Bark less, wag more

posted by Helen

The hardware store in a nearby village uses their signboard to entertain (and instruct) passersby with witty sayings. Today the board reads "Bark less, wag more."

I'm sure it's a reference to a popular list of advice that was circulated on the internet years ago:

Eat less, exercise more.
Talk less, think more.
Ride less, walk more.
Worry less, work more.
Waste less, give more.
Preach less, practice more.
Frown less, laugh more.
Scold less, praise more.
Regret less, aspire more.
Hate less, love more.

It's all good, but "bark less, wag more" really says it all.

Back in Vermont

posted by Helen

We got home about mid-day on Saturday. Logistically it was a complicated trip, but it went very well. Dave did a great job coordinating everything. We had numerous flights and no delays. The only mishap was that I left the maplight on in our car so the battery was nearly dead when we got back. The security guard at the parking lot had a nifty portable device that allowed us to jump the car and be on our way.

At about 4 PM we both crashed and slept for an hour. It was great to be home in our own room again. There's only so much luxury hotel living one can take.

Minneapolis

posted by Helen

Well, we are on the last leg of our trip. Got into Minneapolis tonight just before 10 PM, checked into the Sofitel by 11. This hotel rocks, by the way.

We've only stayed in one bad hotel this trip and it was a Radisson. I made Dave promise never to make me stay in a Radisson again. They use Wayport for internet access and I have never been able to get Wayport to let me send email. I can download and browse the web (albeit s-l-o-w-l-y) but can't send email. I would have fired off a scathing email to them, but I couldn't get it to go.

So ... since I last posted we have stayed in three other hotels and had five meetings. Our mileage in California came to 1006 miles. We traveled from Bakersfield to Santa Monica to Pismo Beach to Carmel to San Francisco to San Rafael to Santa Rosa to Stockton to Modesto to Sacramento. It's been crazy but good. One more meeting and we're home.

I'm looking forward to getting home, walking my dog, playing violin, digging in the garden. I always feel like I've dropped off the planet when I travel. It's hard to remember what I'm supposed to be doing. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to keep my equilibrium on the road.

Telegraphing You

posted by Helen

Taking a break from our roadtrip reporting to welcome visitors from the Grey Eagle Blog where one of Dave's original songs is featured this week.

Reading about Grey Eagle has really been an eyeopener for me. We come from very different worlds and I feel the utmost admiration for Grey Eagle and our armed forces in Iraq. Thank you to all soldiers making huge sacrifices in service to our country.

The Secret of Life

posted by Helen

Waterfall in Julia Pfeiffer State Park, Big Sur

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
Any fool can do it
There ain't nothin' to it
Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill
But since we're on our way back down
Might as well enjoy the ride ...
- James Taylor

Kicking around LA

posted by Helen

Yesterday we had a meeting with a showroom owner in Woodland Hills in the morning. Then we met Dave's brother for lunch in Santa Monica.

We spent the afternoon driving around with Jason. He had an errand to run at Paramount Studios so we tagged along and got an informal tour of the backlot. The above photo is water tank B where they filmed the oceanic battle scenes in the Winds of War mini-series.

We also drove by a location Jason scouted recently for a new Disney Channel series called "Lincoln Heights." It was an ordinary-looking house in a slightly down-at-the-heels neighborhood, but it was what passes a crack house in the minds of studio executives. Here's a photo:



They added the chainlink fence and quite a few other features to match the house used in the series pilot. I guess the original house was too far away to use for filming the regular series.

On the way back to Santa Monica, we drove through the Hanover Park area, filled with beautiful homes valued in the millions. All I can say is that people in California are either in hock up to their eyeballs or are all just fabulously wealthy.

After relaxing a little bit at the hotel, we had dinner at Wabi-Sabi in Venice. Today we're heading up the coast for a meeting in Buellton.

All I Want

posted by Helen

We drove through the grey chill of Boston, 5:00 AM from our friend Caroline's apartment in Cambridge to the airport. Hours later we walked out of the Bakersfield airport into a brilliantly sunny day, temperature in the 80s and heading up.

