EXCERPT FROM JACK KEROUAC

(Photo taken at Shevlin Park, Bend Oregon Oct.2012

“I have lots of things to teach you now, in case we ever meet, concerning the message that was transmitted to me under a pine tree in North Carolina on a cold winter moonlit night. It said that Nothing Ever Happened, so don't worry. It's all like a dream. Everything is ecstasy, inside. We just don't know it because of our thinking-minds. But in our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever. 


 Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world, and you will remember the lesson you forgot, which was taught in immense milky way soft cloud innumerable worlds long ago and not even at all. It is all one vast awakened thing. I call it the golden eternity. It is perfect. We were never really born, we will never really die. It has nothing to do with the imaginary idea of a personal self, other selves, many selves everywhere: Self is only an idea, a mortal idea. That which passes into everything is one thing. It's a dream already ended. There's nothing to be afraid of and nothing to be glad about. I know this from staring at mountains months on end. They never show any expression, they are like empty space. Do you think the emptiness of space will ever crumble away? Mountains will crumble, but the emptiness of space, which is the one universal essence of mind, the vast awakenerhood, empty and awake, will never crumble away because it was never born.”

A TRUE SCENARIO WITH MAC

I've been busy going through my hundreds of photos or thousands - photos in this computer going back to June when we moved here.  I've deleted, edited, separated, grouped, etc.  I came across these of MacKenzie from our visit to Bend, Oregon at the end of October.

We left the house this particular morning to take a walk.  Just she and I.  She had brought her little pink stroller.  She decided about a block or two away from the house that she wanted to take it back, leave it on the porch and ring the doorbell but then hide so her mom would just find the stroller there but no MacKenzie.  I agreed (knowing her mom would know she was safe with me)  it was a fun plan.  Here are the photos of the plan being carried out.

The garage and car is the back of the house and she will be running up to the front porch.

walking up to the side of the house

Going to round the corner.

I love the fall colors in the photo.

The deed is done.

Victory run!

But victory it wasn't as she was the one who was tricked.  Her mother hid her stroller and baby and said she had never seen it on the front porch.  A few dramatic moments ensued until I found the stroller in the guest closet:0)

How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains! ~John Muir

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY HOLLY

My oldest granddaughter turned 7 today.  This is a photo from her party last Friday - it was at their house and the theme was "movies".  This is one of the outfits Holly played dress up in .


Love you Holly!

We will see you towards the middle of March when we come up to your house and spend a weekend having fun while your parents are away.  In fact, I plan to spoil you for a few days.

A FEW MORE SNOW PHOTOS

Read the weather report and we are warming up I think into the low 40's tomorrow.  Sounds like good walking weather (as long as there's no wind). 

Looks like some big storms in the middle of the country.  If you experience them, keep safe and warm.  I think it is the storm we just had that is traveling across the country.  Lots of arctic air with it.

The streets were already plowed when we got out but were being covered again with light snow.

The last snow fell around 9 in the morning and by 11 we were out on our way to a late breakfast and to see the sights around town.  People who have lived here for years probably don't get quite as excited as I do, ...to go out and see the fresh new snow.

I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SAY IT

But I actually love when it snows.  I don't like the fact that we have to drive somewhere else if we want to walk when it's really cold and slushy, but that doesn't happen that often.  I love the way it looks and I love the fact that even though the house can get cold if we don't run the heat a lot, it is insulated really well so our gas bill this month was only about 70 and our electric was about the same, 60 bucks.  And we certainly run it enough that the house is warm when we want it to be.  We had a bigger snow drop than last time but nothing like they were predicting.  I would estimate between 5 and 7 to 8" in places. 

I finally found my camel- I had been looking in boxes for various things I wanted to find and at least did find this.

My little cactus plants look healthy after a year and a half but they haven't grown much.  I lost most of the plants i brought up from down below where I lived.  I'm glad I at least have these. 

Here are a few shots around the neighborhood.

  

My speed is really slow loading so I'll post these two photos and do more later.  I think we start a new billing cycle tomorrow so I should be up to full speed ahead again.  We are so limited with the internet providers we can get up here and I think we have the best that is offered but we still get our speed knocked down when we go over the allotted download/upload....thingy..

 

A few photos

Every time we drive by this house I take photos.  I like the way it looks.

So I take a few photos.

These photos were taken at the beginning of the last big storm. 

This is one of three streets we can use to drive up to our place.  This one is "Apple". 

Below is a house near the library in town.

My house and the neighbors in this photo below. The last snow storm had only begun, this was the leading edge of it and then it snowed all day and night so we had a lot more in the morning.

Down my street.

A mountain chickadee.  Taken before much snow came.

Sorry for the boring posts but there is only so much one can say about snow...it's white, cold, and comes in and then goes out.  I actually like it a lot.  The plows always come by quickly the next day and since we have a jeep we are always out in it driving around. 

SOME SNOW PHOTOS AROUND MY HOUSE

Looking to the right into my neighbor's backyard.

Looking to the left into my neighbor's yard across the fence.

Looking directly behind me into my neighbor's garage.

Looking out to my deck.

I spend a lot of time looking around. 

TWO DUDES WATCHING ME WALK BY

The photos are incredibly bad quality - I was far away and there was some weird reflection going on with the windows - might have been the curtains.  Anyway, they looked so cute standing there watching us walk by.