All Eyes on Fall

September is in the final  day of existence for 2013.  Fall is definitely in the air.  Hot dry air turned to warm air, then to cooler air, to darn right nippy outside for the last few days.  I woke up to snow on the mountain peaks one morning.  I'm not ready for the mountains to be covered, but when I am, I'll be ready....sort of, not really......okay, I will.  By that time all the leaves are off the trees, everything looks dead, and I will be ready for a fresh coat of white fluff to cover up the dull, gray looking surroundings.......

It was not the best week to snap any pictures.  Rain, work, wind, then more rain, then cold, more work.  It was dreary outside for sure.  I love to shop when it's dreary though.   I took my sister in law to a great place to do a bit of shopping.  A place that has unique and different items to look at and buy.  It's eclectic.  Shops in refurbished houses that are lined up next to each other and looks more like an old time town, than a place to do any shopping. We were on the hunt for quilts.  Found them, and that will be another story for me in a few months to share and show pictures.   Fall and Halloween decor were everywhere.  Hay bales, corn stalks, lots and lots of pumpkins, and life sized witches.  Some moving, some riding bikes, some floating in a boat on a lazy river.  I found my human host.........just standing there as if she owned the place.  I think it's a great likeness of her..........

Gardner Village

Good likeness?
A witch of Gardner Village

I had good intentions to head for the mountains and snap fall leaves, but the weather made that decision for me.  Picking the pumpkins I grew this year seemed like a better idea.  The previous weekend still haunts me and will yet for awhile.  I needed to face the spot my beloved pet is buried in.  I had a bumper crop of pumpkins this year and they needed to be picked.  I couldn't avoid looking at that spot of fresh dirt as I picked my pumpkins and pulled up the vines.  I think Fred would have been pleased with all the pumpkins we grew.  It was a favorite spot for him during the summer to shade himself under the huge leaves and lay on the cool dirt..............

My front porch is starting to take on the look of Fall.  I've lined up pumpkins on the porch steps, nestled them among my flowers, and pray that I don't wake up some morning to half of them smashed in the street.  That still seems to be the ultimate goal for kids......do a grab and smash of the pumpkins.  As we get closer to Halloween, I'm sure pumpkin guts will start appearing on the roads..........yuk.......I'm hoping to have a few to carve.  The kids are grown and gone, but who says you have to have kids to carve pumpkins?  There is a little tool called a Dremel.......wonderful invention, fabulous invention and makes quick work carving out pumpkins........

I write about what I see through the eyes of my inner child as she snaps away pictures.  I see life as she sees it....sometimes colorful, sometimes gray that turns to black.  She will always keep her eyes open, looking around to capture a life moment.............what do you do to remember what just happened?   What do you do to capture a memory?  Do you remember the good or just the bad?  See life through the eyes of a child...you'll be amazed.  See life as it is now......remember it, cherish it, or file it in a round file to be forgotten.  Look and see what you have before it disappears...........forever........

Thank you all, my lovelies, for reading and sharing these rambling thoughts.  May your weeks ahead be filled with love, kindness, and caring.  Smile.......just think, Christmas is only 85 days away, or 2049 hours, or 122949 minutes.....but the best is 7376902 seconds away......


twitter @CotySimon
Instagram - Howunique310

Teary Eyes

Dear irresponsible dog owner:

My human host is a kind, fun loving lady who cares what happens in this world, what happens to other humans, and what happens to animals.  She's cares so much that her tolerance level bottoms out when someone does bodily harm to children, animals, and to adults who cannot stand up or protect themselves.

It has come to my attention that because of your irresponsible behavior of letting your dogs roam free through the neighborhood, you hurt my human host something horribly.......

I'm writing this on behalf of my human host as I can write it like she saw it and felt it.  She is turning me loose on you.

You let your dogs roam without benefit of being on a leash.  They ventured into my humans haven and invaded her personal space...her backyard.  Your dogs had no business doing their business in her backyard.  You see, while perusing her lawn, your dogs spotted her very old cat minding his own business.  It was game on for your dogs.  Your dogs attacked and murdered her cat.  A cat that was a brother to a sister cat that is now lost without her brother and cries for him now.  You see, your dogs were let loose in the neighborhood by you, to wander free to do their business in someones yard so you wouldn't have to clean up after them.  While trying to find that perfect place, they spotted her cat.  An old, black and white cat, that was a family pet.  A first pet for her youngest child that is now 29 years old.  She is dreading having to tell him that his beloved pet is now buried in the pumpkin patch and his spirit is now in cat heaven.

