Porterville Panther Band Concert

(photo by Chieko Hara - The Porterville Recorder)

The Porterville Panther Band put on an amazing performance last night -- evident by several standing ovations throughout the program.

I was extremely touched with the solemness of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" -- performed not only by the band, but with the Porterville orchestra and Porterville High choirs.

It literally gave me goosebumps - it was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. It sounded as if angels were all around. For the last stanza, band director Jim Kusserow turned to the audience and they had the opportunity to sing along.

Buck Shaffer's wife was sitting directly behind me.

"Absolutely amazing," she said. "I think he has outdone his master."

It was amazing. I wouldn't say he outdid the master (Buck Shaffer) but I would say that I think Buck must have been proud of his successor.

I only wish I could have stayed around to visit with people. But I had a deadline and only 20 minutes to finish the story and get it to the editor. I always feel I cheat the public out of a better story when I'm so rushed. Since I had a sealed envelope of all of the student award winners, I used that 15 minute window to set my laptop in the lobby of the auditorium and quickly finished most of the story, leaving the ending open so that I could watch the grand finale and then get back to it. But still, by the time it ended and I drove back to the newspaper, I only about three minutes to finish putting it together. I hate that.

I did stay for the finale - which is an amazing show in itself.

With the band playing the various United States armed forces songs : Caissons, Anchors Aweigh, Marine Hymn, etc., a representative of that branch would walk across stage with their flag and salute towards the audience for the remainder of the song, while veterans in the audience who served in that branch proudly stand during their song.

It is extremely touching. At the end of the final song, the band went directly into John Phillip Souza's Stars and Stripes Forever -- complete with a front line of picolo and flute players. The doors to the back of the auditorium open and down all the aisles, the letter girls, Orange Blossoms, twirlerettes and flag team, enter and stand all along the aisles as the song comes to a loud finish with a huge American Flag that drops down from the front and covers the entire stage - covering all but the front line of musicians who are standing and still playing.

It never fails - I remember that finish when I was in high school. It always gets the most amazing, almost never-ending standing ovation. I've timed the ovation past five minutes.

If a person sees a Panther Band Concert -- they are always in for a treat.

Today and Sunday only, you can see the story in the Porterville Recorder HERE (By Monday, you can still access it but you must click on archives and type in Panther Band)

An open letter to Always and Forever .... where ever you may be

Always and Forever and Once upon a time..... it all sounds like a fairytale. And we all know fairytales can't come true. Can they?

Hello......

I smiled sadly when I read your comment today-- the one you left hidden in one of my old posts. (March archives: Two Lights Contest)

You asked me if I even knew who you were?
Do you really think for a minute that I would ever forget you?

You disappeared from my life a long time ago. Now, suddenly, you appear out of the blue and leave me a comment, anonymously. Life is so melancholy.

Have I ever wondered about you? Have I ever missed you?
My answer is: What do you think?

It is not everyday that a guy proposes and offers to open and share a commemorative bottle of port, one of only 500 produced -- and given to you at a retirement party of a Royal Australian Navy base. (I bet you didn't think I remembered all that)

I don't even know what really happened to us. I'm not sure it really matters. I don't know what ever happened to you. I didn't know if you were dead or alive. You left without a trace and without as much as a goodbye. I have no idea where you are. 

You've traveled all over the world. And you showered me with gifts -- a tapestry from Hong Kong, a gold necklace from Thailand, a kimono from Korea.... It was not all material things - I remember everything. You said I was your princess and you sang to me -- all the time. And when I hear the songs on the radio, it all comes back:

They read you Cinderella, you hoped it would come true
and one day a prince charming would come rescue you
you like romantic movies and you never will forget
the way it felt when Romeo kissed Juliette
and all this time that you've been waiting
you don't have to wait no more
I can love you like that, I would make you my world
move heaven and earth if you were my girl.....

You came into my life when I really needed you but things happened and our lives took different roads. Still, I would not exchange what we once had for anything in the world. Please know that.
And know that I wish you happiness. You deserve it. I really hope you found/find it.

Always and forever,
me

Family photos

This is me and my precious baby. Mandy was stolen a few days after this picture was taken last year. I miss her so much.






My three precious daughters!

Marisa, Jenna, Catherine

Update

I think we went from winter to summer. It is 91 degrees outside and very hot.

Mother's Day is only a couple of days away and I still haven't planted flowers -- I have them in small pots. My pink flowering jasmine is starting to ravel itself all over the other plants, so I need to make time and transplant them.

Yesterday was hectic again. My mother is slowly recovering from her stroke. It is hard for me not to have her here, but I have to believe that my sister is taking care of her. I'll get her tomorrow.

In the meantime, my sister from Fresno suffered a seizure yesterday. Her blood pressure was low, 80/40, and she passed out. I am thinking she hit her head and that caused the seizure. I don't know. She's in the hospital and I was planning on visiting her this morning but she insists she's fine and most likely, will go home this afternoon.

So, I'm going to try to catch up on house chores and enjoy my day off. I'll treat myself to my favorite meal at Little Italy - chicken piccata - and maybe get outside this afternoon and plant some flowers.

Sounds like it will be a lovely day.

For those of you that follow Jim Kusserow's Porterville Panther Band news - I am planning on definitely being there Friday night for the concert and writing about it for Saturday morning's paper. So, do come back for that.

Until then,
I'm off and running.....

Another odd day

My mother is not doing well. (Today she gave me a good scare but then pulled through)

Yesterday was another odd day. It was beautiful out and I thought I'd take her outside for a little while. I wheeled her out to the patio and she kept staring out into space and started talking to someone. "Yes, yes, I'm coming," she had said.

When I asked who she was talking to, she turned to me and said, "My mother. She keeps calling me. I keep seeing her everytime I turn around."

Her mother died many years ago.

I've received a few very nice emails -- thank you very much for that. It means a lot to me.

As to my writing. I did cover the Cinco de Mayo parade yesterday while my sister took over. And, I survived my daughter's birthday party and I even wrote two stories. (One advance and the parade story.)

Today: My editor was kind enough to find a different reporter to cover today's events. I had called him to tell him that my mother was quite bad and that I didn't think I was in any shape to cover a story. But when I didn't hear back from him and my mother stabilized, I decided I could do it. I was driving out when he called me and told me to make a U-turn and go back to my family. I did just that. God bless him.

Broken

Well, just when I thought things were plenty hectic and things can't get worse, one of my girls decides to go and break her foot this afternoon.

Jenna was very excited. She has so much going on in her young life right now. Tonight she had a softball game to play in and then afterwards she was going to a church youth group outing to Adventure Park (miniature golf, go-carts, laser tag, etc.)

I guess she was a little too excited. She asked me what happened to her uniform and I told her it was in the dryer. She ran to get it........tripped, fell, screamed, screamed, screamed some more.....she was in so much pain. And her little toe was bent sideways. She had dislocated it. Luckily her father, who is a paramedic, was here and took one look, told me to hold her, and then pulled it and put it back into place.

But, instead of going to the game, we spent the next couple of hours at the doctor, radiology and the emergency room. Fun!

Final diagnosis - broken toe. But you can't cast a toe, so they buddy-taped it. That's about all you can do to it. She can walk but she can't put pressure on it or run. Time will heal it.

Jenna was heartbroken about missing today's game and the youth outing. She is also begging me to let her play in tomorrow's softball tournment. Um...yea, right. As if. She said she can bat and someone else can run for her.

It was a hectic day but things are better now. I am writing four newspaper stories this weekend so my sister will come here and stay with my mother while I work. I am so relieved.

And Jenna - life goes on for her too. Tomorrow she turns 14 and we decided that the show must go on - so, she's still having her party. Fifteen loud, giggly teenage girls are invited. So, the question is - will I survive it?

I love you forever, I love you for always

Have you ever felt like a candle burning from both ends? That's how my life has been for quite awhile now. But lately, it has started getting to me. Between my children's never-ending schedules of sports, clubs, band and social activities, I am constantly running. I've also been quite busy with some high school reunion work (my 30th is this August) and on top of all that, I have a very sick mom who I am taking care of.

Still, I managed....until today.

My mom has been very weak and can barely walk now. Strange, since just 10 days ago she was out driving around. Apparently she has some kind of inner ear condition that is making her dizzy and weak. She has some good days and some not so good days. She now walks with my help and with a walker.

