Stilettos - Day 23

It began with my mother.

She used to walk around in the morning in her satin nightgowns with matching robe and a pair of high heeled slippers with feathers on the toes.

I thought she looked like a movie star.  Mom was not like anyone else.  All of my friend's moms were pretty plain compared to her.  They wore pajamas and big warm robes.  Their slippers looked like men's slippers.

I got my first pair of heels when I was 13.  I was in high school at the time, and I was not alone in wearing heels.  Many of the girls wore them with plaid skirts and angora sweaters.

I loved the look of high heels.  There was something so ultra-feminine about their shape.  I also loved being taller.  I found that I had no trouble at all walking in them.  Actually, I could even run in heels.  I very seldom wore flat shoes at all.  I did have a pair of tennis shoes I kept in my locker at school for P.E., but that was the extent of my flat heeled wardrobe.

Ten years after high school, the biggest fad around was the platform shoe with a gigantic platform and sky high heels.  I wore those with varying degrees of success.  I thought they looked great, and they made me very tall, but on occasion I would topple off of them and it was a long way down to the ground.

I discovered stiletto's and I have never looked back.  They are the sleekest, most beautiful shoes ever made.  I don't wear the 5" heels now, but a 4" stiletto is fine.  I also own a variety of wedge shoes and sandals for summer.

Neighbors think I'm eccentric because I do everything from housework to gardening in heels.  I don't care what they think.

I love my high heel shoes.

Like There Was No Tomorrow! The Rapture!

Okay, I've done it.  I'm re-posting my piece from May of last year.  A preacher who lives here in Alameda had predicted "The End Of Times" for May 21, 2011.  People sold their homes and headed to our little island to be with Preacher Harold for the end of times.  Harold was an engineer and he had worked out all the math to prove his date for the Rapture was right.


I wrote the following post on May 22, 2011.

These two dogs have been at this gate all day long.

The dogs belong to my next door neighbor, Mary, and her new husband, Chris. My neighbors are very religious people.

Now most of you know I am not religious. I answer to "agnostic" or "atheist" or "lapsed Catholic". I was brought up Catholic, but we all know that Catholics don't really read the bible, so I never really gave a lot of credence to this "Rapture" business in the first place.

(In fact, I thought the word "rapture" was used exclusively to describe something about one's sex life until very recently.)

But now I'm a little concerned. I have not seen hide nor hair of Mary or Chris all day. Their cars are in the driveway. The dogs have been standing at the gate forlornly since we got up this morning.

I realize that the predicted earthquakes and such have not occurred, at least not as of now. There was a blip on the screen today about a volcano getting ready to erupt in Iceland and that could be related, but I'm not sure. There were also exploding watermelons in China last week if memory serves and that also could be a sign that things are getting ready to pop, so to speak.

Mary has spoken to me about the Rapture in the past. I did have to tell her that I really wasn't religious so it wasn't a concern to me. Sweetly, she offered to pray for me and for Alex too. (He may even be more of a heathen than I am, by the way.)

I have seen all of my other neighbors around today, but most of them are relatively sinful people as far as I can tell. Actually, I have no way of knowing how sinful they are or aren't, but I'm just projecting my own failings on to them. I'm not proud of myself for wondering if I could help myself to Mary's gorgeous sterling tea service if she's gone. I mean, it would be a sin to have it just sit there in an empty house, wouldn't it?

I wonder if I should go next door and feed those dogs.

Satanic Favors - Day 21 or 30

Okay, I don't believe in Satan.

In case you are wondering, I don't believe in a lot other stuff either.  Still, this guy looks like one I'd avoid in a dark alley.  I might have a conversation with him at Barnes and Noble though.

I admit there were times in my past that there were people I would have enough reason to feel "ill will" about.  That person who made your life miserable.  I might have wished her (or him) a wart on their nose.  Or maybe even worse.  But those days are gone.

I may be so much less passionate now that I really don't have the capacity to "hate".  Neither do I have the capacity for great passion and the energy it takes to wish someone bad luck.  That does not mean that I am a "turn the other cheek" kind of gal.  I am not.

But I don't waste emotion wishing people "bad luck" or harm.  If someone makes my life less enjoyable, I cut them out of it.  I don't "hate" the person.  I simply delete the person.  That may sound cold, and I'm sure it is, but if you can't bring some joy to my party, don't bother to come.

I do dislike people who are not tolerant of others.  I really get bothered when someone tries to tell me that one group is less favored than some other group.  I don't hate those people, but I know they are stupid.

Satan be damned!

Going Solo

I've spent a lot of my life going solo. 

My husband is gone again. for a month this time.

Maybe that's why I may have to place the perfect Craigs List ad.

"Alone again.  Want dinner?  I cook.  Want fun?   I'm witty. 

Husband gone for a month. Religious nuts welcome.  

Me:  Gourmet meal and wine..

You:  Gourmet Weed.

Must love dogs.

Only serious responders please."

Now, tell the truth, does this work?

One Hump or Two?

There are camels. 

And then  there are camels.

Alex rode camels when he was in the Middle East.  

He sent me home two toy camels as gifts.  I called the top camel my "Compton Camel".  He also sent me some gorgeous pure gold jewelry.  That's all they use over there.  

Alex brought me home a black abaya with a veil.  I can slip into harem girl mode really easy.

I liked all my gifts, even my "Compton Camel".

Setting Sail

Alex leaves for a month tomorrow.

He's going to Hawaii.  The last time he was in Hawaii was on a Westpac Cruise.  He was stationed aboard the USS Carl Vinson.  I took him to his ship as he left a number of times.  Westpac is a six month cruise.

It's always hard the night before your partner leaves.  There is a feeling of total desolation for the weeks before the deployment.

I'm pretty self sufficient, but the sadness and worry overtakes me at that point.  The night before Alex leaves, we never really sleep either.  There was too much on our minds.  Six months is a long time to be away from home.

I am not  a woman who worried about what my husband did in Thailand with a prostitute.  I mean,you hope not, but if he went into the Indian Ocean to sit there for 3 months, I was not worried that he would fall in love with a hooker and leave me for her. Nor do I think he worried that I would spend time with a business executive and decide that was my new lover.

Maybe we trusted each other too much, but I doubt it.  My concerns were for his well being.  As a Navy airman, the flight deck is a dangerous place.  I wanted him to get back home in once piece.  Alex worked on F-14 aircraft and there were accidents on every cruise, and frequently sailors were injured or killed.

I hope the most dangerous thing Alex does on this next deployment is to ogle a hula dancer,but I still worry.    We won't get that much sleep tonight.