Burrito and Goose Bumps

On our way back home from a trip down south, my husband and I decided to have a quick lunch before heading for the Street Art Festival. The nearest one on our way was Taco Bell. There I ordered a combo of burrito, nacho with cheese, and soda. My husband had a burito supreme, taco and soda. It was early afternoon, but the heat was already beating hard in the valley. The air conditioned fast food restaurant was a relief for our tired souls.

I was so hungry I finished this burrito in a few seconds.

As I was finishing my lunch, music was coming from the ceiling above the restaurant. One song just ended, and a new one was just beginning with a solo guitar introduction. It was that familiar notes played by Neal Schon, the guitar wizard of the Journey. I stopped to listen, held my hand up to silence my husband from his blabbering. Then came the voice of Arnel Pineda singing After All These Years. My goose bumps arose from their dormant state, running from my arm to my nape. It still seems unbelievable that his voice, this man plucked from Manila, would grace the air waves of Southern California. But there it is for the world to hear, Arnel Pineda, the cinderfella, singing his heart out.

He finished his song. And we talked how lucky he is; how his life has changed since then. Hopefully, he won't be like those young entertainers who were into drugs and alcohol. Maybe not as the older members of the Journey have grown older, perhaps wiser, and mellower. They are now sporting short hairdos.

We finished our lunch and headed to the Street Art Festival.

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Click here for the song After All These Years.

Misty morning

Summer is coming to a close; it will be officially over on the 21st of this month. Autumn made a short visit last Friday morning reminding us that in a few days it will be here officially. It came in the form of a cool mist hovering below, covering the whole valley, creeping between trees and houses. Mist to me has a feeling of calmness, of tranquility. In the midst of it I could hear only the sound of the birds chirping, the rustling of leaves falling, the cracking of twigs as I step on them, and the soft gentle drop of a dew falling from a leaf.

Fall here in Southern California, is a sampling of the cold weather, intermittently interrupted by warm weather, and sometimes a heat wave; and it ends with a constant cool weather and then winter begins.


Today we were back to our usual summer warm weather. And it was a clear day ...we could see forever. Hmm...just like the song.

Kick 'em hard.

Of course, it's Nona who gave me this award. She thinks I am a kick ass blogger. :-D Thanks Nona. You are a true friend.

I am to toss this to other kick ass bloggers. Those ones with creativity and originality; ones who are supportive of their blogger friends; ones who inspire and etc. and etc.

I am to choose 5 that I feel are “Kick Ass Bloggers.” I am to:

• Let ‘em know via email, twitter or blog comments that they’ve received an award
• Share the love and link back to both the person who awarded you and back to www.mammadawg.com. Pass it on! To get the code for the image you can go back to mamadawg.com - don’t forget to link up the person who nominated you for the Kick Ass Blogger Club.

I can do all of the above. The problem is if I pick 5 of the hundreds of them the rest will be after my neck. I don't want that to happen. I love all my blogger friends, and, of course, I want them to love me as well. So, instead of plucking 5 names, I'm not going to name any of them. It will be up to them to come and get it. I hope this is fare enough.

Grapes anyone?

They are hanging over my pergola on my patio. There is so much of them I've given some to my friends, but there is still a lot more.

The birds are feasting on them, and some are falling on the ground. If we're not careful we step on them; crush them; and drag the sweet sticky juice inside the house. Which, of course, annoys me no end when my flip-flop sticks on my wood floor. Some people wouldn't even notice something got stuck on their shoes, and they would walk right in the house and leave residue on the floor I have to scrub them. More work for me. Grrrrrr!

I planted it many years ago, this Thompson grapevine. The fruits have to be harvested at the right time, when the color has turned yellowish green, that is when they are sweet. Last year they were the size of peas. This year they are a bit bigger than garbanzo beans. They seem to get bigger as the vine gets older. Perhaps, next year they would be much bigger, just like the commercial ones.

They are small now, but I am enjoying them; munching on them; sharing them with my friends; with the birds; and with the ants.