Your dogs, as lovely and beautiful they are to you, are now ugly, violent animals to her.  If she gets her hands on you, she will do bodily harm.  Your dogs attacked an old helpless cat and left him dying on her back yard lawn, while your dogs licked their chops and wagged their tails, as they were being chased away.   I'm sure, that was their version of a high five, job well done bro.........

She's an animal lover, too....she's a responsible animal lover.  You, on the other hand, are a stupid human, who has no conscious or moral value.  I hope that you never have to stand in front of my human host who is still crying her eyes out, and hurting from a broken heart.  I pray that you never meet her and see her eye to eye, as you will be flat on the ground being stomped upon as she tears your black heart out.

Halloween may only come around once a year with witches flying around, but dog owner beware, a witch resides in this house all year long.  She doesn't need Halloween to remind her.  She's a good witch.   But she also can conjure up a spell or two for those who are in need of reminding that when you do bad things to good people or animals...............this just might happen to you..............

MAY A POX SO HARD AND MEAN STRIKE YOUR BODY AND RENDER YOU USELESS.  I HOPE YOU SUFFER.  I HOPE YOU BEGGING FOR FORGIVENESS FALLS ON DEAF EARS. I HOPE YOUR HEART HURTS SO MUCH THAT NOTHING WILL RELIEVE THE PAIN.  I HOPE THE TEARS YOU WANT TO SHED, WILL NEVER FALL UPON YOUR CHEEKS.  NO AMOUNT OF CRAWLING BACK ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES WILL SAVE YOU.  YOUR WORDS OF FORGIVENESS WILL NEVER BE HEARD..............

Her cat suffered a violent death.  She does not wish death on you, just horrible pain and continuous suffering while having visions of what your animals did to her cat run a continual loop through your senseless brain.  The dogs, unfortunately, cannot take all the blame for what they did.  You, dog owner, are responsible, and to blame, and should be held accountable for your dogs behavior.  Just like children, dogs are taught how to act, how to respond, how to obey..........

It may not come in this life, so heaven watch out for this fuckhead as he tries to enter the pearly gates.  His halo will be tarnished.   I'm pretty sure there won't be any room for this asshole.  He doesn't deserve to be in the presence of special people.  He deserves to be put where he belongs......in the arms of a devil holding court in hell...........not in the arms of an angel with outreached arms.

There will be no "sincerely yours" as I end this for my human host. She's hurting and is upset.  Tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, she will feel differently towards you, but right now, you are scum to her.   You don't deserve to walk on the same ground as her or anyone else for that matter..................

All you deserve is...................nothing................


Rest in peace our Fred........watch over your sister as she lives out her remaining years in the yard you protected for her.  Rest in peace.....you're free now to run and play with Buddy and Sweety.  Go play tag with Maggie, Flasher, and Peaches.   Climb those big trees with Cheddar, Thomas and Thomas Sr.,  Little Kitty, Herme and Charlie the cat.........you're free.......

Not so long ago when money was tight and Christmas was a round the corner. she had to get creative in buying gifts for her three boys.   She pawned a piece of jewelry that brought her $100.  A hundred dollars to split amongst the three........what she did was buy 3 picture frames and frame the animals that each child had growing up.  Fred now is framed in memory and living in Arizona with her youngest son.  My human host has searched high and low for other pictures so she could post at least one and attach it to this blog.  It's just not meant to be.  But, looking for pictures through tears is hard.


twitter@CotySimon
Instagram - Howunique310

Eyeing the Exit

I never have to look far to find inspiration.  It's what I am trying to get inspiration for that I have a problem with.  Doesn't make sense, but realistically, it does.  It is the right one?  It is the wrong one?  Is it on the left?  It is on the right?........Sometimes I feel I am heading down a wrong path only to reach a fork in the road. When I reach that fork in the road, I question myself on which path to continue on.  Do I go left?  Do I go right?  Sometimes there is no real direction or decision to make.  I just have to pick it, go for it, and trust in myself that it's the right one for me.  If it's not....learning from my mistakes is all about making me a better person, or realizing that there is no right or wrong choice.......life is a lot about the roads you take and the exits leading to something new...........

TAKE AN EXIT THAT LEADS YOU TO SOMEPLACE NEW..

Salt Lake City, Utah
Home

I have a photo gallery of a couple thousand photos that are stored deep in the innards of my computer.  I love pretty things just like the next person.  My definition of "pretty" is not so much materialistic items, but what I find when I walk out a door and see what is before me when I look around.  I was looking for some inspiration to write about.   Opening up my photo gallery is all I needed to find that one picture that knocks the breath right out of me..........

