must make allowances. I leaned. I poured. The cat got her food. A LOT of food. Did she shut up? 

No.

Sari is meticulous. Now there was a mess on her floor. And it was going to stay there until daylight because her human was going back to bed.  MEeeeeOWww!  Whatever.

So back to bed I stumble and fall into the first of a sequence of dreams...about cats. 

I'm sleeping [or trying to] in a pick-up truck in a slushy, snowy parking lot. I'm not comfortable and there are a trio of white leopards with red spots hunting through the lot. They seem to be hunting smaller cats. House cats. Yowling house cats. Just like the yowling house cat right outside my bedroom door.  *sigh*

I get out of bed and get the spray bottle and go after the yowling house cat. I go back to bed.

And fall right back into the same dream__but now along with the hunting leopards there is a line of dancing girls on a platform dressed for belly dancing jangling to music being played by a DJ off in the background somewhere in the dark. Lovely. The parking lot is beginning to look like a used carlot on a Friday night extravaganza.

And the leopards hunt__and the house cat howls.  Right outside my door. 

Spray bottle.

And right back into the dream__

One of the dancers has started doing high kicks like the Rockettes. The rest follow suit and things get even more festive. I am leaning half out of the open door of the pick-up to watch the show as it would appear that sleep is going to be ever elusive  even in the dream, when one of the leopards darts under the truck and right past my head. I then hear something clanging. It seems the leopard has banged something under the truck while chasing the house cat__at the same time another house cat is banging on the outside of my bedroom door. No, really. She has given up yowling. Now she is smacking the door.

Forget the spray bottle. I'm going for the hose__or maybe the meat cleaver.

Ok. That's taken care of__and no I did not murder the cat.  And, yes, I fell right back into the dream. It has to be a record. At least for me. This time I had forsaken the pick-up for a van and the dancing girls had gone home to get warm but the leopards were still hunting and I was still not sleeping. This time I decided I needed to rescue the house cats. I'm not sure why. I certainly wasn't feeling the warm and fuzzies toward any of them in the moment, if you know what I mean, but I got out of the relative warmth of the van and took off through the frozen lot and tried to save their puny butts from certain extinction by leopard appetite. 

How did it end? I have no idea. I fell asleep. The cat finally stopped yowling. The dream finally stopped intruding. What did I make of all of this when I woke up?

a. Make sure to fill the cat bowl.

b. Dreaming about power animals on 11/11 could have significance and if it does then I've decided it has to do with protectors.

c. Don't eat chili before going to bed.

My aunt passed yesterday. My father's sister, the one in the family who was there for me as I stumbled [often] through those years gone by. She was on her way to give me a call and make sure I'd weathered the storm of the century when she suffered a heart attack and fell in the kitchen. They found her in the afternoon next to the table with the news channel still playing on the tv.

She lived a full and long life...an active life. She was still hiking the trails in the high mountains of the Rockies well into her 80's. It bugged her no end when she had to stop. 

There will be a gathering of the clan in Denver over the next few days. I won't be attending. I no longer travel. She'd be fine with that. My cousin is fine with that. I just spoke to her, my cousin...the eccentric one of us [which is saying something, believe me]. She always makes me laugh even in her pain she makes me laugh. At the moment she's dithering. It's one of her more accomplished talents__dithering. My aunt would allow her to dither for just so long and then she'd snap out some sharp statement meant to to get my cousin to refocus. It rarely worked. Watching the two of them was like watching a comedy. 

Today my cousin is cleaning what is, I can assure you, an already spotless apartment in preparation for all the influx of relatives and visitors. 

'I just realized I can put a plant in the middle of the table now."

"Ok."

"No you don't understand. I couldn't before. It might scratch the finish on the table."

"Ok."

"You're still not getting it."

"What?"

"It's my table now.

"And the cookies."

"What about the cookies?"

"I don't have to hide them anymore."

"Maybe you should still hide the cookies."

"Why?"

"Well, because you might burn some calories looking for them."

"Do you hide Your cookies?"

"Yes."

LOL.

