Bon Anniversaire Bonnie

This picture dated September of 1986 was the start of a journey of three friends who all met at Sacred Heart Hospital and began a tradition of celebrating birthdays up to the lovely party last evening.

The second picture was taken at The Excelsior 8/31/1989 and there are many more pics that I could show but this will do for now.

The important piece here is the journey of the friendship and the continuity of the celebrations. It is a blessing to be a woman and have these long term forever friends. These women have seen me at my worst and at my best and have encouraged me and totally been there . We have shared our successes and our failures. We have wept over our children and then totally rejoiced when things were going well in our families. As one of my friends so eloquently says, "God is the only person that has never let me down".. I would have to say how wise and true that is but I would have to say my friends run a very close second.

Early celebrations were considered "Magical". We spent months planning our presents even going to a theme . One year might be Garden art or everything French . There were splendid gag gifts and then one nice gift which would never be the "Grand Finale".........Oh, no the last gift would be a lovely piece of jewelry or Royal Doulton China or some exotic offering. We had cards to go with everything and when the gift opening was finished the room would be full of lovely wrappings and bows.......it was like being a little kid again on Christmas. We would usually go out to eat and the restaurant was tolerant of the many gifts..........getting them all intact to the car was another situation. One year we started spending the night at Jorja's and fixing a fine meal at the house. We would put on our favorite music and there would be dancing and frivolity. We would sit on the deck and wave sparklers or even take a soak in the jacuzzi. Did I mention champagne? The next morning was kinda slow but we always managed to rehash the magic of the evening and be ready to plot the next birthday.

My birthday is the last day of August and almost always hot. Liz is towards the end of September and Jorja is in December . Then we could take a break from the galas and enjoy other aspects of our friendship. The birthdays were sacred and we truly planned the strategy like a four star General, but oh what a lovely battle it was and I think we have won the War of Life by sticking with each other.

Last evening, Jorja having been inspired by a recent movie we saw, "Julie and Julia" cooked Boeuf Bourguignonne for us and it was awesome. We had two totally decadent desserts. One a raspberry chocolate torte with real daisies on top and a death by chocolate three layer exquisite orange flavor cake and chocolates from Normandy courtesy of a former French student Delphine. I asked the bakery to put this on my torte.......'C'est Bon! and it was GOOD and after all it is my name. May our birthday celebrations never end and Salut' mon amis.

A word about Community Gardens

I just returned from multitasking my morning but in a very enjoyable way and not to be confused with the work world.
Living about a half block from the bike path which is located above the garden, I feel like I have been on a mini vacation to Provence........true the lavender is all gone, but the sunflowers are many and glorious looking. I listened to a concert by the yellow finches who truly must believe they are in bird heaven and they only stop singing when they feast on sunflower seeds. I always look at our old plot and remember our trial of tomatillos which became legion. Today they were everywhere and felt like I had passed something on to a fellow human of value.
Managing to pick a pint of blackberries with minimal sticks was another part of my multitasking. Blackberries mean Summer in Oregon and how we have always laughed at folks who buy them. Hello! Get yourself outdoors and pick your own pie. Summers in Elkton were always inclusive of that blackberry dessert and so many enjoyable feasts. So today, I remember all those berry patches in my life and think it is a metaphor for Life. To get to the juicy and good things, one must be prepared to deal with some painful reality pricks and sticks.
Tomorrow we head to the beach for four days and trying a new beach cottage very close to the Waldport area. Will blog about that when we return.
Lest I forget, tonight is an annual girl's night out with Liz and Jorja. They are cooking Boeuf Bourguignonne for me. We shall sip champagne and be giggly and feast also on a decadent dessert. We have some movies to watch and mainly just good company. So Salute' to Julia Child and The French who inspired her.....also I think of our former French students.... Valerie, Pierrick, Delphine, Thomas, Cyril and think Bon Appetit'..............Bonnie

Aout

As Shakespeare once said " Summer's lease hath all too short a date."
I am realizing how quickly the sunny and warm days of Summer disappear. We get lulled into a sense that this will go on a very long time.........at least 3 months which seems an eternity. In reality it is a very short time and there are no end of activities in town to entice to come enjoy and we do, but shouldn't we just be lazy and get slow starts to the day........really luxuriating in the sense that we have all the time in the world. Take that cup of coffee out to the deck or the patio and read the paper . If you are a multi-tasker like me you will not only read two papers, drink the coffee and catch the news on tv , but you will have gone outside watering plants during commercials and feeding the bluejays and squirrels. I think slow mornings are the best thing about retirement..........I don't schedule morning appointments unless no other choice because I hate to start my day being hurried out of my slow routine.
I am reading a lot this Summer and those long evening hours are great times to take a book and just read undisturbed except for "the boys" aka squirrels and bluejays looking for a handout before they retire for the evening. August is the time to start using the garden bounty and grilling outdoors is logical and desirable. I saw a pizza being cooked on a grill on tv recently and who would have thunk it?
Tonight is book club and we read "My Antonia' " by Willa Cather. We make great food to share and of course, use our best dishes.......real girly stuff and totally satisfying. Yesterday went to see "Julie and Julia" with two friends and what a delight that movie was. Makes you want to go buy the Julia Child cookbook and Bon Appetit!
Although I adore Autumn, it will be hard to say goodbye to Summer. Therefore I plan on being outdoors and enjoying the lovely days while they are still here. So, one more massive infusion on Miracle gro for my plants and flowers to help with my celebration........they are nearing the end of Nature's cycle and I thank them for providing food, flowers, fragrance, bees and lovely visual delights. Bonnie

