For You, Forrest

Happy Birthday, Dear Friend.  I miss you.

For You, Phoenix, Where Ever You Are

Goodbye My Dear Friend, My Phoenix

Just this weekend I learned that my dear friend, Phoenix, died this summer from complications of a massive stroke.  The last time I saw him was about two years ago.  He wasn't well. To tell you the truth, he never was.  The very first time I met him he was hobbling around on crutches with a broken toe.  Well, let me tell you, that was just the tip of the iceberg for poor Phoenix, a man whose body constantly betrayed him and his dreams.  Phoenix always had his music, though.  Always.

I was 23 when I met him.  He was, well, a lot older than me.  I suppose I needed that.  I know I did.  Thank you Phoenix, for holding my hand, and my heart,  helping me, and watching me grow.  Thank you for showing me how to make the best of myself.  Thank you for loving me, and thank you for letting me go.  

Play on, play on, my dear friend.  Now you will never be in pain.  

There is a comb inside my room

it sits inside a tiny box

and all the memories in that box

all the haves and the have-nots

and with this comb

i comb my hair

and look deep inside my face

to find a memory thats still there

in a different time and space

I love you all 

you're my friends

Sometimes I get to feel so sad

for things Ive said

and things Ive done

to look deep inside your soul

to try to find that special one

and with these words

I break my heart

and look deep

inside your eyes

to see if you are really warm

to see if you are really wise

I love you all

I love you all

I love you all

You're my friends.

Rest Well, Dear Forrest

This summer, we suddenly lost our friend Forrest.  I'd like to think he just rode off into the sunset, like in this picture of him.

Forrests favorite pie: 3.14159

While watching a diamond commercial on television:

Dina, batting eyelashes,  "See Forrest, a diamond is forever!" 

Forrest "So's a plastic cup!"

Thank you for your smiles, your love and your laughter!  

Hannah Dansah!

                                               

Hannah dancing. 

India #9 Yellow

Looks like blogger has been busy remodeling since the last time I posted!  Hi! I guess we all just don't blog anymore, do we?  I hope blogger never erases the blogs though. It sure is fun to look back at all the old posts.

So a lot of us are over at the FBook hanging around if you need us.  That's where we will be until something else comes up.

Here are a couple of India shots for you.  I have been back for 4 months and I haven't shared very much, so here ya go...Lime! LOL


                                                                       Yellow

Lost & Found

I bought this painting in Bangalore in 2007, and dragged it all around India with me that year. That was my 5th trip to India, and the year that Mr Ratburn came with me. All was well that year until we got apart, then all hell broke loose, lol! You might remember, Michelle, (my sole commentor, LOL!, what the heck, I am keeping this blog mostly for me anyway)...that was the year I missed my train from Jaipur after having a meltdown in that lovely city, then was molested and begged upon all at the same time in the middle of the night in Delhi with a huge load of bedspreads in my arms, and an unwieldy backpack weighing me down as well. Remember that year? Of course you do.

So, that year I left this painting in my hotel, the good hotel, not the bad hotel called HOTEL HELL erm, I mean Hotel Blue in Connaught..no no never stay there, trust me on this, in Delhi and it became lost for five years. That hotel has been under renovation for the entire five years and this year they were finally finished. Sheesh! Can you believe I continued to stay there all throughout the renovation? But, it's a very good thing I did, because five years later my painting showed up again, and here it is. I think you will agree, it was worth the wait. It was painted by a very young man from the Ballary area of Karnataka, and it was his first sale of the day, which means very good luck for both of us. I cannot wait to get it matted and framed and hung on my wall. I have thought about this painting often in the past five years, wondered about the artist and if he is doing well, and is he (hopefully) still painting.

India can be so challenging at times, many times, and then stuff like this happens and you know, it's just the way it was supposed to be.

It is written. :P

Thursday Portrait

Today my pal Jon Wah shared this photo on his facebook page, and it just makes me weep. This photo, in a way, tells one of my India stories. This year, I could not bear the poverty, the hunger, the stray and starving dogs, the garbage, and the soot choked air, but mostly I could not bear the retirees and tourists with their money, prancing around in not enough clothing, spending their money on beer in beach shacks owned by other retirees from other lands, complaining about how expensive India has become since "they discovered it". I could not bear observing over and over, wealthy Indians placing impossible demands on their countrymen of lower castes. I cried a lot.

I won't say my trip was bad. It was just emotional, and as always, I was truly and vibrantly alive and involved in my adventure and my treasure hunt was a great success! I drank a lot of whiskey and hung around on the iPad while in Bangalore. I got to talk to a lot of my pals in the fbook world. Then I went to Goa, where there was no wifi and I was truly alone. I tried really hard to rally myself, but sheesh, I am menopausal, and I was lonely, and the poverty, like I said, and it was almost 100 degrees in the daytime, with about 93 humidity, and at night, still hot! There was noisy traffic, pesky salesmen and too much trash! Boy, what a challenge. Not to mention the mean drunks who live in that community who love to make me miserable!

Once in Delhi, I felt pretty comfortable again, and had a lot of business to take care of, such as buying a bunch of bedspreads, a tamboura for Gary (an indian harpish thingy), and visiting various pals. That four days went very fast. Truthfully, four days in Delhi is about all the ol lungs could handle. Now I have already been home for 10 days. I finally feel normal again LOL

Thank you Jon, and everyone else for sharing this photo, but mostly thank you to the man who gave his shoes to that poor woman who looks clearly moved by the gesture. I am moved as well. Be good to each other. I am glad to be back, and thanks to all of you for being here when I needed a morale boost!

and since I like to plan ahead.....

360India

Operation India A Success!

I'll admit this 9th trip to India was at times very challenging, but all in all, I got what I went for, and how! More later I gotta get some sleep!