These mountains that surround me, hug me, give me peace of mind and
a feeling of security and inspiration.........looking outside, from my backyard,
is all I need to put a smile on my face.......

I am not photographer, I've said that already.  I am a picture taker.  I am not a writer either.  I am a blogger.  I have found that both of these things put together helps me relieve some creative pressure built up in my brain.  The inner child I am needs this.   Now that the weather is turning, different visions are appearing outside.........I hope soon to take a ride up the mountains to see the fall colors, before everything becomes dead looking.  I love fall for the colors.

The cool, crisp air brings to my senses, the smell of baking inside the house.  I've switched over the fruits and florals that I have been burning so far, to the smells of baking.  I like to burn two candles at the same time.  I mix scents.  A fruit such as apple with a spicey.......pumpkin spice with a pear scent.  Makes your whole house feel warm and inviting.  I am a candle nut............I have wax for blood sometimes!!!!  I owned a candle shop for a long time.  Loved it and I miss it.  But, I don't miss the headaches that go along with owning your own business.

Harvest by Yankee Candle
burn this with McIntosh, Spiced Apple, Spiced Pear
Pumpkin Pie, Autumn Wreath, Pumpkin Spice or
if you want to feel you are in the mountains, burn it
with a pine scent...you may not be able to find the
pine scents now, but give it a month, then you will.

I feel like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat.  I pulled up some pictures of fall from a couple of years ago back when I was a road traveler for my job at that time......I kind of miss traveling this time of the year.  I saw some very pretty scenery during my fall travels.  Mother Nature has a magical way of turning the scenery in to a glorious array of colors............is it a peace offering for Old Man Winter to hold off a bit longer from showing us his cold, blustery temper?

Finding these pictures really makes me hungry to head for the hills and start snapping away.  I need Mother Nature to cooperate though.  It seems that she's cried her eyes out lately.  Tomorrow, I'll head for the hills, hopefully tomorrow I can see what the mountains are holding onto before they, too, shed the last of summer and make way for the winter snow.........

Yuk.......snow is a 4 letter, wash your mouth out with soap word for me.  Here's a oxymoron statement......I love the snow, like looking at the snow, I just don't care to be cold anymore and cooped up in my house for what seems like a century while it snows feet instead of inches........and where the drivers here in Utah think they are kings/queens of the road with their 4 wheel drive machines they call SUV's, that think they can out drive a silly snowstorm.  In other words.........the roads are full of idiots with big machines that drive way too fast for the conditions of the roads and put us all in grave danger!!!!  Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how one looks at it, I also drive a 4WD machine called a SUV....I drive it so the other idiots out there can see me.  I'm hell on wheels.....stay out of my way.......think maybe I just described myself as a Utah driver.....that I am, but I'm a Princess, not a Queen...........You don't have to worry about me on the snowy roads, it's the other drivers you need to worry about.............

Find your inspiration.  Take a risk, exit onto a road you've never been on before.  The only way to know is to do it and try it..............keep your eye on the exit......don't miss it.  While you're at it, be someones inspiration.  Take them along for the ride, too..............

If you read my blog, look at my pictures, reach out and share this with someone who might enjoy the ride.  Some of the best friends I have, I found here......sharing what I see, with you......I'll be honest, I still have a hankering to jot down a few more words about someone who still is occupying a portion of my brain........but I can't and I won't........I'll continue sharing my thoughts privately with a selected few who are still in awe of following the footsteps of someone who captured a lot of peoples hearts.........




twitter@CotySimon
Instagram - Howunique310

Wandering Eyes........

I live in a climate where we have 4 seasons most of the time.   Beautiful spring weather that ushers in flowers that are still sometimes buried in snow.  Long, hot, lazy summers that roll into the kids heading back to school, cooler temps and the changing colors on the mountains sides for fall.........Last by not least, a long, cold, snowy winter season.  According to the calendar, each season is 3 months long.  If only it were that easy to predict.

Living in Utah, we can go from summer to winter in a blink of an eye.  We can go from winter to summer just as fast.  Sometimes we skip spring and fall.  This year, we're on track for 4 seasons.  At least I hope.  I am not ready to give up summer yet.  I love the heat, the outdoors, and no shoes. Winter  forces me to wear cumbersome contraptions.  I wrap them up in socks, shove them into shoes or boots.  My feet love to be naked............they are happy when they are free.  Free to walk around on thick carpet, or run through puddles of water after a warm, summer rain.  Granted I can still run my toes and feet across soft carpet, but really now, stepping on to a frozen glazier of freshly fallen snow, just isn't quite as appealing.

