Halloween Zombies 2019

It seemed this the zombie thing was in this year for Halloween. Both girls (and a few friends) wanted to get ghoulish for Trick or Treat night! Amara was a creepy dolly and Havana was a zombie dentist! With almost no help from Don and I (well Don did drive them across the county to look for outfits to no avail), the girls pulled off a creative and creepy Halloween.

This year, unfortunately, we did not go to a pumpkin patch. It was the first time in 12 years. This saddened my heart. I love Fall and pumpkins. With my being gone in New York, then our trip to Florida, there was not enough time.  At least I was lucky to be in New York with the glorious changing of the leaves and Don brought home several pumpkins to carve. Still I was bummed. Then the night before Halloween, while helping our friends Alex and Aniyah to move, their neighbor gave us two homegrown pumpkins. That lifted our spirits. The Creator provides, even with the most mundane of details!

We returned to the Sycamore by the Bay community to get our sugar loot. This was the girls first Halloween stomping grounds. We went for years before changing up. They don't remember but enjoyed the close housing on flat streets. Along with a couple of friends, they hooked up enough candy to rot a  few teeth! The decorations were great and the night felt more like summer.  Halloween 2019 turned out to be a great success.

Feliz noventa y cinco Cumpleaños

 My beloved grandmother, Melba Sanchez-Lau (or grandma China, as we call her), celebrated her 95th birthday on October 22, 2019. It seemed only yesterday my sisters and I sang Happy Birthday for her 90th. Back then I traveled solo to Miami to celebrate. This year, with the death of my other grandmother in January, along with the ill health of my mom, I knew how important it was for the girls and Don to make the trip. Life is precarious. Our loved ones more important than time and money.  Time with family, even if for a short visit, is priority. With those truths in my heart, over late summer I began to make plans to make sure the four of us would all be there to celebrate this blessed milestone. 

I did not grow up with my bio grandmothers yet I was twice blessed with two incredibly strong, courageous warrior women on both sides of my family, both who overcame many rough patches in their younger lives only to triumph in the later ones. At fifty-one, I have been lucky to have had these women in my life longer than not. Yet being adopted, there are many things about them that I missed out on. For those reasons, whenever I spend time with grandma China I like to inquire about her life and the things she has learned. She had remained consistent over time about the importance of being kind, working hard and having faith. Those things I believe, (along with good genes!) have kept her so healthy and strong for ninety-five years. Grandma lives alone, still cooks and works in her yard daily. She loves Let's Make a Deal, Spanish television and takes good care of herself. At ninety-five, well, she looks decades younger. She is quite simply, remarkable.

I asked grandma at her birthday dinner what her secret was. Her response, "To love everybody" was simple yet profound. I think that is her other secret, to her long life. 

Our Motley Crew!

Mi hermana, Kimberly. 

My two sisters Natalie and Sabrina.

                                                                                               

The Hudson Valley

I had the very good fortune of growing up in the Hudson Valley. I have traveled to many a far flung places on the planet, yet I recognize the gift of the beauty of the Hudson River and the land nearby, where I spent over twenty years of this life. My family left Brooklyn when I was seven and moved just far enough North to enjoy a childhood filled with thick woods, green mossy earth and a moist climate. From the minute we unpacked our car, I bonded deeply with the woods near our home. They became my refuge. When I was on the younger side, the neighborhood kids and I would play, build forts and even ride bicycles through the woods. When I got a older and more mischievous, I'd use the woods to hang out with friends, cut school and do some things that I hope my kids never do (even if  those things are now legal in the state I grew up in and the state we now reside!) 

The Hudson Valley and surrounding areas, they are scared and though no longer my earthly home, I often find myself yearning to touch the ground there, to take in the expansive landscape and peaceful energy. It is also home to the people that I love the most and feel the most connected to. So when I had the opportunity to spend a week there recently, to complete some continuing education requirements, I jumped on it.

The week I spent happened to thankfully land in Fall. I could care if I never saw or touched another snowflake but oh, how I love the Fall. The changing leaves, the crisp but not cold air, the symbolism that the changing of the leaves represent, they touched my heart and soul. In my twenty years in California, I have been back once to see the Fall. I was most grateful to be able to spend a week, first at Bellas (my favorite view in the world is the first photo above, from her kitchen table. Thus I left the glare in the photo) gazing out into the colorful woods and water in the distance and then directly on the Hudson River. A monastic room, with a view of the sacred water, full of history and secrets and the sound of the trains going by were heavenly. 

During my week in New York, my mother (who has been ill) took a turn for the worse. It was beyond stressful. Yet Great Creator had me the perfect spot to sit with the distress and decision making. To be wrapped by colorful woods, that crisp air and people I loved nearby (who came and visited), that was most welcomed, needed and nurturing. At fifty-one years old, the Hudson Valley still provides me with the what I crave; the sacred and the peaceful.

My photos are not great. I really need a course. I have photography school as the only thing on my bucket list. But here are some shots of the Hudson in the Fall.

Pam, who was often a side kick in fun times!

Vincenza & Anita. 

Robyn.

The best friend, Bob. I wonder what he was trying not to see!

Bella's House, View from the yurt.

The Town of Woodstock.  Seeing the vibrant trees made me realize how much I miss the Fall.

My Spiritual Mother Bella.

Izzy, Bell and Janet at her home in Woodstock (on the mt). Izzy, a chief from South Dakota led the sweat lodge. Janet, with her full heart also guided that and much more.

Silly fun at Graymore