driving back from Santa Cruz at noon I ran into heavy traffic around Moss Landing all the way to Monterey. Stop and start, bumper to bumper.


Several times my mind would wonder and I would almost slam into the car in front of me.

People heading for the Peninsula beaches, Labor day weekend. Kites in the air, hand gliding and deadly cars.

the house is very empty, the boys and their parents left this morning to return to New York. We moved beds and I started the laundry, cleaned out the refrigerator. The sun is out. The house is quiet.

I am going to the movies to see Brideshead Revisited with some friends late in the afternoon.

The youngest boys keeps asking for the mountain lion story, you know, where the little boys are able to capture the mountain lion while their parents are sound asleep. The argue over whether they should cook the mountain lion or make him their friend.

The adults all want them to make friends with the lion but the boys decide to eat the mountain lion.

They want a little blood and adventure in their story life.

The four year old boys love these realistic rubber snakes. I find the snakes in corners and under furniture, curled like they are watching me. Creepy.

This morning I had to leave early for my meditation group so I walked softly to not wake them up nor disturb the snakes. It's a crime to wake sleeping boys and I did well.

The visiting four year old kept reminding me that I had a dirty car. And it was dirty, road dust mixed with wet fog had created a patina of grit. So I took it to the car wash.

Today when we went on a ride to the bank this same four year old boy told me that he thought the inside of my car was dirty. Maybe but I am not washing the seats. The car is ten years old and serves me well. The boy is only four years old and is the new comer here.

my life is centered around the visiting children, two little boys who move at their own pace. I am relearning patience and appreciation.

I have watched more Sponge Bob then I ever imagined possible. And there still more to come.

Nothing but fog here. The two four year old boys don't seem to care, They play, eat sleep, talk endlessly and struggle with each other. Their days are full.

I bemoan the fog. Where is the sun? I thought the strong wind on Wednesday was going to bring in heat but no, it's the August fog.

We have to wait until September to find the sun again.

Lovers Point in Pacific Grove was the boundary between fog and sunshine. Light winds moved the fog in each direction.

The kids played in the surf and the adults jumped in and swam to the jetty. I swat in the shade on a chair that I carry in the trunk of my car.

I came home for a nap in the early afternoon.

my candy shelf is now filled with fresh yummy candy. The table is laden with colorful fruits and vegetables.

I organized the onions and potatoes by color, the red onions, red potatoes and the sweet potatoes in one basket, The brown potatoes and yellow onions in another basket, the avocados and the garlic are together in their own basket.

Everyone is happy with the arrangement.

I haven't bought any wine, I no longer know what is the best and cheapest. I will ask others to be responsible for the wine.

I am almost ready for the family to come.

I am driving less now that gasoline is more expensive. I didn't plan to but when I look at my bills I can see.

Yesterday afternoon the gang of young boys were creating a fort about 4 feet from my bedroom window. They didn't know I could hear them. They thought this fort would be a secret.

At some point I went outside to see it all and realized they had dug a hole in my yard. I asked them not to dig any more. They seemed surprised that I found them. They then moved around the corner and still I could hear them.

I've been avoiding this cabinet in the kitchen where I store and hide all my candies. The cabinet is full of old stale rejected candy, things I buy and then decide I don't want. Some of it is years old.

This morning while waiting for my oatmeal to cook, I threw it all out. What a relief. Now I can buy new candy, maybe something I really like.

Iam in the middle of reading

WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING, a memoir by Haruki Murakami.

He is a really good novelist. I had read a favorable review and reserved the book at the library. At first I didn't like it but I have persevered and now find it quite charming and evocative. I am almost done and am already missing it. I can't quite say why I like it but I do.

I woke up with a pain in my hip, an intermittent pain. coming and going. I go along with my life and then the pain returns fro a few seconds.

Suddenly I am very sympathetic with people who have chronic back pain. How do you live with this. I am experimenting with standing, walking, sitting down to see what position triggers the pain. I expect it will go away by itself.

the young b9ys on bicycles race down the driveway across from my house skidding to a stop right by my car. I've started parking by backing in.

