Oh, Christmas Tree....

It is never met with understanding when I mention to people I do not want to put up a Christmas tree, like this might just be the cardinal sin of the season. In my life, I strive to make it Christmas everyday. The whole Christmas thing has been a struggle for me my entire adulthood. I do not let the pressure get to me like I used to, but I also don't have young children at home any more, thank goodness. One of the first things Mom asked me when I talked to her was, "Did you put up a tree?" Yes, Mom, I did. Paul, my graveyard replacement at work, and one of the funniest people I have ever met, had the normal reaction of horror when I told him I was skipping the whole tree thing for a variety of reasons. The next night, he came in with the following tree. I laughed and said thank you. This is the first time I have ever put up an artificial tree, but I can now see why people do. The branches don't shed nearly as much, and you can move them around to fill in the bare spots, plus no watering! The poinsettias are a bit much, and were I not going to return this to Paul I might cut them off and replace them with pretty red bows, but they are growing on me, hehehe.

I took this picture the day I put it up, more of the snow falling outside the window than the tree, but oh, well, there you have it.

I could not see the microfiber lights in the daytime, but when it got dark, it was just lovely and quite cute. No more supporting the tree cutting industry for me, by golly. A decoration is a decoration, and this is, pardon the pun, "Cute as Christmas."

I am hoping you are all enjoying your holiday season in just the right way for you.

Fireplace News

The fireplace has been glorious. It is so nice to sit in the living room and watch the flames perform their dance, mesmerising really. I am so grateful that Willie has been here to chop the wood. I tried it one day, chopped one piece and my hands ached for a week, I mean really ached. Plus it took me about a half an hour to accomplish that. Willie goes out and chops five pieces of wood in ten minutes, thank goodness.

This is the first fire we lit. We've had one almost everyday since, then the local news reported that the air quality is so bad in Reno, fires are forbidden unless you can prove this is the only source of heat for your home. Chimney watchers will be out and the fines are steep. Big fat bummer...I'm hoping for some wind as soon as possible.

My alternative, as always, is to make my own fire with candles. It was nice, but not quite the same as a fire in the fireplace. I am hoping for the all clear very soon.

The Braid

You could not pay to get this array of colors.

I love my hair!

Post Storm Update

Well, this storm has passed, it's melting remnants fading fast. There is still 2-3 inches of solid ice on many of the residential streets, but most is at the curb or in the center, passing cars have carved out the ice to find pavement in perfect tire tracks down most streets by today. I am driving chain free and enormously grateful. The main thoroughfares are snow free, but perpetually wet during the day. At night I am especially careful driving home form work just in case of ice. It is still hovering around 20 in the night, but reaching the pleasing 40s in the daytime. The sun coming in the door from about noon on is just delightful.

I was looking at the comparison pictures of this storm and thought, hmmm, I should post those. So here they are:

The street on storm day 1:

The street today. You can see the tire grooves in the street.

The house day one.

The house a week later.

The house this morning.

The sidewalk day one.

The sidewalk a week later.

The sidewalk today.

It has been fun watching the evolution of the shapes on the hedges as the snow melts.

The folks across the street do not get any afternoon sun when the temperatures are higher, so their snow is melting much slower than on this side of the street.

This was a lucky shot from the freeway the other night at dusk, doesn't do the natural beauty justice, but thought I'd post it anyway.

No more icicles, just a constant drip during the sunlight hours.

I wonder what next week will bring....

Snow. OK, I'm over it.

The good news is I am fully indoctrinated to snow driving. I am not afraid, but I am less than pleased to have to do it.

It's interesting that last year the 40s nearly froze me to death, but after last week of below 20 temps, this week feels mild.

The neighborhood streets are ridiculously bad and not a plow in sight. The freezing weather last week just kept all that snow for the sun to turn to mush this week as the temperatures rise to spring like 40's. This is the driveway entrance yesterday. Sunday night I could not have gotten in the driveway without those chains on my tires. The chains are both a blessing and a curse, as I have to drive on the good, plowed, snow free streets no more than 25 mph in the right lane - I hate it and so do all the other drivers racing past me. However, I do not see what choice I have since I can't get home without them. Last night I was pulled over by Sparks police making sure I wasn't drunk, nice. It struck me as funny because I was never pulled over when I did drink and drive.

The management at Dotty's building was great about getting our parking lot plowed and accessible, till you got to the street that is. This was Sunday morning after light fluffy snow on Saturday night. I was so happy to be driving with chains that morning.

It was an incredibly beautiful morning.

This was sunset last Thursday outside Pep Boys.

The icicles are really cool, and when the sun hits them just right they sparkle. Yesterday when I took these it was foggy and stayed that way all night. Deep thick fog, that made me feel like I was back at the beach. Reno folks were freaked out, I guess they don't see much fog -- they all drove way to fast.

