Happy St. Patrick's Day

"Shamrock only exists on St. Patrick's Day. Every other days of the year, it's just young clover."

-Charles Nelson

I am officially back from my blogging break! I had a nice time. :) I feel much more settled and relaxed, and I have a lot of new things to share, including my new hair color and style, my trip to Nevada, and... well... you will just have to stay tuned. In the mean time, I hope your St. Patrick's Day is a pleasant one, and don't forget the "Wearing 'O The Green," or you might be pinched by a wee leprechaun! ;) I have a nice green sweater all picked out to wear today, and later, I am making a traditional meal of Corned Beef and Potatoes, with all the sides. I might even get in a little time with the camera, as the weather has been nothing short of stunning lately. That is slated to change early next week, some rain is said to be on the way, but that is then, and this is now, and right now, I am focusing on the present, not worrying about the future. :)

May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.
May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through!

-Irish Blessing

-OndineMonet
"Shamrocks"
Berkeley, California
March 16th, 2007
Afternoon

Lake Tahoe In Autumn

"There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in it's sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it could not have been."

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ok, so a little later today, about 5:30 AM, I will be on my way to Lake Tahoe, and other places in Nevada, as time allows. This is going to be a marathon day with the camera, meaning it will more than likely never leave my hand, even for meals. Which according to Alan, this is an every day occurrence for me anyway. LOL. We'll see. So, I am planning on this being a 24 hour day for me, with little naps in-between caffeine breaks. Since I know I will be needing some recovery time, I will return to Ellipsis in a few days. See ya soon, with some photos of the Sierra, as it appears in late winter. :)

October 27, 2006

-OndineMonet
Autumn In Lake Tahoe
South Lake Tahoe, California
October 27, 2006
Afternoon

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Bye-Bye Winter

"From December to March, there are for many of us, three gardens. The garden outdoors, the garden of pots and bowls in the house, and the garden of the minds eye."

Katherine S. White

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Post any winter photos you didn't get around to posting earlier. Because winter is going, going, gone baby. Think of it as a last salute.

-John Scalzi (By The Way)

Here is another shot of my trip up Mt. Hamilton, on March 1st. As you can see, the snow at the mid point was beginning to melt, but all the way on top, was another story completely. The road was closed at McCarthy Ranch, which is about half way up. Sigh. It was so beautiful, especially with the green mountains in the foreground. Spring doesn't arrive for about a week, and while this entry was suggested as a kind of last hurrah for winter, I am planning a couple more entries about the change of seasons. Stay tuned! :)

"Winter lingered so long in the lap of spring, that it occasioned a great talk."

-Bill Nye

-OndineMonet
"Cold Thoughts"
Mt Hamilton
Santa Clara County, California
March 1st, 2007
Afternoon

Time Changes Everything

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back."

-Harvey MacKay

I had the most difficult time, dealing with time today. Strange for me, in that the turning of the clock every six months has never effected me much no matter which way it went. I prefer the short days of autumn and winter, but in recent years, since being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, I have appreciated the longer days, and the warmth of the sun. Although, I can live without those unbearably hot days like the ones the Bay Area suffered through last summer. 110 for this area is really too much! I sure wish every day, could be like the one I spent last week at Stowe Lake, in Golden Gate Park. It was a warm day in San Francisco, a nice 70 degrees or so. One thing to remember about San Francisco, if you ever come to visit, you should always have a sweater or light jacket handy, because the temperature will change, from district to district. 70 degrees in North Beach, is not the same as 70 degrees in the Financial district. You will need a sweater at Fort Point, but not necessarily in Golden Gate Park. It's weird... but I love it.

