Speeding Weenies

As I was driving home from the doctor's, I saw the Oscar Meyer WeinieMobile on the freeway. Please do not ask me wny this was such a momentous occasion for me. A very wise man (my husband) once told me that every person is allowed a certain number of idiosynchrasies that seem totally inconsistent with their character; beyond that, those people would be considered "a little funny." For instance, I have no connection with Oscar Meyer or any of their products. In fact, I do my best to avoid eating hot dogs.
My irrational and unfounded fear of cows and my many other personal quirks may have pushed me over the limit of the allowable number, and into the "a little funny" category.

Addendum

In my previous post, I said I was raised on the highways and byways of California. True as this is, it could be more thorough. I also travelled along the air currents in a small plane, and along the waterways in a sailboat. I was also chaffeurred to and froam kindergarten on the back of a motorcycle. I know the gears are always spinning in my head, but my body is also in a perpetual state of motion, either on my recumbent trike, walking my dog around the neighborhood, kayaking in one place or another, or driving through the desert or along the coast with my dearest husband.

Allow Me To Explain

"Desert Juniper" . . . where to start? Being born in Southern California, and raised in an RV while travelling the highways and byways of this great state, I fell deeply and madly in love with the desert. (FYI, I also love dessert.) Then there's Juniper. My wonderful grandfather called me Juniper, and I came to understand later in life that a juniper plant is a species that thrives in the desert. Mind you, all this love of the desert does not in any way negate my instinctive need for the sweet caress of the Pacific waters. Assuming youv'e read my previous posts, you'll know that I am the proud captain and crew of a very worth sea-faring vessel, which is my grandiose way of saying that I have a kayak.

To Faithful Readers

I have not posted in a few days, and there are several reasons. One is that I don't know if anyone in the wide world is reading my simple and entertaining musings on life (i.e., this blog). Another reason I haven't written is that I have been grocery-shopping (that takes more time than you can imagine!). My final reason for not writing more is that I am reading Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, and the book is roughly as thick as my head. (It's a big book.)

Pre-Posties

In a previously recorded ceremony, the prestigious Most Grammatical award was presented to "For The Love of Grammar."

The Posties

Living so close to Hollywood, I thought it only fair and proper to hold an awards ceremony for my posts, to offer the posts the honour and distinction they deserve as individual posts who come together despite all color and race boundaries to make up one fascinating blog. Each and every post is essential to the nature and structure of the blog. Each present a different but necessary quality (like spiritual gifts in the church), and so it is now my great honour and priveledge to present The Posties!
First, to the funniest post, "A Sensible Toad."
On to the most informative post, the award goes to "Coral Reefs."
For most philosophical, "Benefits of the Blog"!!
The most puzzling and quizzical post goes to "Visions of the Blog."
For most truth in a post, "Good News of Great Joy."

Coral reefs

I have recently been informed that I have a small but loyal readership, and to them (or to her), I feel an obligation to my blog. I have the INHD channel on my TV, (high definition shows that were originally made for IMAX theatres), and I saw a fascinating and beautiful show the other night called, "Equator". The focus of the show was coral reefs and the fish that protect, and are protected, by them. Sea anemones, for instance, sting a majority of fish, but the clownfish (like Nemo), actually swim among the stingers to become immune, and live in and near that anemone from then on and is protected by the anemone while protecting it. The clownfish live in groups, and when the female dies, the male actually CHANGES SEX and becomes a female. Then there are cleaner fish with very pointy noses (like Dory), who eat the parasites right off these huge manta rays. The small fish even swim right into the mantas' mouth to get parasites. This is good eating for the cleaner fish, and a day at the spa for the mantas, getting the parasites removed. Another symbiotic relationship exists between digging shrimp and gobi fish. The shrimp, who are all sight impaired, dig a nice hole for the fish to live in while the fish doesn't do any work except to stand guard and warn of any predators. One of the most interesting facts I learned is the way these corals "mate"-some release eggs, others release sperm, and somewhere in time and tide, the egg will get fertilized, and VOILA!-a totally new hybrid coral.

For The Love of Grammar

I love reading. I love writing. I love spelling words correctly. I love to go into a battle of wits well-armed with witty words. I read a quote today from Martha Brockenbrough that, "Bad grammar is the intellectual equivalent of spinach in your teeth." I confess that I am a grammar-and-spelling snob. I routinely competed in, and won, spelling bees in elementary school. I still remember one particular bee where I lost on the word "aquarium". I've never forgotten that, and whenever I feel inadequate, I remind myself that I can spell "aquarium" now. I was recently raving to a beloved and like-minded relative about the great literary qualities of Limony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Her response was positive, agreeing with me, for she too, appreciates "irony, wit, and good grammar!"
Having said that, I will quote another friend who wears a shirt that says, "Bad spellers of the world, UNTIE!!"

The A-bug won Again!

