MONDAY MUSINGS: A SHOT IN THE ARM

 COVID took away the spontaneity of get-togethers  So if this past couple of weeks is a reflection of makeup time, I am in full swing. 

The Happy Bookers, my Wisconsin Book Club, descended upon Arkansas for 6 days.  Starting in Little Rock with one huge bunking party filled with laughs, our first night included dinner at the Flying Fish and strawberry shortcake for dessert at Trio's.

Then we took our tourism to northwestern Arkansas: a snack stop en route for southern fried grizzies and livers before ending up at our spacious suburban AirBnB in Rogers. 

For dinner we were sated by The Railyard's pizza & salad back on their enclosed patio. Thumbs up on all our eateries.

 and a stop for dessert at Trash's  yummy ice cream.  

Their accent wall is a big accent for sure... 

Saturday held the Bentonville's Farmer's Market and some purchases followed by lunch and 

enjoying art at Crystal Bridges Museum, Alice Walton's gift to the people of Arkansas. It's under major construction as another wing is being built...

Last year's silent auction win came to fruition as we enjoyed a book discussion with a wine and appetizer soiree in author Talya Tate Boerner's Fayetteville home.  We heard about how Bernice Runs Away came to be... WE concurred to make the most of our 7th decade.

Sunday morning we headed to architect Fay Jones' Mildred Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista and what a bella vista it was-

We returned to Rogers for a wonderful family-style brunch at Mirabella's Table.

Satisfechas we drove back to the Little Rock with a garden center stop, of course. 

Dinner was home smorgesborg buffet.

It was more serious  business on Monday with the world issue sculpture globes and The Clinton Library ...

We needed sustenance so lunch was at Camp Taco. I love the checks being returned in paper books.

We certainly challenged our servers no matter where we went...

Off to the famous Old Mill...for a little reprieve before an airport trip for one of us. 

Check out those windows.

Dinner was at the Bleu Monkey followed by a raucous game of Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza. These women take their game playing seriously. We laughed so much.

Tuesday am took us to the newly remodeled Delicious Temptations for Breakfast before our last stop together at Central High National Historic Site.

The last one left in the group heading to Oregon got more shopping at the remodeled Arkansas Fine Arts Museum, lunch at Roots, farm to table, and SOMA.

Everybody helped our visit go off without a hitch from coffee makers, picker uppers, extra drivers, organizational mavens, direction givers, being pretty punctual and happy campers. 

The consensus was that it was definitely just what we needed. The right kind of shot in the arm... medicine for the soul!

FOTO FRIDAY: PRETTY AS A PICTURE

 FOTO FRIDAY this week was taken at the Heights Spring Soiree yesterday late afternoon at Tipton & Hurst and its creator of this fantastic charcuterie definitely stole the show from the flowers. 

 

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was FUSED

TBT: LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH HISTORIC SITE

There's one stop that is a must for any of my household guests and the Happy Bookers were no exception. Actually it is thanks to President Bill Clinton who ensured Central High School become a National Historic site under the auspices of the U.S Park system.  It is the only school to have this status.

A special treat is also having a former Central student now a U.S. Park Ranger give the initial introduction to Little Rock Cental High and its message of inequality of public education during Brown vs Brown Public Schools in 1954. Then Governor Faubus called in the National Guard to help de escalate a very volatile situation when nine brave black high students sought an equal education in their own neighborhood.

Note below the poster of the Central Nine who braved the injustice for an equal opportunity for education.

We must still remind our legislators the importance of providing equality in public education for all and to fund it appropriately.

TUESDAY TUNES: A MILLION DREAMS

 An 8 year old surrounded by friends and family, teachers, doctors and fellow patients with brain injuries share A Million Dreams on Britain's Got Talent...  May our world always be fille with dreamers .

A MILLION DREAMS

TUESDAY TUNES REMEMBERING A MASTER

Lee Habeeb remembering Arnold Palmer with a couple stories and a song.

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND

Dedicated also to GOLFERBOY,  the first guy who stole my heart when I first started dating in 2001...  

 FOTO FRIDAY: FUSED

Like life, one never knows how it's all going to turn out...

TBT: SIBLING DAY BROS & FROS

 TBT:One of my favorite sibling birthday celebrations at the Chinese Buffet no less.

My parents always were special in their card and gift giving... we still laugh about this one . When one's Dad is in the sperm banking business we kids always wondered who our parents really were!

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: SURREAL

Forecasted clouds and rain must have chased away the  500K supposed eclipse out-of-town guests to Arkansas.  Restaurants had geared up for all that business but with a no-show, they used social media to notify their patrons they had cooked for the masses to please come patronize their businesses.

Even Sunday the streets were eerily deserted.  Would we really get a glimpse of an eclipse? The 80 degree day was intense heat but when that moon blocked thsun it was incredible how quickly the temp dropped. 

And afterwards the presence of sunlight created an almost surreal lighting.  Was it its absence which intensified color.

 WOW now an eclipse is a lot more impressive than one might imagine. 

TUESDAY TUNES: CHO CO LA TE

TUESDAY TUNES is an oldie but a goodie filled with one of my favorite things... SOUL CONTROL here we go... CHO- CO-LA-TE

CHOCOLATE

MONDAY MUSINGS ABOUT REJUVENATION

My soul was reenergized after spending Friday and Saturday with people of all ages at a lovely bat mitzvah...

That extra energy served me well for refreshing the tired washtubs used for seasonal herbs and also re-painting a set of chairs for the front porch. 

My newly finished screened-in back porch is also shaping up. Poco a poco. 