And that is funny because she was crying/laughing while she was saying this.

I asked my aunt [in my head] what she wanted me to do for her funeral. Flowers? No__don't spend the $. I went through a short list of other things. Finally I was left with 'Call your cousin.'  I have and I will continue to do so.  My Aunt__She was the last of the old guard.

Rant__Last night , as on so many other occasions since taking the office of President of the United States, Barack Obama once again endured, with good grace, more bad manners aimed his way. I have watched this happen over and over again to this man and to this office since he was sworn in and it absolutely sets my hair on fire.

It wasn't during the debate, although there were times I felt like smacking Bob Shieffer for his disregard but that is neither here nor there in this rant. What I am referring to is after the debate when one of the Romney sons stood with Pres. Obama  on stage and had his hand on his back like they were cronies. It was insulting. Completely.

I don't care if you're in the upper 1% and float on dividends, you have manners, use them. You are in the public eye. You are representatives of what are supposed to be our finer examples, so start showing some. If we are so concerned with how our youth are acting then by the graces, give them the examples to be inspired by.

And start at the top.

You wish to instill this trickle down theory well here's a chance. Each and every day you and your fellows can show how you are to act in respect one to another and to the highest office in the country instead of these not so subtle undermining maneuvers you use. They diminish you and they diminish us. Stop it.

The cat calls on the congressional floors, the snickering asides...it is childish and unbecoming of any adults let alone elected officials who are there to represent our best.  If you disagree, fine, say so. But stop this petty back-stabbing. This back-street theatre. This makes us appear more third rate than anything else. Bring it out of the frat houses and onto the international stage and grow up. Our president is an adult. Treat him as the top elected official in the nation and get  over the fact that he:
won the last election
is black
is an adult and acts like one
and does his level best to govern well

Theories are divine. I believe this. They are bestowed. This is why they come in more than one electrical package of arrival. They can be a tingle of awareness__'Oh, isn't that an interesting idea?'__to a cataclysmic blast__"Holy Sheet!! Where did THAT come from!?! I can't believe I thought of that!?! I can't believe I never thought of it before!?!"

Yep, out of the clear blue, or grey, or dark and booming sky can come the strangest of notions. The one that arrived this morning with my second cup of coffee and the kick-in of my migraine meds was the reason we have such a problem with weight these days. It isn't our diet. It's escalators. I lay all the blame on Nathan Ames who came up with the original patent design for the revolting__I mean the revolving stairs in 1859. There were later designers but he is the first on record for the patent so we'll blame him.

[This is actually a Reno escalator but, hey, one must settle for what one can find]

Anyway, back to business. Stairs. Take them out of the back, dank, grey, enclosed, echoing enclosures and make them centerpieces of art. Make them user friendly.

  Entice people to use them. Open up the idea that steps walked under ones own power is a good thing. Heck, half the the time the escalators don't work right anyway. Yes, yes, I know there may be some who might have a problem climbing 26 floors of stairs in the high-rises they work and live in. Well, that's what elevators are for. Escalators don't run there anyway. I mean if you think about it the increase in national waistlines came with the increase in escalators not elevators.

The one little itty bitty problem I can foresee might be the handling of speed...or lack thereof. We might need lanes. Possibly separate cases altogether to alleviate staircase rage. And there might be some whistling and air-horn action going on with the move it or lose it bunch

 but over-all I think I'm on to something here.

Song ♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪


Why can't I be normal like Ella or Grace all wrapped in their friends and their lives
Happy , yeah, happy
Why can't I be regular like Jaz or Misa or Nik all slick__ and together, things all in order
Sliding along, yeah
How's it that my hair's way long or so short or too fuzzy or dark
Creeping around my face, yeah
A total disgrace
So out of place
Why can't I feel normal like all of them do, always dressed in big smiles
Showing no miles, yeah
While all I wear are the sighs
Why can't I be normal for maybe a day and feel what it's like to float around
Just that way, yeah
Is it too much to ask for only a day of friends and some smiles, maybe less miles
A step danced in jest, yeah
And hair done the best
For only one day, for only one day
Why can't I be normal like Ella or Grace?

