Walking Continues

Life is now ...  this day, this hour ...  and is probably the only experience of the kind one is to have. ~ Charles Macomb Flandrau There might have been a bit of drinking the night before the proposed climb/hike up the hill. I had water people. It wasn't the whisky or beer talking when I agreed to the hike. A nice local group was performing at the Thistle, but it had been a long day. After a completely sober decision to  attempt the climb, I headed back to the hotel. I would need my rest. As is castle hill in Edinburgh, Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano.* It is a stunning thing to see rising up about a mile (a little more than a "royal" mile) from city center and the view from the top is stunning as well. But first one must climb it.  So those of us game for a climb wandered off to Holyrood Park. At the far end of the "royal mile" (Edinburgh Castle is at the city center end) is Holyrood Palace.  The Queen tours Scotland in the summer and invites people to...

Milagro - noun . Spanish for "miracle."  A  surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.* Beller - verb .  Dialectal variant of  "Bellow."** Mild tamales. Most are in the freezer, but I had two for breakfast. I was out in the yard filling the water containers I use to haul water to irrigate a recently planted oak in the neighborhood park.** "Excuse me, ma'am," I heard behind me. There on the driveway was a young man (middle school?). "Would you like to buy some tamales?" Me: Do you have mild tamales? G:*** Yes, we have hot and mild. Me: And how much are they? G: Twelve dollars a dozen. Me: Okay, I'll go get my money and you go get the tamales. <short pause> Me: So, what is your name? G: <reply> Me: Do you have a brother named "Jesus"? G: Yes. Me: He used to come by with tortillas and then tamales to my old neighborh...

True friends are always together in spirit. ~ L.M.  Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables Once there were two little piggies, Puddle and Toot.* They were best friends. Puddle and Toot But one day Toot took a trip on his own. Puddle couldn't find him anywhere. Puddle was very sad, but played with his other friends. And he waited for Toot to return. Puddle knew that Toot would have many stories to tell of his adventures. Then Puddle went to visit a friend for a few weeks. He wandered in parks. He looked at the flowers. He watched the bees and the butterflies. Puddle with the sunflower And one day, while he was looking at a lovely sunflower, Puddle saw someone he though he recognized. It looked like Toot in the sunflower patch. And it was Toot! Puddle and Toot were so excited to see each other. They skipped around the garden. They wandered through the vegetables and climbed the statuary. They were so glad to be together again. Toot explained that he was on his way home when he just happene...