I was helping her to bed after feeding her lunch and suddenly she just started crying. I asked what was wrong and where she hurt and she said no where but she felt really odd. I asked what she meant and she said she felt it was time to go. I knew what she meant but I wanted to make sure I did not misunderstood her and I told her that she didn't have to leave, she can stay with me as long as she wants. (she has her own bedroom at my house since she's here frequently, I wished she'd just stay here.)

She looked at me tenderly and then touched my face and shook her head and said no, that she felt it was time -- that she was dying. I helped her into bed and then got in with her and hugged her and told her she was fine, just weak. I reminded her that just a week ago, she was driving and maybe she won't feel up to doing that, but will get her strength back.

I held her as she trembled and then finally calmed down. She had mentioned she was too much trouble for me and I said, not at all. She's always been there for me and now it's my turn to be there for her. And I couldn't help but wonder how many times she may have held me in such ways when I was little. I remembered falling off a bike when I was four and she scooped me up so fast and ran inside to wash my bloody knees. I shared that story with her and she seemed to stare into space before a smile finally emerged on her face. She told me how stubborn I was and how determined I was to ride my brother's bicycle. (he was 15)

Finally I kissed her and told her to take a little nap and when she wakes up, she can decide if she wants to go see my daughter play (she has a softball game this evening) and if not, we'll play "Trouble" here at home -- one of her favorite little board games. She nodded and before I knew it, she was sound asleep.

I felt odd as I left the room. I know we can't have our mothers forever and mine is 85, but still....

I instantly thought of that story, "I love you Forever"by Robert Munsch -- anyone know it?

I love that book and can never get through it without crying.
I remember reading it to my children. They always loved it. My youngest would always hug me and tell me that someday she would take care of me.

I'll love you forever,
I'll love you for always,
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be.

The Day After

The day after the day without an immigrant.
And it looks like everyone survived. Schools suffered a bit since they lose money for students who do not attend. But the ones that suffered the most were the Mexicans themselves.

Fox News read an email from someone who said something like this: "A day without an immigrant. OK. Now, let's go for a week, a month and a year without one."

Here -- all seems to be quiet on the central front but yesterday was quite interesting and one thing happened that gave me the biggest smile!

I am the kind of person that loves Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. When I'm at home, except for tuning in to local news at 10 p.m., I keep Fox News on. When I'm on the road, I listen to Rush and Sean.

But there is someone else I love to listen to. In the past, I'd do it to get newspaper story ideas. That person is Ray Appleton from KMJ 580.

Yesterday (May 2) he was commenting on the big demonstration walk outs from work and as always, his lines were constantly ringing as people called in with their comments. Then he said that the only people who were really getting hurt by this walk out were the Hispanic small-business owners. And for the next few minutes, he said he wanted to hear from them.

One man called in. He was struggling. He has a local restaurant (Casa Corona) in Fresno and, except for his family, all of his staff walked out to join the protest.

Appleton told him that for the next two hours, he would "adopt" the restaurant and give him free advertising. Then he encouraged people listening to go drop by and eat. LOL When Appleton got off the air at 2 p.m., he drove to the restaurant and found about 400 people there eating or waiting to eat.

Talk about a great day for business! Ray turned what could have been a horrible day into one of the restaurant's most profitable days!

I loved that story!

A Day Without An Immigrant & A Day Without A Gringo

I am American.
Yes, I am of some Mexican descent on my mother's side. But I do not consider myself "Mexican". As far as I am concerned, I am American. My parents were both born in this country, as were their parents. My father was an interesting mix of Irish, Argentinian and Portuguese, my mother, Mexican.

I have watched with growing frustration the daily marches during the protests of a couple of weeks ago. It made me mad to see so many Mexico flags on display and I stopped twice to talk to teens that were being disrespectful to our American flag.

My 13-year-old daughter was right on in her observation. "Mom, these kids who are leaving school to protest, they are the ones that need to be in school the most. They aren't very bright," she said. "Most of them don't even know what it is really about. Nor do they care. They just want an excuse to get out of school."

As to the adults who are marching. Yes, I know that immigrants work hard every day in every industry -- but that does not give them the right to cross the borders illegally. I have been asked several times "What are they doing that is so wrong? They just want a better life."

OK - I can sympathize with that. But that does not give them the right to break the law. I am tired of people throwing our governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in my face. Yes, he was an immigrant. But he did it the right way. He did not cross over illegally!

Why can't these people see this?

I see it like this. Let's say that a large group of people rushed the gates at Disneyland. Once inside, those same people start crying: "Why are you persecuting us? We just want to give our children what we never experienced. We aren't hurting anyone. We're buying food and souvenirs." Yea - that's true. You also got in without paying! It was wrong.

I am not saying that I am against immigration. None of us are saying that. We are saying that if you want to be here, do it right. Or go back to your homeland and protest there -- march the streets of Mexico and demand fair treatment, better wages and better schools.

Do you think for a moment that if we went to Mexico and demanded that everything be translated to English and waved American flags, that it would cause sympathy? No! We'd be arrested. What if we changed the words of your National Anthem and then sang it in English? That would be considered blasphemous or as a slap in the face, I'm sure.

As to today - a day of boycotting -- fine. So far, I don't see anyone suffering here. If Mexicans do not want to work, so what! I really believe that there are plenty of others who would -- including illegal immigrants whose heart lies in doing things correctly. I applaud those illegal immigrants who sent in their taxes on April 15. Those are the people that deserve to be here. Those are the immigrants we welcome in. Not because they are paying taxes, though that too is good, but because they are doing things according to the law.

San Joaquin Valley
I keep hearing that our fruits will rot (big business in our central San Joaquin Valley) and that without Mexicans, we will have to import fruits and vegetables and the prices would be ridiculous. Don't we import bananas now? They're only 50 cents a pound. Of course, all of a sudden, the supply and demand situation will take over. That's OK. Maybe we'll go back to people growing their own vegetables. Farmers' Markets will gain in popularity. Who knows, maybe the corner vegetable stand will make a comeback. (OK, very unlikely - but it is nice to dream)

I do not mind paying a little more for lettuce, tomatoes and fruits -- if it meant that illegal aliens stopped crossing our borders.

I am really concerned as to what this country will do in the near future with so many illegals here -- you can only feed so many mouths. I also worry about social security. Many of these people have been here working since the 70's (by the way, those people I believe should be allowed to stay) and they will soon be of retirement age. Where is all this money going to come from? I know many of them have been paying social security but what really worries me are all of the people that will suddenly qualify for medical cards.

And speaking of, I find it frustrating that I struggle with health issues while all of these people are handed a carta blanche card on a silver platter -- free medical, free dental, free prescriptions, free lab work and free hospitalization. My child's last hospitalization took me three years to pay off.

A DAY WITHOUT A GRINGO
I heard on the news about white people (and a few Americans of Mexican descent) in Mexico who have a boycott of their own going on out there today -- in protest of the Mexicans out here who are marching.

They are calling it a Day Without A Gringo -- I love it!

These people are refusing to go out to eat or shop today. On any given day, Sam's Club and other such industries out there are filled with the Gringos -- not today. Don't you just love it?

In the meantime, I'm watching the news. We're still alive, aren't we? The world didn't stop because the Mexican refused to work. How long can they be off? I heard one man who immigrated from Central America quoted on television saying that if he loses his job, it is worth it. He is there supporting his fellow illegals.

Yea? Tell that to his family! See if they think it is worth it.

Two Lights - writing contest - I won second place!

I am so excited. I had never entered any kind of online or otherwise writing contest before last week. But when I read about the "Two Lights" short fiction contest, I knew I wanted to enter it. At the time, there were only five other entries in, so I looked at the photo (two lamps on a table in a hallway) and I tried to think of different representations of the lights and started writing. Then I sent off the story.

The winners were to be posted on Friday. I was hoping to at least make some kind of honorable mention but there were so many good stories, I almost doubted that. Yet, I hoped. But, I was leaving for my conference and I did not take my laptop. (I kicked myself all Friday and Saturday for not taking it.)

Imagine my surprise when I returned and ran to log on and saw my name as the Second-place winner! I literally screamed!

I had a great weekend.

