WHAT IF?

I am what most people would call a fairly "chipper" person, but once in a blue moon, I do get down in the dumps -- maybe after finding that our latest deer-proofing scheme was all for nought and all my tomatoes got beheaded, or, very often, after reading the newspaper or the latest update on friend Susan's blog Walking Nature Home, where she has been chronicling their battle with her husband's brain cancer.  That's when I find myself stewing about why some good  people get so much bad stuff heaped onto their plates, while many of the most greedy and corrupt seem to be skating off scot-free.  When I get to thinking about all the greedy and corrupt in our country today, that's when I really get blue, because I can't help but wonder, what ever happened to all the passion and idealism of the 60's?  I thought we were going to end war, and change the world!  How did we grow up to become those people, or raise children who thought that way?

Anyhoo, one day not long ago, when I was pondering such things, it occurred to me that our parents and grandparents were probably just as idealistic and determined when they went off to fight their battles, and every bit as discouraged when they looked back years later, and realized how little had changed.  It got me to thinkin', what if...

What if, we weren't really meant to "fix" the world?  What if it's unfixable?  What if it was set up more as a test, or an obstacle course, and the point is not whether any one generation manages to achieve utopia, but rather how we perform as individuals -- how we deal with whatever comes our way?  That in turn, got me to thinking about my son's videogames.

Yeah, I know, that's a crazy segue, but think about it.  There are millions of stars and planets out there, and who knows how many universes.  What if... our creator made different worlds where he could try out different systems, and some worked out better than others?  Maybe ours -- this "free will" system -- turned out to be more of a beginner level planet, but if you do the best job you can possibly do here,  with handling whatever this "game" throws at you, then perhaps you get to "level up".  If not, you might have to start over at the beginning.  That would make me feel a whole lot better about all those wanker bankers.

Well, as you can see, my mind can run amok and go to some very strange places when I turn it loose to wander, but I kind of liked this one.  I found it somehow comforting, to think that perhaps the world wasn't meant to be fixed, it was just meant to be endured, with as much grace, integrity, gratitude, and appreciation of whatever small blessings come our way, as possible.

"What is clear is this: I'll do a better job of loving him -- and taking care of myself -- if I let that need to control go and accept that I'm not in charge of anything except how I respond to whatever life brings." ~ Susan Tweit, Walking Nature Home

ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?

Once again, Wimberley has strengthened my belief in synchronicity--has proven to me that, if you only pay attention, you will often be led to the path you were meant to go down, and introduced to the people you were meant to know.

While at that amazing fundraising party this weekend, I noticed that woman in  pink.  Turns out, she's the one who saw the need, started the ball rolling, and pulled it all together in less than three week's time!  Someone told me her name was Shelly, and that she does acupuncture and herbal medicine here in town, and I remember thinking she'd probably be a very interesting person to know.

On Monday, I was sitting in Mima's, enjoying my taco and ruminating about the previous day's event when, much to my surprise, I suddenly heard Susan Gibson singing one of the very songs she played at that event.  I whipped my head around, and there, just a few tables away, was The Lady in Pink!  And, she was sitting with Ed Pope, the fellow we're trying to get elected!  The music was coming from her phone, as she was showing him a little video clip she had filmed at the event.  I was just thinking about walking over to introduce myself and congratulate them, when they got up to leave.  Guess I should have been paying attention when I came in, huh?

Anyhoo, yesterday I finally went to check on something that the universe has been shoving in my face for months now.  A new shop opened up down near the square, called The Whimsy Store.  I liked the name as soon as I heard it, and thought I should go check it out.  But I didn't.  Then I read somewhere that the owner was offering computer classes, teaching all that stuff I really ought to know by now.  I was thinking, "Maybe she can even help me get this new blog of mine designed and set up.  I should go talk to her!"  But I didn't.  Then, thankfully, Fiber Woman did stop into the shop, and came back to report that it was a very cool place, whose owner, Denise, also taught classes on memoir writing, and she hosts weekly get-togethers there for "Women of Wild Whimsy."  Alright, Already!  I get the message, finally!  I'm supposed to get my fanny down there to that shop!

