3/29/08 – St. Louis, MO

We’re in St. Louis now, where FireCat grew up, staying with one of his sisters. There are four huge dogs who live here too so it is very interesting. They are all very well behaved but they all want attention—someone’s cold nose is always looking for skin to nudge. I took the youngest one on a walk with me Thursday and now he keeps waiting for us to go again.

Last night FireCat and I went to hear one of his lifetime buddies perform at one of his gigs. Stuart takes pride at having supported himself his entire life through music. He’s a fantastic guitarist and it was nice for me to meet him and hear him play after all these years listening to FireCat talk to him on the phone.

FireCat and Stuart are surrogate brothers who played music on the streets of Europe one summer to support their travels. He is an interesting fellow—quite smart and thoughtful—and I enjoyed sharing ideas with him at O’Connell’s Irish Pub after his gig. FireCat is back at his place tonight having some “guy time” and I am grateful for some time alone too to do some reading and just relax. FireCat’s sister Mary has a copy of Eckhart Tolle’s new book A New Earth so I’m glad to have a chance to read some of that after hearing The Power of Now on cassette.

On our way here from Nashville we spent one night in Paducah, KY. We thought it was going to be a little dink town but we actually liked it quite a bit. We had a really nice dinner and walked around the square—I was disappointed the local theatre company’s performance of “Tuesdays with Morrie” doesn’t start until April. I enjoyed that book a lot. The town center reminds me a lot of Old Town in Eureka, CA where I grew up. I put some photos on the right.

Paducah is a riverfront town and it was amazing to see the river. We luckily were here after all the flooding in the mid-west but the river is so high that the ramps down to it just led right into the river. A waitress told us that normally the river’s edge is a block away from where it is now. This is the first place we have been “rousted” by the local police for sleeping in the van, but they were very nice and directed us to a city parking lot nearby. I told FireCat it had to happen at least once because it makes such a much better story. ;)

Atlanta - 3/21 - 3/23

Atlanta was one of the highlights of our trip. We arrived Friday evening just in time to attend a jazz concert at the museum (see left) during the only exhibition of art from the Louvre that’s been outside Paris in years . Another section of the museum was highlighting paintings by Georgia O'Keefe, whose work I have enjoyed for a long time. FireCat finds out about the most interesting things using Google.

Saturday afternoon we visited a pub/restaurant that FireCat's friend Riggs had referred us to. It's called Six Feet Under because it's located on the site of a former cemetery. The food was great and we even met a young waiter there from Templeton near where we live, who was sporting a huge Tomahawk haircut. We asked our waiter for a recommendation on nightclubs and he said his favorite was just down the street, so we wandered down after dinner to check it out. (See photos at right.)

Whew, did we ever luck out! It turns out that once a year there's a benefit concert in memory of Frank Edwards. Frank was a great blues musician from the area who lived to be 95 years old. In his remaining years he supported and encouraged many other blues musicians. Now every year they have a concert benefitting his family and just paying him tribute. Blues bands come from all over the south just to play for half an hour each, and none of them get paid.

The music was great and it was a real treat to hear such a mix of different types of blues. The photo at top right is of Danny Dudeck, a great guitarist and one of the guys with his photo on the wall. We were sorry we couldn’t stay for the Easter concert the next afternoon and evening that was to be completely dedicated to gospel music. We did get to hear Essie Mae and her band perform Saturday night though. She seems to have been a legend “in these parts” since she was a young woman.

3/23/08 – Palm Bay to Nashville

Do you like Firecat's new "Road Trip" beer glass? He couldn't resist taking that one with us. We’ve been on the move quite a bit lately. After leaving Palm Bay on Wednesday we drove up to Jacksonville, FL and stayed in the van next to a huge lake and city park, where we played some catch with the baseball. When we arrived we thought it was the ocean because the waves were so huge and choppy, but the next morning it was as flat as a mirror and we realized that the windy rainstorm we heard in the night must have been causing the high waves the evening before.

Thursday we proceeded to Hilton Head where we stayed at the Hilton on the beach. That is a very lovely town, beautifully manicured but almost a little too perfect. We met an interesting older gentleman at the pub that night, another Libra who reminded me of my dad. He is a retired business lawyer and he and his French wife are living in China as teachers where he is trying to give them some pointers on how to create a legal system (Are they SURE they want one like ours? LOL), so we were able to get some on-the-ground views of conditions and culture there. He confirmed that the air quality is terrible, most Chinese wear masks in the major cities, and he thinks it will be a real challenge for them to pull off the Olympics.