Anyway, about the time change. Maybe it's because the clocks were turned forward three weeks early this year, or maybe it is because I just didn't sleep that well last night, I don't know, I just didn't wake up feeling my best yesterday. It didn't help that the only clock I managed to change, was the one on my cell phone. It also didn't help that I fell asleep watching Simon & Simon on the Sleuth channel. LOL. That channel plays shows in a kind of loop. The same episode of Simon & Simon that was playing when I fell asleep, was also on three hours later when Elvis woke me up to play mousie with him. LOL. Glancing at the TV, and seeing the same episode playing, led me to believe that I had just gone to bed less than an hour earlier. Duh me. LOL. So, back to sleep I went, with Elvis curled into my knees, annoyed, but still by my side.

I slept kind of deep, until I had a dream about an old annoyance, I mean old boyfriend, who recently crossed my mind. Sigh. The creep! LOL. He wasn't really a creep, but he could be kind of stupid sometimes. He will even tell you that. LOL. So tell me, why is it, when I think of stupid people I have known, I still manage to remember them at their best, and miss them so much? I swear, my brain retains the strangest memories, and most trivial pieces of information, and I am NOT as smart as a 5th grader. LOL. Maybe that's why. Maybe I am actually the stupid one, although I will never tell him that! LOL.

Why do I fight change so much? It's not like the "same old, same old," is getting any more exciting. Oh well, I plan to spend some time this next week near water, maybe that will help. Lake Tahoe should be a little bit of paradise. If there is time, I might go all the way up to Carson City, Nevada. We'll see. The mermaid in me has her priorities, she needs to see the lake, touch the cold, clear, water on her fingertips, and that might just take up the whole day. :) Talk about change, the water in the lake is never the same, it changes by the second. Bodies of water, are the perfect representations of change, and yet I am drawn to it as if I really were a mermaid, never fearing it's change, in fact, I depend on it! Sigh... Go figure. At least the time changing three weeks earlier this year, gives me more time in the water.

-OndineMonet
"Stowe Lake"
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
March 8, 2007
Afternoon

Sunday Quizapalooza

"Most great me and women are not perfectly rounded in their personalities, but are instead people whose one driving enthusiasm is so great it makes their faults seem insignificant."

-Charles A. Cerami

I love doing puzzles and quizzes. I have been enjoying the new FOX game show, "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" I can, with a good deal of certainty, admit that I am about a third as smart as a fifth grader. LOL. Well, actually, it depends on the questions, but I do know that if I were to appear on a game show, it would probably be, "Deal or No Deal." At least the odds would be more in my favor, either the million dollars would be in my case, or they wouldn't. Alan's favorite model on the show, Anya, holds case #10, so I would choose that case. Then I would ask if Anya could sit with Alan in the cheering section near the stage. Am I a cool wife or what? I figure he has had to put up with my undying love of David Duchovny all these years, so I owe him one. :) Do you play the odds in life, or do you believe everything is really 50/50? Either it will or it won't.

How about having some fun, take the following quizzes and then share your results in the comment thread for this entry. Just click the links below. Here is how I scored...

*What Famous Work Of Art Are You?

***You Are Best Described By***
Claude Monet's "Impression Sunrise"

*What Do Your Dreams Mean?


"Dream" By Pablo Picasso

Your dreams seem to show that you're very well adjusted and happy person.
Overall, you are very content in your life.
You tend to be a productive thinker.
Your dreams tend to reflect your insecurities.
You have a very vivid imagination and a rich creative mind.

*What's The Part Of You No One Sees?

"Hidden Eye" By Vicky Brago-Mitchell

You are unique, witty, and even a little snobby.
You're quite proud of who you are, and nothing is going to change that.
You've paved your own way in life, and you've ended up where you want to be.

Underneath it all, you feel very isolated from the rest of the world.
It's hard to find people to relate to you on every level.
The mundane interests of your friends and family often bore or depress you.

Hmmmm.... maybe.

"If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world, it will come through the expression of your own personality, that single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every living creature."

-Bruce Barton

-OndineMonet
"Lunch With Andy"
Berkeley, California
September 9th, 2006
Afternoon