Do you ever pine for more time and energy?  Due to all these projects, I missed an apparently great Soul Construction class yesterday but am fortunate a friend posted one of the handouts. I think we all can benefit from this outlook regarding age... I can, can you?

"What does it feel like to be old? 

The other day, a young person asked me: - What did it feel like to be old? 

I was very surprised by the question, since I did not consider myself old. When he saw my reaction, he was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question. And after reflection, I concluded that getting old is a gift. 

Sometimes I am surprised at the person who lives in my mirror. But I don't worry about those things for long. I wouldn't trade everything I have for a few less gray hairs and a flat stomach. I don't scold myself for not making the bed, or for eating a few extra "little· things." I am within my rights to be a little messy, to be extravagant, and to spend hours staring at my flowers. 

I have seen some dear friends leave this world, before they had enjoyed the freedom that comes with growing old. 

Who cares if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 in the morning and then sleep until who knows what time?

I will dance with me to the rhythm of the 50's and 60's. And if later I want to cry for some lost love .. .l will!

I'll walk down the beach in a swimsuit that stretches over my plump body and dive into the waves letting myself go, despite the pitying looks of the bikini-wearers. They'll get old too, if they're lucky ... 

It is true that through the years my heart has ached for the loss of a loved one, for the pain of a child, or for seeing a pet die. But it is suffering that gives us strength and makes us grow. An unbroken heart is sterile and will never know the happiness of being imperfect. 

I am proud to have lived long enough for my hair to turn gray and to retain the smile of my youth, before the deep furrows appeared on my face. Now, to answer the question honestly, I can say: -1 like being old, because old age makes me wiser, freer!

I know I'm not going to live forever, but while I'm here, I'm going to live by my own laws, those of my heart. 

I'm not going to regret what wasn't, nor worry about what will be. 

The time that remains, I will simply love life as I did until today, the rest I leave to God. "

Lunyta - in Oldsmar, Florida

FOTO FRIDAY: PLAYING IN THE DIRT

 FOTO FRIDAY Since the watering issue of feeding off the house has been corrected and hooked up with the rest of the sprinkler system station soil and mulch were delivered a week ago. In went the azaleas in one bed and in this bed where only a dead camilia had been now there's a dogwood sapling from my family home and blue hydrangeas.

Neighborhood kids helped me gather stone from all the digging.

and here's how it looks today...

Having fun playing in the dirt....

TBT: LEST YOU FORGET 2016

 TBT: These were posts I posted on this day from 2016 AND you want to bring the guy back? 

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE BRAVE, SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE STRONG

My latest drama series binging called Kaleidoscope inspired this Midweek Musing which truly demarcates the void of a partner to share talking about a show you are watching.  You know sometimes a not so great movie/book gives you a lot more to talk about than if you both really liked it. I thought it was entertaining.

Kaleidoscope is a nonlinear heist story with a revenge plan that is eventually explained with 7 Billion dollars at stake which btw mirrors a real-life 70 billion Manhattan brokerage firm heist with a Stage 4 hurricane aiding the thieves' plans. 8 color-coded episodes are shown in a different order to different viewers. How do they do that?

I personally liked the cast with: Giancarlo Esposito, Paz Vega, Rufus Sewell, Tati Gabrielle, Jai Courtney, Rosaline Elbay, Peter Mark Kendall and Niousha Noor, even if some of the schemes were a bit hokey/ more super power'ish techie style with intricate burglar master plans. I enjoyed being challenged to follow the plot and subplots.

You know me and lines so one poignant touching moment with the adult daughter and father reenacting one of those parent-child affirmation lessons saying "show me where you are brave followed by pointing to their head and delivering the next line " show me where you are strong "and putting their hand on their heart. AW. Even if we don't take away anything else, that might be enough for me. 

SO tell me if you saw it, what did you think?

TUESDAY TUNES: RAINING IN MY HEART

 Boy were you all anxious to hear about the perfect man yesterday! Just as there's no perfect woman this clip of an old Buddy Holly song came across my feed by Blackwater Draw. I think you'll like it too as sometimes we all have a little rain in our hearts.

RAINING IN MY HEART

LYRICS;

Raining in My Heart

Song by Buddy Holly

The sun is out, the sky is blue
There's not a cloud to spoil the view
But it's raining, raining in my heart

The weather man says clear today
He doesn't know you've gone away
And it's raining, raining in my heart

Oh, misery, misery
What's gonna become of me?

I tell my blues they mustn't show
But soon these tears are bound to flow
'Cause it's raining, raining in my heart

But it's raining, raining in my heart

And it's raining, raining in my heart

Oh, misery, misery
What's gonna become of me?

I tell my blues they mustn't show
But soon these tears are bound to flow
'Cause it's raining, raining in my heart

Raining in my heart
Raining in my heart

MONDAY MUSINGS: THE PErFECT MAN

What a weekend playing in the dirt...  besides the greenhouse and my own yardwork I binge-watched all the reality shows I have missed: the Golden Bachelor, The Bachelor (Joey), and The Farmer Wants a Wife. Not exactly Love at First Sight. Easy on the judgment as there are some definite winner lines.

My favorite line this weekend: "If I can love the wrong man this much, imagine how much I can love the right one."  Ooh.

Get ready I think I found the perfect man. First, he brought me this frozen margarita with the glass dipped in sugar vs salt . It was just what the doctor ordered. But maybe because the server was so easy on the eyes.

And then shortly thereafter he served me a wonderful chicken mole... I think I'm in love.

Watch my perfect man at work. He works at El Portón and loves Mexican music. Here's the video but remember girls I saw him first.

Happy April Fool's Day...

there's no such thing as the perfect man.