And thank you, all of you who read my story and sent me such nice comments. I appreciate that. You made my day! You really did.

Esther

Away I go

I didn't know if I'd make it to the conference afterall. My mama had a turn for the worst and has been a bit ill for the past few days. I brought her home to stay with me all week and decided to hold off on leaving until noon. That way, I will take her to my sister's and know that she will be fine.

I had originally planned on leaving by 7 a.m. and enjoying a day in the city. I had wanted to drop in on an art museum or perhaps do a little sightseeing/shopping in the garment district of Los Angeles. It has been years since I've been there.

But I guess everything turns out in the end. I should get to Los Angeles by 4 to 5 p.m. -- I know, right in the middle of 5 p.m. traffic on a Friday evening..... yuk! But that should give me plenty of time to check into the Fullerton Marriott and enjoy a nice dinner, maybe take in a movie and be ready for tomorrow.

:) Of course, my mother thinks this is awful! She does not believe that women should travel alone. I reminded her I've been all over the country, to Canada and to Europe ALONE.... she still said she wished I could take someone.

Truth is, I love traveling alone. When I've invited a sister, I feel so trapped. I enjoy their company but we are so different. I am too independent and move too fast. They linger too long at the "wrong" place (one store department, for example) I zoom in and out of stores, and my lingering is over coffee, reading a paper, or at museums (and they hate all that) LOL


I'll be back next week and will write about my experience -- barring any disaster from earthquakes (my one big fear) I should be fine. That is the only thing I am dreading. I hate being near tall buildings. Going to San Francisco or Los Angeles scares me for that one reason alone.

Until then,
:)

My first writer's workshop

One of my New Year resolutions was to attend my first Writers Workshop or Conference. I browsed around and saw several that I would love to attend - such as the Yosemite one in August. But the cost is a lot! If I attend, the weekend will put me back $750.00!

So, I started to look at other options. I thought of attending the Mad Anthony Writers' Conference and Book Festival in Ohio, but decided to wait an extra week and attend something in California.

And that workshop is only four days away!

I am so excited. I will be attending the National Writers' Workshop at Cal State Fullerton this Saturday.

The workshop is put on by the Orange County Register (main newspaper of Freedom Communications - which also owns the Porterville Recorder that I write for)

Anyway, I was looking over the list of speakers today, and the more I read, the more excited I became.

No, this is not a writer's workshop for novels and romantic short stories -- that will come later.

For now, I would love to sharpen my interviewing skills and that is exactly what I am going to do.

Plus, the luncheon speaker is Jon Macks, speaking on "Writing for Jay Leno" -- which promises to be fun. But there are so many excellent speakers on the lineup -- see here!

I really can't wait till Saturday. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. After listening to a lot of my writer friends speak about their experiences attending workshops, finally it is MY turn!

Frank Buck Shaffer

I could not get this post to load properly - no matter what I did. So I removed it and started over.

I have had several emails asking about Buck Shaffer.
I interviewed him in March for a story. The two hours I spent with him were precious and priceless.

As I left his home, my CD played in my car and the song "Leader of the Band" by Dan Fogelberg came on. I had to wipe away a couple of tears as I listened to the words:

The leader of the band is tired
And his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through
My instrument
And his song is in my soul --
My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate the man
I’m just a living legacy
To the leader of the band.

Thank you, Buck Shaffer. For the gift that you gave me -- the gift of music and for believing in me. Thank you for putting a song in my soul.

To see the original post, please click on March archives and scroll down to March 22. You can find the entry there.

To see the story I wrote for the Porterville Recorder, see below:

The Spirit of Freedom, page 1
Traditions Start Here, page 2
Shaffer: A Living Legend in the Community, page 10

Orange Blossoms and Irises

I love the town I grew up in. We're an "All American City" with a lot of home town charm. It is always a pleasure to write stories about my town.

Every April, Porterville is blanketed with the lingering scent of orange blossoms, but since the town is surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of acres of citrus, it is no surprise.

Still, every year, I am pleasantly reminded of how great it smells. You can smell it every evening, for miles and miles. (Not good for those suffering from asthma or allergy)

Irises too, are everywhere. It is the official city flower. And Porterville is home to the world renowned Sutton Iris Gardens, with more than 100 acres of blooming iris of all colors -- as far as the eye can see. It is breathtaking beautiful!

I recently had an opportunity to write about the Iris flowers. I had four stories in today's newspaper.

You can see my stories here:
Iris Festival Brings More than just Beauty to Porterville
Sutton's Iris Gardens
Sampath Takes a Shine to Colorful Iris
Caring For and Planting Irises

Beautiful Iris

photo by Esther Avila

Want to see Dama in shorts and halter?

OK - this is scary. An AW friend (Dama) and I have entered into the same agreement as WV Writer and her friend. Truth is, we both agreed that we need to lose a little weight and what better way than by motivating each other. Or in this case, being motivated not to lose the contest. LOL

All I can say is that I am sooooo glad that I went out to lunch today to Little Italy - my favorite restaurant. I think I may have just enjoyed my last Chicken Piccatta (grilled chicken in a lemon, butter and wine sauce) in a long time!

Hey, any of you other AWers (or other readers) want to join in? See, if there are three or four of us, than the chance of me losing declines! LOL

Dama, by the way, for those of you who do not know her, is young! Young enough to be my youngest daughter. I think metabolism might be on her side. But, that's ok. I really need to be motivated to do this. My high school reunion is this summer.

Am I a fool for going up against Dama? Maybe. But it's all in fun. And the only way that I will stay true to following a diet is if the stakes are high - and trust me, they are! LOL

So...if you want to join in, let me know. If you want to see Dama in shorts and a halter (she looks good in them already) -- then keep checking in to see how we're doing. Sorry, no pictures yet.

We decided that slow and steady is best. Even so, I know 10 can be lost in one week if necessary but those next five are harder. So...for that reason, I'll go for 10-15 pounds.

Eating right and more exercise is the key. I can't wait to see Dama in her shorts and halter. LOL

Let the game begin.....

Shorts, tank tops and high stakes

Some people are braver than I could ever be.

While cruising around, visiting AW members' blogs and sites, I ran across WVWriterGirl's site. She had one page that caught my attention. She and her best friend are trying to lose a little weight.

Ok, many of us try that at one point or other. But this was different. They added some friendly competition to it -- with high stakes!

Here's the deal: after the "contest" ends (both are winners, in my opinion) the "loser" has to post a picture of herself (on her blog) wearing shorts and a haltar top!

If that isn't motivation enough to lose weight! Of course, I'm hoping they'll both feel so great about their accomplishments, that they will both post a nice pic of themselves. LOL

But isn't that cool?

I was never heavy as a child or teen. I was the opposite, tall and skinny and awkward through grade school. By high school I felt a bit more comfortable with my body. I was an "Orange Blossom" (one of 12 coveted letter-girl positions) and by college, a cheerleader and a Barbizon model. I was still shy but always sweet enough to where I was televised quite a few times. (It was my smile)

Still, over the years, those pounds have a tendency to sneak up on a person. With my high school reunion coming up this summer, I have been watching the scales. How I would love to enter into such a challenge with a good, trusted friend.

I read WVWriterGirl's plan and I thought, "That makes a lot of sense." I would do my darndest to not lose the challenge.

I'd feel awful though, about my friend posting such a pic. LOL
But, it's all in fun and for encouragement. Wow.

My hat is tipped in your direction, WVWriterGirl.

Best of luck and mega kuddos to you and your friend.

Spring Fever

I was reading Anne's blog and suddenly got caught up with a form of spring fever. I can not wait to get out into my small back yard to fix it up.

I love flowering vines and I have jasmine, bouganvillas and grapes clinging to posts and climbing all over the place. There is no grass directly behind my home, but I have a couple of fountains, one with a waterfall, a bird bath and some rattan furniture (covered for the winter) and a swing. I have hung little lights and I have a section that has misters - which keeps part of my plants thriving year round.

To the side of my back yard, there is a small area of grass where my little ones can run around, but they tend to ignore it unless it is a sunny day - which have been few.

I have three dachsunds in the backyard and every winter, I pretty much let the place go. I bring two small doghouses up to the back porch which I enclose in thick plastic to prevent rain and wind from reaching them (they each have their own specially-made, small electric blanket and each has their own fire-alarm attached to their doggie house, just in case) All of this must go in order to reclaim my back yard.

