HOLIDAY HAPPINESS IN TWELVE DAYS

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me.....
Cash for a shopping spree.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
2 Utah trips and Cash for a shopping spree.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
3 manicures, 2 Utah trips, and Cash for a shopping spree.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
4 Foot Massages.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
5 recyled earrings.
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
7 days of honey do's...
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
8 bikers riding...
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
9 hikers hiking...
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
10 theatre tickets...
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
11 nights for writing...
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
12 Saturdays to sleep in... and Cash for a shopping spree!

In Tokyo it’s probably raining a cool, drizzling, drip, drip rain that bounces off umbrellas’ like popcorn popping. It cleans and chills the air signaling a change of weather. Here in non seasonal Arizona, it’s still over 75 degrees at mid-day and the sun shines relentlessly upon the parched earth. Each day I have to flip between wearing sandals and short sleeves during the warm daytime and tennis shoes, and hoodies into the cooling nights. Fortunately, there is no need for pantyhose here in the land of the sun. Yet, the other day I yearned for cleansing rain. ‘Good luck on that one’, I said to myself as it dawned on me I could go to a car wash, and I did. I turned off my radio, rolled up the windows and edged into the dark enclosed fake rainmaker. I smiled as the wet drops rolled down around me in a wet rainy room with windows on all four sides. I closed my eyes and pretended that I had been caught in a fall rain shower. I listened as the shush and hiss of the water brushed over the car and quieted my bulging brain. The flowing water flushed out my stresses and rushed them down into the swallowing earth where they dissipated. I relaxed, refreshed by my journey to the rainmaker. The light turned green and my rainmaker stopped. I held onto the vision as I drove slowly through the hot blowing air that blasted the drips away until at last I embraced the desert again. At least now I know where to get my rain therapy!

PUMPKIN PHILOSOPHY 101

Pumpkin this,
Pumpkin that,
Pumpkin on the ground went,
SPLAT!
Okay, so the color orange doesn't bring back sweet memories. It was never a popular color when I was a kid. And in the 70's when people laid it in shag on their floors, I was mystified because I had hair that resembled the color orange and people had always treated me weird, like I wore a perennial Halloween costume.
Of course, I loved dress up and costumes and drama. But the way I was treated at times confused me, because of what I knew to be true about my inner self. "If they could only see!" I would cry on my knees at night. Somehow, I survived the taunts and teases taking the whole experience to mean that I was unique and had a special job to do on this planet.
Pumpkins here,
Pumpkins there,
Pumpkins know that life's not
FAIR.
No matter how a pumpkin is carved, it still is a pumpkin that grew from a seed, on a vine, was picked and purchased and then reborn.
Just like me.
Pumpkins seeds
Pumpkins needs
Pumpkins teach life's made of
DEEDS!