Well, it’s not exactly pouring. However, on Halloween morning, Mike let me know that it had started to rain in South Pasadena. It wasn’t raining when we arrived later in the day. However, our liquid sunshine did show its face again as the evening progressed. The kids' Trick-or-Treating was somewhat shortened by the wished for weather. No one was really disappointed, as more than enough candy was had by all.
At Mike’s, we were giving out handfuls to all the big and little witches, goblins and other characters who came to the door. We heard that Matt ran out of candy at his house. He always gets many more revelers than the rest of us do.
When we arrived back home, almost 30 miles away, it wasn’t quite so wet, but there was evidence that some of the sky’s precious liquid had come our way. We have had intermittent showers since. Though the morning today welcomed a bright sun, a good deal of the day was grey and wet. Hooray!
This afternoon I left the house. As I drove down the street, I noticed that I could see the blue sky showing through the spectacularly colored clouds, It was cool and crisp with occational passing showers. Beautiful.
Most of us in California were wishing for rain. A slow steady drip to dampen the fires. To give some respite to those brave souls on the front lines, who have been working so fearlessly in an attempt to save lives, homes and forests. Some died in the effort. There must be a special place in heaven for all of those wonderful people who put their lives on the line, day after day, to protect the rest of us.
By now, I have been in touch with most of the people I know who live in or near the threatened areas. One cousin, who lives in Rancho Cucamunga, told me that they were evacuated. A house, one hundred yards away, burned. His son and family who live in Alta Loma, also had to leave their homes. But they are all safely back now.
Yesterday, I spoke with a friend who lives in the same area. She and her neighbors were also warned to evacuate. But she told me something else as well. She said that there was something beautiful and magnificent about the fire. Even though there were the normal concerns and fears, she and her neighbors were drawn out just to look at it. And marvel at its beauty.
Food for the mind.
I was invited to join a book club. The first book chosen was the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The first meeting is tomorrow night. I finally bought the book, but have not read it yet. It looks like I will have to miss the first meeting anyway, but still looking forward to reading the novel and hearing what others thought.
I noticed that ABC is airing a program tonight that will explore some of the questions posed by the work. This program, Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci with Elizabeth Vargas, will show in LA at 10:00 PM. I will be watching.
I am surprised that I have heard nothing of any protests regarding this show or the book, considering the nature of the inquiry. It explores, as I understand, allegations which have shaken religious and historical scholars. An article today in the Daily Breeze explains that it regards some evidence that Jesus and Mary Magdalene may have married, and had a child together. We’ll see.
Alert. Eat Sardines!
The health section of the same newspaper had an article today about our need for calcium and the problem for those who are lactose intolerant. It contained an explanation of why some of us can and some of us can’t eat dairy and digest lactose.
There are certainly many ways in which we can get the Vitamin D, Calcium, and other nutrients we need for our human body to function. But, most of us don’t regularly eat enough kale, turnip and mustard greens to do the job.
As I understand it, most dark leafy green vegetables will supply these needed nutritional elements, except Spinach. Although spinach is packed with calcium, the calcium in this green is bound with oxalates that make it difficult for the body to absorb.
However, if you don’t eat dairy, you can also eat lots of broccoli and fish with small bones, such as canned salmon and sardines. Enjoy.
Just thought you ought to know, because I try to be On The Alert!
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PS: This post was ready to go way earlier, but due to the rain, our telephone lines were malfunctioning and I was unable to connect with the internet. Cut Off!
Somehow this seems worse than not being able to use the phone. These days, most of us can revert to the cell system for that. I have finally been able to connect via a dial up. But this method is VERY slow.
Posted by Judi at November 3, 2003 7:23 PM | TrackBack