Competitive Napping

Me: I didn't sleep so well last night, guys. I'm going to lay down for a little nap and I'll be ---
*Levi jumps on bed, head hits pillow, immediately snoring.*

Smacksy Sunday Links

Unsanctioned Gardener

The storytellers who read aloud to Cuban cigar rollers.

"Love your life." 

Drinking water is important, apparently.

A book review that makes me want to read not only the book, but also more from the reviewer.

How art conservators clean paintings.

And a cat was the mayor of this town.  

Happy Sunday.

Smacksy Saturday Photo: Welcome

Dogs are the best people.

Typical

"Guys! Guys! Let me take your picture! Look at me, Teddy! Levi! Look at me! Woohoo! Guys! Look over here! Who wants a cookie? Who's a good boy? Seriously? You guys!"

Bloom

My friend Karen was reading my cards yesterday from a new deck. (It's a thing we hippies do.) This card came up for me and yes, this means blooming, spouting, budding like a tree in springtime, but is also a woman being pulled in a number of directions. That all seemed fitting. (And perhaps that hairstyle seems a tad tough to maintain, I would totally wear that outfit.) Time to get rooted and just bloom.

Sweet Guy

He will not commit to inside or outside, instead he will straddle the porch threshold. Smiling.

Mandatory After Hair Appointment Car Selfie

Upon leaving the hair salon, it is customary to text a hair-selfie to one's lady friends for approval. Once one arrives home, one's dogs are unanimously uninterested.

Timing

I left my car at the Royal Car Wash and walked down the block to Trader Joe’s. I didn’t need anything from Trader Joe’s but this has never stopped me. Once in the market, I fell into an unblinking trance staring at the spice grinders and tiny bottles of hot sauce. They have ghost pepper salsa. Why don’t they make a ghost pepper hot sauce? I was trapped in a Trader Joe’s fugue state and why couldn’t I get out of there?

The walk back to the Royal, felt long. Surely my car had been waiting for at least half an hour by then. I balanced an overfilled canvas shopping bag in one hand and my too-heavy purse in the other. It was warm. I stopped to remove my cardigan. The walk felt uphill, like trying to run under water. I stopped again and set the bags down to give my arms a break.

When I finally reached the car wash, I heard a loud grinding sound. I looked up to see a car wash employee behind the wheel of a police patrol car, attempting to exit the wash tunnel. The car appeared to be stuck and the engine whirred as he floored the gas again and again. I watched as the car finally broke free and lurched full speed into the back of a parked car and then turned, slamming into a man standing nearby.  On impact, the man flew through the air, landing ten feet away on his side. There was a long second of silence and then yelling and screaming.  I set down my bags. This had all been about timing.

I ran to the man lying on the ground, kneeled down, and placed a hand on his chest. “Try not to move.” I turned and called out to the Royal manager. “Call 911.” I turned back to the man,  “My name’s Lisa.”

“Justin.”

“Hey, Justin. Can I hold your hand?”

“Yeah. My leg. My leg really hurts.”

“I bet it does. Someone’s calling for help. How’s your pain on a scale of one to ten?”

“Maybe nine?”

“Nine? Justin, don’t be a hero. You just got leveled by a police car.”

“Ha. Yeah, maybe more like an eleven.”

“Are you breathing okay?”

“Yeah.”

And then we talked. We talked about how he had just dropped off his seven year-old son at school before the car wash. We talked about the Dodgers and Ohtani, the new player for the Angels.  We talked about the previous accident Justin had been in and the pins in his left arm and leg, the same side where he was just hit. We talked about how lucky he was and how much worse this all could have been. We talked about gratitude. We prayed.

The Royal employees stood in a group, talking to the guy who drove the police car and was shaking and pacing. We heard sirens in the distance growing louder.

“Justin, I think your ride’s here.” A fire truck, a police cruiser, and a paramedic pulled in.

“It’s my lucky day, Lisa.”

“It kind of is,” I said.

A cop pointed to the smashed up police car and asked the Royal manager, “Where is the officer that should be with this vehicle?”

“Next door at the IHOP, maybe?”

Justin was a big guy. I waited as the paramedics helped him transfer to the too-short-for-him gurney and loaded him in to the ambulance. Before they closed the doors, Justin patted his heart then pointed at me and called out, “Thank you. You’re my angel.”

I gave an officer a recount of what had happened. The sirens blared again and a confused policeman walked out of the IHOP.  I packed my groceries into the back of my car.

It was a lucky day.

Smacksy Sunday Links

Today is Earth Day. (Shouldn't every day be Earth Day?) Dr. Vandana Shiva speaks about our relationship to the earth.

Best advice(s).

"To be or not to be..." The lovely Andrew Scott as Hamlet. (If you thought Shakespeare was difficult to understand, perhaps you just haven't seen it brilliantly performed before.)

Kids react to being called beautiful.

When joy goes viral. Love these Irish girls.

And a hummingbird dad with babies.

Happy Sunday.