I was excited to ride 13 miles on the 13th. I love the bike paths, being outside seeing the sky and mountains. My dog was on my lap for most of the journey. How is that possible, you say?? I ride on a recumbent trike. There are three wheels, and a low, laid-back seat. I would compare it to pedalling a lounge chair. Both the dog and I love the sun on our faces and the wind in our hair.
That was not the first time in recent history that I have been bitten by the adventure bug. Inspired by Rat from The Wind in the Willows, sho says, "There is nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats", I talked a dear relative into going for a short paddle around the marina in our little kayaks. I find that Adventure Bug can be very potent, and will win over the rational Sensibility Bug nearly every time.

Collections and recollections

I am now collectiing illustrations by Susan Wheeler, creator of Holly Pond Hill, a delightful woodland community of small creatures inhabiting tree trunks and riverbanks. "It's a very happy, uncomplicated world where the love of the Lord abides."
I was reading in a marvelous book of animal facts that a hibernating dormouse, curled up into a tight little ball, can be rolled across the floor and remain sound asleep. A hibernating marmot's heart will continue to beat for ten hours after his brain and spinal cord have been completely removed. A good many birds sleep standing on one leg. The Lord, the Creator of both humans and animals, is absolutely amazing!

For the readers

For the sake of any friend, foe, or stranger who takes or makes the time to read my thoughts, I thank you for your patience and your interest, (or, more likely I thank you for reading my ramblings despite having come across my blog accidentally, while actually searching for "desert" or "juniper" or something else entirely unrleated.) However you came to be here, make yourself at home and enjoy the surroundings. One thing I especially enjoy about this business of blogging is the anonimity-you don't know if I'm black, white, purple, or polka-dotted . . . and I'm not going to tell you.

A sensible toad

In The Wind in the Willows, Toad's friends, Rat, Mole, and Badger, see that Toad is foolishly spending too much effort and money on his beloved motorcars, so they decide to hold an intervention for Toad, doing whatever it will take to make him a sensible toad. Drastic measures must be taken on that fateful day when the friends come to rescue Toad. He will not be talked into any rational behavior, and he is eventually locked in his room and guarded. Toad's friends had recognised that he had gone beyond that allowable limit of making a fool of himself, to the point where he was now bringing shame and embarrassment to all the animals in the district.
Now that I have been officially labelled as a computer geek and a blogaholic, I am in fear of going beyond the allowable limit of foolishness and geekdom to the point of needing an intervention or having to check myself into the Betty Ford clinic. Maybe I can avoid that trauma by simply leaving town and taking a hiatus from this addictive blog of mine. I will skeedaddle tomorrow, and see if I can cope.

Good News of Great Joy

I do not and will not endorse any products or links here on my blog, and I have no agenda-hidden or otherwise-, but I will say that I love Jesus Christ and thank God for His many kindnesses to me. I believe God reguires righteousness from us, righteousness that can only be obtained if we repent from our naturally sinful ways and earnestly seek the righteousness that God offers us in Christ. I myself seek that righteousness daily, that I might maintain the beautiful relationship I have with my Savior and continue to be dazzled by the kindness, wisdom, and power shown to me daily in the sunrise, blue skies, clouds, rain, sunset, in the moon and the stars, and I will worship Him with all that I am.

Benefits of The Blog

The Blog has helped me to prioritize my life and solidify my ambitions. I will feel completely content with this little life God has given me, and will fell I have made the most of it, if I do, think, read, say, or watch something worth writing about each day. (That doesn't mean I WILL write about it, but I will keep it in mind, and as I lay me down to sleep I can reflect on whether I have done, thought, read, said, or watched anything worth writing about.)

visions of blogs

I awoke with visions of blogs dancing in my head. So many questions, so few answers, my mind is racing. Do I post pictures or force readers to use their imaginations? Should I make my blog a question-and-answer format? Will this be the primary means in which I communicate with my friends-(the friendliest of people, I assure you)? Should I add links to my friends' blogs? Should I take my cute little dog for a walk down to the neighborhood Starbucks? I'm sure I'd like to chill at Starbucks and read a chapter of The Wind in the Willows. Excellent literature!! Of late, King Julian III, self-proclaimed Lord of the lemurs (from Madagascar, Dreamworks pictures), has been much on my mind.
I must now find an amusing way to occupy myself as I await the arrival of my dearest other half from Las Vegas.

First and possibly last entry

I don't really know how I got here, or what to do now. I was just trying to post a comment on a friend's amazing blog (amazing not only because there is a picture of my husband), and suddenly I had my owm blog. I'm sure I will forget about it, and I know very little about the compooper, or personal confuser, so my "blogs" are what are traditionally known as photo albums and journals that sit on my shelf and are immune to blackouts and other bad things that only happen in the cyber-world. HOWEVER, since I AM here, I might as well tell you, whoever that may be-no one, I'm guessing-that I like to read the classics, and that I am the proud owner, captain,AND crew of my very own sea-faring vessel (an Ocean Kayak Venus, bright red), and that I sit at my computer looking at the lava lamp on the desk and I wonder how many average American brains look like the inside of a lava lamp. I am rather amused to have a blog, as I have often philosophized on just what a blog is-my best comparison is that it is like a public journal, for all the world to see.