Yesterday Fiber Woman and I both attended one of Denise's get-togethers, and you'll never guess who else was there...The Lady in Pink!  And I was right--she is fascinating!  And, guess what was for sale in that shop?  The one painting that was destined to fill that long-empty space next to my little picture of a goat named Pearl, painted by local artist Betty Rhodes.  This new one, painted by another local woman, but many decades ago, is of some little boys who are skinny-dipping... in Jacob's Well!  How perfect is that?

And that, my friends, is why I love Wimberley.  It makes me feel like the world is just full of possibilities, and that, given a bit of time, I can be, do, create or accomplish pretty much anything I set my mind to.  Funny thing, shop owner Denise said almost that exact same thing yesterday -- a good  credo for all Muses and Women of Wild Whimsy, don't you think?

NOT MY USUAL TECHNOPHOBIA

John's TV

Is it just me, or does anyone else out there dislike Blu-ray?  Oddly enough, it has absolutely nothing at all to do with my usual reasons.  It's not because DH had already purchased one big honkin' TV, not all that long ago, and I didn't see why it needed to be replaced.  And it wasn't because I couldn't figure out how to operate it on my own.  I haven't been able to operate any of John's TV or stereo equipment in years, so that's nothing new!

Nope, the problem is something that surprised even me.  I thought all that hyper-clarity would make everything seem more realistic, but, for me at least, it had the opposite effect.  When I watch a movie, I want to loose myself in it.  I want to get so caught up in the story that I forget I'm in my own living room, watching it on TV.  Blue-ray won't let me do that, and I have no idea why.

My TV

Can something be so real that it looks fake?  For whatever reason, there is something about that vivid color and uber-sharp image, about seeing every pore and zit on a character's skin, that makes it all but impossible for me to suspend my disbelief.  It is a constant reminder that those are just actors on a set, and I'm still sitting in John's man-cave, not lost in another world.  Yet I have no problem at all, when watching a movie on my tiny TV upstairs.  Go figure.

APRIL-ITIS

Pie sold by the slice - but how to choose only one?

April is a frenzied month here in the Hill Country.  We go festival-crazy this time every year, because this and October are just about the only months where you can be fairly confident that it won't dip down into the 20s or spike up above 100.  So, Sunday we had the fundraiser to go to, but Saturday it was the Wimberley Pie Social!

There were animals to be petted and air-filled castles to be bounced in...

Pick a flavor, any flavor!

Hot dogs, sno-cones and live music to be enjoyed... aprons to be auctioned, and, most importantly, pies to be judged!

Aprons decorated by local school kids.

 I almost always go for a slice of the peach pie, but this year I decided on something chocolate.  But it wasn't a cream pie, it was more like a brownie pie, and it got me to thinkin'... that maybe next year I should enter a pie... perhaps a Mexican Chocolate Streusel Brownie Pie (if I can only figure out how to do that!).

Anyhoo, I think it's fairly safe to say, a good time was had by one and all...well...except maybe these guys....

who were all lookin' a wee bit green, before they even made it halfway through their pie!

THIS PLACE, THIS MOMENT

The Arnoskys (owners of the big blue barn) dance to the tunes of Susan Gibson.

Eliza Gilkyson

I don't know whether it was the soulful music, the free-spirited dancing, the wonderful weather, or the fact that all of this came together on very short notice because the people of Wimberley just refused to take it lying down, but something about this magical day made me realize that being in this place, at this moment, is exactly where I was meant to be. 

When it became painfully obvious that some of the people we had entrusted with the job of conserving our precious groundwater supply did not have our best interests at heart, and might even be in the pockets of greedy developers, the people of Wimberley decided to fight back.  An event was organized, better candidates were recruited, funds were raised, voters were registered, petitions were signed, and best of all, a good time was had by all!

Many thanks to all the people who worked so diligently to pull this together, to the owners of Cypress Creek Cafe for providing the venue, and most especially to all the wonderful musicians who donated their time and talents: Eliza Gilkyson, Susan Gibson, Amanda Mora, Jill Jones, Butch Hancock, Andrew Hardin and Sam Baker.  Wimberley loves you!