We've been having too much rain - but once the rain stops, I'm starting. I'd love to put in a flower garden or plant some vegetables -- but with the three babies, I don't know how much of it would survive. So far, I've survived by planting in tall pots and planters.

Lately, all I do is open the door to let my doggies in every day, or step out to feed them. And I watch and hear everything from my bedroom (we have 2 security cameras aimed at my back yard)

Thank you, Anne. For reminding me that I should try to get outdoors more.
Now, excuse me please... my little yard is calling me.

AW Monday Meme #15

---

Dawno has posted another Meme' - thanks Dawno. 

I love reminiscing.

The Rules: The first player of this game starts with the topic and people who get tagged need to write an entry about it as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next person to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don’t forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says “You have been tagged” (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.

OK - From Dawno:
Time to dig into your past! Just use your best recollection – no need to go digging around in the attic or cellar for this stuff.

1. Do you have a picture of yourself as an infant, toddler or youngster in your own scrapbook, picture album or shoebox? If so, how old were you? What where you doing?
I wish I had pics of me as a child. We had a camera but most of the pics are of my older sisters or my baby sister. I was lost in the family, I guess. But I do have one of me at age 4. My sister emailed it to me last summer. I'll have to search for it. I am standing next to a tree, holding my skirt out to the sides. On my left arm, you can see a rather large bandage. The picture was taken a few days after I fell off a tall cherry tree. On the way down, I ripped my arm half off. I was unconscious and lost so much blood , I almost died. (ripped my artery) If I can find it in my computer, I'll come back and post it. [note: couldn't find it but i did run into this one - age 7 - my birthday]

2. What is the oldest piece of clothing you have in your closet. What is it? Do you wear it or just keep it for sentimental purposes, or because you haven’t had time to give it away yet? I have a short green dress with some horses on it. I loved that dress. (size 5) I bought it while on vacation in Guadalajara when I was 16 and up until five years ago, it still fit. Now my 16-year-old daughter can fit into it. (but doesn't wear it)


3. Do you have any souvenirs? If so, what is the oldest one, where is it from and how did you come to have it? I have some Disneyland tickets - the old ones, I have mainly "A" tickets but also a couple of the good ones -- the "E" tickets. I was 10 years old the first time I went to Disneyland. In those days, you had to buy a ticket book or individual tickets to get on rides. The "E" tickets were the best ones.


4. Do you have an appliance, utensil, dish, glass, platter, etc., or cooking implement in the kitchen that you got from a relative when you moved away from home? What is it and who gave it to you? I have a couple of dishes that my mom gave me when I moved away from home. They were from her own china set.
I also have a couple of very nice tea cups and a butter dish (yellow flowers) given to me by a very close friend. It used to belong to his mother. I was also given a couple of "baby" dishes the same person made with his own little hands in kindergarten.

5. What’s the oldest thing in your medicine cabinet? (and maybe it’s time to toss out the expired stuff!) I don't have a medicine cabinet. I keep a small plastic container in the kitchen with tylenol, benadryl and aspirin, but that's about it. And none of it is old. I'm never really sick. I'm very healthy.


6. Was the place you currently live in occupied prior to you? Did they leave anything behind? What? If not, have you ever heard any stories about folk who lived there before you did and would you share one? My home is awesome! It was built in 1904 and is listed with the city as a historical home. There is a book at Borders (bookstore) with historical homes and my home is there. It was once home to Visalia's first mayor.


7. Do you have any old IDs, business cards or other bits of old flotsam in your purse/wallet? What is the oldest thing there and why do you keep it? I have too many purses. Most are empty. No old Id's but I keep finding ticket stubs to previous baseball games I've attended, dating back to 1999. I keep the stubs to all the games I attend. The most games in one season -- 69 out of 70 home games (I only missed a Sunday afternoon game - on Mother's Day)


8. Do you have your yearbooks? When was the last time you looked at them? What is the thing you like most about your favorite yearbook? What’s the thing you like least about your least favorite yearbook? (I don’t know if this is a ‘global’ question – so forgive me if you are from somewhere that getting a yearbook is not a tradition) I love my yearbooks! I keep one shelf on one of my bookcase for just yearbooks (mine plus my three daughters have them now) and for all the "Who's Who Among American High School Students" books. I also have my Junior High yearbooks and my Reunion yearbooks.

The oldest yearbook is my 7th grade one - I was on the yearbook staff in 8th grade. What I love most is that I can go back and remember the good times, particularly band. I love reading some of the entries. I last looked at it about a month ago. Two of my daughters go to school with the sons of someone I was in band with. (Jim Kusserow, who is now the band director at my old alma mater) They were curious as to how he looked when he was young. I took it out and they laughed like crazy, at me, at him, at everyone else. Everyone had the 70's long hair look.


9. Do you have any old key(s)? Do you know what it/they’re for? Why did you keep it/them?
I have a roller-skate key. :-) I also have a set of "skeleton" keys for my home. My home was built in 1904. It is absolutely beautiful - lots of sliding doors - and they lock with old fashion skeleton keys.


10. 100 years from now, what would you wish someone had as a memento of you?
I used to say a classic story I've written but I'm not sure that matters any more. What matters is what we have now.

I have to see who I can tag - not sure who has done it already.
So, to quote my Governor: "I'll be back."

awmondaymemes

As promised - I am back and am tagging: Paprika - since her last AW meme entry was in January.

A Monday Meme' from a couple weeks ago

I had been so busy with all of the stories, including agriculture stories ( Ag Special all of the stories in there are mine, click on "next" to turn the pages )-- that I had stopped doing the Monday memes.
I was in the AW threads and reading some of the meme's I missed and decided that this one was too cute to pass up.

It was started by Ray Wong - Maestrowork!
His blog is at http://itheauthor.blogspot.com/


1. If someone is going to make a movie about you, which movie star/actress should play you?
Young me - Julia Ormonde. Current me: Diane Lane

2. What are your favorite movies and/or books? Books -To Kill a Mockingbird, Casa Blanca, The Bridgest of Madison County, A league of their Own; and I'm a sucker for love stories/chic flicks.

3. Coffee or chocolate? Not a fair question. I love chocolate and I can't live without coffee - I absolutely love Starbucks Coffee. No flavor coffees for me. Just strong, with cream and Equal.

4. Hot tub or beaches? Beaches

5. Do you like to take naps? Or do you sleep only a few hours a day? I take occasional power nap - about 20 minutes, if I'm lucky. Not too often.

6. Do you sleep in the nude? No.

7. What do you consider is your best achievement so far? Raising my children. My three daughters are my pride and joy.

Since this happened some time ago, I'm not tagging anyone.
awmondaymemes

Blind Babies

photo by EstherAvila

I never knew that there were so many blind babies in our area. I have a special place in my heart for the blind because my daddy was blind.

Last Saturday I covered a Beeping Easter Egg hunt -- about 300 people attended (inlcuding 30 blind babies, ages 0-4, and their families)

The eggs beeped and the children, quite a few of them with white canes, walked around, listening for them.

The event catered to all of their other senses. They had flowers to touch, smell and plant; and baby animals to pet.

I was so happy as I covered the event. It was the most awesome thing ever.

The story ran in today's South Valley edition of the Fresno Bee. I'm attaching it below.

Fresno Bee - South Valley Bee
Friday, April 14, 2006
Blind Children shown power of their senses
By Esther Avila / Special to The Bee

Three-year-old Mitchell Villanueva smiled as he gently held a baby chick. Blind since birth, Mitchell could hear the chick's peeps and feel the fur -- and the squirming.

"He's soft," Mitchell said, placing the chick closer to his ear. "I like it."

Mitchell was one of more than 300 people, including 30 visually-impaired children, who attended the 13th annual Central Valley Beeper Egg Hunt hosted by the Blind Baby Foundation at Rowley Ranch in Visalia on Saturday.
The children and their families were also treated to a barbecue, tactile games, a visit from the Easter bunny and a special beeping-eggs Easter hunt.

"For blind children, we have to bring the world to them," said Kristi Spaite, vision-impairment specialist with Blind Babies Foundation. "We have to bring them these experiences. It is difficult for families to offer this kind of diversity to their children. A lot of the families don't get out much."

