The Festival of Freedom and Spring

The festival of Passover is upon us. For those who observe Jewish law stringently, it means a lot of cleaning and switching dishes and shopping and cooking. For those who observe less stringently, it may mean some of those things, down to picking up a bottle of kosher wine or a bunch of flowers on your way to the Seder.

But as we are making matzah ball soup by the gallon, dealing with a kosher-for-Passover brownie mix, or setting the table for 22 guests, it's a good time to remind ourselves that Passover is the holiday of freedom, and the celebration of Paschal lamb and unleavened bread. But it's also the festival of spring. Wear something bright and cheery, notice the wildflowers on the hillsides, and sing words from Song of Songs - "for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing is come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."

California Does It Again

California gets knocked around for a lot of, shall we say, off the beaten path behaviors.  The state deserves the saying, "Everything loose in the country eventually rattles its way to California."  We've given the world Governor Moon Beam and EST, vegan restaurants, the Governator, and our amazing ballot initiatives which allow any cause with enough signatures to get on the state ballot.  That process has its ups and downs and generally the downs far out number the ups as evidenced by Proposition 8 and the yes you can, no you can't, well maybe some of you can get married or stay married outcome.
Now we here in La La Land have an opportunity to raise the edgy bar a lot higher because on the November ballot will be an opportunity to legalize the sale of a tiny bit of marijuana and the growing of a few marijuana plants in our homes or backyards.
Yay California.  This is a wonderful ballot initiative.
Here's why.

People are already buying marijuana.  If said sale becomes legal the state can impose a sales tax and possibly boost the economy of our steadily sinking financial ship.
An additional advantage is that lately the people in this historic laid back state have been pretty tense what with twelve per cent unemployment, massive foreclosures, and property values so low it's hard to even give away a house.  People will have an opportunity to legally return to being laid back.
But here's the most important reason marijuana should be legalized in California.  The rest of the country needs a good laugh and this will provide that much needed national dose of dopamine.
See?
It's a win/win situation.
I can't wait.

Scraps the Cat Goes to the Vet

I'm used to taking The Family Dog to the vet. No problem. He gets in the back of the car, looks out the window until we get there, and is as joyously enthusiastic about being at the vet as he is about being anywhere else.

It must be close to twenty years since I have had to take a cat anywhere in a car and it has been five or six years since Scraps the cat had to get in a car. The convergence of the two was not ideal. She yelled. She squawked. She hollered. She bellowed. I tried to turn on the radio to drown her out, but I couldn't take the combined noise level. It took about twenty minutes to get to the vet and I was a nervous wreck by the time we got there. The vet put a little catnip and some treats on the examining table to help Scraps feel at home. That was hospitable, but what about me? I could have used a nice glass of Chardonnay and a piece of chocolate, myself.

Daddy Was A Cowboy

Forty years ago today my father, at the age of fifty-eight, died.
From him I learned to treat all people - regardless of their station in life - with equal dignity and respect.  He also taught me one winter day as the snow fell outside the tack room's open door to repair a saddle horn using two threaded needles instead of just one.
He tipped his hat to women and listened with reverence to the seemingly pointless stories of the many eccentric characters who wandered into our ranch lives.  He played the harmonica and loved to sing.
He married the love of his life.  Together they rode the open ranges of Arizona until fences forced them to settle down.
In the only letter he ever wrote me, he urged me to never forget that I was an Arizona ranch girl raised on galloping horses with my hair flying freely in the wind.
I haven't, Daddy.  And I won't.
Ira Franklin Walker - His memory is a blessing.

For Lo The Winter's Gone

And the time has come to eat outside.

Here's my suggestion for a first day of Spring get out of the house wherever you live light meal:  wine and cheese and plenty of time to enjoy both.

The California Temecula valley has amazing wine.  My first day of Spring choice today is the 2007 Estate Zinfandel from the Wilson Creek Vineyard because it's important to remember that we can't always drink their Almond Champagne.  And the cheese? Cotswold and Gouda.
The wine and the cheese are easier to come by than the time.  Sometimes we just have to declare time to sit and savor and feel the change from day to evening and from winter to spring.
Today might be a good day to start claiming our most precious and most fleeting resource -- time.
Take it with or without the wine and cheese.
After all, they will keep.
Time will not.

Okay. I Did It Again

I finished another Patricia Cornwell novel featuring the indomitable Kay Scarpetta.
The lives of the central characters have become even more outlandish, the plot all the more predictable, and the writing -- well, must I even comment?

And yet how can I call this writing horrible if I can't put the book down.  Of course a more complex question is -- Why am I so drawn to these characters?
Clearly I'm addicted and my family enables my addiction.  They give me these books as gifts.  Of course, I beg them to do so and yet they cannot seem to recognize my shameful addiction.
The good news is that I can only read as fast as the books are published.  The bad news is that they seem to be published at an alarming rate.  They are the gerbils of books.  They just keep reproducing.  At this point I'm only one book behind having no more to read.  Of course, by the time I read that final book Cornwell will have published a dozen more.  I do have my boundaries, though.  I refuse to watch the television program or the movie based on the character.  Or at least I think I refuse.  On the other hand, perhaps I really do have no shame.
At any rate, if you want to share or just explore my shame, read 'Scarpetta'.  You will probably regret the decision but at least I won't feel alone.

I Want My Hour Back, Ben

We've got Benjamin Franklin to thank for daylight saving time -- for our gained and lost hours -- for sleeping past Sunday morning appointments -- for all that stuff we experience twice a year when we set the clocks forward or backward.
So, thanks for nothing, Ben.
Here's what happened.  While he was an American envoy to France, Benjamin Franklin (who, by the way, gave us the pithy saying Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.) suggested that the folks in France could save on candles if they got up earlier.  And one thing led to another.
Messing with time isn't anything unusual.  We've been doing it for as long as -- well, the day is long.
None of this manipulation has even come close to solving the real problem.
No matter what we do to slow it down, time still flies.
So, Ben, give me back my hour.