Arizona........so much can be said about a place that is hot and dry.  Most people have a love/hate relationship with it.  I love it.......and I love the heat........

I feel fortunate to have a son who now resides in sunny, hot Arizona.  My baby boy..........if you can call a 29 year old a baby.  All my boys are my babies.  Always will be......no matter how old they are.

The hubby and I flew down for a few days recently to see our son and witness him receiving his final certification.  He's now diesel engine qualified.........He's become a master mechanic.  A field that so suits him.  He's good at it.  He's good with his hands.   It causes him to think a problem through.  This kid has struggled through his life.  He's one of those kids that has attention deficit with hyperactivity.  This accomplishment he's achieved, is proof to the pudding that you never give up on your kids.  No matter the challenges they give you and no matter the challenge they are to themselves. He pushed himself through almost 2 1/2 years of studies and worked his butt off.  Work/school/study......no time for anything else.  Now he can take a deep breath and enjoy life.........He earned it.........especially after this little ceremony.....the kid was sick.....had been up all night.  No sleep, nauseated, but still could throw out a smile.........

Arizona provides a home for my son, a place I can go and enjoy some warmth occasionally from the cold hard winters Utah slams at me, and a place where I can take pictures.

It doesn't matter where I land.......I'll aim and shoot at something.................in an airport, in a plane way up high, inside a car.............at my favorite, park-your-behind-on-a-stool, brewery........or even taking pictures of what's inside a big diesel rig........large than life diesel engine blocks.  Exhaust hoses venting fumes to the outside air...........nothing escapes my wandering eyes.........I'm always looking at what I can snap with my cameras.

I get excited to aim and shoot.  See what it looks like on a screen.  Will it need editing or do I delete it......what will I aim and shoot at next?....................Kind of sounds like life.....will I need to edit what I am doing, or delete it all together?

Life is grand........live it, love it and feel it.............


twitter@CotySimon
Instagram - Howunique310

Eye to Eye....

A zillion years ago, while playing on the school ground tricky bars, I met a girl that would become my friend and stay my best friend through thick and thin for more than 50 years. As luck would have it, she lived close by, just around the corner, 5 houses away from me.  Twelve years ago, she moved away from me to pursue her dream of always wanting to be by the ocean.  I let her go with sadness in my heart, but, I knew I would see her again in her new environment.  To celebrate a birthday milestone for me, and her birthday, too,  I flew down to California.  This is another place that has pieces of my heart scattered up and down the coast line.  I spent many, many summers there as my grandparents lived in California. I  would frolick in the ocean, play in the sand......I even put the grainy stuff inside my ear once.  I sat on the beach, sifting the sand through my fingers, and decided that funneling it into my ear would be fun.  NOT.  I ended up with the worst ear ache ever!!!.   I can say that when I put a shell to my ear, I really do hear the ocean..................

Several months ago, I closed another chapter in my life, and opened a new decade door.  The last decade did slam me in my ass as it was leaving me behind, bidding me a fond farewell.  To see this door close, it  made me realize again how important family and friends are.  They are the only solid piece of matter that I need in my life.  Everything else is just stuff that I have accumulated over the years.

Time has flown by way too fast.  I am getting older, my family is getting older, and my friends are doing the same thing.  So far we are all intact, no deaths among us.   The human in me is getting older body wise and mentally she is still young at heart, forgetful at times, but she can still mess with someones head and still get into trouble................

I was missing my best friend.   I needed to be with my bestie in California.  Her birthday is close to mine so celebrating our birthdays together just seemed like the thing to do, plus it gave me a really good and logical reason to head to California.  It was time to spread more of my heart and soul on to the sandy and rocky shores................I left the sand on the beach this time and not in my ear............

I made this trip all about her.  She puts me up in her place, she drives me around.  I let her plan what she wanted to do, where she wanted to go.  My birthday gift to her....building another memory for us, being together as if we were kids again, and not letting her pay for anything........it's what best friends do for each other.....when you can consider yourself a senior citizen, you grab ahold of all the discounts you can get!!!  hahahaha........and we did, every last one  that we could qualify for.  The senior discounts are starting earlier and earlier in age......50 to be exact.  Before too long, you will be old when you are fresh out of the womb!!!