The Blind Babies organization was founded in 1949 after an epidemic of blindness among premature infants. The foundation's primary purpose is to provide early intervention services to children and families that encourage the child's development within their home environment.

"A lot of these activities are done with a purpose. We're getting them ready for Braille. We want them to want to use their fingers, and we try to provide them with as many textures as possible," Spaite said. "Many children do not like to touch different textures."

For that reason, Saturday's event had a petting zoo, where children could touch the fur, feathers, and skin of baby animals, from piglets and chicks to lambs and goats.

The children also participated in an Easter egg hunt that had 50 specially-made beeping eggs. Several of the children used white canes to feel their way around as they listened for the beeps.

"I didn't have a clue that there were so many blind children in our area," said Vicki Rowley. "I heard about this through church and immediately opened up our home for this."

Breanna Burch, 2, of Visalia also attended. When she was 7 months old, Breanna was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare disease in which bilateral tumors attach to the retinas.

"It's a fast-growing cancer. She needs eye sugery every three weeks to keep it under control," said her mother, Julie Burch, who had the same disease as a child. "It's genetic, but it's very rare. It can strike at any time, but the kids pretty much grow out of it by age 4 or 5."

Breanna laughed -- she had chocolate all over her smile from a cupcake she decorated before eating -- and said she was looking forward to searching for Easter eggs.

Following the hunt, the children planted flowers in their plastic buckets.

Michael Owens, 16 months old and blind since birth, sat next to Mitchell. The two boys grabbed small fistfuls of dirt and placed them in their buckets before their parents helped them fill the basket with flowers.

"The flowers are new this year," Spaite said. "The touch, feel and smell of the flowers are all different. We wanted to tie it to spring to help educate the families about teaching their blind
children about springtime.

'When they are little, we are their eyes. But when they get older, their fingers are what they count on."

Game called off

I knew before I got there that more than likely, there would be no game tonight. But, heck, I'm a true die-hard fan and rain or shine, I had to be there for opening day.

I quickly found all of my extended baseball family and after hugging half a dozen people and catching up on what everyone has been doing -- everyone started talking about the rain.

It had stopped raining for a couple of hours prior to game time. The sky even looked blue -- but, oh, those black clouds in the distance.... they did not look good. And just as the game was about to start, they came in - with full force, dropping giant drops of water that eventually went down to a heavy sprinkle.

No one really cared. We laughed and we talked and I ordered a hotdog and a water -- just to say that I did it. I've not missed an opening game in seven years.

Alas, the game was called and we all said our goodbyes. We'll try again tomorrow - maybe a double header.

Baseball and Rain

Baseball starts today. I love baseball!

I've been a ticket season-holder for Visalia Oaks for seven years. (and board member and secretary of the booster club for six years)

But it has rained off and on (sometimes poured) all day long. Will the game be canceled? I certainly hope not! I am sure that they are tired of me calling the office every two hours, trying to disguise my voice, asking if the game has been called off.

So far, so good.

The game starts in two hours. The clouds are dark but it is not raining at the moment-

Please - please --- no rain tonight. It is not that I don't like it, I just love baseball more.

I always loved the rain. I have so many fond memories about it -- starting with memories about my father. He was blind and never saw me. But he loved the rain. He loved the way it smelled. He loved the way it sounded - the splish splash on puddles and the ting tang sounds on metal or car tops. I must have inherited that love of rain from him.

I loved being outside on rainy days - umbrella in one hand. I would splash in every puddle I could find. But I was so skinny that on windy days, the wind would literally pick me up, or more often than not, knock me over. Still, I longed for rainy days - which were few and far between.

To this day, I love rain. This year has been great. The only reason I wish it would stop is because of the flooding it has caused. We have had nine or so different counties in the area (including mine) declared national disaster areas due to flooding.
(*actual opening day was Thursday - but this didn't go online till Friday.)

A Frightening Event

Something sad and scary happened on Friday.

I was driving home from a funeral and was in an area of town that I normally would not be in. As I turned the corner, I saw four Hispanic girls walking down the street -- in baggy jeans and long white T-shirts. They were laughing and trying to kick each other. But what got me was that one of them held a good-sized American flag, which she used to poke the others with, while dragging the flag on the ground.

I stopped my car, rolled my window down and said: "You girls really need to have a little more respect for our flag."

One girl apologized, two laughed and one cussed me out, flipped me off and then made some disgusting hand gestures at me -- I am not sure what it meant, but it didn't look nice.

I was mad but I Just waved goodbye and put my window up and as I did, I noticed from the corner of my eye, some movement to the right of the car. I turned and suddenly, there was a crowd of about 20 to 25 rebellious looking teenagers -- all wearing the same white T-shirts and baggy jeans, some of them clearly exposing their boxers.

It scared me. I was relieved to know that all doors were locked and my first thought was "If they bang on your car, just maneuver to the left and drive or speed away.

They glared at me. I looked at them and started inching my car forward. Then one of them held up two fingers "Peace" and I smiled and "Peaced" them back. They nodded and stepped away. I gave them a slight smile and waved goodbye. Several waved back.

To be honest, it scared me half to death. I've never been a confrontational person and I am one of those people who locks everything. I keep a lock on my fence gate - no one can even come into my yard.

I have a lot more to say about these protests - but I'll save that for another entry.

The Twin Towers

While browsing through some high school photos - I found this picture. I was in New York City with the Porterville Panther Band. I couldn't believe it -- the Twin Towers are in the background.

That's me - in the blue shirt, second person in. My little sister, Lily is in front.

Leader of the Band

***** For the latest entry on Frank "Buck" Shaffer -- click here. *****



Panther Band in Washington D.C. - that's me - the first "L" in Porterville.

We have the most amazing man in Porterville, California.

Frank "Buck" Shaffer is someone I love and respect and have known for many years. And today I got to interview him for a hometown newspaper story about Unsung Heroes.

I have always admired Buck and always knew he has done so much for our small community, but sitting in his home - interviewing him - I was in awe while listening to all he has done.

If I had to name one person who has had a huge impact on Porterville, that would have to be Frank "Buck" Shaffer. He started the Porterville Christmas parade, the Veterans Day Band-a-Rama, the City of Hope Spectacular -- and The Fabulous Studio Band, to mention just a few things.

He was Porterville High School's band director for many years. He took a tiny band and made it grand. He has led our band from sea to shining sea - as they performed at venues across America. He was there for Disneyland's grand opening ceremonies - and every year thereafter for 32 years. He has directed the Porterville Panther Band at Carnegie Hall, Squaw Valley Winter Olympics of 1960, Seattle World's Fair, six Rose Parades, represented California in Philadelphia on the fourth of July of 1976, performed at half time shows for the Los Angeles Rams four separate years, led the band through 35 years of CMEA Superior Ratings, led the band through four recordings (Capitol Custom), played at least 185 half-time football shows, led the band through 345 DIFFERENT parades all over America and has had 37 annual concerts to a packed house in Porterville. (at the Porterville Memorial Auditorium in the Frank "Buck" Shaffer Theater -- named after him. Outside, he has a star on the sidewalk walk of fame.)

I still remember marching under his direction, 1973-1976 -- four of the best years of my life. During that time, I marched the Hollywood Christmas parade every year, Disneyland every year, did two Rams half-time shows, met and shook Vice President Ford's hand when the band played for him while he was in Fresno campaigning. In fact, he told me I had a beautiful smile. Buck also took us to New York City, Washington D.C., Arlington National Monument - Cemetery, Philadelphia -- a 10-day tour of the East Coast, where we toured the Statue of Liberty, The United Nations, Montecito, Gettysburg, Amish country, the White House, U.S. Capital, Lincoln Memorial, U.S. Treasury, the Smithsonian -- the list is endless.

His Fabulous Studio Band has done even more -- including several tours to the Orient, Japan and Korea -- and they have completed many domestic tours as well.

The hour and a half I spent with Buck was precious and priceless.
Writing the story will be an honor.
But how can I give enough justice to the story -- this man is incredible.
I was also very touched by a few things he shared with me and a favor he asked of me.

Thank you, Buck Shaffer. For the gift that you gave me -- the gift of music and for believing in me. Thank you for putting a song in my soul.