Smacksy Saturday Photo: Living Room Checklist

Feverish child on couch - Check
Hydrangea in need of watering - Check
Bowl for upset stomach episodes under coffee table - Check
Mr. Rosenberg playing guitar - Check
Cartoons on TV (The Regular Show) - Check
Dog next to couch - Check
Size 15 shoes on floor - Check
Other dog in hallway - Check
Fluids for hydrating - Check
Saturday Evening in April - Check

Soon

Can't go in the dugout without a uniform. He's on the mend. 

Soak It In

Getting a little Thursday on his face.

Things You Need to Know Right Now About My Friend Janelle Hanchett

Things you need to know right now about my friend Janelle Hanchett:

Janelle Hanchett is a phenomenal writer.

Janelle Hanchett's memoir I'm Just Happy to Be Here, is coming out May 1 and you can pre-order it here. 

Janelle Hanchett's memoir I'm Just Happy to Be Here is filled with the kind of miraculous writing that occurs when craft meets wisdom meets bravery.

Janelle Hanchett's memoir I'm Just Happy to Be Here is about family and hopelessness and motherhood and tragedy and wonder and salvation and the scars that make us beautiful.

I read Janelle Hanchett's memoir I'm Just Happy to Be Here, in one sitting and then I read it again and you can pre-order it here. 

Guilty, Party of One

Me: Hey! Did someone eat part of the red throw blanket?!

Mr. Rosenberg: Sorry, yeah. I did.

Nothing Broken

Just a sprain. "Just." And a skinned knee and an EXTRA skinned arm. All from running down the sidewalk. One tree root in the path and blammo - no baseball for a week. Or two. Or.

Smacksy Sunday Links

Real friends need not dazzle.

Why teenagers become allergic to their parents.

Self-care suggestions for when it all feels like too much.

A lovely 300 square foot studio.

Best small space living on Instagram. #readtealeaves is my longtime favorite.

And giving the kitten a little help up the stairs.

Happy Sunday. 

Smacksy Saturday Photo: 70 Pound Lap Dog

My POV, most of the time. (He thinks he's tiny. He's very, very not tiny.)

TGIL

It's been a long crazy week. But this face is handsome. And also crazy.

Thursday Night

A two hour game followed by a two hour practice. It's cold. It's windy. It's late. They still play. I love baseball.

Positively Reptile

Now that the weather is warmer, when I open the front door in the afternoon, this guy is waiting for me. Today we had another of our epic staring contests. I'm a champion star-er from way back, and yet he beat me again. He's a tough customer, this one. His name is Hamish Steplizard. Hamish has been most ill-tempered since he gave up cigarettes. (Lucky Strikes, he always broke the filter off.) He's no rummy, but he's been known to toss back a tall, cool one of an evening. On Saturdays, he's an old timey, bare-nuckle boxer. Oh, Hamish Steplizard, you rakish cad. I'll stare you down yet. 

Poetry

The woods are lovely, dark and deep...
Robert Frost

Look at that fat squirrel, Mom! Or maybe it's a beaver? Do they have beavers here? Like, fat ones? Or a weasel? I don't really know what those look like but maybe. Or? I'm going to go with fat beaver with a squirrel tail. Yeah, that's totally what it is.
Robert Rosenberg

Natural Architecture

Last week, I stood inside a hollow, fallen sequoia tree and took this photo out of a natural "window." Then, I turned around and fell down an inside the hollow, fallen sequoia tree natural "stair." Perhaps the hollow, fallen sequoia tree should consider growing a natural "handrail." I'll see myself to the suggestion box.

Smacksy Sunday Links

Good Morning.

How to know it's April. 

I am a prisoner of my own vanity.

The secret art deco apartment hidden inside Radio City Music Hall.

Now I want stromboli. 

Live migration maps. 

And parakeet brothers having a full conversation.

Happy Sunday.

Smacksy Saturday Photo: I Miss My Tree

Total tree hugger.

Souvenir

Thanks to this gal (guy?), my Friday smells almost as good as my last Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

It Was Wow

The last few days we were in Sequoia National Park and it was incredible. We were surrounded at all times by ridiculous majesty. There was not much actual wifi and I could only make sporadic contact with the outside world which was pretty okay. I was unable to post on my blogging platform so my friend Laurie was nice enough to go into my deal and post my stuff for me because nature is nice and everything but I was not willing to break my post-every-day-for-eight-years-and-eleven-months blogging streak.
And yes, I hike in a dress. Of course I do.

All Right, Already

Earth, she's such a show off. 

Surprise

I look up into the branches and find myself crying. This is astonishing beauty.

Mountains and Trees and Rosenbergs

Yesterday we hugged nice people and ate delicious snacks. Today we drove into a cloud. Tomorrow we'll see the world's largest tree. So far, April is outstanding.

Smacksy Sunday Links

How to talk to your kids about gender-nonconforming people.

Ways to help the homeless. This is written specifically for Los Angeles but many ideas could translate to anywhere people need help.

Living small. I get this.

Every decision my kids made me make in a day.

This house please.

The mad, mad love of Man Ray and Lee Miller.

And baby bunnies.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter Sunday.