We’re a Windy City, too…

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Originally uploaded by merrymaryallegra

Dang, down by the bay (where the watermelon grow…) it gets super windy! Lana and I went down on Sunday to the Chula Vista Nature Center…such a great spot. The view of downtown is unique, at least for me. I rarely see it looking North towards the city…I’m always driving down 5th Avenue towards it.

Coral on Land

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Originally uploaded by merrymaryallegra

This is just an amazing plant. I’m not sure what it is, exactly. It’s succulent. It is all over the Chula Vista Nature Center. What a wonderful spot! Worth the trip, for sure.

Free

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Originally uploaded by merrymaryallegra

Yes, taking photos is a freeing experience for me. As someone commented on my Facebook page (this is my new Facebook profile picture), I look relaxed in this photo. Thanks to the revived freedom from my new camera, I am again able to relax into the world of images.

I’ve found that talking isn’t necessarily my best skill…neither is listening, frankly. Perhaps shutting up, opening my eyes and just documenting visually the world around me will be a more successful way to find truth and balance in life?

Here’s hoping that this relaxed state which Lana captured the other day will remain. I think it will…

Nature’s Ribbon Candy

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Originally uploaded by merrymaryallegra

The newest collaboration in my life is really one that isn’t new at all, it’s me and Lana. So, we’ve had the Nikon D60 for all of 3 hours and have taken 100 photos, 30 of which are decent enough to upload…to see them all, find me on Flickr….though many are still private…until that photo confidence comes back to me. It’s been about 10 years since I’ve made any serious attempt at photography. So, I’m a bit rusty. Lana’s eye, though, in combination with mine, I think will be magic. Check back from time to time to see some of my favorites…or not.

Floral Spirits

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Originally uploaded by merrymaryallegra

This is one of the beautiful flowers from Balboa Park taken today with my new Nikon D60. I also purchased a Nikkor lens, 60mm f/2,8 for that up close ability…weee!! Happy me! Perhaps the blog shall be revived with a new spirit…we shall see how it meshes once Spring Break is over…..

A balancing act…

Wow!  It seems that it’s way too easy to just slip into an imbalanced life.  Keeping work in perspective and ensuring home gets enough time is critical.  That balance is so delicate.  I’m in the throes of trying to get things into a better whack…since they seem out of whack.  Any tips on how to manage an enjoyable, but time consuming job with a pleasant and fulfilling home life are much appreciated!

It’s anti-bully week at school…

In honor of anti-bully week at school, I thought this would be appropriate to post.  It’s a good message for anyone of any age.  Watch your words, they become your thoughts!  (And vice versa.)  Love one another.

Knock it off!

High Density Living

So, we’re in a condo now, not the house.  We share walls on two sides.  We hear virtually nothing from one side, just a single woman.  She’s nice, quiet…to give an example of her thoughtfulness as a neighbor, she uses some silencer device when she practices the violin.

The other wall we share with 5 humans and 3 dogs.  It is a 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath unit.  Crazy crowded!  I can’t believe they all fit.  No wonder there’s so much angsty yelling and loudness that comes from their place.  It could also be that they are all super tired from getting up at 4 or 4:30 am…even on the weekends.  It could also be just that their alarm clock is really annoying…beep, beep, BEEP, beep, beep, BEEP, beep, beep, BEEP…..it goes on for at least 65 BEEPS before it shuts off….and then it only gives them a 6 minute rest before it goes off again….that would make me cranky, too.

 Only one of them works, from what I can tell.  She has about 3 or 58 jobs…the rest merely tend to the homestead.  Being the worker bee for their hive must be tiring…probably a lot of pressure, too.  Being a drone back at the hive, though, that sounds like less fun to me.  I’d savor getting to leave and be outside, among other people.

With 5 humans in an 1100 square foot place, it makes sense that they’d spread out into the common areas of the condo building.  They’ve practically taken over the walkway with their plants, a little kid scooter (they don’t have a little kid), and empty flower pots and cups and….  I suppose it gives at least one or two of them an excuse to be outside….it gives them a reason to not be cooped up in their dark cavern of a home, they’ve got to water and sweep and prune and…just not be inside.

Their living situation reminds me of that tale of a man saying his house is too crowded.  His rabbi says to bring in the cow, the pig, the donkey, the chickens…that it will solve their problem.  The man does.  He goes bonkers with how crowded that is.  He goes back to the rabbi.  One by one, the rabbi tells the man to let an animal go outside.  After awhile, the man realizes that his original living situation isn’t that bad, once the animals are all living outside again.

It surely is different to share walls with others.  It’s been several years since I’ve had to and, while I surely don’t mind sharing a wall with my neighbor to the one side, it’s a challenge to share a wall with the other neighbors.  Their 3 dogs bark a lot, one of the women yells a lot, there’s the morning alarm clock, the door slamming, the laundry, the flushing, the WHISTLING, the smells that emit from their open door and window….I guess it could be worse, I could be forced to live on the other side of the wall that separates us.  No thanks.  I’ll keep the muffled noises and intermittent odors over that any day.

33

I’m 33 now.  In looking at Wikipedia, I’ve learned that 33 is a “Stormer Number” and that is a positive integer n for which the greatest prime factor of n² + 1 meets or exceeds 2n.  

Huh?

Well, it’s special, that’s what I take from it.

So far, yup, it is.  Thirty-three is already a good year.  I like the double digit number.  I can’t really remember 22 or 11, but…I’m sure they were doubly good years.

What I’m looking forward to most is calming down a bit.  I’m not so much growing anymore…well, I’m not shrinking, either, but…I’m savoring the person I am.  On the whole, I’m cool.  (When I don’t get myself wrapped up in myself, that is…and just LIVE.)

Talk to me in a year…we’ll see if I’ve stayed mellow, stayed centered on what’s really important…that’s the goal.  Here’s to another 364 great days of being 33 years old!

Something about people…

People are just cool.  We’re all so different, yet so similar….at the same time.  Weird.  I go about thinking I’m so unique, nobody could be feeling what I’m feeling, thinking what I’m thinking….then I’ll run into someone and realize we’re pretty close to carbon copies…at least on what matters most, what is integral to our humanness.  

We all like to be called by our name.

We all like to be included.

We all like to be cared for and listened to, really listened to.

We all like to have help now and then.

We all like to do things for ourselves…and other people.

We all like to be appreciated…be visited by our friends and folks we like.

We all like to talk with folks we have stuff in common with.

We all wish we could ease the pain of our friends and loved ones.

We all want to people to anticipate our needs, but know that’s not realistic.

We all think (at least at times) that the whole world revolves around our world.

We all need down time.

We all need up time.

We all need to be heard…

Today a former student visited me and it was so great to see how she’s growing into an adult…as a teenager, she’s finding herself.  It reminded me of when I was finding myself…the start of when I was finding myself.  It makes me realize that the mere act of finding yourself…that’s life.  Testing yourself, trying out different ways of being…eventually you find more and more “personality outfits” that feel right, that you wear most often.  Still, though, who we are isn’t fixed, it’s variable.  That variability may change a bit, but overall, the variability is the constant in the lives of each individual.  

Keep varying…don’t stagnate…live, love, laugh…be kind, to yourself and others.