If thoughts were clouds…what would these say?
As I cleaned up the garden from leaves and branches and other debris, I looked up and snapped a photo of the very last of the clouds from that atmospheric rain event that brought us four+ inches of rain in a short period of time.
It’s warm and the sun is drying out the soggy earth.
I have a million seashells, well maybe not actually ONE MILLION, but I have a lot. Some are big, some small; many are so beautiful they’re lovingly displayed on shelves. To me, they’re all enchanted.
During the torrential rain when it was stupidly dangerous to venture out and I was forced to allow my leg to heal, I decided it was the perfect time to dust and rearrange my enchanted treasures.
In the process of relocating one of the seashells, I noticed there was what seemed to be paper stuck deep inside the cavity and that piqued my curiosity.
What was it?
A treasure map? A love note? Jewels?
Tweezers were necessary to extract whatever it was, and when I uncrumpled two pieces of thin yellow paper, I discovered THIS:
It appears to be a receipt from the Chong Hua Hospital pharmacy. It doesn’t say anything else that I can decipher. Google reports that this hospital is located outside of Cebu City in the Philippines.
Crazy, right? From the Philippines? Why was it in a seashell? How did it get there? How did it get HERE?
There was no date, no name, no treasure map, no smuggled diamonds, no love letter.
You can 1000% believe that I’ve peered inside every other seashell around here but they’re all devoid of any surprises.
The mystery remains…
Sorry for the typo.
I meant to say my Giant Monstera is my soulmate. I certainly should have done a better job of proofreading…my bad.
This guy is the cause of my freak injury. I know I should hate him for it, but he’s so beautiful, especially when backlit by the sun.
I can’t help but love the source of my trauma, my pain.
You can’t really see it in this photo, but the reason why I raced down the stairs in slippery socks (and fell HARD) was to get the Amazon package that contained the moss poles to help my BFF climb to new heights.
When we first met (at Trader Joe’s) and fell in love, he whispered to me that a little support would make him happy. Since I love to oblige, it was an easy request to grant, however, this proclivity of mine set the stage for me to become irrevocably injured.
Deep wounds take a long time to heal, but my love for this Giant Monstera will last forever. Pretty soon I’ll need taller poles and more support because he’s growing and thriving under my care.
Love hurts, but isn’t he gorgeous? My monster(a), my soulmate.
Update on my injury: Stitches came out yesterday (after two weeks) but were replaced by a dozen Steri-strips to help the eight-inch gash finish healing, which it is, but at a snail's pace, probably because I'm not a very patient patient. I'm a much better caregiver. The recommendation was no strenuous activity for at least two more weeks or it'll open up again and I'll need more stitches and the doc threatened me with an aircast to immobilize my leg. "Threatened" might be a SLIGHT exaggeration, but that's how I interpreted her words...
Even while it rains, my early morning view from an east-facing window was otherworldly and spectacular.
No filters or editing, just a landscape filled with rain, the break of day, and a sun who continues to rise and shine, no matter what.
There might be an inspirational message here about the indomitable will to survive in adversity or it’s simply a sunrise. Either way, it brings joy and gratitude on the first of February.
Today’s Full Wolf Moon mood…
I heard a whisper
Coming from the trees
And, in that moment
I was gone
Gone away
To return, to where I’d come from.
A little Poem by Athey Thompson
Taken from A Little Pocket Book of Poems by Athey Thompson
Photo credit to Enchanted Seashells of magical tree at Big Sur
Looking through old photos again, I recall this was my thrilling first actual sighting of a lenticular cloud phenomenon. I thought it was Mt. Rainier, but my son, the original Angel Boy, corrected me and said it was Mt. Adams.
It really does resemble alien spacecraft or could belong on an episode of Lost in Space, right?
Some other nicknames for lenticular clouds include “cloudships,” “clouds of heaven,” and “lennies.” They also have a fancy scientific name: Altocumulus lenticularis.
“Danger, Will Robinson!” Maybe the Robinson family stayed away long enough and they’re on their way back to planet Earth. The entire landscape looks otherworldly.
Although there is no significant weather produced by a lenticular, their presence often foretells snow in the next 24-48 hours. Regardless, they’re a good warning sign of an approaching weather front and sometimes a big snowstorm.
Whether it’s Mt. Rainier or Mt. Baker or Mt. Adams, it’s absolutely spectacular!
Yay for window seats!
A few photos to memorialize January 2024.
This is my favorite, a swan pedal boat on Agua Hedionda Lagoon. It’s an activity high on the list when the Angels visit this summer. Doesn’t that look like a lot of fun?
Now I’m standing on a path with a view of the trestle bridge and a peek of a blue Pacific ocean. Do any locals know my specific location? I bet not, ‘cos it’s a secret.
After walking all the way around the lagoon, this is a look to the east and a very low tide…
If you block out the electrical poles and the road, it’s easy to transport yourself back in time to when this land was the home of the indigenous Kumeyaay Indian Nation.
This is where they lived, fished, gathered berries, wove baskets, and buried their families. They lived in small family groups which had to move frequently to find new sources of food and water. Each clan wintered in a sheltered valley and migrated into the mountains in the spring.
It’s sacred land and should stay that way in perpetuity.
I was at a free expo a couple months ago and grabbled a package of forget-me-not seeds. I tossed them in a planter and forgot about them until today.
This is their first flowering!
Forget-me-nots symbolize true love, fidelity, and respect. It’s also associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and has (weirdly) been adopted as a symbol by the Freemasons.
Germans coined the most common name used for this flower, das Vergissmeinnicht, because of the myth of two lovers who first saw the bright blue flowers as they walked along the Danube River. The man retrieved the flowers for the woman but was swept away by the river. As he floated away, he told her not to forget him.
Whether the story is true or not, it’s certainly made the forget-me-not a lasting symbol of remembrance.
Myosotis sylvatica readily reseeds, so I’m hoping to grow more and more in the garden because the blue is so valiantly BLUE and truly unforgettable.
Even though it rained last night, the waves were forecasted to be even BIGGER than yesterday, so I went down to the beach again. The sidewalk was packed with people and cameras and video equipment, all searching for the holy grail of the perfect shot.
I’m disappointed to report that the news was false; the waves weren’t any bigger than yesterday, at least not here. This was definitely not in the ten to twelve-plus range that I had anticipated.
The only surfer I was was one crazy teenager who was determined to surf the blown out waves. I walked out on the jetty to take this video, which wouldn’t have been a smart choice if the waves had been as giant as predicted.
I did spy this giant log, a rare sight on our beach. I wish I could have dragged it home with me, but it was too heavy.
Even though the reality didn’t live up to the hype, it was still beautiful, and now it’s raining again.
This is what it was like down the coast at Swamis.
Happy almost 2024!
I’ve always had red and pink zygocacti, and for some reason, mine bud and bloom several times a year, whether they’re labeled Thanksgiving/Christmas/Easter cactus.
I’ve been seeing other, amazing colors of these flowering succulents. I couldn’t resist this white Schlumbergera that I found at Trader Joe’s for about five dollars. This is her very first flower. Check out the magenta stamen. It’s absolutely stunning. The Chanel-inspired pot was a Daiso treasure.
I’m in LOVE. I can’t wait until all the other buds open.
Do you see that double bud? It’s ridiculously easy to make me happy.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 