This is me in 1976 - you can't see my long hair
I was an Orange Blossom
the first "L" in P-O-R-T-E-R-V-I-L-L-E,
we marched in front of the band.




If you want to know more about Buck Shaffer -- please visit: www.buckshaffer.com
or read the story I wrote: HERE

For other Porterville High Band, Monache High Band, Fabulous Studio Band and other band stories click HERE.

Saying Goodbye

I had lunch with my best friend today. We meet occasionally for coffee or for lunch - always hitting unique little places or interesting sounding restaurants.

Today we went to a little Mediterranean place. We had humus and Tabouli salad and gyros.
And then, he decided to tell me -- he's moving to Sacramento -- next month! Huh? "What do you mean - you're moving away?" I just sat there for a moment, trying to absorb what he said. His mother is elderly and needs him. (I can certainly understand that.) But it was still sad.

This guy is my baseball buddy. There has never been anything else. Just friendship. He loves my girls and we've known him for years and years. We always meet at the Oaks baseball home games and often travel to some of the away games together. We go out for icecream in the summer and hot chocolate in the winter.

Baseball starts in two weeks - it just won't be the same without him.
Michael is like family. I can't believe I'm losing him.

I'll miss you Michael!

School District Lines

My heart is breaking.

I have spent all morning fighting (ok, just talking until I'm blue in the face) with my daughters' schools.

Apparently, for the past five years, we have been attending the "wrong" schools. No one ever told us. No one ever stopped us when we registered - so with one daughter having a year to go in high school and the other about to start high school - they expect us to move our daughters to the new school next fall.

The deadline to apply for a lottery to attend a different school was in December. (They can't understand that we didn't apply because no one ever told us that we weren't attending the right schools to start with. Apparently the boundaries changed several years ago but no one told us!) Oh, we live on a corner. If I cross the street to the west, she'd be ok. If I cross the street north, she'd be ok. My corner (and my house only) is the only one affected on this block. Next to me is a church, so obviously, they don't have children. I am the only house on the block that it affects.

We have lived in the same house for 15 years. The girls have gone from kindergarten through now to school with their friends. If I move her now - I might as well move her to a new town!

Oh - and in order to get to the school across town, we have to walk/drive past the school in question. (.4 mile from our home. The other school is further.)

I am so frustrated and my younger daughter is devastated.

She called me from school - totally freaked out. Last week we signed her up for high school. She's been accepted into their marching band (few Freshman are) and into the advanced band and into their Wind Ensemble band. (top of the line band- by audition/permission only - they meet at 7 a.m. daily)

My middle daughter is the No. 1 student at the school - will they make me pull her out too? If they do - she'll be devastated.

I keep telling myself that things will work out -- but I didn't feel positive after leaving the district office. We missed the lottery system for attending and they said chances of getting in are slim to none.

I may have no choice but to move. If I have to move in order to have my daughter's life be uninterrupted - so be it. I'd hate to. We've lived in the same home for so long. But what other choice would I really have?

The Swallows are Coming - the Swallows are Coming

Four more days. Then, I'll be heading to San Juan Capistrano to take my elderly mama to see the Swallows return.

It's amazing. How do these birds migrate to Goya, Argentina, only to return year after year -- always on the same day? March 19. I have never seen it in person, but I do see it every year on the news.

My mama grew up in that area as a little girl. But, the last time she saw the birds, she was 10 years old. That was 75 years ago! She's always longed to go back and year after year and when I see it on the news, I regret that I didn't take her.

This year I'm taking her. Last Christmas, I wrapped a child's book (the only one I could find) about the Swallows, and while she opened the present, I played the 1939 classic "When the Swallows Return" -- she opened the gift, saw the "gift" certificate and hotel accomodation info and broke down crying.

Now, you should see my mama. She's like a little girl. For the past three weeks, she's talked about it every day! Telling me stories of how the Mission bells would start ringing when the birds are spotted in the city. And how hundreds of them are suddenly seen, flying to the San Juan Capistrano Mission. Sometimes she wipes away a tear, but mostly, I can see her drifting away to another time -- and I can almost see them -- flying, closer and closer and bells ringing and people cheering..... I can't wait...

It's going to be a bit bittersweet. You see, my mom has always said that she did not want to die before going back to see the swallows.

And, at 85, I realize that I need to treasure every day I have with her.

Four more days. Then we will go see the Swallows return...

March 23, 2006 : Edit to Add
I guess it is true - you can never go back again. My mom was a little disappointed that we did not see the Swallows that she remembered. She saw two or three - but that was it. I tried to explain that these were scouts -- and that the weather had prevented them from arriving. (lots of rain the past two weeks) But she insisted that it didn't matter - there were dozens of scouts on the days prior to the thousands of Swallows that would arrive. But, we had a nice time. I got to spend time with her and we laughed and talked a bit. I got to see a group of Swallows (about 25 of them) that flew by me as I sat in the gardens of the mission at San Juan Capistrano; but my mom was enjoying the mariachi and folkloric dance show and had requested to stay by the stage. (we were there five hours and she enjoyed her front-row seat to the show for two hours of it) I enjoyed walking around and entering the gorgeous church! (Catholic churches are so awesome)
Well...as it turns out -- swallows also arrive in Three Rivers (20 minutes away from me!) LOL -- so, I might take my mom to the Swallows Return celebration -- just for fun.

Spreading Sunshine

Besides writing, I am also in the medical field. I work approximately three to four hours a day for a paramedical company. Most of my work involves centrifuging and shipping blood, urine and drug-screening specimens. But, sometimes, I do electrocardiograms on people who are buying life, disability or health insurance.

Today, I had such an appt. And the woman (about my age) I went to see was in a very bad mood and by golly, she was going to make sure I knew it.

She proceeded to make my life miserable. She was negative. She was downright rude and nasty. Everything I asked her to do, she would complain loudly and tell me that she never did it that way last time she had the exam.

I decided to continue to smile and be nice and make her my project for the day -- I was determined to make her say something nice or at least make her smile.

The exam part was professional. I took her blood pressure and tried to say little things to her but she ignored me or sneered at me or just glared at me. I responded each time with a smile.
(I can be stubborn too - I figured the more I smiled and the nicer I was - the angrier she was getting - and to be honest, I wanted to laugh.)

When we got to the EKG - I commented on her cute monkey socks (she glared at me) and I chatted about my daughter loving monkeys.

It wasn't until I mentioned my daughter was Down Syndrome that she started to relax. I saw that it worked and I told them how she was just like a little monkey, always wrapping herself around me as a baby.

By the time we were done with the EKG, she was a different person. She thanked me for the exam and apologized several times about not being in a good mood when I arrived. I just smiled and said I hadn't really noticed, that I just figured she was nervous -- after all, I probably would be if some stranger came to my home to take my blood and have me semi undress. She started to laugh...just a little. I smiled, walked to the door and told her to have a great day. Her smile was so sincere by this time and she wished me a good day.

I got to my car and as I drove away, I felt really happy. I could have let that woman ruin my day. I could have cussed all the way home (Ok, I don't cuss)

So, next time you meet someone who appears to be miserable - just bear it. Remember, you'll soon leave. But in the meantime, see if you can make it your mission to bring a little sunshine to their life. If you succeed, you'll both feel great.

I'd like to think she went on to have a great day. I know I did.

Puppet Masters

More on this later - but I just wanted to come in and save my result.

I'm off to the CMEA - California Music Educators Association - music festival, which I'll get to write about for tomorrow's paper -- and I kind of doubt I'll get back to this tonight.

Thanks Dawno (saying this in a nice and sweet, but sarcastic, way)

No. I love Dawno. She's one of the best things that happened to my life these two years - she and everyone else at AW. I can't imagine not knowing them.

Well - This is what it said:

"You belong in the Puppet Masters. Your world is filled with hidden foes. You trust no one, and you know that someday you'll find and destroy the bad guys hideout."

NOTE: I was going to explain about this fun quiz and why I believed I got this answer - but to be honest, I am too busy and not particularly interested in this - so I'm not going to bother.

~ SS 3/13/06

Forbidden Shed

I wrote this a long time ago. I remember it as if it were yesterday. It is a true story.

I was only 4 years old when I first stumbled across the dark shed behind my home. It was hidden behind a thick wall of elderberry trees to the rear of our landlord’s L-shaped lot.