As cold weather sets in and thoughts turn to things like raking leaves and mulled cider and baking, mostly baking, the kitchen comes to the fore.

There's a great deal of focus on the kitchen here in the states. On all of the home improvement shows it is the main room in the house. If you're thinking of selling your home you need to upgrade your kitchen [so say the experts]. If you only have a certain amount of money to work with then put it toward upgrading your kitchen. Cardinal rule. http://www.thekitchn.com/how-much-did-your-kitchen-reno-149500

For years you needed to have stone or hardwood floors, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. It was in all the magazines. On all the shows. Everyone was doing it. De rigueur. Nevermind the cost. Or the inconvenience. Or the fact that it all scratched or was a pita to keep clean, especially stainless steel. It was what was demanded by the industry. One, afterall, must succumb to the demand.

Now, after 25 years the trends they are a-changing. Stainless is giving way__but it has no clear replacement. What will be the new trend setter? They don't seem to be able to make up their minds. Black? Well, no, maybe not. White? It's so stark. God forbid we return to harvest gold or avocado from the shadows of the 70's. [shudder] So what does that leave us? I have it all figured out. http://realestate.msn.com/what-comes-after-stainless

Clear.

Yep. Glass or lucite fronted refrigerators, glass top and glass door ovens and glass freezers. We can see all our food 24/7. No more wondering if we need milk. We can see w/o having to open the door.

And

There is a huge business in selling these machines second-hand from commercial outlets.

Of course you may have a Coca-Cola logo on your refrigerator but, hey, it adds a little color, right?

When my sons were very small I gave up painting in favor of sanity. I however kept sketching. One of the projects I worked on was an idea of doing simple line illustrations with the idea of having them printed in a raised process for blind and partially sighted children...a sort of art in braille. When I had a variety of illustrations together I approached some people at the Maryland School for the Blind [we were living in Baltimore at the time]. I was informed that most reading material was being provided through computer now and there was no more need for hard-bound books, braille or my idea. But if I was still interested in pursuing it I could try to find a publisher somewhere. To say I was disappointed would be understatement. Simple-line may sound simple. It isn't. It's a distillation, a honing, and it's more often than not a process rather than just slapping a couple of lines on paper and saying Voila!

What turned out to be an even greater challenge was trying to find someone who could print using a raised line process. At that time, the late 70's-early 80's, the only people I knew of were the Japanese. I sent off proposals. Many were returned with polite refusals. Some were returned unopened. Some, never returned. Ah, well.

I thought of greeting card companies later but never followed up. They use the process on cards, afterall but life happened and well, enough said about that.

Anyway, I still think it's not a bad idea. I think all kids would enjoy feeling the picture. What brought all this to mind was a post by Carl,  http://www.guidingeyes.org/. They were working with the Maryland School for the Blind and The Columbia School for the Blind out of Wash DC. Amazing people.

Here are some examples. They're all I can find of the old work. Who knows where it all went? LoL. It has been many years. Anyway, the first two are simple covers from the neighborhood newsletter. In the one, it has Santa as an Arabber. This, as far as I know is a custom unique to the neighborhoods of Baltimore. http://www.baltimorestories.com/main.cfm?nid=4&tid=157  And the last two, illustrations from a children's book about a neighborhood baseball team about kids from an inner city area who have a team but no uniforms. The first of these pics show the kid getting hit with an idea just before he gets hit with the pitch and then the second the coach making sure his arm is ok. As you can see none of these are great illustrations in and of themselves. They weren't meant to be. They were meant to be templates for the process of raised line printing.  But it never came to be.

It was an idea that was born at the end of the printed era and the beginning of the computer age. But I thought I'd share. Just a little nostalgia from yesteryear. 