After our meeting in Bakersfied, we drove to Van Nuys, listening to Joni Mitchell's albumn "Blue". This album is nearer to perfection than any I can think of. It was the soundtrack of my first year living in Geneva when I was 23. The first song, "All I Want," inspired our wedding vows with the line "All I really really want our love to do is to bring out the best in me and in you." Fortunately Dave likes it too. I once stopped dating a boy because he didn't.

When we got to the hotel I crashed completely and Dave put in a few hours of work. I don't know what came over me, but it was nothing 12 hours of sleep couldn't cure.

Leavin' on a jet plane

posted by Helen

We are leaving in less than 12 hours and I haven't packed. So what to do? Blog entry, of course.

I woke up at 5:15 AM wondering if the coffee machine had done it's magic yet. And then "To Do" list items started scrolling across my mind so I got up and started writing them down. Dave woke up and started chiming in with his items. Cammy heard the activity and came in for a good back-scratching session. Nearly two hours later and I've gotten a lot done. No where near making a dent in that list, 'though.

List making is my salvation and my downfall. It's a fine line. If I overlist, I freak myself out and accomplish nothing. If I don't list, I forget stuff or get distracted by non-essentials (like reading that blog of other people's lists).

So to keep things under control, I find myself breaking things out into separate lists. Right now I have before me the packing list, the personal stuff to do list, and the business stuff to do list. Sometimes I start a list with something I've already done just so I can immediately cross something off the list. A good one to start with today would be "Wake up and start a list".

posted by Helen

I finally got into the garden yesterday. I weeded the flower beds and planted the dahlia tubers and gladioli bulbs. Dave mended the fence, mowed the lawn and weedwacked everything else. The results are satisfying -- the place looks pretty good. Just in time for us to leave.

As usual there is so much to do before a trip. Already I feel the squeeze of anxiety in my heart. Since this trip spans the payroll time period, I need to prepare everything in advance.

But I also enjoy travel. The actual travel days are a respite from ringing phones and everyday demands. I know that with cell phones and ubiquitous internet access, I don't really have the same freedom from obligation that the absence of technology used to impose, but I give myself permission to knock off a little anyway.

I usually select a new book for a trip. This time I'll be traveling with Queen Noor of Jordan. I've always been curious about Lisa Halaby, an American woman who just happened to marry King Hussein in 1978. At the time it seemed unfathomable to me for a Princeton-educated woman to make such a choice. But I used to know a lot more than I know now.

Queen Noor's book is my 16th since January. I doubt I'll keep up this pace, but it's been nice giving myself permission to read. Okay so there's a lot more dog hair not getting swept up, but it's a small price to pay.

The Things I've Done and Left Undone

posted by Helen

There's a point in the Episcopal service that particularly resonates with me. Oddly, it's the part where we're confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness.

I've had conversations with people who don't go to church in any regular way who tell me that it makes them uncomfortable to confess sins when they don't particularly feel they have sinned and that they feel organized religion's approach that everyone is a sinner, that it's just the starting point, original sin, blah, blah, blah is a huge turn-off. I've felt that way myself.

Sinner. So old-fashioned. So perjorative. So un-pc. Doesn't using the very label put us in the position of judging when we should not be judging? That's gotta be some kind of sin, right? Yes, if we are applying it to others. Acknowledging "sin" (and yes, the word still makes me uneasy) in ourselves seems to me simply being honest. Okay, I'm not running around murdering people, but I fall short of being the kind of person I know I should be.

I've heard every religion has the golden rule at its center. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or the gospel version: Love one another as you love yourselves. Man, it is so hard to do. Just when I'm feeling my most loving and angelic, I'm liable to have an encounter with someone who repulses me, frightens me, or just plain pisses me off. Is it better or worse if it's someone I love or someone I don't even know? Neither. It's all the same.

I group that kind of sin under the category of "things I have done." The other side of that is the "things I have left undone." Most of the time, my head is just stuffed full of "I should have done this, I should have done that." When I verbalize one of these thoughts, Dave says "oh, shoulda, coulda, woulda!" He doesn't seem to have the same affliction. This prayer helps me let go a little of the regret and anxiety that comes from not quite measuring up to my own standard. It helps me forgive myself just a little.