I often played behind a brush in my back yard. I liked it there. No one could see me. But I could see between the slats of the boards and, more than once, I watched our landlord, Mr. Neiman, walk towards the elderberries. He always stopped, looked around and then would sweep aside some brush, exposing dark wood, before stepping through.

"There’s a secret room back there,” I said to my brother once.

But he didn’t believe me, or maybe he wanted me to believe that there was not.

At 11 years of age, he seemed to know everything and he warned me not to get too close – the place was crawling with large beetles, he had told me.

But I wasn’t afraid of the beetles and I wasn’t afraid of adventure. But I was afraid of Mr. Neiman.

Two cherry trees stood just beyond the tall wooden fence separating our yards. I often climbed the fence to reach the branches. I’d cling to the tree, stuffing cherries into the pockets of my dress – and into my mouth – to keep my hands free for climbing.

I would prefer to wear jeans but my mother wouldn’t hear of it. Jeans were no attire for little girls.

I was on this fence one day when I saw the Neimans walking down the street. The Mrs. was not always well, so it was not often that they went for a walk.

Knowing I had a few minutes to explore before they returned, I climbed over the fence and slowly walked towards the brush. My heart raced as I glanced back. Not that I expected to see them, for I knew that they would be gone awhile. But I was afraid that my brother would see me and that would be worse.

I stopped and studied their home. It was always dark in the main house. Once in a great while, a small light could be seen in a back window.

The children in the neighborhood were afraid of the two-story home. The brown home was said to be haunted.

There was no lawn, only bark and mulch and roses and wild flowers of every color. Mrs. Neiman always hunched over her garden, pruning or planting. And Mr. Neiman would water.

“Cheri’ take some flowers to your mama,” he would say to me in his husky voice, and then gesture to me.
“Come, come. Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you, my little Cheri.”

He liked calling me Cheri’ – more than likely because of my love for cherries, I thought.

Every now and then, usually on the first of the month, my mother would send me to their home to deliver the rent. It always took a long time for them to open the door.

I always prayed it would be the Mrs. But every now and then it was her husband.

“Come in. Come in, my Cheri’,” he would say every time in his husky accent. And I would step just inside the dark room. A large upright piano stood near the door, dust clinging to every inch of it. I would squint, unable to focus in the dark. There was furniture cramped into every corner, yet the old couple moved as if they were in a maze, fast and with a purpose.

Mrs. Neiman rarely spoke but always smiled. I often wondered if she spoke English. She seemed harmless, yet the children in the neighborhood feared her. I didn’t. I feared him.

I’d stand quietly each time as he scribbled a receipt. And it was during these short visits that I picked up tiny pieces of their history. Mrs. Neiman had been born into royalty in Austria but fell in love with a German soldier during World War II. Her family disowned her. They ran away, married and immigrated to America.

I had asked him once if they ever had children. They did. Twin girls. But they died. Mrs. Neiman wiped away a tear as Mr. Neiman spoke. Then he quickly shooed me out of the house. I never asked again.

As I approached the shrubs, there was no question about it, I could see the old wood – dark, splintered and faded in some areas. There were no windows, or at least, none that I could see -- only one door and one large padlock. But next to the door was a hook – with a key.

Shaking, I spread the brush and stepped in, careful not to disturb any potential beetles.

I quietly turned the key and slowly opened the door. I expected the room to be dark but a window on the back wall brought in just enough sunlight to glance around.

I stood still, mouth open. I could not believe my eyes. Never in my life had I ever seen such a thing – picture after picture of naked or scantily-clad women on the walls. Some of them were standing, some were sitting, others were bent over, but each one, beautiful, with long hair, big eyes, ruby-red lips and the roundest breasts I’d ever seen.

I turned and ran as fast as I could. I never looked back and as I climbed the fence, I saw the Neimans walking back. I didn’t care. I was safe in my yard. Breathing heavily, I noticed I was so nervous that I was clenching my hand into a fist. I slowly opened my hand -- and panicked. I held a key in the palm of my hand.

Very Busy Weekend

Have you ever heard of Melissa Borders Stevenson?

I met her on Saturday. She had the most amazing one-woman show I've ever seen.

I went to a really nice luncheon (perks of being a member of the press -- enjoyed chicken crepes and a spinach salad) and stayed for a presentation by Mrs. Stevenson.

She portrays women in history. The women selected for Saturday's performance were Eleanor Roosevelt, Julia Morgan, Charlie Parkhurst and Harriet Tubman.

I had heard of Roosevelt and Tubman - those were obvious. But shame on me for not knowing who Morgan and Parkhurst were. (I did look it up before I attended but prior to getting the assignment, I did not know who they were.)

I'd love to talk more about it but I will wait until my story runs (next Friday) and then I can come back and tell you more.

If you ever hear of Stevenson performing anywhere near your town -- by all means, do yourself a favor and attend. You won't regret it!

Finally catching up

I have a new freelance record this month -- I have had more stories than I could almost keep up with. Don't get me wrong, it was very exciting and I loved doing it, but there were times that I felt overwhelmed.

Besides my regular weekly story for the Fresno Bee, I took on a couple of extra stories for them. Add to that the stories from World Ag Expo (two to three a day for a week) and my agriculture stories -- 10 stories about the county's top 10 commodities, and some regular stories for the Porterville newspaper -- and we are talking more than 30 articles in one month's time.

But ask me if I love it?

YES!

If I didn't have four children and an elderly mother to look after, I'd jump at the chance of getting back on with my old hometown paper. My editor had stopped by a couple of weeks ago and told me that there was a Features Editor position open as well as a general assignment opening.

I keep telling myself that I am waiting for my magazine-writing career to take off. I'm getting close. I have not heard from Readers Digest about my two submissions, but I did get an interesting offer to write an article for a trade-journal magazine. That is just the beginning!

This will be another busy week for me. I will be covering the California Music Educators Association music festival for three of the four days. I love band and love to cover any band-related stories. Plus, it does not hurt that I will have two daughters performing there too.

I still need to complete three agriculture stories, and I have my first interview for the trade-journal story scheduled on Tuesday.

When it comes to my novel, I have not worked on it much. I'm too busy with everything else. I am going to concentrate on completing all of my current assignments first.

Then I can return to my happy midnight writing!

Oh - one more interesting bit of information. I have signed up for a writers' workshop in Southern California. I'll be gone from April 28th to the 30th. I'm very excited about it.
I thought of going to the Mad Anthony Writer's Conference in Ohio, also in April ( especially since I found a great deal on airflight) but I decided against it since I have several other short trips planned in the next couple of months.

Meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger

I met my Governor today. In fact, he shook my hand. It was great.

The wait for him seemed to take forever - but it was worth it. I know many around here are constantly putting him down - but I believe in what he has been doing.

Today he was discussing his Strategic Growth Plan - a $35 billion investment to maintain and improve the state's levee and flood control system and to provide for safe and reliable water supplies for California's future.

I was at the World Ag Expo to cover his visit and to cover the expo. I ended up writing three stories today.

I have been covering the Expo in Tulare, CA every day this week. (two to three stories a day) I have loved it. It feels great being a member of the press and getting all the perks. Special VIP parking, private golf-cart escorts, etc.

We have been treated like royalty at the media trailer that they set up for us. We have comfortable chairs/couches, all the drinks, candy, meat and cheese cuts, yogurt, ....you name it, they have it for us.

Yesterday I got to interview some members of a Nigerian delegation. I've spoken with people from Japan, Canada, Australia, Netherlands and Australia. Today I spoke with the California agriculture secretary and I got to follow Arnold around as he toured the grounds.

Today I ran into a former news editor I once worked with. He's with another paper now and when he heard I was freelancing, he invited me to come out and write for them too.

Today was fun. And, it's such a big high for me to open up the next morning's paper and see my stories on the front page.

I love my job!

Five Weird Habits

Five Weird Habits – tagged by Joanne

The Rules: The first player of this game starts with the topic “five weird habits” and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don’t forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says “You have been tagged” (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.

Ok Joanne – these are things that my girls have told me are just plain weird!

1. Every time (and I do mean EVERY time) I wash dishes, I sing Donny Osmond or Tom Jones songs. My earliest recollection of this strange habit -- I was 12 years old.