I don't want to hit them when I drive away.

I've warned them but the hill is too tempting so I am training myself to be more careful.

Swimming in the Olympics

Just finished reading LOST ON PLANET EARTH by J. Maarten Troost. He writes about spending several months traveling in China in 2007 . He is just reporting on what he is seeing and experiences which is mostly pollution, crowds, pushing and shoving in lines, erratic driving and more crowds. He writes well and is entertaining and it doesn't make me want to travel to China.

Megan and I went to Lou Lou's on the wharf foe an ealry morning breakfast. Foggy cold morning. We sat inside the five table grill.

I was surprised to see a couple of dozen flies circling the inside.

I asked the waitress if the flies were always there and she said yes, they can't get ride of them. They didn't come near our food, they just endlessly circled the space between the counter seats and the tables. I wonder what they live in.

The six year old girl liked the good manners week long camp.

She learned that she should not burp loudly, toot, pick her nose and scratch her bottom. Also she should use a utensils rather then her fingers when she ate.

Sounds like a good week at camp. I know her parents are pleased.

We went for lunch and a play at San Juan Batista today. Six of us including two children.

Walking from the restaurant to the theater we encountered many free range chickens living in hedges and bushes and on the side walk. One family of baby chicks was almost irresistible.

The sidewalks were cracked and non existent but the chickens were alive and squawking.

I love a town that has space for chickens. And the play was good, the lunch was mediocre.

Megan I watched I'M LEGEND on TV tonight. It is such a scary movie. I think I will have nightmares.

I continue to look at the books in the library aisle 813.54.

The current book that I brought home is called IDLE BANTER , weekly excursions to a very small town by Chris Bohjalian. Looks promising.

As you can see I am pulling out books by the alphabet. At least until I am tired of reading this way.

The high school kids are back. Year round school is back in session. I can hear the announcements in my house, The cars are racing around with newly licensed drivers.

Our short dead end street community tries to keep the kids from parking here. The city has put up no parking signs during school hours. But still the kids are ever hopeful.

It's not the cars so much as the hanging around and getting into trouble that is the problem. The kids are just bored in school and see our street as an escape.

This has been going on now for the 40 years that I have lived here so I guess it won't change significantly.

Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris, a mystery story set in Saudi Arabia written by a western woman who lived there for awhile.

I was first intrigued by the setting in Saudi Arabia and then by the claustrophobic life of Saudi women. I kept thinking, could I survive in this in this culture as a woman or as a man. Both genders, from my perspective as a western woman, seem to have impossible lives.

The actual mystery story was very good and well written. I don’t want to give away the plot. I would read the next book by Ferraris.

It's hard to buy a New York Times on Sunday morning unless I leave early. They get pick up by the visitors. So I go to Troia's market around 8:15am to buy the paper and then to Red's to buy a chocolate donut and then home again.

Later in the Morning I drove to Carmel Valley, leaving foggy cold Monterey and entering the sun and warmth. In the afternoon I was back to foggy Monterey.

took a small vacation today. Parked my car by the Coast Guard pier and walked down cannery row, mingling, bumping into crowds of lovers and families. The side walks are just not big enough. Saw an outdoor wedding at the Plaza. At the end I just sat on a bench and looked at the ocean. Two porpoises were flinging themselves out of the water, teasing the boats people, sneaking up behind them and splashing.

Not too hot, fog was gone, smoky haze in the distance. Good vacation.

Received a notice form the Monterey Police Department warning us about a mountain that has been spotted in our neighborhood. See by three different people.
This is an urban area. Mountain lions? mmmmm, maybe from the fires in the mountains.

I talked about his with the 6 8 year old kids. The advise is to stop, and look big. Not so easy for a six year old girl.

Can't I climb a tree? she says. I say, no. And don't run, the lion will think you are food.

I'm not food, she says.

I agree, she is just a charming little girl, not lion food.