On the road again. It's been many years since I've traveled the highways as much as I've been traveling them of late and I have noticed a disturbing trend. The truckers are becoming an aggressive and dangerous presence on the road. Oh, that isn't to say all of them, or even the majority I'm sure, but those who are make their statements in such blatant and alarming a fashion that it seems like they are the majority.
~~~~~~~~~~~
picture of rt. 81 w/o insanity

~~~~~~~
Each trip I take north up the interstate in my 90 + mile round trip to see the doctors for the various things going on with me medically these days I find myself entangled in some altercation with a trucker. I am a careful but not timid driver. I have driven a great deal in my life and for part of it made a living behind the wheel. Yes, I am older. I am, however, aware of my limitations on the road. Most of them have to do with becoming easily fatigued. I account for this. I am not the wandering old lady toddering down the road.

I also try to show respect to other drivers__especially truckers. They're out there making their living. I was born and raised out west where the open road was long and the truckers were always respected. It is becoming harder to show this respect.

Today I had a trucker get on the bumper of my car in heavy traffic. When I opened space to allow another truck to come into the lane in front of me [w/o decreasing speed by much or putting on my brakes just very minimally backing off on the accelerator__there was no decrease in the flow of traffic] the trucker on my bumper went absolutely ballistic. This had not in any way caused him to slow down or put on his brakes__he was just being an asshole. He then got even closer to the back of my car. So close that all I could see was his grill and his brights. And he was honking. Now, there was no place for me to go because there was traffic in front of and next to us. We were already going 10 miles over the posted 65 mph. At this point all it would have taken for a major pile-up would have been for one driver in either lane to wobble, weave or become distracted.

I was livid!!

The trucker I'd let in moved over as soon as he could and then eventually more of the left-lane traffic moved right. As soon as I had an open and clear lane I downshifted and took off. Until that point I had this guy on my bumper driving like a maniac focused on one thing and that seemed to be running me off the road.

One of many pics of truck accidents on interstate 81
~~~~~~~~~~~

When I'd put a substantial amount of highway between us I settled back into my usual, sane driving pattern. What did he do? As soon as I took off to get away from him he got into the right lane. Immediately. What was he thinking? Probably that the cops would be showing up shortly and he didn't want any part of that. If they had I would have had a lot to say.

I don't know what's going on with these guys. It's more than a little disturbing. Last Friday evening a trucker on the same highway killed two local residents driving home because he was distracted. He was uninjured. They are dead and another driver is still in the hospital. I have to drive this road again next week. I feel like I should be strapping on armor.

And it makes me mad.

Punkins.  It's the season.

This year they say the fruit is smaller because of the drought here in the states. I don't know if Canada was hit as badly as we were so maybe the pumpkins up north are bigger and will be better for carving but down here what they're going to be good for is cooking.

There are the traditional seasonal punkin dishes__

And the not so traditional ones__

[mmm__stuffed pumpkin].

I went looking for a few new recipes. Here are a few I found that I thought I'd like to try.

Pumpkin Garlic Knots
http://www.handletheheat.com/2010/10/pumpkin-garlic-knots.html
~~~~~~~~~~~

Pumpkin Chili
http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/10/06/pumpkin-chili/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and__

Pumpkin Brownies__:)
http://smallhomebigstart.blogspot.com/2010/10/pumpkin-brownies.html

There are a few more but I resist an inundation. I just picked up a small punkin and am eager to try the knots and the chili. I think that'll be all the meat from this small fruit I'll have to work with. I wonder how well pumpkin meat freezes? I really don't like to can.

Tourmaline_

It is the other main stone for the sign of Libra [the astrological sign just occurring on the calendar] and the month of October. Yes I know it's not Oct. but it is Libra so bear with me.

The word tourmaline is Sinhalese and comes from the root word thurmali which means any of many precious stones. [Wiki] It is mined all over the world with new deposits being found all the time. It comes in a rainbow of colors from black to colorless and is used for decoration, jewelry, it's electromagnetic conductive properties[black schorl]This last has been fading as the business sectors have found easier replacements but the healing sectors have picked up the slack. Tourmaline is known as a good healing stone.

You can find it at gem and mineral shows. Crystal shops and on-line...

And as it cleans up nicely, you can find it at the jewelry shop.