2. I can not throw out a newspaper unless I visually scan it first. There are times I am a week behind (subscribe to 3 papers) – and I wish I could pick them up and throw them out. But, I can’t. I will pick them all up, automatically throw out all the ad inserts, classifieds, comics, and usually sports (except for baseball season) and then I’ll set them aside until I have more time. It usually takes me a couple of hours to go through a week’s worth.

3. This is not really weird – ok, part of it is. I can not go to sleep unless I pray for my girls (small prayer- I touch their forehead and we close our eyes and I say a small prayer) That part is ok. But then, I sing my girls their “night-night” song. Mind you, my daughters are 22, 15, and 13. And they would be embarrassed to death if their friends knew. Odd thing, they are so used to the prayer and their song that when I am sleepy and forget, they’ll come looking for me to say goodnight and stand there, waiting for me to do the silly verse I invented when they were toddlers. When my daughter went to Hawaii with the school recently, I joked with her about recording the night-night song so that she could take it with her. A few months ago, my 13 year old called me from a sleep over and whispered, “I’m calling for the night-night song” – and of course, I sang it to her over the phone.

4. I love fresh figs. But, it is such a short season and they are so hard to find. Therefore, I have a notebook where I have jotted down the location of every single fig tree that I have ever run across. There are 8 in Porterville, 5 in Visalia, 1 on the side of the freeway on the way to Los Banos....etc. No, I never steal figs. In fact, I've never had a fig from any of those trees. (except for a former one in an empty lot by the baseball park, but it's gone now - removed to make a parking lot)

5. This one goes back to when my daughters were little. Every time they saw a cute animal on television, they'd say "OHHH" or "Ahhhhh" (but really loud and exagerated) and it was followed by "how cute" "how sweet" or "how adorable" -- somehow, I picked it up from them. It used to drive my husband crazy, we'd be watching television and a fuzzy animal would be shown and we'd all oohed and ahhed loudly. Well, we still do it. Doesn't matter when the animal pops up -- a monkey on Survivor or the little monkey on Friends -- "Ahhhh! How adorable!"


I did a quick search and at the time I checked, these people had not been tagged on this subject or they hadn't written on the subject yet, therefore, I choose to tag:
Emeraldcite
paint brush poet
(musings of a writing wife) Julia
ray wong
mac

AWMondayMemes

American Idols and Writers

I love American Idol and I love Simon Cowell. But, I do not like it when he tears a person down about their singing. Still, as some of the aspiring singers auditioned, I found myself laughing and asking myself: “What is she thinking? He can’t be serious. She can’t sing. Are they deaf? Does he really believe he has talent? What was that?”

Some of them were so totally off key and -- with no melody whatsoever! How can they believe that they can sing?

Then it dawned on me. Many writers might be the same way.

Last month I read Jenna Glatzer’s “How to Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer” and then, right there on page four, there it was – a sort of disclaimer. A list of “I’m assuming that...”

Among the things listed: understanding command of language, discipline and desire to motivate self, willing to do research, ability to not being crushed by rejections…

“And finally, I will assume that you’re actually a good writer” -- Glatzer wrote.

I was excited. I was answering as I read: “Yes, yes, yes, yes...”

Back to American Idol – isn’t that how they all are? Many of them won’t believe the judges when they are told that they have no talent. They believe they can sing. And I have to laugh all over again. And this time, at myself.

Am I one of those contestants?

Being novice about breaking into the magazine market, I practically swallowed this book. I underlined, high-lighted and placed colored post-its all over it. I kept a writing pad with me and I would jot down questions, situations, things to look up, and things to come back to… until my daughter asked if I was taking a class or studying for a test. I had to smile – yes, I was. It was such a great feeling. I literally spent about six straight hours on it.

And I did my homework.

I subscribe to a lot of magazines – like 10 a month. My girl friend does too. Some are the same ones but some we trade every month, and I read about 15 magazines a month. I started studying them, just like Jenna instructed me.

Then, after a week of devouring the book, I felt confident that a particular story idea was perfect for Readers Digest. I wrote the article proposal and forced myself to set it aside. I was feeling so confident, I polished up a filler I had been keeping around, and I mailed it in for fun. It was only 100 words and I would get $300. Wow. Then, I could say I got $3/word. LOL

I returned to my article proposal the next day, saw some little (but obvious) things to improve it, and I polished it up. I must have gone over it at least 20x.

Then I kissed it and sent it on its way.

I got busy with more research and writing and I forgot all about it –for about a week.

After three weeks, even though I tried not to think about it, I couldn’t help but get excited every time I opened up my email.

Then I started wondering if they would respond by email or (American-Idol thinking) –since my article was so wonderful – maybe they’ll just call me and talk to me. Or, will I get a “real” letter from them, complete with a contract.

Honestly, I wasn’t thinking the latter. It entered my mind and I smiled. I’m not totally clueless to how this works. More often than not, nothing will arrive. But, not in my case – I was so confident about the proposal, I knew I just had to continue the waiting game. Though, I did get concerned last week when I heard about a tragedy – but I won’t go into that today.

In the meantime, I asked a question on one of the AbsoluteWrite threads.

One person responded with:

“Not to burst any bubbles, but it's best to entertain a healthy pessimism regarding any specific submission. As a percentage, very little gets published compared to what gets submitted, and it's probably best to find yourself surprised on the upside later if they get back to you.”

Ok – that’s fine. I agree with that. But, then she went on to say:

”As to the more general sense, best is to find a few people whose opinions you respect (a good writing group is helpful) and try to get an assessment of whether you're talented enough to pursue it further or whether you're being self-delusional. And remember not to shoot the messenger.”

There it was – a statement from one of the judges. At least it was a kind statement.

But, here I was – an American-Idol-type writer – reacting to the statement.

WHAT??? What do you mean, "am I talented enough to pursue it further?" And what is this about being Self-delusional? Phooey!

(Remember, don’t shoot the messenger)

I didn’t.

One of the things I am known for is that I am always telling everyone: “Don’t ever let go of your dream.” One of my dreams is to be published in magazines. I believe it will happen. And, if it doesn't happen this month, there's always next month.

Until then, I’ll be right here – writing. And watching American Idol.
And, for all of you new writers -- you have to get Jenna Glatzer's Freelance Writing book. You'll be glad you did and when it is your turn to perform before the judges -- you can smile and feel confident that you've been coached by a professional.

The Rule of Four Meme

I was just thinking that if it weren't for meme's -- there would be little posted on my blog, at least lately. Then, I read a similar comment from Mac on Dawno's site.
I have been very busy with freelance writing assignments. I counted today and I have 22 for February and it's not even the middle of the month yet! That's fine. Baseball season is coming up and I need to buy a season pass.
So...for now, I'm going to post this last meme that I ran across on Musings of a Writing Wife

Four jobs you've had in your life:
1. Radio show host assistant (station identification voice; commercials, assisted dj, answered the request line) - KTIP Porterville, KCOK Tulare
2. Worked at my family's record shop on Main Street
3. Emergency Room Nurse - later, School Nurse
4.Newspaper Reporter / later Freelance Reporter

Four movies you could watch over and over:
1. The Rookie
2. The Man in the Iron Mask
3. Groundhog Day
4. Under the Tuscan Sun

Four Places you've lived:
1. Laredo, TX
2. San Antonio, TX
3. Porterville, CA
4. Visalia, CA

Four TV shows you love to watch: (I watch TV Monday-Thursday / some are recorded)
1. Monday: Medium & 24
2. Tuesday: American Idol & Commander and Chief
3. Wednesday: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (every night)
4. Thursday: Survivor / CSI / Without a Trace

Four Places you've been on vacation:
1. Tulum, Yucatan - (Caribbean)
2. Hawaii
3. Europe: Paris - Belgium - Netherlands
4. Victoria, British Columbia - Canada

Four websites you visit daily:
1. The Fresno Bee
2. The Porterville Recorder
3. several close friends' websites/blogs
4. AbsoluteWrite.com (minus small breaks)

Four of your favorite foods:
1. chicken piccatta
2. steak
3. fresh fruit
4. sauteed mushrooms

Four places you'd rather be:
1. Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula - my favorite place to vacation
2. Xcaret - also in Caribbean - Paradise!
3. In a bookstore
4. Home. It's my favorite place to be.

Category tags: AWMondayMemes