After I took these pics, I knocked these down, before someone got hurt.


Winter would be really great if I could hibernate and never leave the house. Today I am about a week away from my period, which makes me take an extra breath when snow feels like such an effort. It's just one more thing that forces me to find the beauty, and I can only be grateful.

Confidence Builders

The best purchase I made this week...



...and, yes, it's been snowing all night. My drive to work in the morning will be quite slow, but I am not afraid.

Oh yeah, it's Winter Now

By the way, it never snows in Farmville.

Have a great day!

Confessions of a FarmVille Addict

Video games have been a reality in my life since my sons were about nine and ten. I never really understood the pull. It seemed boring to me and I was never very good at it when I tried. Too many buttons for these dyslexic fingers to deal with. At some points along the road I have abhorred these games, watching my boys play them for hours on end, a seeming complete waste of time, that just the sight of the game screen sent my blood to boil.

My sweet baby sister whom I adore, emailed me a couple of months ago and asked me to play an online game called FarmVille, available through Face Book. I had seen the Farmville posts on my news feed, ignoring request after request from my peers in FaceBook to join the Farmville neighbor community. I marveled at the pull of a video game to all these middle age women, (yes, we are middle age, whether we feel like it or not.) I was extremely resistant to the idea, but figured, what the hell. I'll help her have more neighbors, I don't have to get that involved, just have a player profile. WRONG.

I was sucked in from the first day. Plowing the land, planting the seeds, tending the trees and animals, designing the physical layout for the farm. Never in a million years would I have dreamed I would so enjoy time spent in a cyber world. Oh yes, I visit all the farms of my neighbors, fertilize their crops, get ideas of how to lay out the farm, see the new items my level does not permit me to purchase with my Farm coins.

If one was really crazy, Farmville will allow you to purchase coins and Farmville dollars. I cannot imagine that some one would pay to play this game, I certainly will not, but I guess people do. But I do work my farm and save my coins for things I want to buy. It is the goofiest thing I have ever done, and I waffle back and forth from being completely amused and then mortified that I am spending my time doing this.

I started to think I would love to live on a farm, then I sucked myself back to reality and remembered that in Farmville I don't have to feed the animals, or clean up after them, or smell the reality of them. I just click on them when it is time to collect some money for eggs, or wool, or milk. As a beginner in Farmville, I lined the animals up in neat little rows, then at some point I reached a level that allowed the animals to walk around. I would move a horse in line, then he would walk away. I was freaked out at first, till I realized what was going on. Now I have a free range farm, the animals walk around wherever they want, and if they get in my way, I can still move them with a click.

I am laughing out loud as I type this, thinking "How is this me?" talking about a video game, like some people discuss soap operas or the news. But in my newly found resonance with my universe, I am enjoying every minute of it, so I decided to come out of the closet with my addiction, embrace it for all the joy I am finding here, and share it with those of you I love the most.

ROFLMAO!

Have a great day!

Love & Laughter

Loving knows no bounds or barriers. We are the ones who choose to allow circumstances or perceptions to interrupt our experience of the loving. Love is never stopped. Love is present always. At times, we may decide that loving is absent. We are then called upon to find our trust and faith in loving. We are to be patient and keep our willingness and trust that a new experience of loving is forthcoming.

--J. Morton

When we learn to watch our fears without believing them, we can burst out of a fearful universe into a totally safe one in an abrupt, irrevocable flash of insight--and for some reason, this often triggers gales of laughter.

—Martha Beck, Steering by Starlight

My First Fall

This is the view when I wake up in the morning. Not a bad way to start the day.

Resonance

I have been experiencing a tremendous shift in my energy over the past four months, living in Reno, in this house, doing my goofy job, allowing love to wash over me, leaving me dripping with gratitude so consuming I can feel it in my blood, in my breath, in my movement.

The shape my life is taking has nothing to do with The Sparks Experience, and it no longer felt right to post my life there. I live in Reno, and I am exactly where I am supposed to be in space and time.

I feel deeply connected with all that is, and as I searched for a new title to describe my life, Reno Resonance rolled off my tongue, but not until I had struggled with a few that didn't work. The minute I spoke the words I knew it was the right title. It described me, my state of being. Reno Resonance would be my public presence, a place where I might communicate my personal experience of the world.

If you look resonance up in the thesaurus, it says:

Timber, Character, Quality,Tone, Reverberation, Significance, Meaning, Importance, Suggestion, Echo, Hint, Reminiscence

The dictionary provides a variety of definitions relating to medicine, chemistry and of course, music. One description I found and was particularly drawn to said:

the effect of an event or work of art beyond its immediate or surface meaning

To those I would add:

reverent communion, a state of groking, and a joyous form of love.

Perhaps you will find resonance with the words and images that pass through these cyber pages, I hope so. Welcome to Reno Resonance.