scorrice's photostream on Flickr.
Today's hike at Portuguese Bend. Got there with great fog and walked out in sunshine. Took the Ishibashi trail, Rim trail, and main trail. Saw a scorpion and gave water to a thirsty lizard.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
15 Month Me is the Same as 42 Year Old Me!
My mother sent me a package of AWESOME yesterday.
In it was a folder with pictures of my son that survived Katrina and 2 yellow hand-written pages describing me as a baby at 15 months and 17 months.
Some things have changed, like my absolute love for a hot bath, but a few folks who know me well know I still climb things.
In it was a folder with pictures of my son that survived Katrina and 2 yellow hand-written pages describing me as a baby at 15 months and 17 months.
Some things have changed, like my absolute love for a hot bath, but a few folks who know me well know I still climb things.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
True Stories, Traveling and Noticing
Just downloaded True Stories by the Talking Heads. It's been one of my favorite movies for several years now. In one of the last sentences of the movie, David Byrne talks about how he likes to travel to places so that he can "forget". That, in another place, he notices the color of paper, how people walk.... I understand that feeling completely. I do the exact same thing. I watch the clouds. I notice the neon signs. I hyper-focus on the accents. Each trip is a sensory overload until I can attenuate.
I think my "noticing" is enhanced by my being a military brat as a child. In order to move through an environment with as little friction as possible, it helps to assimilate into the culture quickly. Doing that means noticing everything. One behavioral psychologist called it the "unwritten curriculum". Learning it meant fitting in or being conspicuously different.
When I moved here in Southern California, I noticed several things right away. People don't tend their own lawns - someone is paid to do this. Teens wear black in the middle of scorching summers. Folks drive recklessly fast on certain freeways. There is an unwritten 2-cars-can-turn-left-on-a-red-light rule during peak traffic hours and no one will honk at you. Small things like this make up the sum total of a place's personality.
I will be traveling to Washington in a few days. I used to live there. The last time I visited after I moved away, I was flooded with memories. The feeling was a swimmy, blurry, and sweet feeling. The second time I went back I felt like I never left and just picked up where I left off. I am wondering if this next trip will bring a more "home again" feeling. We'll see.
I think my "noticing" is enhanced by my being a military brat as a child. In order to move through an environment with as little friction as possible, it helps to assimilate into the culture quickly. Doing that means noticing everything. One behavioral psychologist called it the "unwritten curriculum". Learning it meant fitting in or being conspicuously different.
When I moved here in Southern California, I noticed several things right away. People don't tend their own lawns - someone is paid to do this. Teens wear black in the middle of scorching summers. Folks drive recklessly fast on certain freeways. There is an unwritten 2-cars-can-turn-left-on-a-red-light rule during peak traffic hours and no one will honk at you. Small things like this make up the sum total of a place's personality.
I will be traveling to Washington in a few days. I used to live there. The last time I visited after I moved away, I was flooded with memories. The feeling was a swimmy, blurry, and sweet feeling. The second time I went back I felt like I never left and just picked up where I left off. I am wondering if this next trip will bring a more "home again" feeling. We'll see.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Frog Man Travelling
My son just flew from LA to NYC and grabbed a connecting flight all by himself. I am so impressed.
When did he get that old?
When did he get that old?
Friday, June 24, 2011
In the drink.
I just spent the last 3-4 days in Pensacola, FL getting dunked in the BIG DRINK for training. I enjoyed it immensely. My body is tired beyond belief and I still feel the motion of the waves when I look down at my keyboard for any amount of time. I have had 3 hours sleep in the last 48 hours. Thankfully I have a 3 day weekend to recover.
I drove home from work today and was amused at the way we reservists have to do amazing things one day and resume a normal life the next.
I drove home from work today and was amused at the way we reservists have to do amazing things one day and resume a normal life the next.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Christmas in the Philippines
Another memory to upload to the net.
When I was a little girl, we lived in Clark AFB, in the Philippines. December was always rainy and warm. I was age 4-6 and just becoming aware that I was a separate entity in the Universe. This led me to relate to my surroundings and make intellectual connections based on those surroundings. In other words I thought the entire world was a lush tropical paradise populated with beautiful dark skinned people. I also thought that winter and Christmas meant lots of rain and typhoons.
And somehow my little mind made this equation:
Green and red decorations + December + Snow = Santa Claus comes.
Therefore,
Green and red decorations + December + NO SNOW = NO SANTA
Now, I can't tell you how horribly anxiety-inducing that thought is to a 5 year old. We were all kids at one time, so I'm sure you can imagine. Thankfully, I was a US Air Force dependent. The DOD is very much aware of the importance depressed dependent children have on Air Force work flow. SO, having moderate air resources available, the AF teamed up with the Big Guy in Red and brought Christmas to my little elementary school.
Imagine a group of little kids lined up and marched to the playground. We gathered at the edge of the field where we saw folks in uniform (many of them our moms and dads) acting busy and serious. Stand here! Don't go there! Accountabilty! What the hell was going on? And then....we heard it. That tell-tale whomp-whomp sound of Huey rotors. The chopper came over the trees and hovered over our little playground. Dirt, straw, grass and pebbles blew all around us as the rotor wash created this turbulent micro universe where every eye was focused on the line that dropped from the Huey. Every man, woman and child watched as Santa himself rappelled like an Air Assault master out of the chopper and landed on the field to roaring applause.
What little kid would ever forget that?
When I was a little girl, we lived in Clark AFB, in the Philippines. December was always rainy and warm. I was age 4-6 and just becoming aware that I was a separate entity in the Universe. This led me to relate to my surroundings and make intellectual connections based on those surroundings. In other words I thought the entire world was a lush tropical paradise populated with beautiful dark skinned people. I also thought that winter and Christmas meant lots of rain and typhoons.
And somehow my little mind made this equation:
Green and red decorations + December + Snow = Santa Claus comes.
Therefore,
Green and red decorations + December + NO SNOW = NO SANTA
Now, I can't tell you how horribly anxiety-inducing that thought is to a 5 year old. We were all kids at one time, so I'm sure you can imagine. Thankfully, I was a US Air Force dependent. The DOD is very much aware of the importance depressed dependent children have on Air Force work flow. SO, having moderate air resources available, the AF teamed up with the Big Guy in Red and brought Christmas to my little elementary school.
Imagine a group of little kids lined up and marched to the playground. We gathered at the edge of the field where we saw folks in uniform (many of them our moms and dads) acting busy and serious. Stand here! Don't go there! Accountabilty! What the hell was going on? And then....we heard it. That tell-tale whomp-whomp sound of Huey rotors. The chopper came over the trees and hovered over our little playground. Dirt, straw, grass and pebbles blew all around us as the rotor wash created this turbulent micro universe where every eye was focused on the line that dropped from the Huey. Every man, woman and child watched as Santa himself rappelled like an Air Assault master out of the chopper and landed on the field to roaring applause.
What little kid would ever forget that?
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