The markets were closed Friday so we were able to sleep in, dip our fingers in the Atlantic for the first time, and finally get a bit of a beach walk, which is one of the things I miss most about home. Then we drove to Atlanta where we stayed for a couple of nights, which was one of the highlights of our trip. I will tell you the story of Atlanta tomorrow, but we just arrived in Nashville and have to get to the Bluebird Café for Sunday Night Spotlights of emerging bands and songwriters and the Writers’ Night that follows.

Rain and snow are forecast for here tomorrow and it’s crisp right now, so I guess it’s time to put away my tank tops and get out the sweaters and gloves. I hope you all had a lovely Easter today, and in this season of rebirth that you will emerge from your winters, sweep away any dead leaves, and move on from here fresh, new, being the person you want, beginning the life of your dreams.

3/18/08 - Saturday escapades and more

We are sitting in an Applebee's drinking 2for1 margaritas in Palm Bay, FL tonight. We drove up from Ft. Lauderdale after market today so I haven't seen the beach yet (It was dark when we arrived), but there are sure a lot of college students in the inn and restaurants because of spring break. Let's hope we get some sleep tonight.

Sunday was our last day in Summerland Key and I went to the beach with Genie and her twin 8-year old boys. It was beautiful and a nice way to say goodbye and recover from the night before (more on that below). I still have never been to the Carribbean because FireCat is not a cruising kind of guy, so I will need to return on my own for that someday I suppose. But the Keys are as close as I have been and it was a wonderful experience to be there. Luckily, they invited us back and like to have company so I hope it won't be my last time there. I have one of our beautiful water photos with the egret and mangrove trees as my screensaver now and it gives me good feelings just turning on my computer.

OK, I promised to tell about our Saturday night experience...I went to my first drag show. Our host's daughter who is smart and beautiful (a university student in Miami who was also a beauty pageant queen from the Keys)...is also very social and knows most of the business owners in Key West. Sunday was her 23rd birthday so the "dancers" at the club invited her to perform with them Saturday night as a birthday present. She is the only true female who has ever been allowed on stage. She fit right in, however, and I'm sure made the straight-but-curious male tourists very happy they were there. ;)

The thing that puzzles me is--why, if these guys are gay, do they want to look at guys who are trying to look like women? I would think that guys who look like guys would be more appealing. I'll have to ask some of my friends about that.

Well, I hear it's flooding in the mid-west and freezing in my neighborhood in California so I'm glad I'm here at the moment. Hopefully, Spring will have sprung and the roads dried up by the time we leave Atlanta.

3/14/2008 - Sunset in the Keys

Tonight FireCat and I took the paddle boat out to see the sunset. We paddled down the canal that runs behind the house here, then out into the channels and bay that connect to the Carribbean. It was calm and beautiful as we watched the local egret pose for us, listened to the flying fish jump and plop in the water, and saw the stars come out. It really doesn't get much better than this!

We’ll probably head out towards St. Louis on Monday but this is a hard place to leave. We want to drive up the coast of Florida, visit Hilton Head, and spend a few days in Atlanta. Then we'll go through Nashville so FireCat can check out the music scene before landing at his sister's house in St. Louis.

I am in the middle of dealing with my corporate tax return that's due Monday, so the mundate and frustrating still exist alongside the glorious adventure. FireCat's friend here (our host) says we don't have a life because we sit in front of our computers all day. LOL

3/11/08 - New Mood

OK, done with that mood now. ;)

Here's FireCat, trading in paradise. ;) The market has been pretty intense lately, but Sunday we went into Key West and browsed the shops, watched the street performers at the daily sunset celebration, enjoyed happy hour margaritas and chicken wings at Kelly's, then returned later for the most delicious key lime pie I've ever had and met the chef. We'll likely go back later in the week.

Last night FireCat BBQed fish for the gang here and we had a chance to meet Joe's daughter DeeDee, who's home from college in Miami for spring break. She's a beauty--smart too--and according to her dad she knows everyone in Key West, so she's going to take us in later this week for some clubbing. She's majoring in history, political science and chemistry so it was interesting talking to her the last couple of days.

