Shaunna's Soliloquies

Of Life and Loss

I've been a bit bummed out the past couple days. My sister and her family lost their dog this weekend. He was old, he lived a good life, and I mourn him as a beloved family member.  (For an outstanding story regarding him, go here.)

I didn't get to see him that often (the problem with long-distance familia), but he remembered me whenever I was there. And in my mind he  will forever be running on those favorite beaches on the North Shore, before his arthritis got to be too painful for him to enjoy them any longer. Chasing the sand crabs, enjoying the sunshine and his people while running about with that doggie grin upon his face.

I'm sure it hit home even more since my own pet is just a couple years younger (particularly with the health scare we experienced this past year), but when all's said and done that's neither here nor there.

There's been a loss that I mourn, and right now my thoughts and love are with my sister's family.

Wish I Was There

(and not on the rodent wheel...)

Ring of Fire

My my my, here we go, déjà vu all over again. For the past few days I've tried to accomplish a brisk pace upon the rodent wheel while mesmerized by the ring of wildfire surrounding the community of Santa Barbara directly to the north.

As I've gone into before, it's a place that's always been very near and dear to me.  I live in Ventura (which even on its best days is poor man's Santa Barbara) so there's marathon local news coverage of  the disaster, as well as the ominous reminder by the smoke that hugs the horizon.

They're saying that over 30,000 people are evacuated, with another 28,000 on alert to skedaddle when notified. It's hard to wrap the mind around the magnitude. The possibility that a shift in the wind could bring the flames roaring down numerous canyons, and that the entire town may be in its way as it races on its natural path to the ocean is more than surreal.

While my sympathies are entirely with the homeowners snared by the capriciousness of the forces in nature, I also mourn for the other losses that occurred. The other nightmare night when the sundowners roared down Mission Canyon the Botanical Gardens were hit, and I heard the redwood grove is gone. It was more than kind of nice to be able to drive a half hour north and go for a stroll in a redwood grove when I was missing northern California. Gone baby gone. Toast.

So now the city is surrounded by a ring of fire, on the ridges, in the canyons. They say Montecito to the south is vulnerable, and the community of Goleta to the north. As well as the city proper in between.

The news this morning is also stating that the Painted Cave area is vulnerable.  As you can see from the picture to the right, the beauty of the area is more than impressive, and it's a sad fucking shame. (If you want a bit of history of Painted Cave, go here.)

Hopefully the unexpected  gloom this morning is providing a respite that will have a positive effect before it warms up later in the day and the predicted afternoon winds kick up again.

Meanwhile, let's give a listen to Adam's rendition of a song that just seems to fit:

Idle Chatter

The past couple weeks I've been trying to adjust to a major lifestyle change... jumping back on the rodent wheel of keeping a 8 to 5 schedule. It's been a while, and it's an adjustment. I try to keep a glass half full instead of half empty attitude,  but to tell you the truth the enormity of the change in routine as well as retaining all the new information has left little time for anything else.

It reminds me of when I was a kid and jumping into a pair of jump ropes that were going along at a fairly fast clip, and why I liken it to the rodent wheel. Once you make that seamless jump in, and keep the pace without faltering, it isn't quite so overwhelming. But until then...

Meanwhile, I'm now out and about amidst the populous just in time for the threat of a pandemic.  For reasons I don't feel like elaborating on I'm a complete germaphobe, and the local news does little to ease my paranoia. I'm not particularly scared of the flu per se, it doesn't seem at this point to be virulent, but the official reaction does little to soothe paranoia. The health department swoops in and closes any school (so far) that has even one case. Not soothing in the least, to put it mildly.

So I've turned to pop culture as a means to tune out and not partiularly think, and luckily for me at this particular juncture in time the current season of American Idol has me enthralled.

I know, I know. I've always distained reality TV - anathema to well written and well crafted shows - but this particular season of Idol sucked me in. Of course, this is no doubt due to the outstanding talent of Adam Lambert. I've found myself looking forward each week to his performance, and I'm in complete agreement with Ann Powers at the LA Times. He's an amazing talent (i.e., that Mad World rendition), as well as the variety of clips and demos to be found on YouTube.  And now the iconic rocker Slash joins in the chorus of Adam kudos. That boy has an amazing voice, but even more he can entertain.

I could wax plaintively on the state of society where an artist of this caliber needs to go on a televised talent contest to attain an audience... but I won't.

It's late, and I need to get a good night's sleep before hopping on that rodent wheel.