We had sushi in City Walk at Universal Studios.  Because she loves sushi as much as I do, I cannot wait until she moves back.  The other gals in my group, turn their noses up.  The mere mention of sushi makes them gag........go figure.  They ain't livin' until they try it.....but NOOOOOOOO, it's gross.  Not in my book darlin', not in my book......it's yummy, good for you, and I love it.................

Went on a sunset cruise.   A cruise around the shores of Santa Barbara.  The sunset was stunning, weather was perfect.  I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Filtered through a sunglass lense

We saw the movie, The Heat.  We laughed so hard we almost peed our pants, and at our age, it's not a hard thing to do. (Sneezing can cause major flooding)..........Tears of laughter streamed down our faces. We picked up our brains we parked at the door of the theater when we left.  This was a movie that made us laugh and giggle and you didn't need your brain to think...........

The next day, we hopped on another boat.  Headed to Catalina Island for lunch, shopping, and talking about stuff.  Stuff we did as kids.  Stuff we did as high schoolers.  Stuff we did and are doing as so called adults.  Stuff we are doing now.  It's stuff.  Nothing more, nothing less.  But it's our stuff. That stuff has made some great memories.  Some sad, but mostly happy, fun, and some hilarious memories making a permanent home in our memory bank of a brain........We can still laugh and joke about it and look back with absolutely no regrets.  We had fun....we're still having fun..........

We stayed all night on the Queen Mary.  This ship has such elegance and character.  The wood is so beautiful.  The staterooms make you feel like you are in that time period.  I do wonder though, if everyone who sailed on this ship whispered.  Or if they talked at all or did much of anything else!!  The walls are paper thin. You hear everything!!!!........ We basically partied all night with a group of guys sharing a stateroom to the side of us.  We heard every bottle cap open on their beverage of choice, some pretty good conversation on how to pick up ladies, what they did or didn't do or wanted to do......Their laughter...... It could have been annoying if we had let it, but we got revenge.  We started to laugh hysterically, made a few comments on how guys think they are such studs and think only with what's in their knickers....if they can find it!!!...... They realized then, they had been caught.........the silence that followed was deafening.  Their conversation continued, but on a little less vocal level until all became silent......for about 20 minutes, then the snoring started....Thank goodness for ear plugs and an extra pillow to put over the head.............

Wood corridor/hallway of the Queen Mary

Staying with her, we had some good heart to heart chats.  Since being in California, her health has become an issue.  She's developed sleep apnea, diabetes and it's hard for her to walk distances.   She's decided that its time to come home.  Come back to Utah, where she has family and friends that will help take care of her if need be.   Her move will happen in the next year or so when she can "retire'.  How I hate that word.  I feel like that word means, we're being put out to pasture.  She needs to retire and coming back home to retire, I'm for it.............

I'll be going back, one more time to visit my best friend in a place that I love almost as much as my dear Bear Lake.  I'll  be headed back to plant my feet onto a sandy beach, place another piece of my heart onto the sandy shores of the Pacific ocean.  I will be going back one last time to see my best friend in her element, her environment, before she heads back to her home in Utah once again.  She's moving back, but it will not be the last time I set foot on to those shores.  I'll keep going back.......

I find it hard to believe that we have been friends for so many years. I saw her get married.  She saw me get married.  We were there for each other when our children were born.  I helped ease her pain when things didn't work out and she got a divorce.  I even took a step back when she found freedom and wanted to be a single girl and test the waters again. But I've always been there for her when she needed me and she's been there when I needed her.........

Her and I, we belong to a unique group of ladies.  We've been friends for a lot of years.  These ladies are my Friday night out, raise-some-hell ladies, of which I am the sole instigator of raising hell.  I ain't dead yet and I'm making sure they aren't either.........................She will come back and join the fold once again and make our Friday night ventures a little more interesting...............different personalities will be meshed and mashed together once again.

Hold on to friendships.  They are not a dime a dozen.  Friends come and go in your life, but best friends stay forever and ever...............

I think these last two pictures represent myself and my friends.  We are a rusty group of women, a colorful group, and we do reflect off each other.

Good friends care for each other.  Close friends understand each other.  But, true friends, stay forever, beyond words, beyond distances, beyond time.....................

author unknown.....

These pictures are from my eyes that I share to yours.........I am a photo nut case.  I am reminded almost on a daily basis that some people cannot get out, enjoy the beauty of the world or enjoy their own surroundings.  Share what you see with someone who can't...........I'm trying to do just that.........

twitter@CotySimon

Instagram - Howunique310