FireCat is finding time to play his guitar and work on some new songs and that is always a special treat. I think the feel of this place is conducive to it. We shared some of his business ideas with our hostess Jeanie tonight who understands technology and is an accomplished business woman herself. FireCat is threatening to start coding again...maybe he's getting bored with trading now that he's doing so well at it. ;)

3/8/08 – Florida Keys

I am in a place I have never been, and I have never been in any place even like this. It is beautiful. The houses sit on stilts, with garages underneath—garages for cars, but also for boats and airplanes. There is no grass in these backyards, only cement patios and swimming pools that border canals. The backyard neighbors’ houses are separated not by fences, but by these canals, like a road between houses, into which they can lower their boats and make their way into the larger waters.

The house I am in has three stories. We are staying in the guest quarters on the lower floor. The main living area is above us and there is a master bedroom suite above that. Finally, a stairway leads to a trapdoor in the ceiling that takes you to a fourth-story square captain’s watch or widow’s walk from which you can view water in every direction 360 degrees. Today the color is where they get the definition of seafoam green; it’s absolutely gorgeous.

We had rain last night, lightning and thunder…feels like my life the past few days. Today it is windy, which somehow revives my soul. Hope arrives out of my hopelessness as I look at the beauty and know, somehow I can’t explain, that it is important I exist. We are to be here for about a week—a gift perhaps as a place to heal, to retreat, to have invisibility feel good instead of painful.

Perhaps I will find some keys here in the Keys…insights into my future work, lifestyle, the desires of my heart, the person I am and want to become. Even on this long journey I have been too busy. Perhaps now I am being slowed down on purpose to experience and appreciate the beauty around me, to reflect, and to make space for awareness to arise.

3/4/08 – On the road again

We left Sarasota this afternoon after market close—whew what an up and down day in the market…I should say down and up! It was such a pleasant stay at FireCat’s sister’s house. Her home is decorated in a Zen motif, even the dogs are calm! I really enjoyed her and her husband and wish we were able to see them more often. She is a nurse who works in a Hospice care facility and she has the right heart to be the perfect person to be there. What a great way to get perspective on life and a glimpse into a person’s real essence, being with them in their last days on earth.

FireCat and I enjoyed a wonderful barefoot walk on the beach Sunday, then some browsing in the shops at St. Armand’s Circle and delicious oysters Rockefeller hor d’oeurves on the upstairs balcony at Hemingway’s Retreat.

Yesterday I finally found time to get a pedicure…the toes were looking pretty raunchy since I hadn’t had one since I left home. Going to the beach and looking at my own bare feet was frightening! I love those massaging chairs and the pedicurist gave me a long, wonderful foot massage so I guess I am ready to head out on another adventure now. ;)

We have just a short trek today to Naples, FL, another upscale coastal town, and then we drive through the everglades on Wednesday, which I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. My hike might need to wait until we’re on our way back though since we need to pick up our host at the airport in Miami and drive her home to Key West. That’s about a three-hour drive so it will be a good chance to get acquainted with her.

But here we are now, driving along looking at beautiful bodies of water amidst lush greenery, a few raindrops falling on the windshield, watching a lovely sunset approaching and listening to an eclectic mix of music FireCat put together to satisfy us both (a nice range from opera to musicals to Bruce Cockburn, Imogen Heap, Motley Crue, Stephen Stills and a smidgeon of country, even a Christmas carol), which he somehow pipes into the sound system in the van through his computer.

And every once in a while I ask him to turn it down so I can read to him the financial news…since he’s done such a great job rigging the van with AC power and a cellular modem that gives me internet access while we drive. Today we are discussing the fall of the dollar, the importance of getting into some gold in one form or another, and the fact that this month marks the peak in ARMs that are re-setting…and guessing about the best timing for initiating my own refi before my ARM matures in September.

Yep, there’s not too much we can’t do on the road. We won’t be home for another month or two and we’re already talking about our next trip. The one thing we miss is getting to share in some of the life events of our friends and families. My brother-by-choice Doug turned 60 last week and we missed the big party, but hey—it just gives us a good excuse to celebrate again when we are home!