The Mystery of Big Stump

Here is an essay I read at the No Shame Theatre performance on Aug 7, 2009:

The Mystery of Big Stump

On lazy summer days at the beach, a lot of folks like to curl up with a good mystery book. But for me, the beach is a great place to let my mind wander over esoteric questions of grand scale.
You see, I love mysteries—especially real world mysteries. I am always puzzled about why things are as they are – how did the cosmos come into being? How long has it been here? When and how will it all end? Big questions like that, and like…
…where did that piece of driftwood come from? O.K., I guess that’s not a question of Cosmic importance. But like I said, I always wonder why things are as they are. And even a piece of driftwood may have a story to tell.
So, more than a dozen years ago, I was sitting on a beach near Waldport while my young grandchildren played in the sand. This particular beach is miles long and pure white sand—and in the surf zone, where the waves crash—there was a big tree stump.
Kids were actually playing on it, which got my attention because everyone knows it isn’t safe to play on driftwood in the waves.
But this huge piece of driftwood wasn’t drifting with the waves. Even more puzzling, it stood upright in the waves, as if its roots were buried deep in the sand. And this monster was ten feet tall and thirty feet around—the obvious remains of an old growth tree.
I waded through ankle deep water and climbed aboard through a gash in its side. I stood in the hollow trunk as waves crashed against it like a sailing ship tacking into the wind. It was solid – it did not move. I ran my hands over the smooth gunnels of my ship and counted the tree rings— clearly it had lived for hundreds of years.
How did this thing come to be? If it wasn’t driftwood, had it grown in some ancient soil before the present beach formed
And thus I began my inquiry.


I asked questions of local residents and the Waldport Historical Society. I spoke to the archaeologist at the nearby ranger station. I went to the Hatfield Marine Science Center and spoke to the director. I took a sample of the wood and sent it off to be identified.
Slowly, the mystery began to unfold.
I learned that the story of the Oregon Coast is one of continuous change. We live in an active seismic zone where the land rises in places and falls in others; where huge earthquakes and tidal waves take place every 500 years or so. Starting in 1997, scientists have found over 500 stumps rooted in ancient soils along the beaches – many of which can only be seen at minus tides. Earthquakes, tsunamis and rising sea levels drowned these ancient forests.
At last I received a letter from the Forest Service Wood Identification lab—and the mystery only deepened. The tree—this stump, this apparent piece of driftwood – is Sequoia sempervirens, commonly known as a California Redwood.
Fossil Redwoods reveal that in the distant past, when the climate was warm and humid enough to support their needs, these giants flourished all along the Oregon coast. Environmental range reduced their range considerably.
Today, this species is confined to a foggy coastal strip starting near Monterey, California, and barely crossing into the southern edge of Oregon. No living ancient redwoods exist within 150 miles of this lone tree, which stands to this day on the beach where my grandchildren used to play.
I still visit this ancient monument and ponder mysteries that wander through my mind, and I continue to wonder, why are things as they are?

FaerieWorlds Festival 2009

The annual Faerieworlds festival enticed me to Mt.Pisgah Friday July 31 on "Good Fairy" day. The annual gathering celebrates mythical music and arts in a temporary fairy realm. Folks get into dressing up and some of the costumes were not only elaborate but gorgeous.
Arriving early afternoon for opening ceremonies found the temps in the mid 80's but they soon took off into mid 90's and in the open meadow me and my friend quickly set off for the water bottles. There was lots of interesting food but it was just too hot so I settled for an organic snow cone. Soon the ice was being dribbled down my top and any vendor that had a spritzer was my instant friend. We escaped to the over 200 vendors who were in tents which gave us the illusion we were cooler until we stepped back out into the Sahara like heat. The variety of crafts was truly stupendous. Who knew that so many folk loved the wee ones and crafted everythng from fairy houses and doors , pottery, magnificent art prints, fantasy medieval clothing , celtic earrings, pendants, necklaces, bracelets. We feasted on the beauty of the arts . Who needed food when our souls were being so gorged with the exotic and even books. Why one could even buy fairy ears!
I selected a celtic windchime. The common Celtic symbol as the vender pointed out is also the infamous peace sign from the 60's. Who knew? My friend really had a great day and found art and lovely pendants, and earrings. She makes jewelry so these were exceptional items and she was so happy to have found them.
After tramping about for about five hours we decided our little fairy feet were done for the day. The only time we really sat down was on the ground to listen to "Trixie Pixie" play and that was enjoyable...... Folks in the know had brought chairs or small blankets but we survived. Once I got home and saw my new tan lines on my feet from my crocs, I also noted how dirty I was from sweating and walking in the magic meadow. Nothing that a good hot shower, clean clothes and many glasses of iced water can't solve.
At the end of the day, Julie turned to me and said next year we should bring.......so we had a fun time and opened our minds and spirits to a fine sense of adventure.
If you would like to explore more in search of your inner celtic www.FaerieWorlds.com